It wasn’t a bad month for reading. I definitely read some books that made me think I should just give up on reading from small self-published authors, and others that made me realize I need to start reading classics again. Here is my monthly recap:
Insatiable (The Edge of Darkness Trilogy) by Leigh Rivers 2.5/5
This whole series started good and ended unrealistically. I swear, every time I start a series, this is how most of my reviews end up being—the first book is great, gets you hooked, and then progressively the books get worse. By the end, you’re just reading to finish the series, not because it’s holding your attention in any way.
The book was promising, but the way it was fleshed out, the way some of the characters lost their personalities, and the way the storyline kept getting weirder felt more like, okay, this is why we don’t drag out books. Keep the story tight, the dialogue purposeful, and flesh out the world-building.
The gist of this book is that the main lead is obsessed with his ex, stalks her, gets sucked in by the bad guys to save her life, oh, they had a huge misunderstanding that has led to this three-book series- hello communication? Where did you get lost?
Fated to the wolf prince by April Moon 2/5
This was an ehhh werewolf novel, nothing crazy, nothing groundbreaking, just a good palate cleanser. It’s an easy, fun read. If you need something to get you out of a reading rut or to help escape reality for a minute, this is a good series to start. It has all the tropes, fated mates, enemies to lovers, and an MMC possessive.
Handsome devil by LG Shen- 1.5/5
As I’m typing this review, I can barely even remember the book — that’s how unremarkable it was. Once I looked it up, it all came back, and I remembered exactly why it wasn’t a good read.
The MMC is obsessed with the leading lady; he wants her to be “just his,” and of course, there are bad guys out to get them. Sounds like every other enemies-to-lovers story, except this one was one of the worst I’ve read in a long time. The author has written great books before, but this one just didn’t deliver.
The biggest issue? The male lead wasn’t fleshed out at all until maybe the last third of the book. And while it’s marketed as a mafia book, it doesn’t actually read like one. Where is the mafia, where is the violence, the chaos, the power struggle? Overall, this book was incredibly disappointing — if you love a good mafia story, this is not it.
King of Depravity by Tammy Anderson 2/5
Honestly, I enjoyed this book more than the one above, which was surprising. This is definitely one of those unremarkable books you forget as soon as you read it, but it was not misleading—at least I knew that this was an obsessive male who is involved in dodgy business, and that’s it. Yeah, it’s “mafia,” but that’s not really what it’s marketed as, and thank goodness for that, because there was barely a hint of it in this novel.
It’s not a groundbreaking novel, but it’s one that lets you escape reality for a couple of hours. A very predictable and pretty straightforward book.
These Impossible Things by Salma El-Wardany- 4/5
I had initially bought this book almost a year ago at a local bookstore in Austin, Texas. For some odd reason, it just stood out. I read the first line of the book, and I knew I wanted to read it. Fast forward to last month, my friends and I chose to read it as our September book club book, and we all loved it.
Being Desi myself, this book is one that hit too close to home. I would read it and think, Man, I have had the same thoughts, conversations, and emotions that this character is displaying. Ironically, my friends were like, “I swear, Gabby, we would talk about this in college all the time.” The book is heartbreaking. It explores sex, marriage, culture, religion, and friendship, all overlapping, and their effects on British Muslim women. It’s not easy, it’s not for everyone, and it’s a type of pain only those who have been a part of it can explain.
That being said, I do think there are parts of the book that were unrealistic and also overdramatic. Like, really, announcing you’re engaged to your parents the day your sister gets married? Or being proposed to, and not once did your partner think it’s weird that he’s proposing to a girl whose parents don’t even know he exists? Like buddy, you know her family is important to her — did it ever occur to you to maybe have that conversation with her family in general? Because the proposal and marriage would be a lot easier if you just… I don’t know… communicate.
Also, I did not like the anti-Muslim rhetoric in this book at all. And, why are all three of the white guys saviors, and the Muslim men are displayed as controlling, possessive, and over the top? The generalization is unnecessary and unfair.
The House on Mango Street– 5/5
This was a random purchase on a random weekday at our local library. The library has sales throughout the year, and I popped in to see if anything would catch my eye—and what do you know, this book did. For $1, I bought it and devoured it the same day.
This is a coming-of-age classic novel about a girl growing up in Chicago. I wish I had read it back in middle or high school, but even now, it was so refreshing to read. I recommend it—it’s easily readable, relatable, and well written. It’s the kind of book that makes you think—hello critical thinking—that has been lost in the rise of AI.