We’re probably going to be repeating ourselves all year long, but it does seem like January really flew by. As usual, it’s the beginning of the new month and it’s time to talk about the books we read last month. How did our first month of 2023 go? Keep on reading of January wrap up to find out!

Candyce

I have to say I started off my reading year really strong. In January I read 15 books (7 audiobooks, 4 ARCs, 2 paperbacks, and 2 ebooks) and had 1 DNF. My average rating 4.4, so it’s clear I read some good books! Lwt’s talk about those.

Recursion – Blake Crouch

Science fiction isn’t something I read a lot of, but Recursion was my book club’s read. Once I started I couldn’t put Recursion down. Even though the characters were lacking, the plot wouldn’t let me go. It definitely made me think about what people are capable of.

Unanimity – Alexandra Almeida

Unfortunately I ended up DNFing this one. We’re dropped right in the middle of things. That’s not something I normally mind, but I was so confused. I didn’t understand what was happening, the characters, or how they all fit together.

The Atlas Six – Olivie Blake

The Atlas Six is a book that has gotten a lot of hype and that I was really curious about. It held up to the hype and that ending still has me thinking about how everything ended up being woven together. I will say this book is quite wordy, but I’m very intrigued to see how all of this is going to play out in the next books.

Legends & Lattes – Travis Baldree

Last year Legends & Lattes was everywhere and I have to say I was intrigued. This was my first read of the year and I loved it. Not much really happens in a cozy fantasy, but that didn’t matter for me in this book. I loved tagging along with the characters and what they were doing day to day.

A Million to One – Adiba Jaigirdar

Four characters that really don’t have much in common come together after planning a heist on the Titanic. There’s a book worth a lot of money they’ve set their sights on. It was interesting to get to know these characters and the setting was just a lot of fun. The pacing kind of bugged me at times. It took quite awhile before anything really happened. All in all, a fun adventure to read about from 4 POVs.

Tis the Season for Revenge – Morgan Elizabeth

Tis the Season for Revenge was a book I didn’t finish before the year was over, but was a book I really loved. There are a lot of Legally Blonde vibes and Damien is definitely the ultimate book boyfriend. I need to read more by this author!

Stolen Heir – Sophie Lark

When I first started reading Stolen Heir I wasn’t sure if I would end up liking it. I wasn’t sure how these two characters would grow close, but they did and wow!! Once I got to a certain point I couldn’t put it down. Miko and Nessa were amazing characters.

Take a Bow, Noah Mitchell – Tobias Madden

Online crushes and a gamer main character? Sign me up! This was a cute contemporary with some drama. All in all, I did enjoy this story and how Noah grew during the story. He also had a lot of questions and concerns I’m sure a lot of teenagers have.

All the Dangerous Things – Stacy Willingham

After reading A Flicker in the Dark last year I knew I needed to read Stacy’s next book. All the Dangerous Things was a five star read with so many twists and turns I wasn’t expecting. Even though this book just came out I can’t wait for what we get next by this author.

A Tale of Two Princes – Eric Geron

Being royalty is definitely hard, because there are so many expectations. Our main character doesn’t always know how to deal with everything. Especially when wanting to come out as gay. Then he learns he has a twin brother. This book had me hooked! I loved both characters and how much family played a role.

Seven Percent of Ro Devereux – Ellen O’Clover

I remember playing MASH as a kid. Folding up the paper and seeing what your future held was always amusing. Imagine there being an app that actually pretty accurately predicts your future. I don’t think I could actually go on that app. The science side of things was interesting, but also seeing Ro really think about what she wants and what’s good for her. Add a friends to enemies to lovers situation and I was sold.

Places We’ve Never Been – Kasie West

Our main character is going on a trip with her former best friend. I appreciated the author showing that things won’t always go back to normal just because they’re near each other again. Time goes by and they have both changed. I loved seeing them get to know each other again and explore what that meant. I could’ve done without one of the reveals, because I saw it a mile away and I didn’t really felt like it added much to this story. It should’ve stuck to the road trip and the reuniting of friends and family.

Exes and O’s – Amy Lea

After loving Set On You I was anxiously awaiting the book about Tara. The book references were so much fun and I just loved Tara and Trevor. I loved seeing Tara learn more about herself and what she really deserved. Her exes were definitely a handful. And Trevor slowly letting down the walls made for such an amazing read. Amy Lea is definitely an auto-buy/read author for me now!

Survive the Night – Riley Sager

Wanting to read more thrillers had led me to wanting to give Riley Sager’s books a try. Two friends and I decided to read Survive the Night together. Unfortunately, this book didn’t work for any of us. There were quite a few inconsistencies, plot holes, and it was just a bit much honestly.

Ship Wrecked – Olivia Dade

I’ve loved the Spoiler Alert series so far and I was really excited to finally read Ship Wrecked. Maria and Peter’s story was fun and while I loved how Maria advocated for herself, there were things near the end of the story that didn’t work for me. So while I did enjoy Ship Wrecked it was my least favorite of the trilogy.

A Long Time Coming – Meghan Quinn

I loved A Long Time Coming so much!!! Lia and Breaker’s friendship was amazing and I loved seeing them slowly realize they were so much more. I laughed out loud quite a few times. Meghan Quinn gets me so attached to her characters.

 

Isabelle

I’m super happy with the first reading month of 2023! In total I finished 7 books, two are novella’s, the rest are all over 400 pages and 2 even over 500. Also, a lot of 5 star read! I really enjoyed most of these books and I have high hopes for my goals.

The King of Crows – Libba Bray

My first book of the year was a series finale! I’m actually off to a good start haha. It was also a 5 star read, I loved it a lot. This series gets a lot of love and it definitely deserves it. I hope more people pick it up even though it’s a bit ‘older’ now.

Untethered Sky – Fonda Lee

A tordotcom novella, you know I love them! And this one is not an exception. Such a good read. Now I just need to pick up my other Fonda Lee book soon because my expectations only grew higher after reading this novella.

False Witness – Karin Slaughter

I’ve kept going in my quest to catch up on the unread Karin Slaughter books and this was once again a great one. It’s a standalone and I loved it a lot! The crimes weren’t as brutal as they can be in Karin’s books, I liked the plot and and the dynamic between the sisters.

The Last Widow – Karin Slaughter

Finally getting back to the Will Trent series! I loved reading about these characters again. The story was a little different but I did enjoy it a lot. Karin Slaughter remains one of my favorite authors as she has been for years and years. I can’t wait to read more from her and more in this series.

The Silent Wife – Karin Slaughter

Even though they were all 5 stars, this might be my favorite out of the ones I recently read. I loved the dynamic between Will and Sara and loved seeing Jeffrey again. Karin writes brutal crimes and these were insane and heartbreaking.

The Dragon Republic – R.F. Kuang

I’m so happy I finally got back to this series. This was an amazing (but brutal) read and I flew through it even though it is a pretty big book. I immediately started reading the final book in the trilogy but I’m super scared to find out how it ends. These characters are very flawed but I also love them so so much.

Arch-Conspirator – Veronica Roth

This was not my thing. I loved that it was an Antigone retelling (my sorority was called Antigone) and I liked the different POV’s. But that was basically all I liked. I hated the ending, thought the world building was pretty weak and just didn’t connect to the story unfortunately.

So that’s our January wrap up! How did your reading month go? Find any new favorites? Let us know in the comments! We’d love to hear from you.