Spell the Month in Books is a monthly meme hosted by Reviews from the Stacks. Each month, you select books that correspond with the letters in that month’s name (for example, December) and create a list. You can also link your post on Jana’s site each month. The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis
Review Snippet: We're raised to know the difference between right and wrong, but who actually determines what those are? If your child was murdered, would it be wrong for you to seek your own justice? Would you feel bad about exacting revenge on someone that hurt you or a person you cared about? Where do you draw the line? It's easy to look at someone else's life and judge their decisions based on what we think we know, but we honestly have no idea what another person has lived through.
The Female of the Species was a lot darker than I originally expected it to be. The synopsis alone tells you that Alex killed someone and got away with it, but the reasons behind the murder feel... justified. I know that sounds awful, because killing for any reason should be wrong, but it was hard for me to feel that way when I was so caught up in Alex's thoughts and feelings. What would I have done in her situation?
*click here for the original post and full review
Review Snippet: An Ember in the Ashes was a phenomenal read! I flew through the audiobook and looked forward to being in the car for a little extra listening time (quietly, since the kids are too young for this book). Steve West and Fiona Hardingham are amazing narrators and really brought this story to life. I could listen to them for hours, and I did! I cannot wait to listen to the rest of this series on audio, and I've already purchased physical copies for my shelves. Sabaa Tahir has created a very unique and compelling story, although I wish she was a little nicer to Laia and Elias (she seems to really like making my heart stop and creating scenarios that take my breath away).
The characters in this book are memorable and relatable. Laia didn't start off wanting to change the world, she just wanted to get through the day without drawing attention to herself. When she loses her family, her brother becomes her priority, and she learns that she's stronger than she thinks. We see her go from someone that doesn't want to be noticed, to a person that's willing to sacrifice herself for others. There's very obvious character growth, but it happens over the course of the entire book, which made it more honest and believable. *click here for the original post and full review
Review Snippet: Begin Again was originally published in German, and I’m so glad they decided to translate it. The night I started this book, I could not put it down. I kept telling myself “one more chapter”—because you know how that goes—but the story stayed with me even when I wasn’t reading. It didn’t take long before I was fully engrossed again, housework completely forgotten.
Obviously, we know Kaden’s rules are doomed to fail, and it was so much fun watching them crumble. He’s also a hypocrite when it comes to his rules, something he freely admits. He can break them whenever he wants because, after all, they’re his. Kaden has been upfront about being difficult from the beginning, but it’s clear he uses that personality as a shield against the world. He has demons to deal with, but so does Allie. *click here for the original post and full review
Royally Screwed (Royally, #1) by Emma Chase
Review Snippet:
Royally Screwed was exactly what I needed this week. It was wildly fun and made me laugh constantly! I loved Olivia and her no-nonsense attitude. She would flirt and banter with Nicholas, but she didn’t put up with his nonsense, and I think that made him appreciate her even more in the end.Nicholas and his brother Henry are genuinely good people who care deeply about their country and its inhabitants. There’s a war being fought in the background (not many details are given), but it impacts Henry in a significant way. There were a few darker threads woven into the story, which I wasn’t expecting, but they added so much depth to the characters. They felt more real because of it. Their pain and struggles—despite being royalty—were raw and honest. At one point, Nicholas mentions that they have to be men worth fighting for. They’re in a position to help people, so they need to do whatever they can to improve the lives of others. *click here for the original post and full review
Unspeakable Things by Jess Lourey
Review Snippet:
When we bought a house I decided to join the Nextdoor app (side note: there are some really weird people in my neighborhood), and then randomly created a Book Club for the area we live in. It has been surprisingly successful! Who knew so many people were craving books and bookish conversations? It's been a lot of fun so far, but also a lot of work, which is why I recently added a second moderator for the group. Anyways, short story long, Unspeakable Things was the first book we read for book club. 😂 If you want to join, I can send you a link! You don't actually have to live nearby.
I had no idea this story was based on real events that occurred in the author's hometown, but that made this book even more disturbing to read. It's not just scary dark, but psychologically creepy. The trauma the main character and her sister endure (both physical and mental) were hard to read about. I don't think I'll ever get the image of their father cutting his nails out of my head. It was just so well-written, and I could feel the fear the girls lived with every day. And that was just at home!
*click here for the original post and full review
The Anatomical Shape of a Heart by Jenn Bennett
Review Snippet:
The universe was against me, but I finally finished this book! It didn't take me long to read, but it was "misplaced" for over a week. My son thought my shelves were too full, so he decided to add a few to his. 🤷💕I absolutely adored this book! Jenn Bennett is a wonderful author that writes truly authentic stories with relatable characters. All of the characters, regardless of their roles, were meaningful. A few were only mentioned a handful of times, but their overall impact was great and fit seamlessly into the rest of the story.I loved watching Bex and Jack form a relationship. It was awkward and intense at the beginning, but slows down once the two finally start interacting with each other. It's like they've finally found another person they can confide in, which is good, because there is no shortage of secrets. *click here for the original post and full review
Review Snippet: A Rogue of One's Own was exquisite! Evie Dunmore made a Historical Romance reader out of me with Bringing Down the Duke, and now I feel super invested in the lives of women who lived long ago. I definitely would have been a suffragist, but I don't know how Lucie kept her wits about her in a world where men felt like they owned the women in their lives. I really loved how Dunmore touched on realistic aspects from the time period (Poets like Oscar Wilde, suffragists like Millicent Fawcett, and what it was like for women and girls in general), and made them relevant to the here and now.
Women still struggle to be seen as equals in the eyes of men, and it's thanks to people like Lucie that we have a right to vote at all. Can you imagine marrying a man only to give up your own identity in the process? Everything you own - - everything that you've claimed for yourself - - suddenly becomes the property of your husband. That
includes the woman entering the marriage. She essentially loses the rights to her very self. What's crazy is that all of this was commonplace not that long ago, and I think we take the sacrifices of those women lightly today, if we think about them at all.
*click here for the original post and full review
You'd Be Mine by Erin Hahn
Review Snippet: You'd Be Mine was such a fun book! I really enjoyed the characters, the summer music tour, and the songs the author included throughout the story. Someone should definitely record those songs so we have something to sing along to!
Books like this always bring out my Texas twang. It's so hard to read a southern drawl without actually doing it in my head, and then it just pops out in conversation. I thought I had kicked the habit years ago, but apparently not! I also loved the terminology and phrases the author used (like janky and such), because you don't see them too often in other books.
County music isn't really my jam these days, but it was absolutely perfect for this book. I enjoyed learning about Annie and Clay's (Jefferson's) history, and would love to revisit their world in the future. I really want Jason to get his own book, because I'm curious about the beach he found one summer during band camp. Who did he go with? What happened? There seemed to be more to Jason than his goofy exterior, and I want to know what it is!
*click here for the original post and full review
Happy February, lovelies!
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