January 2024 Wrap-Up + Book Haul

The first month of January is done and what a month it was. It was a crap month if I'm being honest and one of the longest months of my life. I'm not going to get into it as I prefer to focus on books here but this month was incredibly draining. The impact will continue to be felt for months to come, I'm sure. However, books have been an incredible help with coping with everything this month so I did have a great reading month.

I read 16 books this month and got most of the way through another. I reread a lot of favorites and found a new graphic novel series that I absolutely love. I'm also very much looking forward to a lot of my winter/spring anticipated releases that have started releasing as of January 30th. Let's go ahead and dive in! 

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1. 

Title: A Kingdom This Cursed & Empty

Author: Stacia Stark

Rating: 3 // 5 stars

2. 

Title: The Six Deaths of the Saint

Author: Alix E. Harrow

Rating: 5 // 5 stars

3. 

Title: Just Drop Out

Author: J. Bree

Rating: 5 // 5 stars

Review

-reread-

4. 

Title: Make Your Move

Author: J. Bree

Rating: 5 // 5 stars

Review

-reread-

5. 

Title: Play the Game

Author: J. Bree

Rating: 5 // 5 stars

Review

-reread-

6.

Title: To The End

Author: J. Bree

Rating: 5 // 5 stars

Review

-reread-

7. 

Title: All Hail

Author: J. Bree

Rating: 5 // 5 stars

Series Review 

-reread-

8. 

Title: The Ruthless

Author: J. Bree

Rating: 5 // 5 stars

Series Review

-reread-

9. 

Title: Queen Crow

Author: J. Bree

Rating: 5 // 5 stars

Series Review

-reread-

10.

Title: Lore Olympus, Volume One

Author: Rachel Smythe

Rating: 5 // 5 stars

Series Review

11.

Title: Lore Olympus, Volume Two

Author: Rachel Smythe

Rating: 5 // 5 stars

Series Review

12.

Title: Lore Olympus, Volume Three

Author: Rachel Smythe

Rating: 5 // 5 stars

Series Review

13. 

Title: Lore Olympus, Volume Four

Author: Rachel Smythe

Rating: 5 // 5 stars

Series Review

14. 

Title: Lore Olympus, Volume Five

Author: Rachel Smythe

Rating: 5 // 5 stars

Series Review

15. 

Title: Lore Olympus, Volume Six

Author: Rachel Smythe

Rating: 5 // 5 stars

Series Review

16. 

Title: Lore Olympus, Volume Seven

Author: Rachel Smythe

Rating: 5 // 5 stars

Series Review

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December 2023 Wrap-Up

December 2023 Book Haul

Favorite Books of 2023

Book Review: "Iron Flame" by Rebecca Yarros

Book Series I Finished in 2023

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I only hauled two books this month so I wanted to discuss them in this wrap up rather than a separate post. The first one is actually under the St. Martin's Press boycott so I won't be talking about it here but I am excited to read it at some point this year and (hopefully) be able to talk to you all about it.

The second book I got was the Target edition of House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J. Maas. This is one of my most anticipated releases of the year and I have already started reading it. This release, though, I'm not collecting the various editions as there's just too many. I was going to get the Walmart edition for that bonus scene but they didn't have any at mine on release day so I popped over to Target for my second choice (Ruhn!). Hopefully I'll have a review coming soon! 

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Thanks for reading!

xoxo

Lauren

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Book Series I Finished in 2023

I read 101 books in 2023. Within those 101, I finished ten books series. I had a good year in terms of finishing series and I hope to keep that momentum going into 2024. This year was mostly the year of J. Bree (six of the ten slots on this list are for her). I would say largely it was a good year for series, but not as productive as I would have hoped in regards to my backlist series TBR. Let's go ahead and dive in! 

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The first series I finished this year was Hannaford Prep by J. Bree, the first series in the Mounts Bay world. However, not only did I read this once this year, I read it twice. Two of the ten spots on this list belong to this series and it truly deserved taking so many spots on my 2023 reading list. It's truly become a comfort series at this point and I'm so glad that I discovered it last year. It's not an example of peak literature by any means but it's super fun, addicting, and the characters have wormed their way into my heart. You can find my original series review here. 

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Then I continued with my Mounts Bay read-through with the Queen Crow trilogy by J. Bree. This trilogy follows side characters from Hannaford Prep after the fallout of the final book. This series is just as addicting, though I definitely still prefer HP if I had to choose. The romance is incredibly different and the plot stakes have changed. Mostly, it was just fun getting to experience more of this world and spend more time with the characters. You can find my review here. 

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My last series of the Mounts Bay read-through was the Butcher of the Bay duet by J. Bree. This is a prequel duet set before the events of Hannaford Prep and center two characters we love dearly. The duet is their origin story and how their romance came to be. This duet is very dark and graphic in ways I won't go into here. However, it's also about romance and healing and dealing with trauma. I loved getting to know the history behind these two characters as they've been such a staple on page in the other series. You can find my review here. 

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I finally finished the Bonds that Tie series by J. Bree this year. I then also reread it in October, putting it as the second series I read twice this year. I enjoyed it a lot on the first read through but I did think the last few books weren't as good as the first few. However, on my reread, I loved every moment and felt I came out of it loving it more than the first time. It's just an addicting series and this year was truly the year of J. Bree. You can find my original review here. 

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Then I reread the Mindf*ck series by S.T. Abby. This is a super dark serial killer romance series and it's so addicting. It's popular on booktok and I discovered it in 2022. I read it in one sitting that year and fell in love with Lana. Mindf*ck is one of those series where you actually root for the villain to succeed. It's not for the faint of heart though and if you're anticipating reading it I would recommend looking at all the trigger warnings in advance. You can find my original review here. 

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In the back half of the year I read WITSEC by Ashley N. Rostek. This is a why choose romance series about a girl in witness protection who moves somewhere new and falls for her new neighbors. Did I read this series in 24 hours? Yes. But were they good? Mhm I'm not sure. They were addicting but I think they were only good on the surface level. When you actually dive into an analysis of the series it doesn't stand up. I honestly have also forgotten most of it by now but you can find my review here.  

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Then I read the Pacific Prep series by R.A. Smyth. This is a why choose bully romance/organized crime series in the same sort of genre as Hannaford Prep. I was looking for something to fill that void from HP and I ended up finding this one. It was alright? Like with WITSEC, on the surface level it was good but wouldn't hold up under a deeper analysis. I was a bit disappointed by the end for sure. You can find my review here. 

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The last series I read this year was a reread of the entire Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas. This is one of my favorite series and one that is truly a staple in my reading journey. It had been five years since I read the series for the release of Kingdom of Ash and I realized how much I was missing it. That combined with the upcoming SJM release made me want to reread it ASAP. So I just sat down and did it. It was truly such a fun experience reading these again and I'm already looking forward to revisiting them in the future. 

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Thanks for reading!

xoxo

Lauren

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To get more awesome posts like this post, click the follow button to the right!

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Series Review: "Queen Crow" by J. Bree

Series: Queen Crow

Author: J. Bree

Genre: New Adult RH 

Reading Order & Individual Ratings

1. All Hail - 4 // 5 stars
2. The Ruthless - 5 // 5 stars
3. Queen Crow - 5 // 5 stars

Overall Rating - 4.75 // 5 stars

Goodreads

Okay so the Hannaford Prep series is one of my new all time series. I read it so quickly and loved every single moment of it. I couldn't stop thinking about the characters so I decided just to dive straight into this sequel series without taking a break. This trilogy is a MFM series following Avery, one of the main non-POV characters in Hannaford Prep. It's set pretty much right after the final book and starts a whole new adventure in the Mounts Bay world following Avery while Lips and the boys are on tour out of town. 

First things first, I love Avery. She is absolutely everything to me and I was so excited when I learned that this series was going to be following her. I was also really intrigued to see how the romances would play out in this one after all of the setup in the original series. Basically, I was down for an entire trilogy about Avery.

Basically the plots in this series revolve around the fact that Lips and the boys are out of town so Avery steps up as the Wolf's representative for all things crime-related. There's a lot going on in the criminal underworld for Avery to deal with, as well as threats to the family. Basically, she's a bad bitch taking on the world.

I can't say too much without spoiling the original series but what I can say was that I loved this one. I loved being in this world, in a much grittier way at times, with new characters. I loved getting closer to characters who were only side characters in the original books. I loved seeing Avery really come to the front of the story, though we all knew that she was a mastermind from the original series. I just loved it.

I will say, the one thing I was surprised not to care as much about was the romance. Now, Avery and [REDACTED #1] was EVERYTHING to me and I loved it! However, the romance discussed for a lot of the original series that finally was allowed to shine...didn't really do anything for me. I didn't care about [REDACTED #2] very much in this trilogy. Yes, there were some cute bits and I didn't dislike them. But I think the relationship on page relied too much on the reader knowing they had past history rather than showing the moments that would make a reader love them together. At least, that's how I felt.

That's pretty much my only main gripe with this trilogy. As I said, I loved it and I loved getting to be in this world even longer than I originally expected. I sort of finished the first few Hannaford Prep books not realizing that all these other series were connected to it and that I'd hit the bombshell of luck. 

All in all, I absolutely loved this trilogy and I'm sad to say goodbye for now. I know there's more to come from this world, though it's going to be an agonizing wait, and I can't wait to see what Avery and Lips and all their family does next. 

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Thanks for reading!

xoxo

Lauren

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To get more awesome posts like this post, click the follow button to the right!

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April 2023 Wrap-Up

This month was by far my best reading month of the year. I read a total of 13 books this month (which is almost the amount of the previous three months combined). I loved almost everything I read and I found some new all-time favorites. I also finished three more series this month and reread an entire fourth series which is pretty exciting. So, without further ado, let's get into it! 

March 2023 Wrap-Up

March was an interesting month. I wouldn't say that it was particularly amazing overall but in terms of reading I think I did alright. I read 7 books this month, finished a series, and rated every book 4 stars or above. I'd call that a successful reading month, I think. It was also the most I've read in a month so far this year which I'm pretty happy about. Let's go ahead and get right in!