All the Books I’ve Read this Month - November 2023
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All the Books I've Read this Month - A Mix of Spooky and Holiday Vibes
Ah, another month, another dive into my book world.
November always feels like that in-between month, especially when it comes to reading, you know?
We're saying Au Revoir to spooky season (between you and me, shouldn’t every season be spooky season? Too bad I don’t make the rules.) and getting ready for the holiday vibes.
And my reading list this November? It’s a mirrorball (did that word make you smile, Swiftie?) to that transitional phase.
Some books still carry that Halloween spookiness, while others lean into the warmth of holiday romances. It's quite the blend, you’ll see.
While we’re all here talking about books, I’d love your opinion on something.
If you’ve been hanging around for a while, you might know that I live on a French island in the heart of the Indian Ocean.
It’s dreamy with its beautiful beaches, endless sun and tropical vibe.
But when it comes to books, let me tell you, it’s a headache.
Amazon? Not the best friend to Reunion Island people like me. Shipping costs? Astronomical! I’d probably be cheaper to fly to Paris, buy the book I want and fly back.
Plus, finding English books here? A treasure hunt!
Ordering them from the local bookstore like the FNAC? A wait of about 3 months. Yes, you read that right!
So, my Kindle has been my trusty companion lately, for obvious reasons. Yet, I'm starting to miss the pleasure of holding a physical book.
I find myself torn…
Should I embrace reading books in French, relishing the feel of a real book even if it's a translated version?
Or do I stick to the original versions on my Kindle?
What's your take on this?
If you're multilingual, do you prefer reading in the original language or opt for your mother tongue? Let me know in the comments below.
Enough of my musings, though. Let’s get into the juicy part—my November book roundup.
Oh god. I have SO MUCH to say about this book.
📖 SYNOPSIS 📖
Hannah and Christopher have been trying to have a child for many years, sadly, with no success. One day, a wounded, bloody, and starved baby is brought to the emergency room of the hospital where they both work. Severely abused and malnourished, she is quickly taken care of by a medical team of which Christopher is a part. Fueled by a feral paternal need to protect this child, he quickly develops a strong bond with her that will change their lives forever.
📖 REVIEW 📖
A few weeks ago, I read about a new subgenre of Horror called “Horrors of Parenting” on Goodreads and thought to myself *as a mom, mind you* that I should give it a try. I’d love to read about creepy kids. How bad can it be, right?
Well, now I know. It can get really really really bad.
This book HAUNTS me. I can’t stop thinking about it.
The beginning was a little slow and I was quickly reading through the pages impatient to get to the good part. I could just feel that something creepy was about to happen and I was there for it.
But then, things started to change. The creepy vibes that I loved in the first chapters quickly turned into discomfort, unease, tension, and apprehensiveness.
And from there, the book felt like a relentless nosedive into darkness.
All I could do was read with my eyes wide open and hope for the best.
And as I read the last page, I remember turning to my husband, fear in my eyes, and saying “What the actual F*CK”.
This book is a horrifying freefall into parental hell that will live in my mind for a long time.
Parents, and future parents, be warned.
💅🏻 FEMINIST RANT 💅🏻
I also have a few things to say about this book when it comes to feminism. But that would have been too much to add here. So, if you’d like to read my feminist rage rant on Good reads, click on the button below and rage with me, sister.
This book gave me whiplash after whiplash after whiplash... and then some more.
📚 SYNOPSIS 📚
Kit McDeere faced a sudden job loss as a home health aide when her patient—her own mother—passed away under mysterious circumstances.
Yet, declared innocent, Kit’s lifeline now rests on caring for Lenora Hope, a local legend entangled in the tragic murder of her family.
Taking a chance, Kit steps into Hope’s End, a weather-beaten mansion on a cliff's edge, aiming for a fresh start. But appearances are deceiving.
Hope’s End masks a complex web of secrets, deceit, and obscured truths, plunging Kit into the heart of untangling the enigmatic night the Hope family met their devastating end.
📚 REVIEW 📚
Riley Sager has been one of my favorite automatic reads for the longest time. However, lately, his books have left me a little... meh (looking at you The House Across the Lake).
So, I was a little bit reluctant when I heard about The Only One Left, afraid to be disappointed again.
Well, that did not happen. At least, not at first.
The book had everything to make it a great gothic suspense thriller. The gloomy manor perched on the cliff, leaning over the crashing waves. The mysterious characters living inside, the eerie atmosphere.
For the most part, I LOVED it. Until I got to the last 100 pages.
From there, it was just sad and predictable plot twist after plot twist giving me absolute whiplash. There was just too much going on in this book, it made me roll my eyes at every page.
It was unbelievable and completely ruined the experience for me.
Sometimes less is more. In this case, a LOT less would have been better.
I guess, Riley Sage is off my Automatic Read list.
💅🏻 FEMINIST RANT 💅🏻
If you’d like to know about my feminist rant on this book, check out my Goodreads review.
#3 Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date - Ashely Herring Blake
Star Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️/5
Spice levels: 🌶️ / 5
Rainbow love 🌈
About the Book: Everyone around Iris Kelly is in love. Her best friends are all coupled up, her siblings have partners that are perfect for them, her parents are still in marital bliss. And she’s happy for all of them, truly. So what if she usually cries in her Lyft on the way home. So what if she misses her friends, who are so busy with their own wonderful love lives, they don’t really notice Iris is spiraling. At least she has a brand-new career writing romance novels (yes, she realizes the irony of it). She is now working on her second book but has one problem: she is completely out of ideas after having spent all of her romantic energy on her debut.
Perfectly happy to ignore her problems as per usual, Iris goes to a bar in Portland and meets a sexy stranger, Stefania, and a night of dancing and making out turns into the worst one-night stand Iris has had in her life (vomit and crying are regretfully involved). To get her mind off everything and overcome her writer's block, Iris tries out for a local play, but comes face-to-face with Stefania—or, Stevie, her real name. When Stevie desperately asks Iris to play along as her girlfriend, Iris is shocked, but goes along with it because maybe this fake relationship will actually get her creative juices flowing and she can get her book written. As the two women play the part of a couple, they turn into a constant state of hot-and-bothered and soon it just comes down to who will make the real first move…
Author: Ashley Herring Blake
Release Date: October 24, 2023 by Berkley
Genre: Fiction, Romance
Pages: 400 pages, Kindle Edition
Star Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️/5
Spice Level: 🌶️ / 5
Rainbow love: ✅ 🌈
How I See it:
This is the second book by author Ashley Herring Blake that I've read and I'm just as in love with it. I loved finding the characters from Bright Falls in this book. There’s just something about reading a book where you meet characters that you already know and dive deeper into some you know less. This book follows two very different women whose paths will cross. From there, a cozy love story full of twists and turns will unfold. The characters we get to know through these pages are interesting and full of depth. It was a pleasure reading this book, and I'm already looking forward to seeing these characters in Ashley Herring Blake's other books.
Feminist Rant:
YES! Is all I have to say about this book. There is diversity. There is consent. There is emotional maturity. There is mental illness representation. There is gender fluidity. There are loving, supportive and respectful relationships. It felt so good to read. Loved it. Can’t get enough.
What I Liked:
🩵 Love the cover.
🩵 Cozy comfort love story.
🩵 Sapphic masterpieces
🩵 Spicy at times.
🩵 Diversity in all shapes and forms.
🩵 Consent, everywhere.
What I Didn’t Like:
💔 Would have loved more spiciness
💔 The end felt a little rushed
#4 The Twelve Days of Murder - Andreina Cordani
Star Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ /5
✨ About the Book ✨
Twelve years ago, eight friends ran an exclusive group at The Masquerade Murder Society. The mysteries they solved may have been grisly, and brilliantly staged, but they were always fictional—until their final Christmas Masquerade, when one of the group disappeared, never to be seen again.
Now our young, privileged cast of old university friends are summoned to the depths of Scotland for a Christmas-themed masquerade party. But all are hiding something deep below the surface that could make or break their careers. Charley is a struggling actress who has always been on the periphery of this high-flying group, but has decided to reunite with her frenemies on the promise of career help if she joins the old cast for one last weekend.
It quickly becomes clear that in this game the murder will be all too real, and the story is bringing long-hidden secrets to the surface. Will Charley’s discerning eye and outsider status allow her to uncover the truth, or will she, too, fall prey to the murderer among them?
If the group hopes to win the game and survive until Christmas morning, they will need to face the truth about their history together and who they have become—and what really happened on that fateful night twelve years before.
Author: Andreina Cordani
Release Date: November 7, 2023 by Pegasus Crime
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Christmas Thriller
Pages: 384 pages, Hardcover
Star Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️/5
📚 How I See it 📚
I read this book in November and it was the perfect first cozy holiday mystery thriller of the season. I devoured this book. The writing was clever and I loved how the author dropped seemingly unimportant clues throughout the story for readers to pick up on. I enjoyed playing the detective and trying to solve this mystery as I read along. The characters were interesting and well constructed but it was a lot to keep track of all of them. I had to keep notes while reading to make sure I wasn’t confusing them. Nonetheless, I enjoyed getting to know all of them and tried to guess their dark secret until the very end. This book was a super fun and cozy winter read that had me hooked until the very end.
What I Liked:
🩵 Christmas cozy atmosphere with murder mystery theme
🩵 Frenemies
🩵 Whodunnit, Locked room mystery
🩵 Had me guessing until the very end
What I Didn’t Like:
💔 The number of characters can be confusing - I had to keep notes.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for this advanced copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
✨ About the Book ✨
Roses and vines run delicately across her skin, snaking from her chest to the top of her thigh. On any other day the tattoo would look beautiful. But this was her last…
When Detective Maria Miller walks up creaking stairs into the attic of the old brownstone she senses this isn’t an ordinary crime scene. The brutality of the murder is enough to shock even an experienced detective like Maria. But there’s something else. An unsettling presence seems to lurk in the shadows sending a chill through Maria’s bones, making her desperate to run back down the stairs and never return…
The killing is identical to the murder of an actress sixty years before, a crime that tore a family apart and sent shockwaves through New York City. In both cases, a satanic ritual was performed. Body parts were taken from the victims and never found.
Has the killer returned all these years later? Is there a copycat? Maria won’t let fear stop her from finding answers. Even when her relentless pursuit of the truth brings evil to her own door…
Author: Helen Phifer
Release Date: April 26, 2018
Genre: Horror, Thriller,
Pages: 218 pages, Kindle Edition
Star Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ /5
📚 How I See it 📚
The Haunting on West 10th Street by Helen Phifer was the perfect creepy read for transitioning from October to November. It had haunted house vibes, paranormal elements, an Ouija board, and a well-rounded police investigation. I loved the main character, Detective Maria Miller, and her relationship with fellow detective Frankie was well written.
Some parts of the plot were glossed over and did feel like a shortcut. However, this book did keep me entertained until the very end.
What I Liked:
🩵 This book gave me the creeps
🩵 Dual timeline
🩵 Blend between a supernatural intrigue and murder mystery
🩵 Quick read
What I Didn’t Like:
💔 The genre is a little bit all over the place. Is it horror? Is it a mystery cold case with supernatural elements?
💔 Some of the main characters would have benefited from more backstory
💔 Supernatural elements felt a little unbelievable
Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for this advanced copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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