What I Read in May
We've got a DNF this month, folks.
This was a solid reading month. I didn’t realize how many books I made it through until I sat down to compile them for this post. As usual, I’ve got a little bit of everything, genre-wise, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. We also have what I think is my first DNF for the year.
Let’s get to it.
Heartwood, Amity Gage
Forty-two year old Valerie Gillis is hiking the Appalachian Trail, 200 miles from finishing, when she disappears. The book follows Beverly, the Maine forest warden charged with finding Valerie, and Lena, an elderly woman in a retirement community who finds herself unexpectedly tied up in the search for the missing woman.
The multiple, seemingly disparate, stories woven together here is really amazing and it all comes together in what I felt was a satisfying conclusion.
Rating: Liked it a lot 💕
Our Infinite Fates, Laura Steven
Evelyn can remember almost all of her past lives. She’s died before her 18th birthday in each one of them, most often at the hand of Arden, another supernatural being who can remember all his past lives as well. Evelyn wants to put an end to this loop, but Arden refuses. Determined to live past the age of 18, Evelyn sets out to outwit Arden.
The premise of this story is really cool and unique, but the bits I ended up enjoying the most are the ones where we get glimpses into Evelyn’s past lives. From Ancient Rome to WWI, the author must have done tons of research for these flashbacks and I found them fascinating. The end got a little confusing, but ultimately I enjoyed this one!
Rating: Liked it a lot 💕
Scythe & Sparrow, Brynn Weaver
The last book in the ruinous love trilogy follows the romance between Fionn and Rose that has been hinted at throughout the other books. Fionn is a doctor in a rural town when Rose rolls in with the circus. She gets up to some vigilante shit and ends up with a shattered leg. Fionn offers to let her stay with him while she recovers.
The timeline of this book got super wonky, and I think that’s mostly because the author needed to make it fit in with the bits she’d already teased in the other two books of the series. All in all, it was fine. I preferred it to the second book, but the first one is still the best. If you haven’t picked these up yet, you can stick with Butcher & Blackbird and leave it at that.
Rating: It was fine 😐
One of Our Kind, Nicola Yoon
Jasmyn and her husband King move with their young son to the town of Liberty, a town founded on the principal that it is a Black utopia. Only (wealthy) Black people live there, and while Jasmyn likes the sense of safety and security the town provides, she can’t help but feel like something is off. The attitude of most of the residents of Liberty around social justice and racial inequality is strange and off-putting to Jasmyn, and she meets a few other residents who feel the same. When her new friends start acting strangely, Jasmyn is determined to find out what’s really going on in Liberty.
This is sort of like a Black Stepford Wives scenario, but I will tell you I did not see the ending coming. I wasn’t sure what I expected, but it wasn’t that. It was absolutely a page turner and I flew through this one.
Rating: Loved it ❤️
A Sea of Unspoken Things, Adrienne Young
James and her twin brother Johnny were inseparable growing up in their small, secluded town in northern California. But when James left for college she left Six Rivers for good, and the siblings drifted apart. Then Johnny is killed in a hunting accident and James has come home to deal with his affairs. Unconvinced her brother’s death was an accident, and haunted by the feeling her brother is still with her, James starts doing her own investigating.
I typically like Adrienne Young books and I liked this one, too, but it firmly lands in the camp of being just fine for me. Not bad, but I wouldn’t rush to read it if you’re considering it.
Rating: It was fine 😐
(DNF) Blue Sisters, Coco Mellors
This is a story about three sisters grappling with the death of the fourth. If you like very character driven books this one may be for you, but I am a plot girly. I also didn’t find any of these characters particularly compelling and in fact didn’t care for them at all. Once I decided that is when I ditched the book.
People really seemed to like this one though! So don’t let me stop you. It just wasn’t for me.
And that wraps us up for May books. June is off to a good start. I just finished Quicksilver by Callie Hart and now I will never be the same again and I am in a deep depression that I finished the book and the second one isn’t out until November but then I’ll read that one and lord knows when the one after that will be out and none of it is good for my mental state, honestly.
What was the last book you read that you couldn’t put down?
The way we are all feral for fisher.
I liked Sea of Unspoken things but I’m still waiting for Young to do another “Unmaking of June Farrow” level book.
I am also counting days until Quicksilver sequel is out so I hear ya friend!!!