I actually completed my goal for 2023 and have since changed it twice. Haha. My new goal is 50 books! (It could rise again, as I’m already at 44.)

I last posted August 10th, and I have read ten books following that update, though one of them was a novella. Still counts. Here is a list of those books and my personal rating of each.

Ink and Bone (Rachel Caine)

Rating: 4.5/5

I love Rachel Caine. I love her writing style, her characters, her stories. If you’ve read her Morganville Vampires series, then you should know that Ink and Bone, and its successors, are worth checking out.

Going Dark (Melissa de la Cruz)

Rating: 4/5

I enjoyed this book a lot. I devoured it in maybe two days. The twist was…not quite believable, in a way, which is why I couldn’t give this a 5/5 rating, but Going Dark is still a great read.

The Things She’s Seen (Ambelin and Ezekiel Kwaymullina)

Rating: 4/5

This was another book I finished in 3-4 days. It was a quick read, and very emotional. The Things She’s Seen is a must-add for your to-be-read pile.

The Watchers (AM Shine)

Rating: 4.5/5

A coworker bought this book for me as a birthday gift. The summary didn’t give anything away, which I appreciate, but it still intrigued me enough to want to read it. I wanted answers, so I tore through The Watchers fairly quickly, and while I liked the explanation, I thought Shine could have ended it a bit sooner and not lost anything. I would highly recommend this book.

Late as a Rabbit (Kendra Moreno)

Rating: 3.5/5

Okay, I like the general idea around this series: a darker Wonderland where Alice is evil. But…I’m not a huge fan of the love stories developing, nor the unnecessary smut. These books feel like something that may have started on Wattpad.

Selfie (Stuart James)

Rating: 3/5

I don’t know how I feel about this book. The premise seemed interesting, but the execution wasn’t really for me, I guess. I can’t even say whether or not I’d recommend it. Just read the summary and decide. Lol.

Enter the Dark House (Laurie Faria Stolarz)

Rating: 4/5

This was a double feature, both Welcome to the Dark House and its sequel Return to the Dark House all in one. I enjoyed these books. They were right up my alley. I mean, trapping contest winners in an amusement park and picking them off based on their biggest fears? I’m such a sucker for that stuff. And, even better, Stolarz didn’t get sidetracked with the romantic relationship, even though her main characters were around the age of eighteen.

Sour Candy (Kealan Patrick Burke)

Rating: 2/5

I did not love this. I’m not even sure Burke knew what his own idea was, or if he just wrote some vague nonsense with no real plot in an attempt to seem deep or weird. The explanation at the end still didn’t clear things up. I don’t know. This wasn’t my cup of tea.

The Dark Room (Lisa Gray)

Rating: 4/5

This book disappointed me so much! It started out okay, seeming like my type of story, but then… It turned into a tale of men being evil, a theme I’m heartily sick of at this point. Even worse than that, the female protagonists were stupid and made all the same mistakes that piss me off in horror movies, with the result that if one of the men hadn’t helped them, they likely wouldn’t have survived. In case you couldn’t tell, Run on Red really annoyed me. And that sucks, because I loved the other books by Ihli that I’ve read (The Thicket and Ask for Andrea).

I read this on a whim. I had a $3 credit through Kindle, but it only applied to a handful of books. This one seemed the most like my type of story, so I bought it. And I’m glad I did! I won’t say too much here, but this is a mystery that will keep you guessing until the end.

Run on Red (Noelle W. Ihli)

Rating: 2/5

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I am currently reading Nightseer by Laurell K. Hamilton and The Nightmare by Lars Kepler.