Morren Aconite

I can’t say January was a successful reading month, though I did manage to find a couple of good books, while trying not to go insane from the reads I’ve picked for reviews on my YT channel.

I’m honestly too lazy to go into detail about each of the books, so here are my brief impressions.

The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels, Janice Hallett

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

A true crime author embarks on a twisted investigation of an old and mysterious case of mass cult suicide and murder, uncovering that there’s much more at play in this case than she’d ever imagined.

I don’t want to explain anything about this book, because I went in unprepared, and LOVED it, so I’d advise you to do the same. It’s an amazingly intricate, multifaceted story of angels, murders and, possibly, the Antichrist.

Thorn In My Side, C.J. Skuse

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Now, this, I was extremely excited about. It’s the fourths book in C.J. Skuse’s ‘Sweetpea’ series, which has stolen my little black heart last year.

Rhiannon’s determination to stay dead and murder-free is wavering with each passing day. Her baby lives under one roof with a convicted criminal, her SIL is abused by her crappy husband, and her fiancé reveals a part of his past that makes her blood boil.

I found this one’s pacing slower than the previous books, but still enjoyed it immensely, and I can’t wait for the last instalment in the series that’s expected this October. Would recommend to all the thriller-true crime-secretly raging-black humor girlies out there.

Penance, Eliza Clark

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Eliza Clark presented us with an intricate examination of a fictional murder case, then cleverly flipped the whole thing upside down in the end. The plot, the vibe, the characters, the way the whole thing spiraled out of control were just 🤌🏼

Silver Nitrate, Silvia Moreno-Garcia

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

A horror novel that blends film, black magic and cults into a fun tale. Though it’s not too original, I did really enjoy the two main characters, whose charisma kept me interested.

The Glow, Jessie Gaynor

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

‘She had a malaise so deep she wondered if it might just be her personality.’

A young woman with a deep dissatisfaction with herself and a huge medical debt stumbles onto an overlooked ‘health retreat’/small cult with an incredibly magnetic leader, which she hopes to turn into a profitable enterprise. I’d expected more plot-wise, but what this book lacked in depth was compensated by a very clever, entertaining and succinct prose.

Spells for Forgetting, Adrienne Young

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

‘We’d had no beginning, I realised. We just always were. When I thought about it like that, it was comforting. Like there was no waiting for an end, either.’

Emotions over a decades-old murder mystery on a sleepy island flare, when the main suspect arrives back in town. Though some of the locals put up a nasty fight, the array of secrets doesn’t want to stay buried any longer.

Despite the book having the promised magical atmosphere, the narrative felt a bit too slow for me, though it might also have been due to my lack of proper investment in the main characters’ stories. Simply put, I just didn’t care enough about any of them to fully enjoy the book.

However, this is still quite an enchanting story, that could, at the very least, be admired for the ✨ vibes✨, which would be perfect for an autumn evening.

All-Night Pharmacy, Ruth Madievsky

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

‘I knew these weren’t the decisions of a well-adjusted person, but I was afraid that examining them further would collapse the popsicle-stick scaffolding holding up my entire life.’

One of those ‘depressed, directionless young woman’ stories, which I normally love. The main character is basically struggling to grow up. She seeks solace in the company of her older sister, who is just a complete train wreck. Both grapple with addiction on top of their codependency issues, and the MC has to go through a lot of traumatic experiences to carve out a separate life for herself.

My investment in this story waned gradually, but steadily, due to the lack of it actually going anywhere. By the end I found myself barely caring, though I enjoyed how everything was resolved.

Beyond Black, Hilary Mantel

⭐️ ⭐️

This was upsetting, though it’s not the novel’s fault. I’ve let myself built too much expectations and got overexcited about the premise, then got annoyed when it wasn’t what I’d imagined. So, my bad.

It is a beautifully narrated story of a traveling psychic, Alison, and her personal assistant, which delves deep into Alison’s past and what it takes to be this close to the other side. Despite my rating, I’d still recommend to give this one a try if you’re into dark and slow tales that focus on tortured characters.

That’s about it for the books that I’d picked up just for fun (not counting a couple of DNFs), but I still have a few mentions I dissected for detailed reviews on YT.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

A Court of Thorns and Roses, Sarah J. Maas

This was a re-read for me, since I’ve decided to film reviews for the whole series. What can I say… Feyre is still annoying as hell, the world is sufficiently pretty and sort of dark-ish to distract you from your life for a brief time, and the romance reads worse the second time around.

⭐️

Court, Tracy Wolff

I didn’t know this clusterf*ck of a series could get any more nonsensically convoluted, but Wolff somehow pulled it off. This is the fourths part of the ‘Crave’ series, and it is truly a migraine-inducing, plot hole-riddled, sickly sweet yet somehow lethally boring mess with the most insufferable main character I’ve ever come across.

Haunting Adeline, H.D. Carlton

⭐️

My initial reaction was: ‘this made me regret having eyes’, and I stand by that.

The Crown of Gilded Bones, Jennifer L. Armentrout

⭐️⭐️

This wasn’t great, but at least it didn’t make me want to unlearn how to read, unlike some of the other books I’ve read this month.

However, the book had 0 plot, and read like one endless info dump peppered with recurring (not at all funny) banter and painfully stretched-out spicy scenes.