WINTER 2022 ANTICIPATED RELEASES

2022 is already shaping up to be a good year for new releases. In this list, I have my Winter 2022 anticipated books (which includes the months of January and February).

JANUARY

 

 

 

1. The Girl Who Knew Too Much by Tiffany Brookes ~ January 1, 2022

The Girl Who Knew Too Much is about twenty teenagers who are dropped on a deserted island to compete for a cash prize but there is also a vast treasure hidden on the island that everyone else is also looking for and they will stop at nothing to find it. It's a mystery thriller and it sounds so good that I've already preordered it and am excited to read it. 

2. Love at First Spite by Anna E Collins ~ January 4, 2022

I recently got into contemporary adult romance and this one is supposed to be about an interior designer who teams up with an architect at her firm to get revenge on her ex by building a spite house next door to him. It's also supposed to be sort of grumpy x sunshine which is one of my favorite tropes. 

3. Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins ~ January 4, 2022

The Royals duology by Rachel Hawkins is one of my favorite YA Contemporary series so I am excited to try one of Rachel Hawkins' adult thrillers. This is about a group of mostly entitled 20 somethings who are all on trips on a remote island. It begins as a fun journey but eventually leads to murder. 

4. Echoes and Empires by Morgan Rhodes ~ January 4, 2022

This is by the same author who wrote the Falling Kingdoms series which I loved and is about a a world where magic is forbidden and a girl who has to team up with a criminal in order to cure herself of forbidden magic. 

5. Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan~ January 11, 2022

This is a retelling of the legend of Chang'e who is the Chinese moon goddess and honestly it was the cover that sold me on this book because it is so pretty. 

6. The Bone Spindle by Leslie Vedder ~ January 11, 2022

This is pitched as a genderbent Sleeping Beauty meets Indiana Jones and is also compared to Sorcery of Thorns which is a favorite of mine and the book just seems like so much fun. 

7. How to Love Your Neighbor by Sophie Sullivan ~ January 18, 2022

This is another contemporary romance book and it's an enemies to lovers book about a woman who is trying to fix up a beach house. However, when a real estate developer moves in next door who wants to buy the house that she wants to fix up, the two end up in an all-out feud.

8. Lucky Leap Day by Ann Marie Walker ~ January 18, 2022

The main reason this book originally intrigued me is that it reminded me of the rom-com movie Leap Year.  This book is about a woman who wakes up to find out she proposed to a man on Leap Day in Ireland and now has a husband. I am so excited for this one! 

9. The Red Palace by June Hur ~ January 25, 2022

This is a historical fantasy thriller book set in Korea, about a girl who has a position as a palace nurse but when four women are murdered one night, her teacher is the prime suspect and she is determined to clear him and launch her own secret investigation.

FEBUARY 

1. Castles in Their Bones by Laura Sebastian ~ February 1, 2022

This is by the same author who wrote the Ash Princess series and though I've never read that series, this book reminds me of the Three Dark Crowns series and the cover is beautiful. It's abut three sisters who were trained from birth to takeover kingdoms. 

2. This Woven Kingdom by Tahereh Mafi ~ February 1, 2022

The Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi is one of my favorite series and this is supposed to be the first book in a series inspired by Persian mythology.

3. These Deadly Games by Diana Urban ~ February 1, 2022

I read All Your Twisted Secrets by Diana Urban and though I didn't love it, this book is another young adult thriller that seems to have even bigger stakes and it has a game trope which I am always down for. 

4. Horror Hotel by Victoria Fulton ~ February 1, 2022

This book is a YA horror book about teen ghost hunters who spend the night in a haunted LA hotel who expect it to be spooky and attract subscribers to their video but harmless overall. However, they stumble upon something unexpected in the former room of a serial killer and realize that they're in way over their heads. It sounds really fast paced and I love a good YA horror story.

5. Bright Ruined Things by Samantha Cohoe ~ February 15, 2022

This is a retelling of The Tempest by Shakespeare and I don't think I've ever read a retelling of this story. It's definitely looks like it's set in the 1920s from the cover and I'm really excited to read it. 

5. Only a Monster by Vanessa Len ~ February 22, 2022

This is about a girl who is half monster and wants to be a hero, with rival families and a paranormal world hidden within London. It's compared to This Savage Song which I loved and it gives me The Infernal Devices vibes as well which I also loved. 

6. Extasia by Claire Legrand ~ February 22, 2022

Claire Legrand has written some of my favorite books and I am excited to read another one from her. This is a YA horror novel about a girl who has joined a coven in order to root out a vicious evil that's stalking her village. 

7. League of Liars by Astrid Scholte ~ February 22, 2022

This is a fantasy thriller that is about four teens who were charged with murder and the illegal use of magic who have to work together to devise the ultimate jailbreak. This is compared to Six of Crows and that has sold me.

8. Daughters of a Dead Empire by Carolyn Tara O'Neil ~ February 22, 2022

This is pitched as Anastasia and Romanov related and anytime a book is pitched to be that, I immediately have to read it. It is an alternate history set during the Russian Revolution about Anna, a bourgeois girl who escaped the massacre of her entire family. 

JUNE '21 WRAP-UP

   

Time for another wrap up!

Hey everyone. I honestly can't believe June is over as it went by so fast. I did take a summer class in June and it had a lot of work so I didn't have as much time to read or blog but I'm hoping things will be better soon. I hope you all are doing well. 

I read a lot of new favorites this month and I am excited to share them with you. I read a total of seven books this month.

Time to talk about the books I read this month.

PHYSICAL BOOKS

 

The first book I read was Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare. This is the last book in The Infernal Devices series and I just have to say that this series completely lived up to the hype. While the book made me cry multiple times, especially in the epilogue, I think it was a perfect end to the trilogy. I rated this one 5 Crowns. 

The second book I read was She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen. This is about a basketball player named Scottie who gets into a fender-bender with her nemesis, Irene, after she loses a basketball game. Things get worse when their moms get involved and they are forced to carpool together until Irene's car gets fixed. And then when an opportunity presents itself for Scottie to get back at her toxic ex, she bribes Irene into going with her plan. I adored the characters and their voices. This was such a quick-paced read and it was so much fun. I rated it 4 Crowns. 

The third book I read was Written in the Stars by Alexandra Bellefleur. This is about Darcy who wants her well-meaning brother to stop playing matchmaker, especially after a disastrous blind date, so when he asks how the date went, she lies and says that it was a success. Elle is an astrologer behind a popular Twitter account and business, Oh My Stars, and dreams of finding her soulmate. She knows it is "most assuredly not Darcy" who is way too skeptical and punctual for someone like Elle. But when Darcy's brother, who also happens to be Elle's business partner, expresses how happy he is that the two hit it off, she is so confused. Darcy begs Elle to play along so she agrees to pretend they're dating for awhile. It took me a bit to get into this book but once I did, I loved it. I rated it 5 Crowns. 

 

The fourth book I read was Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales. This book is about Darcy who gives anonymous love advice to her classmates by accepting requests through an empty locker at her school. One day, she is caught collecting letters from the locker by Brougham, who, she does not get along with. He threatens to expose her as the person who's running the anonymous relationship advice service unless she helps him get his ex-girlfriend back. So, she agrees to become his personal dating coach at a generous hourly rate. What could go wrong? This book made me laugh and made me cry and was overall such a good time. I loved the representation in this book and this has become a new favorite book of mine. I rated it 5 Crowns. 

The fifth book I read was Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston. This is a middle grade book about Amari Peters, whose brother has recently gone missing and no one seems to be looking for him. Then, she discovers a briefcase in her brother's closet which is meant for her eyes only. She learns that there was a lot more to her brother than she'd ever known. He's left her a nomination for a summer 'camp' at the secret Bureau of Supernatural Affairs and she figures that the only way she'll find out what happened to him lies somewhere inside. Once there, besides coming to terms with the existence of creatures such as mermaids, magicians and dwarves, Amari must compete against some of the nation's wealthiest kids who've known about the supernatural world their whole lives. But then Amari is given an illegal ability which makes her stand out even more and with an evil magician threatening the supernatural world, her classmates start thinking she's an enemy when all she really wants is to figure out what happened to her brother. This was such a cute book that was very fast-paced with a ton of plot-twists, and I understand why it is so popular. Amari was such an interesting main character and I loved seeing her grow over the course of the book. I rated this 4 Crowns. 

The sixth book I read was King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo. This is the companion series to the Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows series. King of Scars is set years after the events of the Shadow and Bone and follows Nikolai. I can't say much about this because it would spoil the previous series' but I loved seeing these beloved characters again and going through their grief as well as their triumphs and happiness. I rated this 5 Crowns. 

The seventh book I read was Some Girls Do by Jennifer Dugan. This was about Morgan who is an elite track athlete, forced to transfer high schools late in her senior year when her private Catholic school finds out she's queer and decides that goes against their code of conduct. At her new school she meets Ruby who loves to fix cars and competes in local beauty pageants because of her overbearing mother. The two, despite initially clashing, are drawn to each other and can't deny their growing feelings. Jennifer Dugan wrote Hot Dog Girl which I read last year and loved and this was also such a good book. It took me a little while to like the two main characters, but I still really enjoyed it. I rated this one 4 Crowns. 

AUDIOBOOKS READ

NONE

ARC'S READ

NONE

REVIEWS IN JUNE: 

NONE

WEEKLY WRAP-UP:

NONE

DISCUSSIONS/OTHER:

NONE

FAVORITE COVER OF THE MONTH:

NEW FICTIONAL BAE'S: 

Jem from Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

Will from Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

Nikolai from King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo 

Brougham from Perfect on Paper by Sophia Gonzales 

NEW FAVORITE FEMALES: 

Tessa from Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

Zoya from King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo 

NEW FAVORITE BOOK RELATIONSHIPS: 

Jem and Tessa from Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare 

Darcy and Elle from Written in the Stars by Alexandra Bellefleur 

Darcy and Brougham from Perfect on Paper by Sophia Gonzales 

Zoya and Nikolai from King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo 

TV SHOWS I WATCHED THIS MONTH:

MOVIES I WATCHED THIS MONTH:

NONE

WHAT BOOKS I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT MONTH:

There's so many more but these are the main ones! 

NEW BLOG FINDS

NONE

SONGS ON REPEAT

Brutal - Olivia Rodrigo 

Dead in the Water - SPELLES

All The Things She Said - Poppy 

I Wanna Be Your Slave - Maneskin 

Last Dance - Victoria 

Beggin - Maneskin 

Zitti E Buoni - Maneskin 

El Diablo - Elena Tsagrinou 

Teeth Live from the Vault - Five Seconds of Summer

The Darkest Places - Le Bon 

Dark Side - Blind Channel 

 BOOKS I WANT TO READ NEXT MONTH

The graphics at the top belong to me. The background pictures for them, however do not.

MAY '21 WRAP-UP

  

Time for another wrap up!

Hey everyone. I took an extended leave of absence from this blog to focus on college and work but I think I am back for now. I hope everyone is doing well. 

I mostly read backlisted books this month but I had a pretty good reading month and managed to read a total of eight books. 

Time to talk about the books I read this month.

PHYSICAL BOOKS

 

 

The first book I read was Find Me Their Bones by Sara Wolf. This is the sequel to Bring Me Their Hearts which was one of my favorite books of 2020. The first book ended on a cliffhanger and this book immediately dives back in right where the first one left off. I can't say much without spoiling anything but I loved the character development of all the characters and the development of the friendships and romantic relationships. I rated it 4 Crowns. 

The second book I read was Send Me Their Souls by Sara Wolf which is the last book in the Bring Me Their Hearts series. This was a pretty satisfying conclusion to the series and I really enjoyed it overall. I rated it 4 Crowns as well. 

The third book I read was Realm of Ash by Tasha Suri. This is the companion book to Empire of Sand which I read awhile ago. This follows a girl named Arwa who has just been widowed and moves to the palace to live with a bunch of other widows. There she pledges service to the royal family and is joined by Zahir who is the illegitimate prince who has turned to forbidden magic in order to save those he loves. It is pretty slow-paced book but makes up for it with the twists it throws at you in the second half of the book. I rated this one 3.5 Crowns. 

The fourth, fifth and sixth books I read were the three books in the And I Darken series by Kiersten White. I binge-read this entire series and while I do not recommend this as the way to read this series, I still ended up enjoying them for the most part. This is a Vlad the Impaler gender-bent retelling. My favorite part of the series was probably the characters and I enjoyed seeing their relationships with each other as well as their character development over the entire series. I rated And I Darken: 4 Crowns, Now I Rise: 4 Crowns and Bright We Burn: 3.5 Crowns. 

The seventh book I read was Black Canary Breaking Silence by Alexandra Monir. This is a novel based on the character Black Canary aka Dinah Lance from DC Comics. Unfortunately I didn't love this one, as I thought despite knowing the characters their development felt really rushed. However, I thought the overall storyline was really cool. I rated it 3 Crowns.

The eighth book I read was Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare. This is the first book in The Infernal Devices which is a prequel series to The Mortal Instruments. People have been telling me to read this series for awhile and I am glad I finally started it. I really loved all the characters and getting to learn about some of the families I already knew about from the first few books of The Mortal Instruments series. I rated this one 4.5 Crowns. 

The ninth and last book I read this month was Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare. This is the second book in The Infernal Devices trilogy and I loved this one even more than the first book. I loved seeing the characters develop and their relationships with each other progress. I rated this one 5 Crowns. 

AUDIOBOOKS READ

NONE

ARC'S READ

NONE

REVIEWS IN JUNE: 

NONE

WEEKLY WRAP-UP:

NONE

DISCUSSIONS/OTHER:

NONE

FAVORITE COVER OF THE MONTH:

NEW FICTIONAL BAE'S: 

Lucien from Find Me Their Bones by Sara Wolf

Jem from Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

NEW FAVORITE FEMALES: 

Zera from Find Me Their Bones by Sara Wolf

Arwa from Realm of Ash by Tasha Suri

Tessa from Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

NEW FAVORITE BOOK RELATIONSHIPS: 

Lucien and Zera from Find Me Their Bones by Sara Wolf

TV SHOWS I WATCHED THIS MONTH:

MOVIES I WATCHED THIS MONTH:

NONE

WHAT BOOKS I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT MONTH:

There's so many more but these are the main ones! 

NEW BLOG FINDS

NONE

SONGS ON REPEAT

Good 4 U - Olivia Rodrigo 

Brutal - Olivia Rodrigo 

Mr. Perfectly Fine - Taylor Swift

Trouble - Valerie Broussard 

Your Hands - GRAE

Dead in the Water - SPELLES

Follow the White Rabbit - Madison Beer 

Maneater - Nelly Furtado 

Poor Marionette - Sarah Cothran 

 BOOKS I WANT TO READ NEXT MONTH

 

The graphics at the top belong to me. The background pictures for them, however do not.

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong Book Review

 This is a spoiler free review.

These Violent Delights

Written by Chloe Gong

Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy/Retelling

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Release Date: November 17, 2020

Pages: 449
Source: Bought

Places to Get this Book: Amazon Barnes and Noble Book Depository

Recommended Age: 13 and up!

Summary:

The year is 1926, and Shanghai hums to the tune of debauchery.

A blood feud between two gangs runs the streets red, leaving the city helpless in the grip of chaos. At the heart of it all is eighteen-year-old Juliette Cai, a former flapper who has returned to assume her role as the proud heir of the Scarlet Gang—a network of criminals far above the law. Their only rivals in power are the White Flowers, who have fought the Scarlets for generations. And behind every move is their heir, Roma Montagov, Juliette’s first love…and first betrayal.

But when gangsters on both sides show signs of instability culminating in clawing their own throats out, the people start to whisper. Of a contagion, a madness. Of a monster in the shadows. As the deaths stack up, Juliette and Roma must set their guns—and grudges—aside and work together, for if they can’t stop this mayhem, then there will be no city left for either to rule.

(Summary from Goodreads)

Review:

"The year is 1926 and Shanghai hums to the tune of debauchery."

These Violent Delights is the debut book of Chloe Gong, which is a YA retelling of Romeo and Juliet set in 1920s Shanghai with rivaling gangs and a river monster. So far, this was one of my favorite books of the year.

COVER

The cover definitely accurately portrays the overall vibe of the book. I love how the roses cover the sword which are a nod to the classic Romeo and Juliet story.

WORLD-BUILDING

Chloe Gong managed to make the world of Shanghai in the 1920s a really immersive experience that I felt as if I could see myself walking along the streets alongside the characters. The city of Shanghai is unofficially divided into two territories. One of which belongs to the Scarlet Gang and the other belongs to the White Flowers. These two rival gangs have been ruling Shanghai, however, a madness is now spreading throughout the city with members of both gangs dying by clawing out their own throats. These Violent Delights also commented on and portrayed Western imperialism. Chloe Gong showed the various foreigners coming into Shanghai and making a home in a city that was not theirs, and showed how helpless the Chinese people felt. It also showed how embedded Western culture was in the city of Shanghai, as well as other cities and places not in the Western world.

Then there are the characters. (This book is told in three POVs)

JULIETTE CAI

Juliette Cai was a strong character who immediately became my favorite character. She was the badass, fierce, take no prisoners character of the book and was not afraid to do what she had to do to protect her people and her family. She frequently questions and struggles with her identity as she was sent to live and grow up in the U.S. for a large part of her life which makes her feel out of place in Shanghai. She is far more Chinese than the white foreigners around her, however, she feels out of place with her gang and her family due to the way she dresses, the way she speaks, and even her own name which she changed in the U.S. because she was made fun of for her Chinese name.

ROMA MONTAGOV

Roma Montagov is the heir to The White Flowers gang who are Russian, however he doesn't like violence and isn't sure he wants to be the heir to the gang. He appeared to be rough and ruthless however, that seemed to be a mask he put on in order to assume the role as heir to gang. He also was caring and tender to the people he loves.

FRIENDSHIP/FAMILY

The families in this book are the rival gangs which are definitely important to the book. The complications of these families is showcased pretty front and center. The loyalty to your gang/family and how it is challenged by who you dare to love was a large theme in the story.

PLOT

These Violent Delights is a Romeo and Juliet retelling set in 1920s Shanghai with two rival gangs: The White Flowers and The Scarlet Gang. When a monster which is lurking in Shanghai causes multiple people to get sick and tear out their own throats, Juliette (the heir to The Scarlet Gang) while Roma (the heir to The White Flowers gang), have to put aside their rivalry in order to figure out what's going on and stop it. While the plot wasn't fast-paced the entire way through, it had many twists and turns that kept my interest throughout.

ROMANCE

Despite this being a retelling of Romeo and Juliet, the romance in this is very different. I know there are quite a few people who didn't enjoy the romance between Roma and Juliette however, I enjoyed it, but I do wish that we had gotten flashbacks. Roma and Juliette's romantic history was referenced a lot but there were never any real flashbacks which would have provided a lot more context. Roma and Juliette come from two rival gangs however they also seemed to be childhood best-friends before they were anything romantic. However, before Juliette went to the U.S. they had an extreme falling out having to do with their families, which leads us to their relationship now. Their relationship was full of a lot of angst and was a definite enemies to lovers relationship.

WRITING

Chloe Gong's writing really brings 1920s Shanghai to life. She makes it seem as if the reader is walking down the streets or sitting in a crowded nightclub with Juliette and Roma. I love the descriptive writing she uses as it flows easily and keeps the reader immersed but isn't overly flowery so it isn't hard to get through.

FINAL THOUGHTS

These Violent Delights is an amazing book about rival gangs in Shanghai who's heirs have to put aside their differences in order to solve a mystery of a monster roaming the streets. I especially loved the plot, the writing style and the complex characters. I highly recommend it.

Quotes from the Book:

"That is what this city is. The party at the end of the world." 

"The stars incline us, they do not bind us." 

"I was raised in hatred, Roma. I could never be your lover, only your killer." 

My Rating: 5 out of 5 Crowns