I’ve finally started getting back into reading more consistently the last couple of months. Last month, I read 4 books, which I feel like is pretty good considering how busy I’ve been! And I’m happy to announce I had a 5-star read! Here are the books I read in May 2023 – no spoilers!
A Throne of Ruin Book Review
Author: K.F. Breene
Series: Deliciously Dark Fairytales #2
Genre: Fantasy, Beauty & The Beast retelling
Pages: 445
Release Date: November 12, 2021
This is the second book in the Deliciously Dark Fairytales series. This book starts with Finley back at home with her family in her village. Nyfain, the dragon prince, has let her go. But of course, she’s going to go back to the castle to be with him. It’s kind of hard to even explain what this book is about – and honestly, there’s not much I could say to even make it a spoiler, because there’s a lack of plot in my opinion.
We’re kept in the dark about who the Demon King is and what he wants pretty far into the second book. There’s a lot of sex – and I mean a lot, and relationship development between Nyfain and Finley, but it’s frustrating, because it feels like there’s a lack of true communication between them, perhaps because of the curse. To me, the biggest storyline in this book is Finley continuing to work on her potions and cures and help other villages by teaching them the “recipes.”
Also, in general about this series, I kind of dislike the emphasis on the demons and staff in the castle being so fixated on sex and orgies. Like why?
I’m on a break from this series. The ending was intriguing enough that I’ll probably read book 3 eventually, but I’m good for now.
Adelaide Book Review
Author: Genevieve Wheeler
Genre: Chick Lit, Coming of Age, Contemporary Fiction
Pages: 304
Release Date: April 18, 2023
Trigger Warnings for Adelaide: suicidal ideation, sexual assault, miscarriage, and emotional abuse
Adelaide was a new release, and my work’s book club book of the month. I actually listened to this one on Audible while driving to Mississippi.
It’s about 26 year-old Adelaide, who lives in London (is also obsessed with London), and starts dating a guy – Rory – that is very handsome and charismatic, but overall, doesn’t care about her in the slightest. I personally don’t think Rory truly cares about anyone but himself and that’s shown throughout the book, but I won’t spoil it.
The book has flashbacks from both Adelaide and Rory’s point-of-views that show their past relationships and how they’ve moved through life – both the good and the bad. Some of the book is quite dark, especially for Adelaide, see trigger warning above. And when Rory goes through tragedy, Adelaide is there for him, but is he ever there for her?
While this was a hard book to read, Adelaide had a great support system in her friends which I enjoyed, and the ending of the book isn’t as bleak as the blurb and my review might make it seem.
The Ex I’d Love to Hate Book Review
Author: Nadia Lee
Genre: Enemies-to-lovers, workplace romance, second chance romance
Pages: 474
Release Date: January 12, 2023
The Ex I’d Love to Hate is a second-chance, enemies-to-lovers romance by an author I always enjoying reading – Nadia Lee. Her books and characters are witty, charming, and fun.
Grant Lasker is a rich, polo-playing college student, while Aspen works at the library to help pay for school. Despite their differences, they end up falling in love, but it all comes crashing down when she realizes there was a bet between Grant and his friends about who could sleep with her first. This is all in the first half of the book – where we’re basically with them in college and getting the back story.
The second half of the book seems to be the real story – it’s 14 years later, and Aspen has been working non-stop, multiple jobs since she left college and didn’t finish. And now her grandpa (her grandparents raised her) is in a nursing home – she gets a new job as an assistant that just happens to be for Grant.
He wants to make her life miserable, because he feels she abandoned him, but Aspen won’t quit so easily. And wasn’t he the one that wronged her?
Overall, I think this book could have been shorter, but I enjoyed it as an easy read, even if all the miscommunication seemed kind of silly. And I loved how the grandparents fit into the story.
The Serpent and the Wings of Night Book Review
Author: Carissa Broadbent
Series: Crowns of Nyaxia #1
Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal, Enemies-to-lovers
Pages: 532
Release Date: August 30, 2022
Even though this was my 5-star read, I’m not going to go into this book too much… and that’s because I’m actually working on a full summary review!! But I’ll go ahead and paste my quick blurb here…
The short synopsis of this book is that it’s about a girl named Oraya, a human who is adopted by the Nightlord vampire king and lives in a vampire-dominated world. To be honest, she despises being human, because she doesn’t get to enjoy life and is always on guard against the vampires surrounding her. To change this, she plans to compete in the Kejari – a tournament with fighting to survival, and the winner gets a wish granted by the goddess Nyaxia. To stay alive, she aligns herself with a vampire in the game named Raihn. When alliances are only temporary, what happens when she likes to start Raihn more than she should? Who will win?
I really enjoyed this book, and I’m excited to read book 2! Also, so happy it’s just a duology! Maybe that’s why I’m procrastinating reading it… bittersweet. But the long series can get exhausting.
Final Thoughts
Anyways, hope you enjoyed my May 2023 reading wrap-up and got some ideas on books to read! Let me know if you read any of these books – in the comments or over on Instagram! If you liked these quick book reviews, I’d love for you to share this post!
