Dear Readers, January was a good month for reading and catching up on my TBR,  I read 8 books this month. I read all the books on my TBR and added 2.  My ratings for this month are 1 five star, 6 fours star and 1 three star. I read 2 graphic novels this month, 4 books in a series, 1 horror, 3 advance reader copies (thanks to Netgalley). I only started 1 new series All of Us Villians.

Five Star Reviews:

Misery by Stephen King is King at his best. Misery is a deeply psychological horror that you cannot put down. White knuckle thrill ride is not a term I use often, but the finale is so tense, that could not help being delighted and terrified of what was on the next page. Misery is a character but also cleverly the tone of this book and what Annie puts Paul through. I have seen the movie Misery, where the excellent Kathy Bates won her Oscar, and thought I knew the story, where some things were similar and right from the page, others were not which made it still terrifying, and had no idea what would happen next. The book is way more brutal and gorier than the movie for one thing. The weakest thing is the story within a story about Misery that the author is forced to write, I needed more about her character and the messy love triangle, that made me very confused, thankfully that is about a 5 percent of the novel and the other 95 percent is amazing

Four Star Reviews:

The Maid by Nita Prose is a warm-hearted mystery that is all about character in a really strong debut novel. What makes this novel so unique is that you have a main character that can not read emotion. We see everything through that person’s eyes so a conversation can feel innocent but can be sinister, some things will be instant red flags, but most will have you guessing the intent of the character. The mystery is good and filled with lots of layers that kept my interest. Molly the Maid has so much charm that so just can’t help but root for against all the odds she’s up against. The Maid reminded me a lot of The Curious Incident of the Dog in Nighttime, which is good company. The beginning took a little while to get going, I thought the chapter lengths at the beginning were too long. The final twist takes a little too long after the main stories conclusion; it was a good twist not for the narrative but for the character of Molly. People have described this as a cozy mystery, which I think fits, there is a murder but not a violent one, Molly is a very likable character full of empathy.

All of Us Villains by Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman is a Young Adult Fantasy with magical elements and death. This is book one in the All of Us Villains Series. The story is The Hunger Games meets Harry Potter’s Triwizard Tournament. A player must kill everyone else to win, and all the players are teenager of magicians, the playing field is full of enchanted items and enchanted locations. What makes this novel is the four angsty teenagers who deal with society, death, media, and hormones. Their are seven champions but only four are followed, I almost feel like we could have followed all but that makes some characters wild cards. The relationships are strong, when alliance’s are broken you know the reason why, even if you’re a little sad it did not work out. I enjoyed the pace of the novel even though it takes a really long time for the champions to start doing what they were put into the tournament to do, which is try to kill each other.

Yours Cheerfully by A. J. Pearce is a feel good historical fiction filled to the brim with charm. Yours Cheerfully is the sequel to the charming Dear Mrs. Bird. This novel is predictable from the very start but the characters are delightful and the scenarios do evoke an emotion from me. Yours Cheerfully picks up 6 days after the events that happened in Dear Mrs. Bird. You do not have to read Dear Mrs. Bird to understand Yours Cheerfully, but there’s a lot of events that keep getting referenced that happed in Dear Mrs. Bird. Yours Cheerfully is a well paced book that adds humor, romance, and good moments of female empowerment to move the story along. The Climax is predictable but with one really sweet surprise that just melted my heart

Star Wars: The High Republic, Vol. 2: The Heart of Drengir by Cavan Scott is an action packed adventure that is brutal at times with really great imagery. This volume has 2 main storylines the war with the Drengir race and going undercover to stop the Nihil’s next attack. I was really pleased with how the Drengir storyline ended, and how it could affect the Star Wars Universe. The undercover to join the Nihil plot will take the reader into the next volume Be warned this storyline ends in a cliffhanger. We get introduced to a new Jedi Orla Jareni who is a Wayseeker who follows her own path and not just the one the Jedi Temple says she can.

Goosebumps: Phantom of the Auditorium by R. L Stine is book 24 in the Goosebumps original order. This book is an obvious reimagine of The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux with a Goosebumps twist. This book has some scary moments Going down into a trap door and getting stuck, being haunted by a mysterious phantom and getting stuck in the dark with out light. The book moves at a fast pace and stays focused on the phantom plot from the beginning. The twist was okay even though a casual Goosebumps reader will guess it. The plot relies heavily on misdirection but it is easy enough to see through and the subplot is full of jump scares.

Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man Volume 11 by Stan Lee is the book that introduces Morbius the Living Vampire the antihero that will get it’s own movie in the Spiderverse soon and will be played by Oscar winner Jared Leto and cameo Michael Keaton as the Vulture. This book bring back Allister Smythe and a new version of the Spider Slayer. This book feature the first time that Stan Lee did not write all the issues of The Amazing Spider-Man as he went to write a screenplay, he was still the story editor, but not the sole writer. The change was not glaring until he came back, I love his little quips in the editorial. The villains in these issues are Morbius, Kraven the Hunter, The Lizard, And Allister Smythe. This volume does have a couple of guest stars namely Kazar and Dr. Strange.

Three Star Reviews:

Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead is a historical fiction of hustling in the late 50’s early 60’s Harlem, New York. The scenery and atmosphere of the times feels so genuine and accurate. The novel is broken down into 3 interconnected novellas that are years apart, the stories keep the same characters and we see those characters change and evolve over time. Even though Harlem Shuffle takes place 70 years ago there are stark similarities to present day, protest over police / race relations, riots, and corruption of politicians. The language feels authentic and real, and was one of the best parts, I was bummed there weren’t more scenes of it.