Recent Reads | November 2020

November was definitely a slumpy reading month for me. I powered through and managed to read five whole books, but I had to keep pushing myself to pick them up. I feel like I only read what I *had* to and not so much what I *wanted* so I'll definitely try to fix that for next month.

1) Refuge, J. J. Blacklocke (The Tradepoint Saga #1)

Thank you, J. J. Blacklocke, for sending me this eARC in exchange for my honest review. This is the first in a new sci-fi series, and I absolutely adored it. I have a full review up on my blog, linked here if you want more in-depth thoughts, but in this, we follow the Vennans, an alien race that's gone to Tradepoint to trade their goods with other beings and celebrate the anniversary of when they first made the trip to the space station. That is until Gredin, a young Vennan translator receives a message from the Power that their entire planet no longer exists, and it's up to her to help her entire delegation with this horrible future. I thought this world was incredibly rich, I really enjoyed the characters and I cannot wait to read the other books in this trilogy. 3.75/5 ⭐️

2) Forever Princess, Meg Cabot (Princess Diaries #10)

After starting the Princess Diaries series back in March, I have finally finished book ten. There is another book that was released later, but I'll stop this series here because this was the absolute perfect ending and I don't want to risk it getting ruined. I had a stupid grin on my face the entire time, and I was so glad that these books started getting better again (if you've followed my blog you'll know that around the halfway point I just wasn't having any of it). I stand by the fact that I would've liked the series much more had I read them at a younger age, and the pacing of this one was a bit confusing at times, but I still loved it and it was everything I could've wanted. 4.5/5 ⭐️

3) Good Antifreeze, Vadius Wilburn (Pure Heroin #1)

Thank you, Vadius Wilburn, for sending me this eBook in exchange for my honest review. This is the first seven in a collection of 22 short stories exploring the struggles and tribulations that can come with being human. Each story is a very raw and honest inner monologue about the characters' struggles but, unfortunately, this wasn't for me. If you want more detailed thoughts, you can check out my full review here, but overall I just didn't connect to any of the stories or the characters. 2.5/5 ⭐️

4) The Valley of Fear, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes #7)

I started this expecting Moriarty all around and I did not get it, so I was a bit disappointed with this one (completely my own fault). I still enjoyed it and I'm so sad I don't have any full Sherlock novels anymore, but I still have two collections of short stories that'll enjoy to their fullest. I have been reading these stories since the beginning of the year and I'm really attached to the characters, so I can't wait to see the rest of their adventures, but I am sad that Professor Moriarty doesn't show up nearly as much as I thought he did in the original stories. 3.5/5 ⭐️

5) Deep Sleep, Paula Astridge

Thank you, Paula Astridge, for sending me this eBook in exchange for my honest review. This is a historical fiction following the three different captains involved with the crash of the Titanic. The captain of the ship on that eventful day, the captain that rescued some of the victims, and the captain that never answered their call for help. As I said, I have a full review of this, which you can read right here, but I thought this was a fascinating read. I do think it was a bit too historical for my taste, but I loved that we follow all of their lives and, if you like history and reading about ships, you'll adore this one. 3.25/5 ⭐️

I did have what feels like a huge amount of review copies this month, but that's only because I did not read that many books besides those. I do plan on reading whatever I feel like in December as I don't have any deadlines, I'm way past my reading goal for the year, and I just want to enjoy some fantastic books in this last month of 2020.

Love,

N.

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