Hey everyone, welcome or welcome back to my blog! Today I’m coming to you with a new week-long challenge post and this time I read only 2022 releases for a week! There have been some really fantastic books published this year but I still have so many books on my 2022 tbr. I know I did this back in July already but I loved it so much that I’m doing it again!
→ Side note: I’ve also included all of the tropes that fit into the books I read this week just in case any of them spark your interest! Let me know if this is something you’d like to see me continue to do in the future!
DAY ONE [SUN AUG 21]
Thank you to NewSouth Books for my review copy of Wicked Beauty!
I read Electric Idol (book 2) yesterday for a different challenge and I loved it so it should be a surprise to no one that I’m reading book 3 immediately!
I didn’t love this one quite as much as book 2 but, I did still really enjoy it. I thought the relationship was a bit superficial and that we never really got to see the characters really get to know each other but, I did enjoy the trials/game part of the book and I thought that was written really well. If you want to read a really steamy reverse harem then this is the book for you!
tropes ⮆ forced proximity, game/tournament
DAY TWO [MON AUG 22]
Thank you to Pan Macmillan Australia for providing me with a review copy of Cobalt Blue
I genuinely cannot believe I’m saying this right now but Matthew Reilly, this was not it. If you know me at all you know how much I adore Matthew Reilly’s books but oh boy, my most anticipated book of 2022 is not only Reilly’s worst book (that I’ve read so far) but, it might also be one of my least favourite books that I’ve read all year. It’s a great action story because of course it is, Matthew Reilly wrote it after all. If you’re a fan of the tv show The Boys then I’m sure you’d love this bloody action-full superhero story. But, that’s really all this book has going for it.
Every character in this book is a glaring stereotype, with two, in particular, being quite egregious and very uncomfortable. The villain is, of course, Russian which means he rapes women, is a serial killer and is just an absolutely atrocious guy. Ya know because he’s Russian so duh, right? & the other is that the only gay character in the book is “gay and fabulous” *insert hand flick and pose here* and that’s basically their only character trait. I couldn’t even tell you their name because they were mostly just mentioned as ‘the gay one’ who only talks about clothes and being gay.
I love MR’s books and usually don’t mind if a lot of his characters (particularly his male main characters) feel the same or act as cardboard cutouts. But, he tried something new with this one and it was an absolute flop for me. Mostly this was just a confusing mess of flashbacks and short present-day scenes until around the 85-ish% mark when the main character finally does something. This felt really rushed (probably in part, because it’s a novella) and was absolutely not the vibe.
Okay, so Cobalt Blue was an absolute flop and it’s only 7pm so I’ve got plenty of time to read for the rest of the night so I’m going to chuck on the audiobook for Twisted Hate by Ana Huang and play some Animal Crossing. I read the first two books earlier this year and rated them 3 and 3.5 stars respectively. I definitely preferred book 2 over book 1 and I think the series is going to improve with each book. I get the feeling that book 4 is going to be my favourite tbh so I can’t wait to read that at the end of the year when the audiobook comes out.
Update: I’ve still got a few hours left on the audiobook but it’s midnight now so I’m going to call it a night and finish this off in the morning. I’m really enjoying it so far and I really think I might be enjoying this more than book 2 which is crazy to me since I historically enjoy the bodyguard trope (book 2) more than enemies to lovers (book 3).
DAY THREE [TUE AUG 23]
My overall thoughts ↓
Woah. 🤯 I absolutely loved this one and it has me so excited to read book 4 whenever the audiobook comes out. I loved Josh and Jules together (and apart, which is always important to me) but, there was one scene towards the 85%(ish) mark that completely ruined Josh’s character for me. I loved every other thing about this book (except for one glaring plot hole) and I can’t wait to see them cameo in the next book. Also, did I spot Dante??? From King of Wrath??? I can’t wait to meet him at the end of 2022!
If you want to read a few of my more spoilery thoughts you can check out my Goodreads review, here.
tropes ⮆ workplace, vacation, caretaking, enemies to lovers, fake dating, grumpy x grumpy, only one bed, possessive hero, friends with benefits
It’s not very late in the day and I’ve finished all of my Uni work that I had to catch up on so i think I’m going to download my next audiobook. I’m in the mood to chat about books on my book club’s Discord so I think I’m going to pick up July’s book of the month so I can finally discuss it with everyone! you can join the book club here if you want to chat too!
my thoughts → This book is proof of why grumpy x sunshine is not the be-all-end-all! I loved the two main characters and their banter and I loved that Donovan wasn’t a mean or really grumpy guy, he was just a bit of a workaholic. I’ve never read a Jamie Wesley book before but I can guarantee that I’ll have her next release on my 2023 tbr! I highly recommend this one and I’m so glad we chose it as a book club read! I should have a review up by now, so look out for that one too if you want to know more of my thoughts!
tropes ⮆ fake dating, workplace, forced proximity
Since I’ve already read one Hoemance book and really enjoyed it, I figure I may as well start another! I read Fake It so quickly that I still have hours left in my night and I think I can fit in another book since I know my Insomnia isn’t going to let me sleep until 2 or 3am. I usually stop reading around midnight or 1am but I think I should be able to get this one read before then if I’m enjoying it! Delilah Green Doesn’t Care is going to be my next read. It’s a small town, grumpy x sunshine about a photographer and a bookstore owner so I already know it’s going to be fantastic!
my thoughts → What’s that? I’ve rated 3 books 4 stars in a row??? I know, I’m in shock too! I’ve been putting off reading this one for months because I knew I would love it but wanted to be in the perfect mood to read it in. But, with me there’s no “perfect mood” so I’m glad I finally caved and picked this up because I loved it and I can’t wait to continue the series! I loved seeing Astrid and Delilah’s nonexistent sister relationship slowly unraveland come back together again and I really loved meeting Claire’s family so I can’t wait to see all of these characters again in book 2!
tropes ⮆ grumpy x sunshine, small town, only one bed, forced proximity, sister’s best friend, single mum mc
DAY FOUR [WED AUG 24]
I spent a good chunk of the day at a trial for a job I’m really hoping to get (update: I got it!) and then the rest of my afternoon doing uni work and assessments so I’m officially over everything under the sun and in the mood for a good romance. And you know what? Since I’m on a Hoemance kick right now I may as well pick up another book club read while I’m in the mood for a new contemporary romance! Next up on my tbr I’m reading The Bodyguard which is the September book club read so you should be able to join in and discuss it with us this month! You can join the book club here if you want to chat with us!
my thoughts → I have very mixed opinions on this one. When the audiobook first started I genuinely thought I’d put on the wrong book but then I realised what was happening and it was fine. It took me a minute to get into the story and then I was really enjoying it and thought this would be a 4 star read, but then around the halfway point I changed my mind to somewhere around 3.5 and then around the 70% mark that went down to 3.25 and then in the last ten minutes of the audiobook my rating went down again to just 3 stars. 3 stars is absolutely not a bad rating, it means I liked the book but didn’t love it. Most of the time I really loved the story and was having a great time with how ridiculous the story was but, the rest of the time I was reading I was so distracted by the diary-like narration style. It was never explained why Hannah was narrating her love story to me and it just felt so weird. it took me out of the story every time she would address the reader. This was how the end of the last chapter and the epilogue, in particular, were written and they came across as really preachy about love and personal growth that they took me completely out of the story. If I hadn’t already been listening on 3.5x speed, I would have sped the audiobook up even faster just to get the preaching over and done with.
Other than that small fault that I couldn’t get over, I really did enjoy this book and if you’re looking for a good closed door romance (no steamy scenes) you should pick this up!
tropes ⮆ bodyguard romance, fake dating, forced proximity, only one bed, slow burn
DAY FIVE [THU AUG 25]
I don’t usually read books physically and I rarely pick up short story collections. But, Booksandlala was raving about this collection earlier in the year and it sounded absolutely perfect for me. So, I put it on hold at the library and I’ve been slowly reading it on my bus trips over the last couple of days. But, I’ve got a big trip to and from Uni today via the bus so I’m going to dedicate the ride to school (roughly an hour and a half) to finishing it. I’m currently on page 89 so I’ve only got 150 pages to go.
my thoughts → This was so gloriously weird. I had a very hard time explaining these stories to people but god damn I tried! Such a brilliant collection of weird and wonderful stories. I can’t wait to read whatever Kate Folk writes next! I highly recommend this one!!
DAY SIX [FRI AUG 26]
I had every intention of reading this yesterday but was really just too tired so I ended up picking this up after work today. I’ve seen nothing but glowing reviews for this one and I can confidently say that all of those 5 star reviews are well-deserved. The writing style threw me for a loop in the beginning but I’m really enjoying it, it’s like being told a story and I really appreciate that Jennette McCurdy is the one narrating the audiobook. I got roughly halfway through the audiobook and I’ll finish it in the morning.
DAY SEVEN [SAT AUG 27]
My overall thoughts ↓
This is such an amazingly well-written memoir that I know if Jennette McCurdy writes other books I’ll read them! This was also such an amazingly well-narrated audiobook too, McCurdy does such a good job! I do think the book could have done with a bit more reflection throughout or at the end of the book. Other than that, this was a really interestingly told memoir, told more like a story than memoirs usually are.
I was originally going to finish this tomorrow on Sunday but I’ve read a whole tonne this week and I’m starting to feel a little bit burnt out so I think I’m going to finish off on a high note! I really enjoyed doing this challenge again so I’m sure you’ll see me doing it a bunch more in the future!!
if you’re interested in reading my review for other 2022 releases, check out part one of this series ↓
What 2022 releases have you read and loved so far this year?
What is your most anticipated release for the rest of the year?
Have you read any of these books?
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