My last 5 books: TikTok made me read it (mostly)

1. Powerful, by Lauren Roberts. This Powerless sidestory tugged on all my heartstrings. Probably because I knew how it would end what with the ending of Powerless... Mak doesn't deserve all this T_T The contrast between Mak and Adena is delicious and I love how she brightens his day and his entire life. Knowing how it would end I tried to not get too invested but it's hard not to when Adena is the spring sun warming up the winter cold wastes that is Mak and making them both blossom. This was short but emotional. 

2. Reckless, by Lauren Roberts. The way the story went in this one was entirely predictable (except for Calum, wtf is he doing) but it was predictable in a way that still made me unable to stop reading. I wanted to read what happened next, wanted to see Pae and Kai struggle to ignore their emotions and fail miserably, crashing into one another. That scene in the sewers made me almost forget to get off my train and miss my connection on my commute, the second-hand adrenaline was real. I had figured out what Kitt intended to do with Pae way before it happened. It made too much sense, and there's a whole book left to go so obviously she isn't going to die. But Kai.... T_T Please let him get the girl in the end? Pretty please?

3. Fearless, by Lauren Roberts. This book tore my heart out, stomped on it, laughed at me, made me cry, and then put all my pieces back together again. Multiple times. The reveal what really happened to Edric's first wife seemed a cliché to me, but the intricate web of lies and secrets it rested on was not and I was gaping at the end. Paedyn's three trials were always interesting because they promised so many heart-wrenching moments. And Kai... I love him so much. Once I got to the third trial I found it physically difficult to put the book down. I didn't want to stop reading. I couldn't wait to find out what would happen. Unfortunately, I was reading on my commute and had to stop for work, yet I'd snag a chapter here or there, until I could finally read at my leisure again - and finished the entire book. I was reading the third trial on my way to work and I was trying really hard to not arrive there looking like I was crying, because I was. Those chapters broke me. Disbelief urging me to continue reading and then blatant relief followed. It didn't last long because a flurry of emotion surged at every new thing happening in the last quarter of this book. I smiled at the end. But before that there were so many tears. This was beautiful. 

4. American Sideshow, by Marc Hartzman. DNF'd at 60% ish. I picked this up because I've had a genuine interest in old time freakshows since childhood and this seemed like it would be by someone with the same fascination. He claims it is, but then the book is full of jokes that laugh AT them rather than WITH them. It got to the point where I had to look up when this book was published because this would not fly today. 2005? Alright, that tracks. I remember 2005. Humour was rough and at the expense of others. That shines through. Half the time I was sat cringing at what I had just read. This book is a collection of wikipedia blurbs sprinkled with borderline offensive jokes. This book caused a reading slump. 

5. Judas Kiss, by Catherine Batty. I want to give this five stars but it took its sweet merry time to get going so that pulls it down to 4. I think I was around halfway before I started to feel like I didn’t want to put it down. But once it got going, holy hell did it get going. This book has pretty much every trope I enjoy, like to the point it’s almost embarrassing, another reason it should be a five star but there were too many instances of second-hand embarrassment and rolling eyes in the beginning chapters. But push through that and it becomes so good. I love Will. I am not okay.