I don’t know about you, but this month felt like the longest month ever,  but luckily it did give me a chance to get a lot of reading in! I have a lot to get through, so without more ado!

Daughter of the Pirate King – Tricia Levenseller 

Starting the year off strong with a YA romantic fantasy (my niche, if I do say so myself). This follows Alosa, a pirate captain, who also happens to be… you guessed it, the daughter of the fearsome pirate king. The cover describes her as a Lady Jack Sparrow, and I would definitely recommend to my Pirates of the Caribbean fans. Alosa infiltrates the crew of Captain Riden, her father’s sworn enemy. This was rather predictable, but still a good solid read. And honestly, you had me at pirates and sirens. 

Daughter of the Siren Queen – Tricia Levenseller

The sequel to DotPK, Levenseller ups the stakes in this book. Alosa’s mission with Raiden is complete, and he is now her prisoner. And yet, sparks still continue to fly between them. Also must reconcile with her loyalty to both her parents and find out some difficult truths. When I went into this, I thought for sure it was a duology but I’m now aware there is another book in this series (following different characters, I think), but I don’t think I will be continuing, just because I didn’t connect to those characters and honestly feel like this was a perfect conclusion to the world of the Pirate King. 

Orbital – Samantha Harvey 

Winner of the 2024 Booker Prize, Orbital follows a team of six astronauts living on a satellite orbiting Earth. This was on my ’25 Books I want to Read in 2025’ list, so I’m glad to have ticked it off, but I’m still not wholly sure what to make of it. I can understand why it won, as Harvey really doesn’t hold back from tackling some immense themes – truly everything from climate change to the meaning of human life. But it just didn’t quite land for me; maybe it was the length (it comes in at around 150, making it a novella), or maybe it was the lack of distinct plot or fleshed-out characters. Overall, not a huge fan of this one. 

Silver Elite – Dani Francis

This read was definitely my highlight of January! Dystopian hive, rise up!! We’re so back!! I have already yapped on this blog about it but here’s a quick synopsis. Set in a futuristic world in the aftermath of a biotoxin that has divided society in two; you’re either a Prime, immune to the toxin, or Modified, enhanced by the toxin and gifted with powerful psychic powers. When one careless mistake lands Wren Darlington in police custody, she is offered an ultimatum; life in prison or join Silver Block, the most elite arm of the Continent’s military. There, she is recruited by the Uprising,  and Wren begins to walk a dangerous line, concealing her own psychic powers and ending information to the Uprising, all while right under the nose of the son of the Continent’s cruel general, Cross Redden. The chemistry? The subterfuge? The spying, sizzling romance, deceit and deception? I ate it up, and I officially have had such a bad book hangover for the entirety of January from this book. Nothing else has hit since this. 

This was an ARC kindly provided by NetGalley and Cornerstone. Silver Elite is out May 6th!

Cruel is the Light – Sophie Clark 

I have a full review up for this both on my blog and my Instagram, so I’ll try to just give a short recap here. Demon exorcists meet the Vatican in this YA fantasy romance that’s taken the bookish community by storm. We follow Selene, an exorcist at the prestigious Vatican academy and Jules, a foot soldier with a mysterious past, as their unlikely paths intertwine in the course of a bloody war. 

I’m really sad I didn’t love this one more. I was in a state of confusion for the majority of the book, and sudden, jarring time and setting jumps in the middle of scenes didn’t help. I liked the characters, Selene especially, and thought the author did a good job of toeing that line between fearsome female protagonist and moments of vulnerability. The romance was what drove me to finish the book, but unfortunately, it was just some aspects of the world building and writing that let this down for me. It had so much potential and I will probably still continue the series, but overall, maybe just not to my taste. You can’t win ‘em all!

This was an ARC kindly provided by NetGalley and Puffin Books. Cruel is the Light is out January 23rd!

Poison Study – Maria V. Snyder

‘Choose: a quick death… or slow poison.’

I read this for a book club. The books starts with our main character Yelena about to be executed for murder. Miraculously, she is offered a second chance at life by becoming the Commander’s food taster. She will live in the palace, eat the finest foods. The catch? She risks death with every bite. Yelena’s training consists of deliberately ingesting poisons, to recognise their flavours and tastes. 

One issue I had with this book (rant incoming) was the age difference between Yelena and her love interest – trainer, assassin, spy and resident poisoner Valek. I liked their relationship, don’t get me wrong, but a couple of throwaway lines snagged my attention. It’s mentioned that Valek was the Commander’s trusted assassin during the war, 20 years ago, which got me curious – how old exactly is Valek? A quick Google search yielded this; according to interviews with the author, Maria V. Snyder, Valek is 33. While Yelena is 19. Now I don’t know about you but that makes me quite uncomfortable, and I’m really unsure what was the reason for this. Their age gap isn’t even mentioned outright and it wasn’t a major plot point so I’m just a bit lost as to why the author felt this was necessary. 

Anyway, icky age gap aside, I enjoyed this one. I don’t think I’ll be picking up the sequel, as I’ve seen some negative reviews as the series progresses, and I’m not too invested in the story, but it was a very nostalgic, comforting read that I would recommend to any fans of 2000s/early 2010s literature (aka, the golden age. When literature peaked, for real. Argue with the wall.)

The Vegetarian – Han Kang

Winner of 2024’s Nobel Prize for Literature, The Vegetarian follows Yeong-Hye, a middle-aged Japanese woman who has never been considered anything but ordinary. But all of her life mundanity comes crashing down around her one day, when, out of the blue, she suddenly refuses to eat meat. Her decision has shattering effects on those around her and the novel follows the point of view of her husband, brother-in-law and sister. If we’re comparing the two prize winners on this list, The Vegetarian was definitely my favourite of the two. It really reminded me of a book I read last year called Mrs March by Virginia Feito. The themes of a character study into one woman’s mental decline was reminiscent. 

Voice of the Ocean – Kelsey Impicciche 

Voice of the Ocean mirrors the plot of the Little Mermaid in a lot of ways. We follow Celeste, an impulsive young siren, who yearns to live on land despite the warnings of her elders. When she disregards her parents’ orders ad swims to the surface, she witnesses a burning ship and she defies Siren law by rescuing the captain, the first mate, and his dog. When Celeste awakens imprisoned in an underwater cell, she is offered a chance at redemption. Her mission? Kill the captain she rescued and right her wrong. Thus begins a journey that will take Celeste to an evil sea witch (think Ursula), to finding her feet (literally) on land, and just maybe discovering that not all humans are quite as bad as the sirens believe. 

This was a really solid read, very enjoyable, fast-paced and easily readable. It did read towards the younger side of YA, so be aware of that. The Little Mermaid vibes were strong, so if Ariel’s your favourite Disney princess, look no further. Add a touch of Pirates of the Caribbean and you’ve got Voice of the Ocean. 

This was an ARC kindly provided by NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group. Voice of the Ocean is out April 22nd!

Onyx Storm – Rebecca Yarros

The third instalment to the smash hit Fourth Wing, Onyx Storm has been the most anticipated release within the bookish community. No spoilers, I promise! Just some vague thoughts immediately after finishing 🫠

I feel like the real issue I have with these books stems from pacing issues. Like Iron Flame, it suffered from being far too long and not much happening. The latter half of it definitely went quicker than the first half, which really dragged for me. Everything happened in the last 25% far too quickly. I feel like this series is still piggybacking off the success of Fourth Wing and I’m beginning to wonder if that was a one-hit wonder. I kind of hate to say it, but the romance reaaaaally fell flat for me in this one – disappointing, given the genre is romantasy and thus the romance features a large part of the novel. Some of Xaden’s lines gave me such an ick, I’m sorry! 

However, there were aspects I really enjoyed, and some of the humour was excellent (shoutout to my boy Ridoc, he carried this book). And, of course, if there’s one thing Rebecca Yarros excels at, it’s a plot twist. This was what kept me invested throughout the periods when the story slowed. I also loved the found family aspect in this book. It was even better because it wasn’t immediately obvious in the previous two, but only now did we start to see them trusting and relying on each other. Following the development of their relationships within ‘Quest Squad’ (ifykyk) was amazing. 

Altogether, I will be continuing the series, purely out of intrigue to see where the rest of the series goes. What did everyone else think of Onyx Storm – I’d be so interested to hear!

Heir of Storms – Lauryn Hamilton Murray

If you love YA romantic fantasy, I can guarantee you’re going to love this book. It had everything from a cool magic system, interesting world building, high stakes trials and not one but TWO swoonworthy love interests. 

We follow Blaze, a Storm Weaver, whose birth caused her country to be plunged into a storm that caused immeasurable damage and claimed lives. Ever since, she has been reconciling with that guilt and grief, hidden away in the palace, unable to summon a drop of rain. (Think Elsa, in Frozen). Thrones in Blaze’s kingdom aren’t inherited, they’re won. Every eclipse, four wielders of each type of elemental magic – earth, wind, fire and air – are chosen to compete in a series of trials to determine the new kings and queens of each kingdom. And, as luck would have it, Blaze is chosen. She must travel to the Golden Palace, leaving the safety of her own four walls, and confront all the emotions she’s been concealing the past sixteen years.

It has trials, which is something I love in a book. I feel like recently some books have tried to capitalise on the idea of trials, as a marketing ploy to appeal to readers. But in Heir Of Storms, the trials are essential to the plot, and they were so. Damn. Cool. Sure, maybe the world building wasn’t super original and the plot was a bit predictable, but I had such a good time with this book that I really don’t care.

This was another ARC kindly provided by NetGalley and Puffin Books. Heir of Storms releases June 3rd!

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride

This is a sumptuously atmospheric gothic story of a woman called Indigo, her husband, referred to only as The Bridegroom, and her childhood friend, whose existence is shrouded in mystery. When they married, Indigo extracted a promise from her bridegroom that he would never pry into her past. However, three years down the line and Indigo’s estranged aunt dies, leading her back to her ancestral house, the House of Dreams. There, the secrets start to unravel. Will they destroy their marriage?

Now, I don’t know about you, but everything about that synopsis draws me in and has me begging for more. But this one just fell sadly flat for me. It was still a solid read, sitting at a respectable three stars on my Goodreads ranking, but I was just… left wanting more?

Flawless – Elsie Silver (Chestnut Springs #1)

I finally caved. I did it, I read the Chestnut Springs series. You’ve doubtless heard so many reviews of this series, it being quite viral on Bookstagram and Booktok. This blog does not profess to be a romance affficiando, but I honestly kind of ate these up..? Flawless follows Rhett, a rodeo bull rider. He’s basically a big man child, and tasked with supervising (babysitting) him is Summer, his agent’s daughter and big city girl. This wasn’t anything overly special to me, but it was cute, fun, quick read and there are definitely worse ways to pass the time. 

Heartless – Elsie Silver (Chestnut Springs #2)

This was definitely my favourite of the series. (Pssss, by the time I’m writing this, it is already February and I have finished the entire series – stay tuned for my February wrap-up for reviews). We follow Willa, a wild child who finds herself nannying for grumpy Cade and his sunshine-y son Lucas. Willa was a great female main character, strong-willed, funny and so, so caring with Lucas. Her interactions with him were the best in the book. Lucas, meanwhile, was the CUTEST. ‘Can I call you Mom?” made me SOB. 

Powerless – Elsie Silver (Chestnut Springs #3)

From my favourite to my least favourite of the series (again, I say this with the benefit of hindsight in having read them all). This one follows childhood best friends Sloane and Jasper, as they take a road trip which is bound to unearth some hidden feelings. Maybe this is personal preference, but I don’t love romances that feature unrequited love. Sloane has been in love with Jasper since she first laid eyes on him as a teenager, and he has never looked at her that way. I don’t know… I just still felt that she loved him more than he loved her by the end of the book. I also would have appreciated more of a deep delve into Jaspers emotions and processing his own childhood trauma. I felt like this was left very much unresolved and like Jasper was still as much of a mystery as when I started the book.

Phew! That comes to a total of 15 read in the month of January, which is kind of crazy. But what is January for if not doggedly avoiding reality and snuggling up in a warm blanket against the cold?Let me know in the comments what your favourite read of January was, and if you’ve read any of my books!