What a weird month!! I LOVED some, I loathed some, I quit many. There was space, dystopia, the lightest romance, and the weirdest plots. Some 5s, a couple 1s, and lots in between.

Physical: 6
Audio: 3
Mix: 6
DNF: NINE!

Genre: Fiction (but really sci-fi)
Format: Physical
Rating: 2.75/5
Library Challenge: Short Stories

This author was recommended to me, and I picked up this book because of a library challenge. I’m not a real fan of short story collections in general, so it’s hard to judge this one. I liked the writing, and the first story was super intriguing. But then, well, in a book called “Normal Rules Don’t Apply”…..things got weird. The stories were loosely connected and interesting, but overall I was just uncomfortable and confused. Ha! Someday, I will be back for one of her full novels and will give that a shot.

Genre: Regency Romance (with extreme clutching of pearls)
Format: Audio/Physical Mix
Rating: 4.25/5

Once again, if you read these books, it is *not* because you heard about them from me. Good heavens, I do fear my reputation would be of utmost scandal and I would have to retreat with great haste to my bedchamber for an entire fortnight! However, I have come this far with the Bridgertons, so I will be making my way through the rest of the siblings’ stories eventually. Francesca’s tale was a nice reprieve from the setting of society gossip, and these stories are obnoxiously easy to read and captivating.

Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy
Format: Audio/Physical Mix
Rating: 3/5

Book 1: Fall into the underworld and try to rescue sister. Be part of a prophecy where you need to fight rats and figure out who is your friend vs. foe. Get back home.

Book 2: Repeat.

I enjoyed the first book enough to read the second, but it definitely felt repetitive.

Genre: Fantasy
Format: Audio/Physical Mix
Rating: 3/5

I could have justified giving this book any rating 1-5, so I settled on a 3. It was several genres and styles and books all shuffled into one novel: fantasy, sci-fi, YA romance, humor, horror, and more! I alternated between loving and hating it, but I was intrigued enough to see it through. I know this review is vague, but I’m going to be processing this one for a while. Because what just happened….?

Genre: Children’s Fiction/Mystery
Format: Physical
Rating: 1/5

I’ve quit this book before, because it had a bazillion characters and seemed super choppy. I slogged through it this time because my kid had to read it for school. I confirmed why I quit it the first time. It was zero fun (and many of the words in dialogue/phrases did not age well!).

Genre: Contemporary Romance (PG-13)
Format: Physical
Rating: 5/5

Sometimes books can gift you with the most delightful surprises. I giggled at the thought of this series – pairing current romance writers with Disney movies, but I will definitely be back for more. If you are a fan of the movie Tangled, this retelling creates a contemporary world that captures the beats of the movie and the heart of the characters. I went in with low expectations and absolutely loved it. It was SO cute.

Genre: Contemporary Romance (PG)
Format: Audio/Physical Mix
Rating: 3/5

While this didn’t live up to Tangled Up in You, this was another cute and clever adaptation of a Disney tale. Cinderella mixed with The Bachelor was pretty hilarious. However, if you have followed the reality show in the last 20 years, this was a little *too* spot on…like just copying story lines. And, while I loved the emphasis on plus-size women in romance/TV/fashion, it got quite preachy – to the point where it stopped the plot and lost some of the fun.

Genre: Regency Romance (of the raunchy variety)
Format: Audio
Rating: 4.25/5

All disclaimers stand: you did not hear about this series from me. For better or for worse, I’m a sucker for these stories – and I am as determined as Violet Bridgerton herself to marry off all 8 siblings (each book follows an offspring). This time, it didn’t even get toxic until the third act – and it was actually the healthiest of all the pairings so far!

Genre: Middle Grade Sci-Fi
Format: Audio
Rating: 3.75/5

This is a better version of The Giver and would make for an excellent gateway book for kids to get into heavier sci-fiction/fantasy. After fleeing the planet (darn meteor, anyway!), a girl wakes up after 300+ years and realizes she is the only person that remembers earth. A hostile takeover forces all survivors to serve The Collective – wanting to wipe out all diversity. With a few good twists, it’s a celebration of history/stories mixed with sci-fi suspense.

Genre: Sci-Fi
Format: Physical
Rating: 4.5/5

Andy Weir makes it so that I can’t say “I hate space books” anymore. Project Hail Mary is still my favorite, but I gobbled this one up. I laughed. I almost cried. It was fun and sometimes scary. While it still gets buried in scientific weeds, his humorous writing makes science fiction accessible and enjoyable. Suspend your disbelief and enjoy this tale of getting trapped on Mars!

Genre: Fiction
Format: Physical
Rating: 4.75/5

Woah. What. Just. Happened. This rounds up to a “5” for me, because it kept me up past my bedtime and I felt a significant book hangover the next day thinking about it. It makes you feel like you just watched a movie instead of being a nerd and reading. If you love Taylor Jenkins Reid, this book is for you – it’s like if the documentary style of Daisy Jones and the Six meshed with sports passion of Carrie Soto is Back (but replace tennis with ice dancing!). This is a page-turner of toxic characters. (It’s also a little like the book Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow – but intriguing instead of a horrible snooze!)

Genre: YA Dystopian
Format: Audio
Rating: 5/5

Haymitch’s prequel is coming out next month, so I wanted to revisit the original – especially since The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes really bummed me out. The Hunger Games still sucked me in and got me teary, so I’m happy to report that this depressing little book still holds up. However, instead of making me excited for the prequel, it just made me want to reread the rest of the series again. Not a bad year to revisit the warnings of dystopian tales, eh?

Genre: Children’s Nonfiction
Format: Physical
Rating: 4.25/5

What a delightful surprise! I read this out loud with my sixth grader – who loves to tell stories but hates to write. We laughed out loud and brainstormed ideas. This was a great introduction to the basics of writing and storytelling, giving tips and sharing strategies….with a lot of humor to teach the skills.

Genre: Fiction
Format: Audio/Physical Mix
Rating: 1/5 *This much loathing means it’s memorable and the rating is almost a compliment. Almost.

I would have quit this within the first 10%, but I have tickets to see the play and wanted to see it through. All I knew was there was a shipwreck and a tiger (see: cover). Honestly, I’m glad I know what to expect now. I was not prepared for the book. It was boring. And then it was gruesome. And then it was boring again. And then it was boring AND gruesome. HUZZAH! Apparently, it was supposed to alter me forever on a spiritual level. It did not. I must be heartless. I would be delighted to fight someone about this book.

Genre: YA Dystopian
Format: Audio/Physical Mix
Rating: 4.25/5

I’m still so impressed with the pacing of these books, although this one is a little clunkier than the original. It glosses over some plot points to speed things up, leaving me wanting more. It’s rare that I want a book to slow down, but I needed more information from the last couple of chapters – which I know, I know, is what the whole third book is for. Rereading this series has been a hilarious test of my comprehension skills of what I remembered clearly and what I 1000% forgot about. I might take a break before Mockingjay (because after Pi and two Hunger Games books, I need to LIGHTEN UP), but I’d like to finish the trilogy again before the next prequel comes out.

The Quit List (DNF): Is it the state of the world?? Did I just pick the wrong ones? Whatever happened, this was a crazy month for the quit list….But life is too short.

DNF @ 46%. Oof. This started out SO strong, and then I just couldn’t take the YA cringe and cliches anymore. The plot just didn’t make sense? It turned into a really bad version of The Hunger Games. So…..just go reread The Hunger Games. (I actually did just go reread the Hunger Games.)

DNF @ 16% I might try this one again with a physical copy, but this is the second book I have quit with this male narrator. I cannot stand his voice. Ha! What is supposed to be sultry 1000% creeps me out. Also, this book is incredibly cheesy. While I wanted a fluffy break from stressful books, this was too much. I picked it because the author gave me a 5 star read this year, but this one did not hit.

DNF @ 18% While this was a cute premise (a dragon exterminator that likes dragons), it was…..so boring? If I don’t care about anyone within the first 90 minutes, I’m out!

DNF @ 47% I made it quite a bit before calling it. This was delightfully weird and gave me flashbacks to when I watched the movie in high school. However, the teen angst, miserable characters, and plenty of F-bombs were grating on me. It wasn’t bad, but it didn’t match my mood.

DNF @ 8%. The roaring 20s vibe with space con-women, but it was so boring. I just couldn’t get into it. Next!

DNF @ 48%. Total transparency: I gave this author a 1 star on a previously read romance novel. I wanted to give her a second chance, since it was part of the Disney series. Apparently, we just don’t click. The Beauty and the Beast Easter eggs were cute, but I just didn’t even want these characters to be together – which was kind of the point of the whole book. Oops!

DNF @ 24%. Goodness gracious, Heidi! Quitting SEVEN books this month?! Life is short. No regrets. This one was the same world as Graceling (interesting and cool!) but had completely different characters – and waaaaay too many of them. This had potential, but I did not have the strength to learn 5,000 characters & places.

DNF @ 20%. I was excited to give Sarah Adams another chance, but we might be breaking up. It’s just not for me. D’oh! The whole thing was how they “hated” each other….real “he teases you because he likes you” energy. But there were so many things that just didn’t make sense. The tension was just uncomfortable and I didn’t want them to be together – again, that’s a pretty big red flag to quit a rom-com book. Next!

DNF @ 20%. Half of this book is 1950s actresses and old Hollywood and super interesting. Half of this book was Biblical fanfic with a million names and no forward momentum. Next!

Here’s hoping for better picks and fewer quits in March. Happy reading, friends!