Everything I Read This Month: May 2024

Everything I Read in May 2024

I’m not going to lie, I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump since finishing Funny Story last month. As a mood reader, I haven’t been able to find what *mood* I want to read, if that makes sense? I DNF’ed two books this month, too, which were bummers. One came highly recommended to me by a lot of friends, but I just couldn’t get past some triggering aspects of the story. The other started off cute and then just lost me. I really don’t like DNF’ing books, so I think I was being too picky about what I chose next. Despite all this, though, I did read a number of good books this month, including a great historical fiction story on my favorite historical figure, Mary Stuart (more on that here!). So, here’s what I thought of everything I read in April!

Of the 10 books I read this month, here are my top three favorites:

• Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez
• The Tower by Flora Carr
• Real Americans by Rachel Khong

Table of Contents

P.S. to track my reading, I started using the StoryGraph website and app. This reading tracker is really cool and gives you all kinds of interesting stats about your reading style. Plus, the app gives great recommendations based on books you’ve previously read and loved. Check out everything I’m currently reading and add me on the app here!

May 2024 In Books

The Murder of Mr. Wickham by Claudia Gray (Mr. Darcy & Miss Tilney Mystery Book #1)

3/5 Stars

I wanted to love this book, I really did. It’s part of a series, and the third book comes out in mid-June. Overall, it is a cute book, but there are just so many characters! The cast of characters is made up of the characters from Jane Austen’s books, and it is interesting to see a situation where all the different heroines and couples are interacting. However, it is also rather confusing. I spent most of the book trying to keep everyone straight, with my mind wandering to the different Austen novels to try to remember little details that weren’t top of mind for me. It felt like the author tried to fit a bit about each character or couple in each chapter, often (in my opinion) unnecessarily and to the detriment of the story’s flow. I’m going to give book two a shot, but might try the audiobook instead and see if that helps me follow the narrative better.

The Murder of Mr. Wickham by Claudia Gray is available from Amazon here.

Wild Love by Elsie Silver (Rose Hill Book #1)

4/5 Stars

The first book in a new series from Elsie Silver, Wild Love follows Rosie Belmont as she returns home for a break from her city life and toxic job. She is reunited with Ford Grant, her brother’s best friend who has just taken on a new parenting role (it’s complicated, you’ll see in the book). Anyway, what I liked most about this book was that it runs parallel to Elsie Silver’s other series, Chestnut Springs, which I’ve read a few books of and reviewed previously (here and here). Wild Love was good, but didn’t hold my attention the way Flawless and Heartless did from the other series. I’ll be interested to see where the series goes from here, though.

Wild Love by Elsie Silver is available from Amazon here.

A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St. Clair (Hades x Persephone Saga Book #1)

5/5 Stars

This is a contemporary reimagining of the myth of Hades and Persephone. Basically, it feels like if Twilight mixed with mythology in the best way? Anyway, Persephone is a college student living in New Athens, living her life like a mortal rather than the Goddess of the Spring she was born to be. Her mother, Demeter, warns her to stay away from Hades but Persephone finds herself playing cards against the God of the Dead and things spiral from there.

A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St. Clair is available from Amazon here.

A Game of Fate by Scarlett St. Clair (Hades x Persephone Saga Book #2)

3/5 Stars

Ok, I really enjoyed A Touch of Darkness, but A Game of Fate is the exact same book just from Hades’ perspective. The dialogue is literally cut and paste duplicate throughout. There is a bit more detail about Hades and what he’s up to between scenes from the first book, but it really did not need to be its own book. Everything this book offered could have been two or three alternative perspective chapters in the first book. I’m trying to not let this sour me on the series, because I like the writing otherwise, but I am really hoping this isn’t the structure for the rest of the series. I’ll give book three a shot and report back next month!

A Game of Fate by Scarlett St. Clair is available from Amazon here.

The Tower by Flora Carr

5/5 Stars

In The Tower, Flora Carr turns the often-overlooked period of Mary’s fall from power into a dramatic tableau. Focusing in the deposed Scottish queen and three of her maidservants, the book manages to craft a veil around Mary the way one imagines the real Mary attempted to maintain. The women allowed to care for her actively vie for the queen’s affections, unsure of their standing, especially compared to Seaton, one of Mary’s famous “Four Marys” who served the queen from a young age. The novel is as much about these women and the dynamics between them, along with their motivations in staying with the fallen queen, as it is about Mary Stuart herself. 

Read my full review of Flora Carr’s The Tower here!

The Tower by Flora Carr is available from Amazon here.

Here for the Cake by Jennifer Millikin

5/5 Stars

A cute, lighthearted rom-com of a book, Here for the Cake manages to take on the fake dating trope and actually does it well. Paisley enlists her old college crush, Klein, to act as her plus-one at her sister’s beachside wedding…to Paisley’s ex-boyfriend, for which Paisley is the Maid of Honor. The wedding festivities take place over a week, so Klein and Paisley put on quite the show. (Side note: as someone who is planning a wedding, I could not get over that this sister demanded a week of everyone’s time and they just…gave it?!) Paisley learns a lot about herself and her family during the trip, and there’s a great lesson about setting boundaries in this story, that is for sure.

Here for the Cake by Jennifer Millikin is available from Amazon here.

Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez

5/5 Stars

Justin and Emma are both “cursed” — anyone they date goes on to find their soulmates immediately after ending things with them. So, they come up with a plan: date each other and then break up to cancel out the curse. Seems simple enough, right? Anyway, I listened to this audiobook going to and from Orlando for Mother’s Day weekend and it made the drive so much more enjoyable, I was just smiling and laughing at so much of the story. This book reads like a rom-com — and a lot of it is! — but then it makes you think and feel and maybe even cry. I mean that in the best way; Just for the Summer was an amazing read and I cannot recommend it enough!

Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez is available from Amazon here.

The Irish Baker by Malinda Andrews (The Emerald Isle Trilogy Book #1)

5/5 Stars

After a humiliating break up with her fiancé, Chicago-based baker Aubriee Harper finds herself sent to vacation in Ireland by her best friend and business partner. While there, she winds up putting her baking skills to good use. Quickly earning a reputation for her baked goods, Aubriee finds herself settling into life in this quaint Irish town, finding purpose (and romance) in her otherwise-forced sabbatical.

The Irish Baker by Malinda Andrews is available from Amazon here.

Real Americans by Rachel Khong

5/5 Stars

I listened to this audiobook and found myself doing so many chores around the house as an excuse to just keep listening all weekend! This robust novel starts around Y2K, when Lily Chen is working as an unpaid intern at a media company in New York. She meets Matthew, who is essentially everything Lily is not: a rich white man with vast stores of generational wealth. The novel jumps around through their relationship, as Lily learns some dark secrets that exist between her mother and Matthew’s father. This book has multiple points of view and some of the most gorgeous emotive writing I’ve seen all year.

Real Americans by Rachel Khong is available from Amazon here.

Close Knit by Jenny Colgan

3/5 Stars

If you’re looking for a cozy, Scotland-based story, this is a good option. Overall, I enjoyed the book, but found the different storylines a little convoluted. Set in a small town in northern Scotland, the author pulled in a lot of local color to the story, and developed the backstory of seemingly-unrelated characters. There wasn’t a ton of character development outside of the protagonist, Gertie, an introverted wallflower type whose inner monologue tended to (unnecessarily) take over the otherwise third-person narration. This made parts of the story hard to follow. The last third of the book was pretty action packed, all things considered.

Close Knit by Jenny Colgan is available for pre-order from Amazon here.

Shop the Books Featured In This Post

What have you been reading lately?
Share your favorites in the comments so I can add them to my TBR pile!

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Still searching for your next favorite read?
Check out my April reading journal for more great titles for your TBR!

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*Some of the novels featured here were gifted to me as part of various book review programs that Cats & Coffee is a part of. I was not required to post about the novel in exchange for getting a copy to read. All thoughts and opinions are my honest own.