Everything I Read this Month: November 2023

After Fourth Wing took Instagram by storm, I was eager to read the second book in the Empyrean series as soon as it came out. Iron Flame was every bit as amazing as Fourth Wing.

I don’t care what anyone says about it, it was not too long, it did not need better editing. I enjoyed every minute of this 640 page book. My only issue was all the miscommunication between Violet and Xander, but I chalked that up to *the drama*.

So, go read this book and, once you’re done, join me down the theory rabbit holes on TikTok and Instagram about how Violet has two dragons, who her mom really was, how to cure venin, and more!

P.S. check out the cute merch I found based on this series here!

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros is available from Amazon and Bookshop.org.

I’m a bit late to the party on this one, but now I see why everyone on Instagram loved this book! Telling the rom com story of when America’s First Son falls in love with the Prince of Wales, Red, White, and Royal Blue is equal parts funny and heart warming.

With dynamic characters and an entertaining plot, I found myself shirking work and responsibilities just to hear what happened next. On that note, I highly recommend the audiobook version of this; the narration really added to the story!

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston is available from Amazon and Bookshop.org.

Set in the Gilded Age of New York City, The Winthrop Agreement deals with the stark realities immigrants faced when coming to the United States in search of a better life. Spanning two generations of women, The Winthrop Agreement gives a moving account of what it meant to be a poor, unmarried woman, preyed upon by wealthy, powerful men.

The Winthrop Agreement by Alice Sherman Simpson is available from Amazon and Bookshop.org.

This new release from Heather B. Moore had been on my TBR for a while. When I finally picked it up, I could not put it down! Literally read it in a matter of hours.

In all, this is a fascinating historical account of a part of WWII that I knew nothing about: POW camps in Java. I highly recommend checking it out — it’s gripping and eye-opening in so many ways.

Under the Java Moon: A Novel of World War II by Heather B. Moore is available from Amazon and Bookshop.org.

A gothic, twentieth-century retelling of Romeo and Juliet, These Violet Delights manages to maintain some of the Shakespearean basis without being too on the nose.

Chloe Gong’s writing style is winding and compelling; the novel kept me interested from start to finish, even if I really had no idea what was going on with the contagion and madness sweeping Shanghai. I’m currently waiting on the second book in the series to become available through the library and I can’t wait to see what happens next!

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong is available from Amazon and Bookshop.org.

Belladonna follows orphaned heroin Signa as she takes refuge with yet another relative while she waits to inherit her family’s wealth. Signa has a secret gift — or curse — that she begins to cultivate while in this new home, with the help of a reluctant tutor: Death, himself.

Adalyn Grace’s writing was so easy to get into and I really enjoyed this novel. I was also very glad I already had book two in the series, so I could pick it up right at the end of Belladonna.

Belladonna by Adalyn Grace is available from Amazon and Bookshop.org.

Picking up where Belladonna leaves off, Foxglove by Adalyn Grace follows Signa and her growing relationship with Death, as she learns more and more about her own powers. However, another complication arises in the form of Fate, who sees Signa as the reincarnation of his former love.

If you’re looking for sumptuous dark academia vibes, this book has them all!

Foxglove by Adalyn Grace is available from Amazon and Bookshop.org.

The start of a prequel to Cassandra Clare’s super popular Mortal Instrument series, Clockwork Angel is a Victorian supernatural YA drama with an abundance of literary references and a whole slew of otherworldly beings.

There’s a lot of world building in this book, so I admit I spent a large part of the audiobook confused about who was who and what creatures did what. However, the narration was good and kept me interested throughout.

Clockwork Angel (The Infernal Devices Book 1) by Cassandra Clare is available from Amazon and Bookshop.org.

In book two of The Infernal Devices series, we learn more about protagonist Tessa Gray’s mysterious past. The love triangle between Tessa and her two Shadowhunter friends, Will and Jem, also starts to really pick up steam. However, Will’s inner torment — a curse he seeks to break — continues to hold him back, not only from Tessa, but from all those he loves dearly. YA melodrama ensues in an entertaining pattern.

Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices Book 2) by Cassandra Clare is available from Amazon and Bookshop.org.

I have to admit that, at this point, I had not realized there were only three books in this particular Cassandra Clare series. Books one and two were good, but I was totally hooked by Clockwork Princess and — consequently — more than a little disappointed with the ending.

It’s good, don’t get me wrong, and definitely worth getting the audiobooks from the library or Audible, but the ending felt rushed. Maybe if I had known it was the last in the series, it wouldn’t have felt so truncated.

Clockwork Princess (The Infernal Devices Book 3) by Cassandra Clare is available from Amazon and Bookshop.org.

The start of a four-book series by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, The Inheritance Games is equal parts rags-to-riches story, Gossip Girl, and Knives Out mystery. Kind of literally. If you overlook the fact that Knives Out came out in 2019 and this book was released in 2021, you may think they were written by the same person.

Regardless, The Inheritance Games brings in the totally-bingable YA/Gossip Girl drama to the story and is quite the page turner.

The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes is available from Amazon and Bookshop.org.

Picking up where The Inheritance Games ends, The Hawthorne Legacy delves deeper into the mystery of just why protagonist Avery Grambs inherited the Hawthorne billions.

I don’t want to give away details, so I’ll just say that I found the second book in the series even more gripping than the first (as you can see here!).

The Hawthorne Legacy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes is available from Amazon and Bookshop.org.

I described this book to Brett as a mix between On the Road and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. With dry, mid-century humor, Under the Net tells the story of Jake Donaghue, a hapless artistic type, and his self-made conflict with Hugo Bellfounder, a philosophical-type who served as the basis of Jake’s book.

There is a wide cast of characters in this short novel, with the most important being, arguably, the film-star dog that Jake and his companions kidnap midway through the book. Lots of laughs around that storyline, that’s for sure!

Under the Net by Iris Murdoch is available from Amazon and Bookshop.org.

If you’re looking for cottagecore in a book, I think this must be it. I wasn’t really sure what to expect of this one, but the cover caught my eye.

In all, Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett turned out to be a thoughtful contemporary fantasy novel, with curious characters set against an otherwise-normal backdrop. I enjoyed the folk history threaded throughout, along with the footnotes “Emily Wilde” provides in the journal-style writing.

Plus, there’s something super relatable about a protagonist who brings books to bars and reads in the corner.

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett is available from Amazon and Bookshop.org.