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February 2025 Wrap-Up and Standout Books

I wasn't quite able to finish Schroeder in time for Caturday Reviews, so here's a monthly wrap-up instead. Look out for the Schroeder review next week (•̀ᴗ•́ )و

I'm a little baffled at how much I read last month, but I know I won't be able to keep up that pace now that I'm focusing on more in-depth reviews. Below, I'll give brief reviews of my highest-rated books of the month (4.5 stars and above) as well as two other standouts.

Highest Rated

★ᯓ 5 Stars ᯓ★

Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick (Storygraph | Goodreads) This is one of my most adored books of all time. North Korea is one of my favorite topics of discussion, so obviously this book was on my TBR for a long while. Even if you normally struggle with nonfiction, this book is highly engaging and never dry. Other than certain real-life events that were difficult to stomach - especially the chapters about the famine - I couldn't put this down and will always highly recommend it.

★ᯓ 4.75 Stars ᯓ★

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo (Storygraph | Goodreads) Set in Bardugo's highly-popular Grishaverse, this is the second and final book of the Six of Crows duology. Bardugo writes characters with a depth and ease I can only envy, and I am painfully, painfully attached to all six of the Crows. Shadow and Bone, the first book of Bardugo's to establish the Grishaverse, is waiting for me on my Libby shelf, and I cannot wait to dig in.

★ᯓ 4.5 Stars ᯓ★

Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold by Stephen Fry (Storygraph | Goodreads) As a pagan, this is another book that has been on my TBR for quite some time. Though very much not written with modern paganism in mind, I can't fault the author for that, and Fry's ever-irreverent voice is no less present here than in any of his other works. His retelling of the Greek myths was incredibly entertaining and hard to put down. Really, my only fault with the book was the somewhat excessive use of meaningless footnotes that could've been inserted into the main text, but other readers might not mind that as much as I did. The next book in the series, Heroes, is ready and waiting in my Kobo library and will be featured soon.

Memorial Days: A Memoir by Geraldine Brooks (Storygraph | Goodreads) As I hoped when checking this out from the library, this book helped me process the death of my father last September. I can't speak for your enjoyment of the book if you haven't experienced loss, but since if you have - and at some point, all of us have - you will find this book achingly poignant. Brooks writes about the loss of her beloved husband of several decades, bouncing back and forth between the time of the loss in 2019 and her later visit to Flinders Island in Australia to give herself the time to grieve she wasn't allowed in 2019. I had a complicated-at-best relationship with my father and didn't expect to relate to Brooks' experience as much as I did - but maybe death and loss really are one of the few things we all have in common, throughout different times, continents, and even relationships themselves. I will add here that the only thing that kept this book from a 5 star rating was the way the author handled animal death at the end of the book. If you want to know more about that before picking up the book yourself, I detail it in the spoilered section of my review on Storygraph here.

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw (Storygraph | Goodreads) I adored this book. I don't often read literary fiction, so it was a bit of a challenge for me, but the book was so short that I devoured it anyway. It seems like the kind of book you can read and reread and discover new things every time. The unnamed protagonists stole my heart, cut it up into little pieces, and ate it raw (as Khaw's haunting version of a mermaid is like to do). I'm reading The Last Unicorn aloud with some friends right now and couldn't help but notice the similar themes of mythical creatures losing their mythical attributes and becoming more human the more time they spend in the human world. But that's where the similarities end, as Khaw writes horrifically gory scenes with a deft, poetic hand. If you enjoy horror at all, I beg you to give this book a try.

Other Standouts

The Dark Rise series by C.S. Pacat (Dark Rise, Dark Heir) I rated these relatively low (4.0 and 3.75 stars respectively) because of the writing style, which often felt very juvenile, rushed, and unrefined. The first half of both books also dragged on quite a bit, and I almost DNF'd Dark Rise except for my partner's recommendation to keep reading. And I am grateful to him for that, because now, I am woefully in love with every one of the characters in these books, and enjoy the setting, plot, and themes immensely. I cannot wait for the third and final book in the series to be announced, so Pacat can continue stomping all over my heart and my boys.

[lokasreads]

Wednesday Wrap-Up: March 5th

Hello hello!

I hope everyone's had a better week than I have. The perils of working full-time, taking college classes, and deciding to start a blog. Who would've guessed that stresses you out? ╮(￣▽￣"")╭

Since this is the first week, we won't have a Finished This Week section, but the rest of the format will be the same in the following weeks.

Be sure to check out the links below - two of this week's books are featured in giveaways on Storygraph and/or Goodreads!

Current Reads:

Schroeder by Neal Cassidy (Storygraph | Goodreads) check out either of the links to enter a giveaway for a free copy! A literary thriller/horror with stream-of-consciousness narration, Schroeder takes us along for the titular character's ride of violence through the city. A true antihero, you can't help but empathize with the narrator's astute observations of the world around him and even his thoughts and feelings about himself and the way he's treated, only to be unceremoniously yanked back into reality when he reaches the next stop on his list.

Breaking Generational Silence: A Guide to Disrupt Unhealthy Family Patterns and Heal Inherited Trauma by Nicole Russell-Wharton (Storygraph | Goodreads) another giveaway in Storygraph! A psychology and mental health self-help book, Breaking Generational Silence focuses on the way repressed trauma can affect you generations down the line - and, of course, how to break the cycle. Whether we realize it or not, every family has their own form of generational silence to break, but Russell-Wharton provides a much-needed diverse, intersectional lens to the topic that too often seems to only be discussed by white women.

Up Next:

Our Infinite Fates by Laura Steven (Storygraph | Goodreads) Yet another YA romance with reincarnated soulmates? Not quite. Evelyn remembers all of her past lives, including falling in love with - and being killed by - a supernatural being named Arden. Desperate to live longer than she ever has before to donate blood marrow to her sister, Evelyn becomes the hunter in this reincarnation, searching for Arden to break the curse and maybe, just maybe, not fall in love this time.

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (Storygraph | Goodreads) I know, I know, I'm late to the party. A wildly popular YA fantasy with a Netflix adaptation, Shadow and Bone is the beginning of Bardugo's "Grishaverse", with related books that go beyond the Shadow and Bone trilogy. This book follows a Grisha soldier in Ravka's army, gifted (or cursed, depending on who you ask) with magical abilities that could reunite her war-torn country or destroy it altogether. I was introduced to the Grishaverse after reading the Six of Crows duology last month - thank you, as always, Noé for your amazing recommendations - and cannot wait to dig into the book that started it all. And yes, King of Scars is also on my TBR. ¬‿¬

Many thanks to NetGalley, M & S Publishing (Schroeder), Sounds True Publishing (Breaking Generational Silence), and St. Martin's Press (Our Infinite Fates) for the ARCs in exchange for honest reviews.

As always, check out my Linktree to find me on Storygraph, Goodreads, and Instagram.

[lokasreads]

Wednesday Wrap-Up: March 12th

Two books I finished this week, two books I'm currently reading, and two books up next on my TBR 𖹭

Finished This Week:

Schroeder by Neal Cassidy (Storygraph | Goodreads) A literary thriller/horror with stream-of-consciousness narration, Schroeder takes us along for the titular character’s ride of violence through the city. A true antihero, you can’t help but empathize with the narrator’s astute observations of the world around him and even his thoughts and feelings about himself and the way he’s treated, only to be unceremoniously yanked back into reality when he reaches the next stop on his list. A detailed review is coming on Saturday for my weekly Caturday Reviews, so keep an eye out for that!

Die for Me by Luke Jennings (Storygraph | Goodreads) I'll be honest, I forgot this was in my Libby library and was the closest to being returned, so I ended up reading it before the other books on my list. The third and final book in the dark, romantic thriller Killing Eve series that inspired the hit TV show, Die for Me follows Eve and Villanelle as they make their escape in Russia. I can't say much more without spoiling the previous books - and the show diverges from the books pretty quickly, so unfortunately, the show won't help you here either - but if you are familiar with the series, or just don't mind as much, check out my short-form review on Storygraph or Goodreads!

Current Reads:

Breaking Generational Silence: A Guide to Disrupt Unhealthy Family Patterns and Heal Inherited Trauma by Nicole Russell-Wharton (Storygraph | Goodreads) A psychology and mental health self-help book, Breaking Generational Silence focuses on the way repressed trauma can affect you generations down the line - and, of course, how to break the cycle. Whether we realize it or not, every family has their own form of generational silence to break, but Russell-Wharton provides a much-needed diverse, intersectional lens to the topic that too often seems to only be discussed by white women. These kinds of books take me a while to chew through, so expect it to show up on quite a few of these weekly wrap-ups.

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (Storygraph | Goodreads) A wildly popular YA fantasy with a Netflix adaptation, Shadow and Bone is the beginning of Bardugo’s "Grishaverse”, with related books that go beyond the Shadow and Bone trilogy. This book follows a Grisha soldier in Ravka’s army, gifted (or cursed, depending on who you ask) with magical abilities that could reunite her war-torn country or destroy it altogether. I was introduced to the Grishaverse after reading the Six of Crows duology last month - thank you, as always, Noé for your amazing recommendations - and have really been enjoying coming to Shadow and Bone from this perspective. I'm a little less than halfway through and annotations abound, so expect to see a long-form review on an upcoming Caturday!

Up Next:

Our Infinite Fates by Laura Steven (Storygraph | Goodreads) Yet another YA romance with reincarnated soulmates? Not quite. Evelyn remembers all of her past lives, including falling in love with - and being killed by - a supernatural being named Arden. Desperate to live longer than she ever has before to donate blood marrow to her sister, Evelyn becomes the hunter in this reincarnation, searching for Arden to break the curse and maybe, just maybe, not fall in love this time.

The Last Session by Julia Bartz (Storygraph | Goodreads) This is an actual advance copy - the book publishes April 1st, 2025 - and I am so excited and grateful for the opportunity to read and review it before publishing. The Last Session is a tense and mysterious thriller following a social worker named Thea whose hunt for a missing psychiatric patient somehow connected to her own past takes her to an uncomfortable and isolated wellness retreat. Staying for the last session threatens to take her mind away from her, as the mysterious patient's mind may once have been lost.

Many thanks to NetGalley, M & S Publishing (Schroeder), Sounds True Publishing (Breaking Generational Silence), St. Martin’s Press (Our Infinite Fates), and Atria Books (The Last Session) for the ARCs in exchange for honest reviews.