"An Education in Malice" by S.T. Gibson

I was not a fan of S.T. Gibson’s first novel A Dowry of Blood mostly because I do not find the subject matter - vampires - to be particularly romantic or attractive. An Education in Malice also has vampires in it, but it is set in an all girls college in the 1960s and at least in the first half of the novel we follow two human girls. 

Carmilla and Laura come from totally different backgrounds and seem to be polar opposites of each other. But as we know, opposites attract. They start off as rivals in an exclusive poetry class, but soon find themselves drawn to each other. Gibson’s writing is very beautiful and I do enjoy her prose. However, even though I did like this novel better than her debut, it was not compulsively readable. I could only read a few pages at a time. It did not pull me in and I almost forced myself to pick it up each night. In the end I did end up giving it 4 out of 5 stars. I liked the dark academia vibes, and in particular the New England college setting. I also liked the characters and the romance. 

I would love to see this author stray away from the vampiric subject matter and explore some other fantasy worlds. I also think she should do more work on secondary characters. In the first two books, we spend majority of our time with the main characters and rarely see much of the surrounding world.

An e-ARC was provided by NetGalley.com

"The Fury" by Alex Michaelides

Alex Michaelides’s newest murder mystery involves 4 main characters: a retired movie star, her husband, a London theater actress and a playwright who is also the narrator of the story. While I enjoyed the unusual structure of the book, it also irritated me or more accurately, made me anxious as I never knew what was coming. The unreliable narrator tells a story with an unreliable structure. The experience was akin to reading a “what if” book. The narrator would lead you down a path just to state a couple of chapters later: sorry, that is how it was supposed to go, now let me tell you what really happened. 

More and more of the real picture - if such a thing is possible - was revealed with every unexpected turn or with a change of perspective. It is at its core a closed circle murder mystery, with the entire cast of characters secluded on a remote Greek island. However, once the murder actually happens (yes, there are a few intentional false starts), there is no mystery as to who committed it. 

I am giving this book 3 stars because I really disliked the main character and narrator, Elliot. I did not even feel pity towards him, although I wanted to. The author calls him a psychopath a few times in the novel. However, (and I don't know how true this is since the narrator is unreliable), Elliot suffered a lot of abuse, parental neglect and bullying in his childhood and younger years. I certainly could not blame him for seizing the day when he met a famous female writer, who took him under her wing. I could not, however, understand a lot of his motivations. Perhaps that is how psychopaths are supposed to act. But also feel that humanity utterly failed with this lonely man if what he described about his past really happened. So while an exercise of writing an entire novel from a perspective of someone who could or could not be a psychopath is interesting, I just can't get a higher rating to the book where the entire narrative could be distorted because presented through the eyes of someone who is mentally ill.

January 2024 Reading Wrap-Up

I started January pretty strong and finished 12 books. Five of them I listened to on audio, three were e-books, including two e-ARCs. 7 books out of 12 were from the library. The two e-ARCs that I read have separate reviews on this blog (one them is also on my favorites list below). I gave 5 stars to 4 books, and these are my new favorites. Out of these 4, Chain Gang All-Stars was by far the best. In fact, it prompted me to do a deep dive into non-fiction about the US prison system and activism surrounding the abolition of prisons.

Chain Gang All Stars is a dystopian novel set in not so distant future in the US. We follow convicted prisoners who fight Hunger Games like style for a chance to earn "high freedom" - release from prison. Each fight is to the death. The book is extremely graphic and violent. However, it focuses with a laser-like precision on the US prison system of today - there are extensive informative footnotes that indicate that many of the elements in the book are taken directly from our current reality. It had a chilling affect on me, and as I mentioned, I ended up seeking out and reading a couple of non-fiction books on the subject. One of them I completed in January and it also made my list of favorites - Are Prisons Obsolete? by Angela Davis. 

The biggest disappointment of the month is pictured below.

This was a new Red Tower release. In the wake of the success that The Fourth Wing had garnered for this publishing house, there were multiple pre-orders for romantasy books with pretty sprayed edges. I fell prey to the hype and did pre-order this book. What a disappointment. I honestly struggled to get through it and already barely remember the plot. I promptly canceled any other pre-orders I had for Red Tower books and already got rid of my copy. Definitely do not recommend.

The other books on my January list were middle of the way. I am very happy I found 4 favorites this month and I hope February will be a strong reading month also.

"The Heiress" by Rachel Hawkins

This book was incredibly clever and a delight to read. It is worth picking up simply for the sheer pleasure of tracing all the Easter eggs and discovering all the mysteries nestling in its pages. The book at its core is the story of Ruby McTavish, a multimillionaire and a rumored husband murderess several times over. The book switches perspectives between Ruby, her adopted son and heir Cam and Cam’s wife Jules. None of the characters are what they seem to be when we first see them. They all have secrets. You have to keep reading to uncover all the truths. I also really enjoyed the role Ashby House plays in this book. It is a gothic mansion in the Blue Ridge mountains and the ancestral seat of the McTavishes. It is a presence in itself and almost a character in the novel. Rachel Hawkins is a masterful writer. I always enjoy her novels. This one by far is my favorite of hers.

I received an e-ARC of this book from NetGalley. The US publication date is January 9, 2024.

"The Atlas of Us" by Kristin Dwyer

Sometimes I am wary to pick up a book that I know will have an emotional impact on me. However, paradoxically such books always become my favorite. The Atlas of Us explores the depth of human emotion (in this case intense grief) and the resilience of human spirit. It is also about friendship, new beginnings and love. The main character is an 18 year old girl named Atlas (aka Maps) whose father recently died of cancer. Maps has the hardest time dealing with grief. She drops out of high school, has uncontrolled anger and sadness, and overall becomes rudderless. She ends up in a program for troubled kids who set off on a month long hike in the Sierra mountains. There, on the trail her father dreamed of hiking again, Maps slowly learns her way back to herself and builds new relationships. I truly loved this book. It is raw, it made me cry, it also had a beautiful love story (both the love between parent and child and romantic love). Highly recommend. What a great way to kick off the reading year!

I received an e-ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The US publication date is January 9, 2024.

2024 Reading Goals

For 2024 I am not going to set any "hard" goals such as a specific author, book or genre to read. Instead, I'd like to just enjoy reading and pick up those books that truly interest me. So here are my goals:

1. Have fun

2. If I have to struggle through a book, set it aside. It's ok not to finish!

3. Participate in the two bookclubs even if I do not finish the book - it is about connecting with other readers 

4. Do not feel obligated to read every bookclub pick

5. Request fewer ARCs

6. Buy fewer books

7. Read more from my own shelves

2023 Reading Results

2023 was an extremely challenging year for our family, so the fact that I actually read 103 books is quite impressive and frankly unexpected. There were a couple of months in spring and summer when I barely read at all. So overall, I am very proud of my reading stats for the year. 

My most read genre was fantasy - 34 books. 

I read 54 books from my own library, 3 ARCs and 46 books were borrowed from the library or Kindle Unlimited. 

In terms of medium: 53 were in paper, 26 e-books and 24 audiobooks (definitely fewer audiobooks this year!) 

I read 65 adult books, 20 YA and 18 middle grade.

A few books did make a lasting impression. A list of my favorites is below.