Hey, hey! What's up? What reads brought January on your end?
For me, the year started with a new challenge, which is to read at least 60 books this year. On a simple math equation, that means at least 5 books per month, so even if I was close to missing the 5th read this month, I am happy I nailed it at the last moment.
That happened because January started quite differently for me this year, getting involved in more projects such as becoming a curator for both Hive Gaming and Worldmappin community, but also trying again to start off a handmade business, which took almost all of my free time.
Anyway, as this post is not meant to turn into a life update, let's begin this month's reading recap!
1. The Predator (Dark Verse #1)
by Runyx
★★★★☆
Although I kept postponing the moment when I would finally begin reading the Dark Verse series of books written by Runyx, I could simply not stay away from temptation anymore.
The series is composed of 6 books, but sadly, only 4 of them have been translated into Romanian and made it on this part of the globe, which is also the main reason why I kept postponing reading them, because I wanted to have all of them before starting. However, I decided that I should finally begin this adventure, as if it's a good story, then it will surely remain in my head no matter if the rest of the books will be released later this year or not.
In the first book, entitled The Predator, the main action is focused on two protagonists coming from different families who are dealing in the mafia world, but despite sharing similar lifestyles, they will soon prove they are yet so different. I won't lie, I am a big fan when it comes to mafia stories, whether they are shared through books, movies or video games. However, this story continued a bit too boring for my taste. I do appreciate when there are many details shared as it makes me have a better overview, but I felt this as a "bit too much" at times. Anyway, the way everything ended, and all the hidden stories that found their way out on the last couple of pages, made me realise that it was fully worth my time, and I honestly couldn't wait to see how the story between Morana and Tristan continues.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
2. The Reaper (Dark Verse #2)
by Runyx
★★★★★
One of my biggest fears when I dig down into a series of books is that the story might become repetitive in each book. However, the 2nd volume of the Dark Verse series brought to my attention a couple of new protagonists who did a great job bringing a bit more action, as well as tense moments and new hidden stories.
Fortunately, it turned out that I couldn't be more wrong on my presumption of expecting some stories to be on repeat from the first book, because The Reaper surprised me in all possible ways and kept me more curious than ever. Loved all the unexpected twists, and it finally made me understand why this series was all over BookTok.
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
3. The Emperor (Dark Verse #3)
by Runyx
★★★★☆
The 3rd volume of the series brought some new protagonists to focus on, who are Dante and Amara instead of Morana and Tristan. At first, I felt sad finding this out, as I was totally in love with the story of Tristan and Morana, but I quickly figured out that Dante and Amara had one amazing story that was fully worth a whole book just for themselves.
I could, actually, call this my best read from the series so far, as I felt the story more real and intense than that of the other two protagonists. However, what made me have one star less in my rating than the maximum of 5, was simply decided by the eroticism of the book, which I usualy don't have a problem with since I read a lot of Dark Romance books, but what made it so disturbing were all the details and scenes that simply felt very repetitve with those between Morana and Tristan. Which is at least weird, since we are speaking about two completely different characters.
I feel bad for saying that the book could be a lot better without these scenes, but even so, I still feel like this was a great read which did an amazing job creating intrigue and complicating the story even more.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
4. The Housemaid's Wedding
by Freida McFadden
★★★★☆
As my 4th volume of the Dark Verse series was still on the way and felt like reading another book, I decided to finally dedicate some of my time to read The Housemaid's Wedding which I heard a lot of bad things about, just because it's a very short book which made no sense to be released after the 3rd volume, although some people asked to see what happened with Millie's life between the 2nd and 3rd book.
This is why I actually recommend reading this book before the 3rd volume, although this is meant to be the 4th volume. Crazy, huh?
Anyway, even if I always try to stay away from people's opinions before I create my own, I ended up feeling the same. Although the plot twist did not disappoint, this book could easily have been included in the 3rd book of The Housemaid series. Or it could even be a whole new book, but with more aspects of Millie's life presented other than just the wedding, because I am sure Freida could find a few more aspects on this and make it even better than it currently is. In both cases, it would have made it a better story than feeling like reading a single chapter spread over a bit over 100 pages.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
5. The Tenant
by Freida McFadden
★★★☆☆
If you've read at least 3-4 books by Freida McFadden before, then it would be pretty easy to expect some of the plot twists from this book. It's sad that I've always said that no matter how many books you read from this author, it will always be hard to actually figure out the ending.
Sadly, this was not the case with the current book, which felt quite boring for half of the journey through the pages, and the ending was a mix of some other endings I've seen in her books previously. Probably, if you are reading for the first time something like this, you'll find it a very good and unexpected book... However, I think I can call myself a professional when it comes to reading Freida's books, and that's why I can say this wasn't the best time I had while reading a book from her. But this is not going to end my journey with her writings by any chance. I actually look forward to reading another book from her!
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Check out my previous monthly recaps:
- August Recap: 9 Books That Kept Me Hooked
- September Recap: What I've Read Last Month?
- October Recap: My Best Reading Month Yet
- November Recap: The Good, The Cozy, and The Unexpected
- December Recap: The Books That Closed My Year
- January Recap: New Year, New Books
Gabriela Travels is a Curator for Worldmappin and Hive Gaming communities, but also the FOUNDER of "Festival Mania" who started this community from the passion of attending various festivals and with the purpose of encouraging more people to explore festivals all around the world and share their experiences.
At the same time, Gabriela is an independent Graphic Design Freelancer since 2019 completing over 600+ orders in this time and collaborating with various businesses and people from all over the globe.
Additionally, Gabriela has her own corner on the internet since 2017 where she writes various articles for her blog, the most popular being the travel ones (300+ articles written on this field), but also approaching other topics as well, like game and book reviews, lets plays, movie and series reviews, photography posts, cooking recipes and more, boosting the total number of articles written to 750+ blog posts.
Gabriela is also a gamer since she was 11 years old and gaming remains one of her biggest passions along with traveling, owning a YouTube channel for each of the two.
~ @GabrielaTravels ~