The 3rd month of 2026 will come to an end soon, so it was about time to wrap up the recap of the month and return with the books I've read since my previous post.
First thing first, March didn't turn out great, as I had a pretty bad injury on both of my hands and got through a lot of moods with my personal life that took some crazy twists. Hence, I thought that this is going to be the first month when I won't be able to reach my goal of reading 5 books every month, but with the event of getting injured and being needed to stay a lot in my bed, I took out the best of that time and managed to catch up with my reading passion. That's also how I managed to also read 5 new books this month, which I can't wait to write about. So let's get started!
Quick mention: all these books were read on my kindle, hence why you won't see actual images of the books but rather AI generated ones that I absolutely love!
1. Leave Me Behind
by K.M. Moronova
★★★★★
The first book that I decided to begin my month with, was Leave Me Behind, which I had on my TBR for so long, and I decided it was about time to finally read it. I kept hearing good feedback on this one for a while now, and I kinda felt bad for not reading it already, but as soon as I jumped in and figured out how the story is going to flow, it kept me focused all the way.
Despite having an intuition for most part of the story, all details made it feel anything but boring and the author did a great job turning things upside down by the end of the book, with a fantastic plot twist. I really enjoyed the badass attitude of Nell and how nicely she kept rising after all she got through, and no doubts the love story turned out to be anything but the common ones we are all used to.
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
2. Do Not Disturb
by Freida McFadden
★★★★★
As there are plenty of books translated in Romanian written by Freida McFadden, I always end up not keeping up with her releases. Hence, I thought I could have one of her thrillers this month as well, although I had the mood of some other genres to be read, but I honestly have no regrets for picking up Do Not Disturb as it turned out as a pretty quick and exciting read.
This was a book that started with a little déjà vu if you've read The Housemaid series and Don't Lie, which then evolved into the feeling of knowing who the bad guy is, but still managed to keep you on the edge of your seat, concluding with lots of crazy twists and turns just as Freida made us get used to. Despite being a fan of this author and reading lots of books written by her, it never stops surprising me with how unexpectedly these stories always end, still thinking where all the creativity comes from since each book has its own storyline and there are really, not just a few books she has released.
Do Not Disturb is also a book that I kept postponing to read because I've seen lots of booktokers criticise it as being one of the weakest books Freida ever wrote, but I felt quite the opposite!
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
3. Credence
by Penelope Douglas
★★☆☆☆
Next up, we have a book that earned the lowest rating of this month, despite having a guilty pleasure for Penelope Douglas.
Credence is a book that I've been chasing to find online for so long, after being the first ever book for which I activated an alert to be notified when it's released. Pretty crazy, huh?
The thing is, it's not my first time reading a book from this author, and although I can't say her writings are the best, they usually represent something very chill and interesting to read when in that mood. However, "Credence" turned out to be a very disturbing and controversial writing, turning it into the spiciest reading I've ever had. And trust me, I'm reading a lot of dark romance and erotic books. Sadly, along with all the exaggerated scenes, I can't say I felt like there was actually a story behind the book. Which is sad, considering that it's not a short reading.
Speaking about the exaggerated s*x scenes, I'd also like to mention that this is a book that should definitely not be read by anyone under 18. All the scenes presented are mad from all points of view, and it's scary to think that the younger readers could take them as an example for their romantic life. That being said, I feel disappointed to only be able to give 2⭐ for this one, but I'm definitely not giving up reading more from this author.
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
4. Someone Knows
by Vi Keeland
★★★★☆
The 4th read of the month comes from another new author for me, but whose book has been on my TBR since day one of release. I actually found this story very interesting, but being very involved in reading books from Freida McFadden, I barely got the interest in reading a different author of thriller/crime writings until I managed to catch up with most of Freida's books.
However, this month hit differently as I really wanted to explore some newer authors, and I have no regrets. The book is pretty short but very engaging, with an easy to follow story. Despite getting a few ideas about possible twists of the story, I honestly found this very interesting, with things I was far from figuring out how they would play. The single reason that made me take out one ⭐ is that the actual ending of the book was something I could see coming, but which could have been avoided if the book had ended after Elisabeth read the letter from her mother.
But considering that I heard there might be a continuation of the book, it made complete sense to end up that way, because if the story had stopped after that letter, then there would be no 2nd book.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
5. Ugly Love
by Colleen Hoover
★★★★★
Colleen Hoover is another author I've wanted to read from for so long. I actually feel ashamed for not reading her books sooner, especially since I know she is kinda popular. But the thing is, when everyone speaks about just one book or about just one author, it always gives me mixed feelings since I never enjoyed being like the others. However, since the book "Reminders of Him" has recently been released as a movie in the cinema, which I already watched, I really felt like finally reading something from her.
Sadly, I couldn't find a good version of the book in digital format to read before seeing the movie, but I still picked a book written by Colleen Hoover, which was Ugly Love.
The book is quite a classic if you ask me, with romance, drama, tears of both happiness and sadness, but most importantly, a very cosy and chill read with the storyline happening in a decent rhythm to keep you both curious and relaxed at the same time. I loved how things evolved between Tate and Miles, although I could find some aspects similar in the overall story of this book and "Reminders of Him", but being a chill and nice read, it didn't bother me that much. Fully enjoyed it and can't wait to read more from her!
My rating: 5 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
- February Recap: Books That Stole My Attention, Not My Heart
- March Recap: From Thrills to Cozy Corners
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 ~