Reviewing the Unreviewed: February 2020

I read a lot of books that I don’t end up reviewing for whatever reason. Some because I wasn’t impressed. Some because I didn’t have the time. Some I just wasn’t feeling it on whatever particular day I finished. Reviewing the Unreviewed is my monthly post where I share my few thoughts on all the books I didn’t formally review.

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Carpool (Milford College #1) by Noelle Adams. Read January 31-February 2. 3.5 Stars. 

Jennifer frustrated me sometimes, but I did ship her and Marcus. I liked the small town setting and would’ve liked to have seen even more of that. Overall, this was a cute romance. I got it as a free e-book deal and I’m not sure if it’s still available for free, but definitely worth checking into if you’re a Romance reader.

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Throw Like a Girl by Sarah Henning. Read February 4-6. 3.5 Stars. 

This had a few issues, but it was cute. I liked Liv’s family and how close she was with her brother. I liked how quickly the football team accepted her, even if it felt a little unrealistic. I thought the romance with Liv and Grey was pretty adorable, too.

There were some things that didn’t really work for me, though. I thought Liv picked up football way too quickly. We’re basically supposed to believe that she’s never played before, but she has a savant level spiral and is a good athlete and it takes her no time at all to be basically their best player. There’s also obviously a big dramatic moment with the romance and I thought it was resolved a little too easily. I read the part where things are supposed to be explained and afterwards I honestly had to re-read it because there was nothing in it that seemed worthy of a resolution to me. There were a few other nitpicky things here and there, but overall this was enjoyable.

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Anti-Stepbrother by Tijan. Read February 14-15. 4 Stars. 

I loved this so much! It wasn’t at all what I was expecting, it ended up being much more. Summer was pretty quirky, which doesn’t always work for me, but I found her likable. I thought most of the characters were pretty likable and the angst and drama were on the low side, which was nice. I absolutely adored Caden and Summer together. It was kind of an enemies-to-friends-to-more story and I was here for it. I loved their friendship and it was kind of a slow burn to them getting together. I appreciated the “fade to black” love scenes. It really focused more on their relationship and feelings and it was so sweet and I just loved it. I’ve been disappointed by a lot of books lately, but this one totally broke me out of my slump.

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Ryan’s Bed by Tijan. Read February 15-16. 3 Stars. 

I had a hard time getting into this one. It was a pretty depressing read, mostly exploring grief. I think there were some very realistic emotions, but I wish that more attention would have been drawn to how Mackenzie’s coping methods were pretty unhealthy. And even though I liked the relationship between her and Ryan, I couldn’t help feeling like Ryan kind of took advantage of her.

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A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson. Read February 16-18. 3 Stars. 

I thought this was ok, but not anything special. I’m kind of bummed I wasted one of YA BOTM credits on it. I liked Pip and Ravi, though Pip’s behavior did annoy me sometimes. There were several things I rolled my eyes at, but for the most part I thought the evolution of the mystery was pretty well done. It felt a little too long, though, and I lost interest well before the end of the book. And there were a couple scenes that felt completely lifted from tv shows I’ve watched.

*****DNF*****

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My Best Friend’s Royal Wedding by Romy Sommer. DNF-ed at 15%. Just couldn’t get into this one.

*****Books with Future Reviews Scheduled*****

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Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel – 2 Stars

The Boy from the Woods by Harlan Coben – 4 Stars

Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson – 4 Stars

WWW Wednesday: February 5, 2020

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WWW Wednesday is hosted by Taking on a World of Words.

What did you recently finish reading?

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No Bad Deed by Heather Chavez. My first 2 star read of the year, unfortunately. My review will post later this month.

What are you currently reading?

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Throw Like a Girl by Sarah Henning.

What do you think you’ll read next?

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You are Not Alone by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen. I’ve had no self control with requesting ARCs lately, so I’m trying to get back on track getting those read and this is the next one I have that will be published soon.

What are you reading?