November was a little of a blur for me, to be honest.
I was still recovering from making a ish-tonne of content after the #JBPxBookTok event, something happened at the end of October that had us reeling and hustling like never before, and then The Hunger Games became my whole life, thanks to my nephew buying me a copy of The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes.
And now that it’s over, it is a downhill rush towards my birthday and the holidays…
Peril In Pink by Sydney Leigh
This was my very first NetGalley Book!
Squeeeee! We have been invited to attend the opening weekend of The Pearl Bed And Breakfast where it’s “rosé all the way!” And the The Pearl is always Insta-ready, just like me! You will love the ambience, the vibe, the people and the staff; the murder on the property, not so much….
If you love cosy mysteries and whodunits, then grab yourself a copy and meet me in the lounge for a glass of pink rosé; cheers!
This was a close second for my Pick Of The Month. Find my full review here.
You’re Not Supposed To Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron
With this book now added to my collection (#JBPxBookTok) I have all of Bayron’s books; however, I have only read Cinderella Is Dead and I didn’t enjoy it that much so I have been putting off reading the duology.
But because 1) this is a rather short read, 2) I am trying to read more horror, and 3) I really enjoyed the last 2 YA horrors, I decided to jump into it; there’s also a little fantasy aspect to this story.
Okay, so we don’t have these things called summer camp in my country, but I’ve seen plenty of movies, etc., and it is a perfect setting for this kind of story. I enjoyed learning about the history of Camp Mirror Lake and its transformation over the years – a place where horror fans can go to experience being in a slasher movie, a game where the winner wins a t-shirt.
This is Charity’s third year working at CML and this year she is not only the site manager, but also the Final Girl and the star of the game, the girl who gets the winner out; she’s been beyond excited for it until her colleagues start to disappear.
YNSTDT contains many genre-specific movie references and follows the typical horror movie formula and I thoroughly enjoyed it – very little gore, super creepy atmosphere and very well-paced. I’m not sure how I feel about that ending, though.
Rating: 4 stars
Pick Of The Month
The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes by Suzanne Collins
“They created a strange tableau: rabid boy, trapped girl, bombed-out building. It suggested a tale that could only end in tragedy. Star-crossed lovers meeting their fate. A revenge story turned in on itself. A war saga that took no prisoners.”
Please Check Content/Trigger Warnings – animal abuse, cannabilism, eating disorder, hanging, snakes, violence.
I cannot explain to you how long it took, and how much of a mission it was, to finally get myself a copy of this book! So, of course, I dropped everything to read it.
Now, I can tell you that this was equal parts predictable and surprising; this was something I expected going in. I can also tell you that some of the plot twists were unexpected and that there was some romance involved; again, all to be expected. I even expected to like the D12 tribute, whoever she may be, in some way or another.
What I didn’t expect, though, was to actually LIKE Coriolanus Snow… for the first part of the book, anyway. I don’t know the exact moment I started to “dislike” him, sometime during the games, I guess, but by the end of Chapter 28, he was completely beyond redemption.
Suzanne Collins totally needs to pull a Twilight manoeuver and give us access to Lucy Gray’s perspective.
This prequel may not have been needed, per se, but it definitely was wanted and C-Boy’s origin story was a very entertaining read. If you love The Hunger Games then you need this book.
You can come read this with me and catch my reactions in this video on my channel.
Their Vicious Games by Joelle Wellington
The premise of this really intrigued me and I hoped that it wouldn’t be a disappointment. Thankfully, the story pulled me in from the first chapter and entertained me until the end.
Not only did the author bring to life a creepy underbelly of the uber-rich but they also wrote some amazing characters. Action-packed and well-paced, this Young Adult dark academia is thoroughly enjoyable; but, like the author said, not to be taken too seriously.
What would you be willing to do to recover your losses and be set for the rest of your life?
Rating: 4 stars
Amethyst by Rebecca Henry
“Fairy tales screw kids up. It wasn’t who I wanted to rescue me that was the issue— it was the fact I thought I needed to be rescued by anyone.”
Another surprising book! I was a little sceptical going into this because I wasn’t getting any particular vibes from the cover, other than the colour.
If you like Sabrina the teenage witch vibes with a positive exploration of Queer themes, then I suggest you look into this witchy series.
Find my full review here.
Continuing with my adventures in the Audiobook world:
- Sourcery by Terry Pratchett – Continuing on my listen of the Discworld series – Rating: 4 stars
- Guards, Guards by Terry Pratchett – Unable to find either book 6 or 7 on YouTube, I had to jump to book 8 – Rating: 4 stars
- The Hunger Games – After reading The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes I just HAD to jump back into the main series – Rating: 4 stars
- Catching Fire – Still my favourite of the three – Rating: 4 stars
- and Mockingjay, all by Suzanne Collins – Rating: 4 stars
And for the first time in a very long time, I had to DNF not one, but two books this month:
- Love At First Spray by Tom Caval – I got this for free on Stuff Your Kindle Day with some other Christmas stories. The main characters immediately annoyed me and continued to do so; I couldn’t stand it. Rating: 1 star
- The Horrible Chocolate by Jacob M Ronsen – I got this for free on Stuff Your Kindle Day while searching for some Manga/Graphic novels. This is marked as such on both Amazon and GoodReads. It is not. I did not even bother reading the story because that is not what I wanted. Rating: unrated
Do let me know what you’ve been reading, what you thought of any of the above, or if you have a suggestion/recommendation for me, in the comments below or on any of my other socials. Until next time…
Happy reading!
Mr Pink Ink 
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