January Reads

Hi everyone! As part of my updated blog, I wanted to add a book review section. I try to read as much as I can outside of school-related content because it helps keep me sane. I've been an avid reader my whole life, and as an adult, it's been a bit harder to find the time, but I do what I can. Here's everything I read in January, along with my thoughts about each (without spoilers!). My ratings are based solely on vibes. I will not elaborate on that outside of my thoughts section. Let me know if there's anything else you think I should read or if you have any thoughts on these books that you want to share!

my favorite way to read

Elektra by Jennifer Saint

• Summary: This is a feminist retelling of the stories of three women from Ancient Greek mythology: Clytemnestra (wife of Agamemnon and sister of Helen), Cassandra (prophetic princess of Troy), and of course, the titular Elektra (daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. The book is told from first-person POV, alternating chapters between the women. It covers the Trojan War, the kidnapping of Helen, and all the events before and after from the perspective of the women who so often go overlooked.

• My Thoughts: I picked up this book because I LOVED Hera by the same author. I didn't love this one quite as much, but I still enjoyed it. I loved reading from Cassandra and Clytemnestra's perspectives and seeing how they developed throughout the story on opposite sides of the war. I liked Elektra a lot less, and I think this dampened my enjoyment of the story overall. We don't hear much from her until the second half of the book, and although many of the characters in these novels are unlikable and morally gray, Elektra, I found to be insufferable. That being said, I love Saint's writing, and I will go on to read more from her.

• Rating: 7/10

• Side Note: Goodreads only lets you rate out of 5, but I think that leads to mainly three and four star ratings, which can mean anything depending on the person, so I've elected to do the more accurate (I think) 10 star system because it's my blog, and I like it better.

Graveyard Shift by M.L. Rio

• Summary: This is a novella, so there's not much to tell without giving it away. Not a ton happened, honestly. There's one main mystery, and the story revolves around a group of 5 sort-of-friends investigating it. Basically, there's this group of outcasts who hang out around the cemetery off a college campus in the middle of the night because it's the only place they're allowed to smoke. One night, they show up, and there's a giant hole in the ground that looks like a grave, even thought the graveyard hasn't been used for years. One of the smokers is a journalist at the school and is intent on figuring this out because she wants a story. The next 120 pages are just them investigating, and honestly, I didn't get why they were so invested.

• My Thoughts: I absolutely loved Rio's last book, If We Were Villains. It's one of my favorite books I've ever read, and so I immediately picked this up when I saw who wrote it. The premise is really cool, and I think it had the potential to be compelling, but it just...wasn't. I found I didn't care that much about any of the characters and didn't fully understand their motivations, besides Hannah's, once more is revealed. Apparently I rated this 4 stars on Goodreads, which I don't remember because that doesn't really ring true for me now looking back at it a month later. It was just kind of boring, and the mystery was unraveled too fast, in my opinion. One thing I loved was the last line though. It gave me chills.

• Rating: This one gets a 4/10 for me.

Definitely Better Now by Ava Robinson

• Summary: Emma, our main character, is a recovering alcoholic. This story starts on her one-year anniversary of sobriety. We follow Emma as she navigates life and realizes that being sober won't automatically fix all her problems.

• My Thoughts: This was an interesting and thought-provoking read. I liked Emma a lot, and I thought she was a very realistic character. She had good traits and bad traits, and the author didn't shy away from showing either. Even though I have nothing in common with her, she was a relatable character in a way. I loved the exploration of what forgiveness means in this book. I also enjoyed the romance aspect, which often tends to be my least favorite part of books, but it was really well-done in this one. Overall, it was a sweet story that handled a lot of very heavy topics in an informative and sometimes humorous way.

• Rating: 6/10

Andromeda by Therese Bohman

• Summary: I don't even know how to summarize this because truly nothing happens. There's a girl named Sofie, whose name we don't learn until halfway through the book. She's in her early 20's and has just gotten an internship at a publishing house. She becomes friends (?) with her boss and spends her entire half of the book putting this mediocre-sounding man on a pedestal. Her obsession with him is the only thing on her mind, and she's constantly annoyed that he spends more time with his wife than with her. The second half of the book is from the boss, Gunnar's, point of view.

• My Thoughts: This was my least favorite book this month. Maybe I just didn't get it. I usually like character-driven stories, but this one really didn't do it for me. Sofie is obsessed with Gunnar in a way that I found extremely cringey. I couldn't get a read on her personality because she didn't have one outside of him. I also couldn't stand Gunnar. It was obnoxious how he thought he was better than everyone, and his view of his wife is just insulting.

• Rating: 2/10 because some of the prose was pretty

A Conjuring of Light by Victoria Schwab

• Summary: I don't know how to summarize this without giving spoilers for the first two books since this is part three in a series. There's parallel worlds and lots of magic and weird characters. The first book, A darker Shade of Magic, is fantastic, and I highly recommend it if you like fantasy.

• My Thoughts: I didn't like this book as much as I wanted to. I did like it more than Book 2, A Gathering of Shadows, but I don't think anything in this series will beat Book 1 for me. I loved the premise of the series, which is that there are four Londons, and each one views magic in a different way. One of the main characters, Kell, is a special kind of magician that can travel between the worlds. I was so fascinated by this concept, and it was set up so well in the first book. Unfortunately, I didn't feel like that carried through for the whole series. Some things I did love in this book were the relationships between the characters. Kell and his brother, Rhy, love each other in a way that is so wholesome and really beautiful to read about. I also liked that we got more backstory of one of the side characters because they are, in my opinion, one of the most interesting characters in this series.

• Rating: 6/10

So far, I haven't read 10/10 book in 2025, but luckily, we have 11 more months to go! 9 really, since it's the end of March by now. Oops. Follow me on goodreads if you want more of my thoughts @ mimsyrizz :)