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The Book Bit: April 2023 Ed.


I know I say this every month, but time has just swept away this month. April was really weird for us and we were somehow swamped with stuff and yet not busy at all. Does that make any sense? And the weather? Usually April is our rainy season and we've had almost none this year. It's weird. Does this mean summer is going to be awful? I don't know, I'm all turned around honestly! April was also a weird reading month for me because I just couldn't get motivated to read. I read my first book really fast and then didn't pick another one up for two weeks! It didn't help that two of the books this month weren't my favorite. I struggled through two of them. Ok, let's talk about what I read!


"The Kiss Thief" by L.J. Shen


Francesca Rossi is young and ready to start her life with her childhood sweetheart when her father forces her into an arranged marriage with Senator Wolfe Keaton. Instead of marrying into one of the most powerful families in the Chicago Outfit, her father is paying for his past transgressions with her future. Can Francesca find happiness between the man that held her heart and the man that's now her husband? 

Ok, so if you follow me on YouTube, you know I've been through it with this book and that I was super excited about it! And... yeah, it didn't really work for me. This book has a lot of really popular tropes that I know other readers love, but they weren't my favorite. Also, this book leans very heavily on how young Francesca is in almost a pedophilia type of way? Francesca is not a child, let me be clear, but the way her age was framed (repeatedly) gave it that vibe and that just wasn't for me. There were some really good moments here and there, but it didn't redeem the book for me. 


"The Last Days of Jack Spark" by Jason Arnopp


Jack Sparks doesn't believe in the afterlife, demons, possession, any of those things. So, it's no surprise to anyone that he's decided to write a book proving that all of it is a farce. He's known for being a controversial journalist and it's part of the reason his books always sell. After starting an online skirmish by laughing during an exorcism, a forty second video appears on his YouTube channel that he swears he didn't post. Nobody knew what happened to Jack in the days that followed -- until now. 

So, I will definitely say if you're going to read this book you have to read the prologue! I'm generally not a fan of those, but it does a really good job explaining how the book is written and cleared up a lot of confusion for me (a simpleton lol). Overall, the idea for this was extremely unique and the ending was way beyond what I was expecting, but I had a lot of pace issues, the gore was not up to par, and I think Arnopp played the long game with a little too much confidence here. I almost DNF'd this book because it just didn't feel like anything was happening and the narrator was so unreliable that I felt like I was being gaslit the entire book (Arnopp combated this extremely well in the beginning, but gave up at the halfway mark, which I didn't love), so yeah, I give it points for creativity, but it didn't work that well for me. 


"Wild and Wicked Things" by Francesca May


Annie is on Crow Island for two reasons; to settle her father's estate and see her long time friend that disappeared over a year ago. But when she gets to her little rented cottage and sees the lively party next door, drawn by the allure of illegal magic and beauty, she feels a pull to Crow Island like she never felt before. Set in the aftermath of World War I, Annie must decide if she belongs in this world of magic, romance, and murder, and whether she'll fight to stay or run in fear. 

This really blew me away! I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't this book! Do you like 'Practical Magic'? How about 'Sawkill Girls'? Read this. Seriously! It's got this amazing dark magic vibe as well as some sapphic representation and a great amount of witch lore in it. If you like books that have that raw feminine power edge to it, you'll like this. I usually struggle with period pieces, but this was really well done. I did have some pacing issues here and there, it was probably 100 pages too long (imo), but I still really liked it. 


So, yeah, it was kind of a mixed bag this month! Two books were meh and one was definitely a great read. What did you read in April? Anything good? Let me know in the comments! And if you aren't following me on YouTube, go check it out! I post a new video every week so you can keep up with all my book recs and reviews over there. Thanks for stopping by and happy reading! 

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