Unfiltered Book Reviews - 2026 Reads

New year, new books! I took a break from reading for basically the entire winter holiday stretch, and this book is what kicks off this year. This was SUPER cool, and let me just say, I was FUCKING RIGHT about there being a body in the clay sculpture. Just, you know. Wrong about whose body. This book is told through instant message chats between some external examiners for a Master's art course, who then go through class discussions, essays, and even private WhatsApp chats that were provided. I wasn't entirely sure that I would like this method of storytelling, but it was really compelling, and I liked the little breaks of chats between the external examiners while they were all reading along. This book was SO cool and I definitely kept pausing to tell my husband about what was going on in it.

Wow, this was fun! I love me a good monsterfucker romance (even though werewolves aren't the most "monster" but whatever.) An arranged marriage between a vampire and a werewolf? And it turns out she's his mate??? But she can't ever understand because she's not a were? That's the good shit. There was, unfortunately, a 3rd act breakup, which I fucking hate in romance, but it was resolved really quickly and without much wallowing in sadness. Also, big fan of making vampire feeding hot. I remember thinking when I read "Crave" that the author somehow managed to make feeding NOT hot... Hazelwood does not suffer from the same thing. I've got the second book on hold at the library, so I'm looking forward to reading that when my loan comes up. I think it'll be another "same universe, different characters" thing, which is fine with me!

The blurb written by one of my favorite authors (VE Schwab) about this book was "it is like being wrapped up in a big gay blanket." I absolutely agree with this assessment. Once more, Klune has made me rethink what "home" means - is it the place I pay rent in, or is it the people I surround myself with? Thankfully, this one didn't make me cry like "Under the Whispering Door" did, but it was just as compelling, and I feel so warm and fuzzy inside after finishing it. What a sweet cast of characters.

This was a neat read. At the very beginning, the author's note said something along the lines of "these characters are fictional. They're not good people. But they're fun to write about. Eat well." and honestly? I really appreciated that. They're NOT good people. After finishing "The Atlas Six", I've realized that I like fucked up characters with fucked up motivations. I mean, for the first half of the book, the two MCs are just trying to kill each other! It was fun to read, and I felt very much like that one AITA Reddit post... "You're perfect for each other. Just don't involve anyone else in whatever you've got going on." Cool twist there at the end. It's apparently part of a series, but I don't think I'll read the rest. I like how self-contained it is for now.

Starting off the romance month strong with a cute romance novel! This one is celebrity x bodyguard, it's super gay, and was just an overall fun read. Nice and light, not too serious, and I liked how the relationship developed. I'm a sucker for bodyguard romances and fake dating, and this was BOTH! I would definitely recommend this as a palette-cleanser between more intense things. Also, no 3rd act breakup! We love to see it! Just gals bein pals!

Book 2 of the "Bride" series! This one follows Serena, who we found out was a half-human, half-Were hybrid... AND UM. HELLO? Girlypop gets her first heat and the alpha of the pack (her mate) who has taken a vow of celibacy in order to be alpha helps her through it??? EVEN THO HE CAN'T ACTUALLY DO ANYTHING??? Good shit. The YEARNING. The LUST. The lack of CONTROL. It's cool and was fun to read. A little annoyed at that 3rd act breakup again, but meh, it was fine and made sense narratively. Not a breakup just for the sake of drama. Anyway, I think Hazelwood is doing really well with these fantasy books. I haven't read any of her other stuff, though, so I don't know how they hold up.

AAAAHHH. AAAAAAAAHHHHHH. THIS MOTHERFUCKER. Man. I wanna start this review off by saying: I fucking LOVE this guy's books. There's just something about his writing style that forces me to slow down and actually absorb what is happening, which is really impressive for me given how quickly I read usually. I normally skim books to read them, but not these. Anyway, I'm screaming because at the very end I realized that IT'S CONNECTED TO THE OTHER TWO BOOKS. IT'S ALL THE SAME WORLD AND THE CHARACTERS INTRACT TANGENTIALLY AND AAAAHHHHH. FUCKING COOL. Anyway. 10/10, I HIGHLY recommend these books. They're all fucking phenomenal.

Every time someone tells me they're having trouble reading books, I tell them to pick up a thriller. They're great motivators to read; really good at getting you to keep turning those pages. This was EXACTLY what I needed right now. I read the first chapter of this book, didn't care for the point of view, and put it down for the majority of the month. When I finally went back, I realized it was through multiple points of view, and was immediately hooked! Finished it very quickly. Very good read, and I liked the twists!

This was book 2 of the "Ruinous Love" series, which started out with two serial killers and their fucked up yearly game to see who could kill a predator faster. Book 2 follows an indie singer/songwriter who is ALSO a serial killer and a man who works as a killer/cleaner for hire. Fake marriage, enemies to lovers, very fun! They don't even fuck until like the last 1/3rd of the book. I'll probably go ahead and buy the third book of the series, I've enjoyed it!

Well, this was an absolute delight. I love putting books on hold at my library and not getting them for a few weeks, so I've completely forgotten why I added it to my list in the first place. This was a really fun Victorian Gothic thing with murder, love, mystery, and a teeny tiny bit of spice! (Like, literally one chapter.) I thoroughly enjoyed this one, and the epilogue was cute. "Live-in secretary". Uh-huh. Sure.

This was book 3 in a series that is apparently 4 books, and while I've been enjoying them... I'm really ready for it to be over. I'm glad Evie and the Villain finally got together (sorta), but it immediately blew up in their faces, which I kinda expected. I'm just getting tired of everything going wrong all at once. I know that's kinda how fairy tales work sometimes, but jeez, give a bitch a break. I'll probably read the last one just to round it out, but I was for sure getting exasperated by this one.

I wanted to like this one. I really did. And I liked some of the character interactions, and I think it's got a lot of promise. But I was looking forward to reverse harem, and instead I got Stockholm syndrome with an incubus. It was entertaining enough to finish, but I have no interest in reading the rest of the series. I think the FMC just bugs me too much. Also, I'm getting really sick of the term "female". Just call them WOMEN, jesus.

Alright, fine. You caught me. I borrowed this through Libby because it was available and I was disappointed with "The Female," and this book absolutely filled that void. It's funny, the premise is absolutely bonkers, and just overall a fun read. (Also a bonus that the audiobook is only 6 hours on 1x speed, so I blasted through it.) I'll keep reading these because they're fun, and I don't expect too much plot to happen from them, but that's okay!

I'm beginning to see why my mom likes what she refers to as "dude, where's my shirt" books. (Of course referencing the fact that the dude has no shirt on the cover.) These are just fun to read! I might continue these, I might not, but they're fun and I am kinda curious to know how the other characters handle this situation.

So, my mom recommended this one to me. She was telling me about this book, and how it's about a woman who dies and goes to the afterlife, and she opens up a help desk in Hell (appropriately called the Hellp Desk), and she's sassy and falls in love with a demon prince... and I went "wait, I've watched those TikToks!" Yup, this is Lily from the Hellp Desk videos! It's her story, how she meets Bel, how she starts the Hellp Desk, how she meets Sharkie. It's LONG, too, which is great because there is SO much story packed in there. Fantastic writing, and I honestly want to go back and read it again. Lynn does a great job of writing religious trauma, how healing isn't linear, and how a family might not end up like how you expected it. 10/10 read, I can't wait for Penny's story! I wonder if she plans on writing Ruggy, too?

Finally got around to reading the third book in this series! Henry is a sweetheart, and I also really appreciated Halle losing her shit on her mom. Good for her. Oh and also fuck Will, or whatever his name is, Halle's ex boyfriend. What an asshole. This series was cute and I'm glad I read it!

I got this book from a friend online through a mutual Discord. They were clearing out their bookshelves and I went "I liek books", so they sent me a few. Finally got around to reading it, and I really enjoyed it! I see why they passed it along, though. I don't think I'll re-read it once I'm done with the series. It's entertaining, though, and I like the setting a lot, even if the main character is a little rough around the edges. I'm excited to see where Book 2 brings it! A daughter of Hel is very interesting indeed.

So, I recently watched Project Hail Mary, and it made me want to try some more sci fi! I've only read a handful of sci fi books and while I did ask for recommendations, I also just went on Libby and decided to see what was currently available. I finished this book in ilke 2 days, it was great. This was a very cool reverse Indiana Jones, where the thief actually breaks into museums to get relics and artifacts to return to their proper place. Lots of really interesting characters, I liked the alien species, and just overall a really cool setting! Got some funky pronouns in here, too, which was really neat. I'm glad I picked this one up!

Well, this was the second installment in this duology, and I think it ended quite nicely! Honestly, the pacing was really good, and while Freya's behavior really annoyed me, I appreiate her as a character. I honestly wasn't expecting a child of Loki, so that was interesting. These were a fun read, but I'll probably pass them along to someone else soon. I doubt I'll read them again.

Rounding out May reads with this SUPER CUTE ROMANCE BOOK OH MY GOD? There's a reason flowershop AUs are so popular on AO3. This was charming, it was funny, I especially liked the little details of the shop signs between chapters. It was a very nice story about healing and growth, learning who you are after escaping an abusive situation, and letting people help you. It's ALSO "sunshine sweet woman" meets "grumpy next door neighbor", only the sunshine girl used to be the villain and has killed many, many people, and the grumpy guy is essentially a grad school dropout alchemist. It's great and very fun. Had a blast!

So, I read the first two books of this series back in 2023 and did actually leave a review of them then. I wasn't quite as diligent with my reviews then, so I lumped the two books together into one, but since I'm finally rereading them before I read book 3, I figured I'd give the review another go. Firstly: I did not cry this time, but the Drop scene was still very emotional. I forgot how LONG it takes for Bryce and Hunt to do literally anything together, and I'm getting into book 2 and still nothing has happened. Which is great! I like a slow burn. I'm still a big fan of the setting; I don't read enough modern fantasy, but I do really love it. I will say, after reading ACOTAR and Throne of Glass, SJM has like... specific character archetypes that she keeps the same across all the series. Ruhn and Dorian. Fury and Amren. Sandriel and Amarantha. Like I get it, you know what you're about, but could you maybe not make the exact same character with a different name? Anyway, these books are still fun and I'm looking forward to rereading Book 2 so that I can finally dive into Book 3.

This one was cute! I'm a big fan of the corruption of an otherwise "pure" character via the release of her free will. I support women's rights, but I also support women's wrongs (leaving men to die painful deaths via poison when she could have healed him). It was a fun romp, spicier than I expected (hello??? that shadow scene when he can't touch her??? EXCUSE ME?), buuuut.... it is part of a series, and I don't think I'll read the rest. I'm just not really interested in the plot that much. I think it would have been fine to make it just a one-off, so I'll pass on the rest. I enjoyed it, though!