November & December 2020 Wrap Up

Hi everyone! Today I’m doing my final wrap up of 2020, which will include (as you can see by the title) both November and December. The reason I never did a separate wrap up for November is because I only finished two books, so I wanted to combine them with whatever I read in December.

Before getting into the books, let’s take a quick look at some combined stats: in these two months I read a total of 7 books, 5 were fantasy, one was a romance, and one was a thriller. All of them were e-books, and the ratings were: one 2.5 star, one 3.5 star, one 4 star, one 4.5 star, and three 5 stars. Finally, the years these books were published were: one in 2018, one in 2019, three in 2020, and two in 2021!

The Open House by Sam Carrington – ★★☆☆☆ .5
I was so disappointed by this book. I didn’t understand the choices that the characters made at the end because it was so out of character, and there were too many plot threads that were abandoned. I have a full review of this one up, and it will also be in my upcoming most disappointing reads of 2020 list and I went into more detail in both of those, so I’ll leave this short.

A Deal with the Elf King by Elise Kova – ★★★★★
I really loved this book and the dynamic between the two main characters, Luella and Eldas! This is a fantasy romance, and a lot of Kova’s books focus more on the romance aspect and use the fantasy aspects to move the romance forward. I shipped these characters together so much, which for me is something that doesn’t happen often because it takes a lot to get me really invested in a couple. I also really enjoyed that it was a standalone with companion novels set in the same world, even thought I just want even more of these characters! I’m really happy though with the way this ended and the closure we got on their relationship.

Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim – ★★★★★
My first read of December was Spin the Dawn, which I’ve had as an ARC for so long that it’s actually embarrassing. I was pleasantly surprised with this one, and because I was still in the mood for a fantasy romance when I read this I was happy that the second half had a romance, although I can see people not enjoying that aspect. It did feel like I read two separate books because it’s definitely split into two parts – the contest and then the quest. Since this was an ARC, I do have a full review available if you want to see more of my in depth thoughts.

From Lukov With Love by Mariana Zapata – ★★★★★
I was obviously still on a romance kick because this one is 100% a romance. I absolutely LOVED this slow burn enemies-to-lovers romance! It made me so emotional at points because of the struggles that Jasmine and Ivan went through. I’m also a sucker for ice skating anything, and this felt like it had a lot of similarities with Spinning Out which is a (unfortunately cancelled) Netflix show about pairs skaters that have a hate-to-love romance while dealing with very real issues. Something else that I really loved about this romance that might be a bit of a spoiler is that it didn’t have that third act break up that so many romances had, and I was so happy that it wasn’t there, because it gets really predictable and redundant after a while. I’m excited to read more romances by this author now!

Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire – ★★★★☆
I was so grateful to have had an opportunity to read this as an ARC, and I’m so happy that I enjoyed it! I loved seeing this world full of magical horses, and I loved all the messages about found family, destiny, unconditional love, and being true to yourself. I really hope we get more books within this portal world because I would like to explore the other equine groups. However, I didn’t really like how rushed the ending felt, and I don’t feel like I had enough closure. Make sure you check out my full review for more thoughts!

Lore (Chapter Sampler) by Alexandra Bracken – ★★★☆☆
I was able to read a chapter sampler for Lore, which released today! It’s tough to judge a whole book based off of 6 chapters, but I was definitely intrigued enough to check out the full book when it releases. This one did take a while until I got up to speed with what was going on because it’s a lot kind of thrown at you at once, but by the end of the chapter sampler I was catching on to what was happening a lot more.

Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco – ★★★★☆
I ended 2020 with a book that I really enjoyed, which is a good way to end the year. I loved Wrath as a character, and I can’t wait to learn more about him and see where the relationship between him and Emilia goes (or doesn’t go). I loved the slow burn romance, but I found myself not really liking how things were so convenient for Emilia to get out of bad situations, and that the we were told how dangerous everything was but it never really felt like the stakes were high. I have a full review of this one available as well!

What books did you read in November and December? Have you read any of these? I’d love to chat!