I’ve really fallen off posting in the last month. Partially because I’ve been busy, partially because I’m always laziest in February. Something about the cold dreariness of the month inspires nothing but sleepiness in me and I find myself fighting with (and losing against) my proclivity for procrastination the most in February.
Although I haven’t been posting, I have been reading to an almost obscene degree. I knocked out 21 books this month, believe it or not. Now, most of them were supremely easy rom-com reads, but some were a bit weightier.
My favorite read of the month was Deep End by Ali Hazelwood. It’s rare that I list a rom-com as a favorite but this one was just so good! The book explores the relationship between two college kids – one an Olympic-Gold-Medal-winning swimmer, the other an elite diver. It’s gotten complaints for being simultaneously too spicy and somehow also not spicy enough but for me it was just about perfect. There is more spice than in previous novels by Hazelwood, but there’s also a content warning so... I feel like complaints about too much spice kind of deserve a bit of an eyeroll? On the other end of the complaints, the book explores a power-exchange relationship and a lot of reviewers seem to think the book was too tame, too vanilla. To this, I just want to point out that these are college kids – both 21-22 years old getting into their very first relationship where they can be honest about what they want. I’m not sure why anyone would think they’d be jumping in to like, whips and chains in this initial stage of their relationship, but ok. I thought the book gave really good examples of safely exploring and consenting to power-exchange, but what do I know? Anyway, the yearning from the male lead, Lukas? Top tier. I highly, highly recommend this new release to anyone who likes a spicy romance with excellent communication and main characters who are not idiots.
Another favorite from this month was A Thousand Splendid Suns which had been hanging out on my TBR pile for over ten years and which I loved, heavy and devastating as it was.
Honorable mention also goes out to I Hope This Finds You Well. It’s a rom-com but one that’s not all fluff and which has quite a bit of substance to it for all its silliness and I devoured it in a day.
