November 2021 Wrap-Up

November was a pretty awesome month for me. I read 9 books (including 2 new favorites), got a bunch of ARCs, hit 200 followers on my blog (read more about that in the Life section), discovered my love of candles, celebrated my parents’ birthdays and became a lot more productive. Of course, I had my days where I cried myself to sleep, but overall, it was great.

Fiction

You’ve Reached Sam by Dustin Thao

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press & Netgalley for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This was probably one of my most anticipated reads of this year. So believe me when I say I was really sad when I finished this.

I didn’t like it. At all.

It was really slow, and Julie was completely 2 dimensional. Her relationship with Sam was boring, and Sam didn’t have a personality. Seriously, it was so hard for me not to skim through this.

So yeah. I understand that this is a pretty unpopular opinion, so don’t come at me in the comments (lol).

⭐⭐

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Slay by Brittney Morris

This was so eye opening. It’s about racism in the gaming community, and how safe spaces are needed for minorities to flourish.

Kiera was a fantastic protagonist. She was fierce, strong and confident, and didn’t care about what other people thought. The descriptions of the game were so vibrant and detailed and I could just imagine it perfectly. I love the side characters, and how they’re all so fleshed out. The discussions of feminism were spot on and I was internally cheering for the characters the whole time.

Overall, a great contemporary for people who loved Warcross.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

When You Get The Chance by Emma Lord

Huge thanks to Netgalley, as well as Wednesday Books for sending me an ARC of ‘When You Get The Chance’ in exchange for an honest, unbiased review!

This was so good! I loved Millie’s character; she was funny, insanely confident in herself and her abilities, but was also really kind. Her relationship with Oliver was the best (BANTER! + Slow-burn), and I loved watching it slowly progress into something more. The side characters were also really well done; I loved Teddy (male/female platonic relationships are the best), and Chloe was so sweet. And there’s a huge aspect of theater and drama which I found really interesting.

Overall, anybody who loves contemporary romances would really enjoy this.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Aurora’s End (The Aurora Cycle, #3) by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

It hurts my heart to say this, but this book was disappointing.

So I liked most of the characters. I really loved Scarlet and Tyler in this book. Finian too, of course. Saedii really grew on me. The new girl, Nari, was literally the best. But the real star of this book was Zila. I loved her. Her character development through this series was fantastic. I’m happy with where she ended up.

But what really bothered me was the last third of the book. Super underwhelming. There was this whole build up and nothing super exciting happened. The first 2 books had such good climaxes that broke my heart but this one? Nothing.

⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Huge thanks to Netgalley, as well as Skyscape for sending me an ARC of ‘Tahira in Bloom’ in exchange for an honest, unbiased review!

SO. CUTE. I loved this! The perfect mix of confident, ambitious, brown protagonist, flowers, enemies to lovers and fashion. Tahira was such a good character. She was realistic, and ambitious and strong. She had her priorities in order, which I really loved. Rowan was literally so charming, what the heck. He was so complex and I love how his character was explored in the book.

There were discussions of racial prejudice and microaggressions throughout the book (Tahira is brown and muslim, and Rowan is black). It was a nuanced view and I liked how the author dealt with it.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Long Story Short by Serena Kaylor

Huge thanks to Netgalley, as well as St. Martin’s Press and Wednesday Books for sending me an ARC of ‘Long Story Short’ in exchange for an honest, unbiased review!

I loved this so freaking much. It’s everything I want in a book and more. Beatrice is the best (points for neurodivergent representation!) I love her snarky-ness and awkwardness. She’s just awesome. Nik was a jerk at the beginning but as he began to open up I started to love him. He’s such a sweetheart. And yes, this is slow-burn enemies to lovers.

Mia and Nolan were the best, and I loved their relationship with Bea. It was hilarious and realistic and so, so sweet. Everyone should have friends like them.

Find my full review here!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

You Have a Match by Emma Lord

Tweet Cute was good, but this was amazing. I loved Abby and her fiery personality, the romance was so cute, and the relationships and found family were adorable. Abby’s relationship with Savvy was so complex and realistic.

Abby and Leo were the sweetest. I love me some good best friends to lovers. I loved the importance put on family. Savvy and Abby got off on the wrong foot, but in the end, they were sisters and cared about each other so much.

Seriously, this book is amazing. Go read it.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalo

A solid debut. The gore is pretty intense at times, but it just adds to the eery atmosphere of the whole book.

Audrey Rose was really well written. I loved how she had more open minded feminist views (back then, feminism was more “hate all men!” and “women can’t be housewives”, and she was “women should be able to do whatever they want to do and not be judged for it”) The casual feminist comments were the best.

The mystery aspect was kind of lacking, in my opinion. It was pretty obvious who Jack the Ripper actually was, and it took the protagonist a pretty long time to actually figure it out.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

The Prince & The Dressmaker by Jen Wang

This was a book I read for school, so I’m really impressed. In one word: adorable.

Sebastian kind of annoyed me, and his decisions could be pretty dumb, but in the end he was just a sweet, innocent prince. I loved how hard Frances worked, and her designs were the best. However, the romance was pretty sudden and not too realistic.

I also really liked the exploration of gender identity in this one (I think that was actually the reason we read it in english). Sebastian struggled with his gender identity and how his family and other’s would react if they found out.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Currently Reading

Loving this right now.

Chloe Gong, you are breaking my heart. I’m so scared for the ending.

Here are the posts of the month:

~November Goals~

• Read at least 7 books ✅
• Do more blog-hopping ✅
• Post at least 4 times ✅
• Exercise more ✅
• Focus on school more ✅

~December Goals~

• Read at least 8 books
• Do more blog hopping
• Post more than 4 times
• Drink more water
• Study more

Life Updates

• Living, Loving and Reading hit 200 followers this month! Thank you all so much for supporting me and I’m so grateful. I’ll be doing a Q&A post in December, so leave your questions in the comments!
• I rewatched Lost in Space (2019) because the 3rd season is coming out on December 1 and I am SO READY FOR IT. Also, do you guys have any theories?
• I created a Notion because I was feeling so unproductive and not organized at all, and now I’ve made it all aesthetic and everything. I have school, life, blogging, journaling and more on it so let me know if you’d like to see a tour!

Movies/Documentaries

• Shang Chi & The Legend of the Ten Rings | FINALLY. Marvel has an Asian character. Multiple Asian characters. And they got a pretty badass movie. I loved the humor and relationships, they’re just so good.

Music

• All To Well (10 Minute Version) by Taylor Swift
• Red (Taylor’s Version) by Taylor Swift
• Bad Habits by Ed Sheeran

• Emily @ Frappes & Fiction programmed an AI to write book reviews!
• Amanda @ Bookish Brews made a list of bookish gifts for book lovers!
• Caro @ Book Cheshire Cat shared 8 books about writers in honor of NaNo month!
• Belle @ This Belle Reads Too reviewed The Heroes of Olympus series!
• Lia @ Chain of Novels reviewed Our Violent Ends!
• Marie @ Drizzle & Hurricane Books reflected on 7 years of blogging!
• Ashmita @ The Fictional Journal discussed why you should annotate your books!
• Madeline @ The Bookish Mutant did the Chapters & Melodies tag!
• Lotus @ Pages of Starlight talked about blog hiatuses and taking breaks!
• Kaya @ A Fictional Bookworm read 1 star reviews of her favorite books!
• Rachel @ A Bookworm’s Paradise shared a list of books that she’d use as weapons!
• Saima @ Stories With Saima talked about their favorite books of 2020!
• Anoushka @ Dipped in Ink introduced her NaNoWriMo novel!
• Maria @ The Character Study did the Bookish Blog Tag!
• Sam @ Literary Delirium also reviewed Our Violent Ends!
• Maddie @ Inking & Thinking paired book covers with Met gala looks!

How was your November? What are you looking forward to in December? Leave your thoughts on this post in the comments below!