What I Read in January 2022

Looking at this stack, I realize that I read mostly romances last month! Maybe because I was traveling for a couple weeks, I was more in the mood for light, quick reads? I read some exciting debuts and also scratched the itch that I was feeling to read more fantasy. I enjoyed the majority of what I read last month, so let’s get into it!

THE GILDED ONES BY NAMINA FORNA | 4 STARS

I was craving some fantasy at the beginning of the year, so I picked up this book that had been on my TBR for a while. It’s about a young girl named Deka who has to flee her village after the blood ceremony, when her blood runs gold and it’s revealed that she’s a demon. The extremely patriarchal society in this book sounds awful for women- basically they’re not supposed to do anything other than serve men. I loved that this book was full of badass warrior women. I will say that it was a quite gory and violent, so be warned if that’s not your thing! I really enjoyed this one and I’m so glad that the sequel is coming out later this year. [Check out my full review here.]

WAHALA BY NIKKI MAY* | 3.5 STARS

Ok, so I definitely did not see the ending of this book coming! It’s about three biracial women living in London and what happens to their friend group when a fourth woman gets added to the mix. I mostly enjoyed this book, but there were also offhand comments about race, about Nigerian culture and people, and about body size that made me a bit uncomfortable. Aside from that, it was an entertaining read about friendships that are tested to their limit. [Check out my full review here.]

DAUGHTER OF THE MOON GODDESS BY SUE LYNN TAN* | 5 STARS

This book was such an adventure- I loved it so much! It follows Xingyin, the daughter of the Moon Goddess, who’s forced to flee her home to avoid being detected by the Celestial Emperor. She then goes on an epic journey which includes action, adventure, magic, romance, dragons- I mean, what more could you want?! I thought the writing was really beautiful- there was a lyricism/musicality to her style that I really enjoyed. I was so immersed in this story and I’m so glad that Xingyin’s tale doesn’t end here because there will be a sequel! [Check out my full review here.]

YINKA, WHERE IS YOUR HUZBAND? BY LIZZIE DAMILOLA BLACKBURN* | 3.5 STARS

I was excited to read another debut novel from a British-Nigerian author last month. Yinka is leading a pretty successful life in London, but to her mother and auntie’s chagrin, she does not have any marriage prospects. When her cousin gets engaged, Yinka is determined to find a date for the wedding to get her family off her back. I saw that this was classified as a romance on Goodreads, but I would say it’s more of a contemporary fiction read. I thought this was funny and relatable and I generally had a good time while reading it. [Check out my full review here.]

WEATHER GIRL BY RACHEL LYNN SOLOMON* | 3.5 STARS

This was the January Literary League pick and I was looking forward to reading it because I’d heard good things about her previous book, The Ex Talk. This novel follows Ari, a meteorologist, who teams up with her colleague, Russell to try and fix their bosses’ relationship, which is affecting the whole station. This was a sweet read and I now know a lot more about meteorologists than I did before! I loved the way the author wrote about mental health and Ari’s struggles with depression. But, something was holding me back from fully falling in love with the developing relationship between Ari and Russ. I think that was a me thing though, and overall, this was a really enjoyable read.

THE HATING GAME BY SALLY THORNE | 2.5 STARS

When I decided to buddy read this with some booksta friends (@bookswithtay and @lifebytheink), I was very curious to see what the hype was all about. And I very rarely DNF books, but the last book I tried to read by Sally Thorne, 99 Percent Mine, was a DNF for me. So I was maybe a little wary of picking up this book too! It’s about two colleagues who work at a publishing house and do not get along. And then they end up competing head to head when a new position opens up at work that they both want. I found this a lot more readable than 99 Percent Mine, but I still found her writing style a little jarring. A few things annoyed me about this book. And in general, I struggled with the characters in this book because they didn’t feel developed enough and I just wasn’t on board for the main relationship. But in the moment, it was an entertaining enough read.

THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS BY ALI HAZELWOOD | 4 STARS

I guess I was in the mood for checking out super popular books, since I then picked up The Love Hypothesis, which I’d seen all over bookstagram and booktok. The main character, Olive, starts fake dating a professor named Adam, in order to convince her best friend that she’s over her ex and that it’s ok that her best friend has developed feelings for her ex! This was just as delightful as I was hoping it would be and I loved the dynamic between Olive and Adam- the grumpy vs. sunshine trope. I thought the writing was funny as well. Were certain situations highly unbelievable? Yes, but I still enjoyed it! This was a great romance read and I definitely want to read her next book.

Have you read any of these books?

*Thank you to the publisher for giving me a free copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

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