The Books I Read In November 2020
November 2020: Reading List and Monthly Wrap Up
Holy guacamole - we’ve hit December! I’m still not quite sure HOW that is possible. But here we are! The year has flooooown by while has also felt INCREDIBLY and exhaustingly long! What has not disappointed though is my commitment to reading regularly again and you guessed it - all the books I’ve read! November was no exception. I read 4 ARCs, started 2 new series, and finished up another! This batch has got retellings, fairy tale feels, a family vacation, djinn and magical creatures, angels and demons, and lots of diverse culture and characters alike. I’m excited to share with you!
As far as reading overall goes for November, I was a bit all over the place again. I seemed to have forgotten about my read-one-book-at-a-time theory from October 😂 I had ambitious goals but I did get to a lot of what I wanted and enjoyed everything I read in the process... and that’s what counts!
I’d love to know your thoughts once you dive in. Have you read any of these? What did you think? How did they make you feel? Jump down to the comments section to share with me!
Blog Contents
The Books
Best Of The Bunch
Stunning Series Spotlight
The Stats
Diversity
Shop My Library
The Books
1 // White Hot Kiss | ☆☆☆☆
Book 1 in The Dark Elements series by Jennifer L. Armentrout. This is one of her young adult series and for me, when I picked it up, it was such a refreshing read! Which makes me laugh 1) because while this is a lighter read as far as fantasy & writing goes, the content is slightly on the darker side with it’s paranormal elements and 2) when I recently watched JLA and SJM’s Instagram Live, I found out that one of JLA’s go-to, comfort zone shows while she writes is Supernatural AND IT’S MINE TOO 😂
At any rate, I found White Hot Kiss light, fun, and easy to get through and digest. It touches just enough world building and fantasy boxes without being overly complicated or too in depth that I just breezed right through. The story takes our world and infuses it with an angels and demons trope which I am always down for as well as a well done love triangle! This urban, punky fantasy also felt oddly cozy with it’s high school vibes. In my mind we were at my middle school which brought some nostalgia with it! JLA’s writing is spunky and fresh and I am OBSESSED with the fact that Roth knows about Supernatural and his music taste follows suit. Also Zayne has an Impala 😍🙌🏻 Thank you very much for that JLA!!! A must read if you’re a paranormal, fantasy, and JLA fan!
2 // Kingdom of Copper | ☆☆☆☆
If you have not read The Daevabad Trilogy and you’re a fantasy reader, put down whatever you are reading and doing and GO START THIS RIGHT NOW. Guys. This is turning out to be one of my favorite series all of TIME. Now I was slightly disappointed in book 2 (and I mean only very slightly which is why it’s a 4 for me), but this was really only because my expectations were high, high, high for some of the relationship dynamics and honestly one of the things I love about Chakraborty’s writing is that it’s realistic and pragmatic even though we’re in a fantasy world. It makes things that much more believable. So while I was disappointed about some of the outcomes and trajectories of certain relationship dynamics, this was still an AMAZING read. The depth and ease of this story and its telling is just breathtaking. <Insert all the heart and star eyes here> 😍🤩 This magical story of djinn has had our whole read-along group (#TheDaevabadBunch, hosted by me, @foreverbookedup, @reading.inwatercolor, and @granger.ways) gushing for weeks!
3 // Firefrost | ☆☆☆
"Maybe we aren't so different. We're both afraid of what fire can do to us." // "Love blooms in the most unusual places. They would find a way."
In this frosty, ice-covered world, fire can take and change and twist people — if they let it. Full of Flameskins (people possessed by pyras — demonic creatures who hold the power of fire), Mages (witches who can wield fire without a pyra), and all kinds of mystical magic and creatures, Firefrost follows the story of a Flameskin soldier, Kelan, and a huntress (the guardians of life), Sol, who are on opposite sides of a long waging war. Their world is determined to keep them apart, but to survive, they have to work together and not stop fighting.
This story felt fresh and light and raw. It was fast-paced yet intricately woven together with just the right amount of world-building. The magic system was also so unique and combined with the world-building was a huge reprieve for me after reading lots of paranormal fantasy stories. It has the ultimate Nordic/Frozen vibes! It would definitely be a great winter read. The beginning and end are action-packed and incredibly unique. The middle started to feel a little repetitive, but overall, it was a smooth, straightforward read with short chapters
The major tropes - enemies to lovers and found family. I looooved the section illustrations, and the first and last 100 pages were my favorite! Firefrost is considered the stand-alone prequel to the series and occurs 100 years before Flameskin (book #1 in The Flameskin Chronicles). Thank you to the author, Camille Longley, for my advanced ecopy (now available and also on Kindle Unlimited)!
4 // Stone Cold Touch | ☆☆☆☆☆
Book 2 in The Dark Elements series by Jennifer L. Armentrout! If it’s possible I liked book 2 a gazillion times more and we had less of the love interest who I wanted to pull through 😂 I devoured this book in basically a day after I read the first 50 or so pages in another sitting. It’s got all the same great elements as book 1 and was again such an easy and digestible read. I really enjoyed being immersed in this world of angels and demons that JLA created. I could NOT put it down and I did not want to.
The writing and wit was 100% still spunky and oh-so-fresh, but even more so! It was over dramatically over the top that it was just incessantly funny! I couldn’t stop snort laughing. Dry humor at it’s best! Smiles are breaking faces and traitorous butterflies are zooming around our stomachs. I also totally (and temporarily) fell in love with Zayne, missed Roth, and Bambi & Layla together was just 😍😍😍 I’m finding that I love it when a man’s animal (or just demon familiar, fine) cozies up with the woman he loves maybe even before he knows he loves her. There’s something to that dynamic that just beautifully ties the overarching love story together in a swoon-worthy bow. I can’t get enough.
5 // That Summer | ☆☆☆
𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒮𝓊𝓂𝓂ℯ𝓇 • 𝖨 𝗄𝗇𝗈𝗐 𝗐𝗁𝖾𝗇 𝗐𝖾'𝗋𝖾 𝖺𝗅𝗅 𝗀𝗋𝗈𝗐𝗇 𝗎𝗉, 𝗐𝖾'𝗅𝗅 𝖺𝗅𝗐𝖺𝗒𝗌 𝗋𝖾𝖿𝖾𝗋 𝗍𝗈 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝗍𝗂𝗆𝖾 𝖺𝗌 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗌𝗎𝗆𝗆𝖾𝗋. 𝖳𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗌𝗎𝗆𝗆𝖾𝗋 𝗐𝖾 𝗐𝖾𝗇𝗍 𝗍𝗈 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗅𝖺𝗄𝖾. 𝖳𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗌𝗎𝗆𝗆𝖾𝗋 𝗐𝖾 𝖺𝗅𝗅 𝗀𝗋𝖾𝗐 𝗎𝗉. 𝖠𝗇𝖽 𝗀𝗋𝖾𝗐 𝖼𝗅𝗈𝗌𝖾𝗋. 𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓈𝓊𝓂𝓂ℯ𝓇 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗇𝗀𝖾𝖽 𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗋𝗒𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗀 •
It’s summer in November! That Summer is a super cute high school, summer camp, boy next door romance. It was my first Jillian Dodd novel and I think I’m hooked 🙌 This story was light and fun and easy to read with some PG-13 (maybe 18 😅) steam and filled with some cringeworthy, angsty teen (and sometimes adult) moments 😂 Totally vibed with the family vacation and was so on board with the blended and found family vibes. Definitely felt like I was on vacay with the Diamonds and the Mackenzies, and I think a part of me wishes I had a Chase growing up! I could totally relate to Dani wanting to remain in a vacation / Chase / family bubble forever. I get the same way!
𝖳𝗁𝖾𝗆𝖾𝗌 𝖨 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗒 𝖾𝗇𝗃𝗈𝗒𝖾𝖽: Not worrying about what others think, being a strong independent woman and also a sexually empowered independent woman, fighting covert societal & high school “norms”, social media & technology hiatuses, family is COOL and important and fun, standing up for yourself and your best friends, learning and growing.
That ending will have you like 🥴🙄😩 and also wondering how long we have to wait for the next book 🥴🥴🥴
Thank you to the author Jillian Dodd for my advanced cope of the book and goodies!
6 // Rhapsodic | ☆☆☆☆
Rhapsodic is book 1 in The Bargainer Series. This story follows Des, a dark fae and the King of the Night in the Otherworld and Callie’s, a siren, blossoming connection. When the story starts they are 7 years estranged from each other after Des saved her as a youth. If you are a fan of A Court of Mist and Fury or A Touch of Darkness, Rhapsodic and The Bargainer series will be right up your alley! I apparently have a very sweet spot for Hades and Persephone retellings, and Rhapsodic was no exception. Des, also known as The Bargainer, is to die for. He is Rhys and Hades rolled up into one! And where ACOMAF and ATOD had dark elements, they still felt surprisingly light and welcoming whereas Rhapsodic has elements that seriously spooked me the F out. I loved being wrapped up in this world and with Des, so go read this right now if you like steamy romances, mythology and retellings. And definitely be ready for some spook-factor! The series is available on Kindle Unlimited!
CW: teacher/student encounter, sexual assault, rape, murder, kidnapping and captivity, vampires
7 // These Violent Delights | ☆☆☆☆☆
This was one of my ARC reads, so thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for my advanced e-copy!
And guys what a story! It took me a minute to get into this - I started it around the same time I was reading A Kingdom of Copper, and I think it was just too much amazing fantasy and world building at once. My brain couldn’t hang 😂 BUT. These Violent Delights is a layered upon layered historical fantasy thriller with a touch of romance... a Romeo and Juliette retelling... and it really doesn't get any better than that, right?! All of my favorite genres rolled up into one! These Violent Delights is one of a kind.
We follow a gritty band of diverse gangsters, misfits in their own right, including Roma and Juliette, rival heirs to their gang apparent, who are trying to uncover the origins of a mysterious madness running manically across the city of 1926 Shanghai. With little to go on and the blood feud still raging between Roma's and Juliette's gangs, the heirs are forced to find a way to covertly work together. But can they? Their blood-stained past and romantic history could make things difficult on top of the growing number of native political & civil factions and the endless stream of foreigners trying to take over their city.
Almost poetic at times, the writing is purely magnificent. Gong beautifully strings words together creating a stunning masterpiece so exquisitely detailed and intricate. There is lots of slow yet intense build-up and then everything seems to happen all at once and doesn’t stop! A web of intricately detailed plot lines that all come together in one seamless swoop after swoop after swoop. It's largely character-driven and political and gave me Six of Crows vibes. Seriously, what a story! AND OMG THAT ENDING! I need book 2 to hurry up!
8 // Not The Heir | ☆☆☆☆
What an enchanting tale! This was my final ARC of the month, so thank you to the author, Hudson Warm, for my advanced copy! I found Not The Heir magical, regal, and mythic. With an enchanted forest, an evil queen, a prince, and a long-lost legend of a powerful key this book will give you all the fairy tale feels. I read this in basically two sittings - it’s super easy to get through with surface level world building (and a major plot twist or two that I did not seeing coming), but enough to paint the beautiful world it takes place in. It definitely gave me Once Upon A Time vibes! And can we just talk about the cover?!
9 // The Empire of Gold | ☆☆☆☆☆
I’m not sure I’m going to be able to get through this one without tearing up 😭 This was my last read of November and WOW. It was by far THE BEST this month and potentially the best of the year for me. Chakraborty BROKE ME guys. She broke me. To my very core. It’s been 3 days since I finished and I’m still finding myself getting choked up over it. If I could give this a hundred stars, the entire sky, I would. I can't stop thinking about it. I'm still getting emotional over it. It's going to stick with me for a long, long time.
Book 3 was action packed and exciting. I couldn’t put it down if I wanted to once I really got into it nor did I want to! When I read these books, I feel like I’m completely and utterly immersed in the tale. It’s like I’m watching it. That’s how good the writing, story, and characters are as well as the general dynamic of the storytelling itself. Especially with book 3, because the depth of the world building goes to a whole other level, I felt like I was watching an Emmy nominated and extremely well-developed TV series. You’re just that immersed in the magic of the story unfolding before you on the page and it feels that effortless. The wit and the banter is sooo on point. The love interest(s) are to die for. The magic of the world is just beyond fathomable in the best way possible. And you literally cannot guess what’s going to happen nor does your mind have enough space to naturally connect the dots because you’re so wrapped up in the moment, and that’s literally all I could ever ask for in a fantasy series. Some of my favorite parts were the banter between Nahri and Ali. Although I will be #teamdaraforever. 😭
This series is stunning and beautiful and down right amazing and magical. It is hands down one of my favorites ever. I just told my mom about it and she’s reading it next! 😍 I get to relive the story through another’s eyes and I CAN’T WAIT.
Fingers crossed that the Netflix adaptation comes through! 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻
𝐁𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡 | The Empire of Gold
𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 | The Daevabad Trilogy
The Stats
𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒 | 326
𝐏𝐀𝐆𝐄𝐒 | 4,054
𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐒 | ~1,335,490
Diversity & Book Rankings
𝐎𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝
These Violent Delights 🏳️🌈✊🏾✊🏽💚🎗🇨🇳
The Kingdom of Copper 🏳️🌈✊🏿✊🏾✊🏽💚🎗🇪🇬
The Empire of Gold 🏳️🌈✊🏿✊🏾✊🏽💚🎗🇪🇬
𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐄𝐲𝐞𝐬
White Hot Kiss 🏳️🌈✊🏿🤚🏻💘
Stone Cold Touch 🏳️🌈✊🏿💚🎗🤚🏻💘
Rhapsodic 🏳️🌈✊🏿💚🎗
𝐄𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝
Firefrost 🤚🏻
Not The Heir 🤚🏻
That Summer 🤚🏻
𝐃𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐊𝐞𝐲
✊🏿✊🏾✊🏽 characters of color
🏳️🌈 LGBTQIA+ characters
🇨🇳 🇪🇬 Non-white culture
💚🎗mental health awareness
💘 pregnancy loss awareness
🤚🏻 prominently white
💭 more diverse elements come later in a series
Shop My Library
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Hey y'all, I'm Leah!
Cozy connoisseur and bountiful book buyer. I have a minor obsession with getting lost in the pages of a good book, guzzling coffee, and thriving at home. Yoga pants, wine, and essential oils are also my jam. I'm truly just a homebody at heart with a knack for content creation, flatlays & cozy shots. This is my creative space.
