Hello everyone! And welcome to my December TBR post! What are you most excited to read this month? So, those of you who have read my November TBR post will know that I fell behind on my reading in September because of some career changes and other stuff that was going on. Well, I didn’t manage to catch up in November because I had the worst reading slump that I’ve had in a while! It lasted about 2 weeks, give or take a day, and it was absolutely awful. I also started moving out of my parents’ place and into an apartment, so life has been a little nuts. Because I failed so badly, my December TBR is basically my November TBR (except that I’m more than halfway through Grim Lovelies and 1/4 of the way through Jack of Hearts) and that I also have a NetGalley e-book that I plan on reading as well (hence no picture of it). I definitely plan on catching up by the end of December because I have quite a few ARCs to read in January!
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In the House in the Dark of
the Woods by Laird Hunt
Status: TBR
“Once upon a time there was and there wasn’t a woman who went to the woods.”
In this horror story set in colonial New England, a law-abiding Puritan woman goes missing. Or perhaps she has fled or abandoned her family. Or perhaps she’s been kidnapped, and set loose to wander in the dense woods of the north. Alone and possibly lost, she meets another woman in the forest. Then everything changes.
On a journey that will take her through dark woods full of almost-human wolves, through a deep well wet with the screams of men, and on a living ship made of human bones, our heroine may find that the evil she flees has been inside her all along. The eerie, disturbing story of one of our perennial fascinations–witchcraft in colonial America–In the House in the Dark of the Woods is a novel of psychological horror and suspense told in Laird Hunt’s characteristically lyrical prose style. It is the story of a bewitching, a betrayal, a master huntress and her quarry. It is a story of anger, of evil, of hatred and of redemption. It is the story of a haunting, a story that makes up the bedrock of American mythology, but told in a vivid way you will never forget.
Jack of Hearts (and Other Parts) by A.C. Rosen
Status: Currently Reading
Jack has a lot of sex–and he’s not ashamed of it. While he’s sometimes ostracized, and gossip constantly rages about his sex life, Jack always believes that “it could be worse.”
But then, the worse unexpectedly strikes: When Jack starts writing a teen sex advice column for an online site, he begins to receive creepy and threatening love letters that attempt to force Jack to curb his sexuality and personality. Now it’s up to Jack an his best friends to uncover the stalker–before their love becomes dangerous.
Ground-breaking and page-turning, Jack of Hearts (and other parts) celebrates the freedom to be oneself, especially in the face of adversity.
Grim Lovelies by Megan Shepherd
Status: Currently Reading
Seventeen-year-old Anouk envies the human world, where people known as Pretties lavish themselves in fast cars, high fashion, and have the freedom to fall in love. But Anouk can never have those things, because she is not really human. Enchanted from animal to human girl and forbidden to venture beyond her familiar Parisian prison, Anouk is a Beastie: destined for a life surrounded by dust bunnies and cinders serving Mada Vittora, the evil witch who spelled her into existence. That is, until one day she finds her mistress murdered in a pool of blood—and Anouk is accused of the crime.
Now, the world she always dreamed of is rife with danger. Pursued through Paris by the underground magical society known as the Haute, Anouk and her fellow Beasties only have three days to find the real killer before the spell keeping them human fades away. If they fail, they will lose the only lives they’ve ever known…but if they succeed, they could be more powerful than anyone ever bargained for.
From New York Times bestselling author Megan Shepherd, Grim Lovelies is an epic and glittering YA fantasy. Prepare to be spellbound by the world of Grim Lovelies, where secrets have been long buried, friends can become enemies, and everything—especially humanity—comes at a price.
An Assassin’s Guide to
Love & Treason by Kerri Maniscalco
Status: TBR
When Lady Katherine’s father is killed for being an illegally practicing Catholic, she discovers treason wasn’t the only secret he’s been hiding: he was also involved in a murder plot against the reigning Queen Elizabeth I. With nothing left to lose, Katherine disguises herself as a boy and travels to London to fulfill her father’s mission, and to take it one step further–kill the queen herself.
Katherine’s opportunity comes in the form of William Shakespeare’s newest play, which is to be performed in front of Her Majesty. But what she doesn’t know is that the play is not just a play–it’s a plot to root out insurrectionists and destroy the rebellion once and for all.
The mastermind behind this ruse is Toby Ellis, a young spy for the queen with secrets of his own. When Toby and Katherine are cast opposite each other as the play’s leads, they find themselves inexplicably drawn to one another. But the closer they grow, the more precarious their positions become. And soon they learn that star-crossed love, mistaken identity, and betrayal are far more dangerous off the stage than on.
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My Almost Flawless Tokyo
Dream Life by Rachel Cohn
Status: TBR
Note: This is an e-book, which is why it’s not pictured with the other books above.
“I’m here to take you to live with your father. In Tokyo, Japan! Happy birthday!”
In the Land of the Rising Sun, where high culture meets high kitsch, and fashion and technology are at the forefront of the First World’s future, the foreign-born teen elite attend ICS-the International Collegiate School of Tokyo. Their accents are fluid. Their homes are ridiculously posh. Their sports games often involve a (private) plane trip to another country. They miss school because of jet lag and visa issues. When they get in trouble, they seek diplomatic immunity.
Enter foster-kid-out-of-water Elle Zoellner, who, on her sixteenth birthday discovers that her long-lost father, Kenji Takahari, is actually a Japanese hotel mogul and wants her to come live with him. Um, yes, please! Elle jets off first class from Washington D.C. to Tokyo, which seems like a dream come true. Until she meets her enigmatic father, her way-too-fab aunt, and her hyper-critical grandmother, who seems to wish Elle didn’t exist. In an effort to please her new family, Elle falls in with the Ex-Brats, a troupe of uber-cool international kids who spend money like it’s air. But when she starts to crush on a boy named Ryuu, who’s frozen out by the Brats and despised by her new family, her already tenuous living situation just might implode.
My Almost Flawless Tokyo Dream Life is about learning what it is to be a family, and finding the inner strength to be yourself, even in the most extreme circumstances.
Bayou Born by Hailey Edwards
Status: TBR
Her beginning may be our end…
Deep in the humid swamps of the Mississippi bayou, a mysterious, half-wild child is dragged just in time from the murky waters. She has no memories, no family and is covered in strange markings, the meaning of which no one is able to decipher. Adopted by the policeman who rescued her, Luce Boudrou follows him into the force, determined to prove herself in the eyes of those who are still suspicious.
However, there’s more of a battle ahead than Luce could possibly imagine. She may be an orphan without a past, but no one – including Luce herself – could ever be prepared for the truth of her dark, powerful destiny…
Brand new urban fantasy series by Hailey Edwards, bestselling author of the Gemini and Black Dog series. Perfect for fans of Jennifer Estep, Darynda Jones and Ilona Andrews.
Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri
Status: TBR
A nobleman’s daughter with magic in her blood. An empire built on the dreams of enslaved gods. Empire of Sand is Tasha Suri’s captivating, Mughal India-inspired debut fantasy.
The Amrithi are outcasts; nomads descended of desert spirits, they are coveted and persecuted throughout the Empire for the power in their blood. Mehr is the illegitimate daughter of an imperial governor and an exiled Amrithi mother she can barely remember, but whose face and magic she has inherited.
When Mehr’s power comes to the attention of the Emperor’s most feared mystics, she must use every ounce of will, subtlety, and power she possesses to resist their cruel agenda.
Should she fail, the gods themselves may awaken seeking vengeance…
Empire of Sand is a lush, dazzling fantasy novel perfect for readers of City of Brass and The Wrath & the Dawn.
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Broken Things by Lauren Oliver
Status: TBR
It’s been five years since Summer Marks was brutally murdered in the woods.
Everyone thinks Mia and Brynn killed their best friend. That driven by their obsession with a novel called The Way into Lovelorn the three girls had imagined themselves into the magical world where their fantasies became twisted, even deadly.
The only thing is: they didn’t do it.
On the anniversary of Summer’s death, a seemingly insignificant discovery resurrects the mystery and pulls Mia and Brynn back together once again. But as the lines begin to blur between past and present and fiction and reality, the girls must confront what really happened in the woods all those years ago—no matter how monstrous.
Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand
Status: TBR
Beware of the woods and the dark, dank deep.
He’ll follow you home, and he won’t let you sleep.
Who are the Sawkill Girls?
Marion: the new girl. Awkward and plain, steady and dependable. Weighed down by tragedy and hungry for love she’s sure she’ll never find.
Zoey: the pariah. Luckless and lonely, hurting but hiding it. Aching with grief and dreaming of vanished girls. Maybe she’s broken—or maybe everyone else is.
Val: the queen bee. Gorgeous and privileged, ruthless and regal. Words like silk and eyes like knives, a heart made of secrets and a mouth full of lies.
Their stories come together on the island of Sawkill Rock, where gleaming horses graze in rolling pastures and cold waves crash against black cliffs. Where kids whisper the legend of an insidious monster at parties and around campfires.
Where girls have been disappearing for decades, stolen away by a ravenous evil no one has dared to fight… until now.
We Sold Our Souls by Grady Hendrix
Status: TBR
In the 1990s, heavy metal band Dürt Würk was poised for breakout success — but then lead singer Terry Hunt embarked on a solo career and rocketed to stardom as Koffin, leaving his fellow bandmates to rot in rural Pennsylvania.
Two decades later, former guitarist Kris Pulaski works as the night manager of a Best Western – she’s tired, broke, and unhappy. Everything changes when she discovers a shocking secret from her heavy metal past: Turns out that Terry’s meteoric rise to success may have come at the price of Kris’s very soul.
This revelation prompts Kris to hit the road, reunite with the rest of her bandmates, and confront the man who ruined her life. It’s a journey that will take her from the Pennsylvania rust belt to a Satanic rehab center and finally to a Las Vegas music festival that’s darker than any Mordor Tolkien could imagine. A furious power ballad about never giving up, even in the face of overwhelming odds, We Sold Our Souls is an epic journey into the heart of a conspiracy-crazed, paranoid country that seems to have lost its very soul…where only a girl with a guitar can save us all.
WOW Flavia you will be busy!!! Enjoy Sawkill Girls
Very busy! Especially in December….gah….
And thank you! Happy reading this month, Sophie!
I’m interested to see what you think of Grim Lovelies! I started it but still haven’t finished it, partially because I became so busy with schoolwork, and partially because I didn’t have a lot of motivation to keep reading it. I’m not sure whether I want to pick it back up yet. I hope you enjoy it more than I initially did 🙂
It had a bit of a slow start for me. And I don’t know what to expect from this author…PLUS I hit a really bad reading slump when I was about 1/3 into this or a bit more. But the last night I only put it down at the 85% mark because my eyes wouldn’t stay open ♀️ haha
I’m glad to hear it picks up! Maybe I’ll give it another try soon then 🙂 And I relate to that so much! Sometimes a book is so good and I want to know what happens, but a girl needs her sleep haha 😉
Hahaha so true! And yeah I definitely liked the 2nd half of the book better than the 1st half! And now I’m excited to see what happens in the sequel! I’ll be posting a review soon 😀
I didn’t realize there was going to be a sequel, that’s exciting! I’m looking forward to reading your review 🙂
Yeah! I think it’s going to be a trilogy, but am not 100% sure. And my review is live now 😀 https://flaviathebibliophile.com/grim-lovelies-by-megan-shepherd-review/
Thanks for letting me know, I’m going to read it right now 🙂
A lot of people sets up huge tbr for December as it’s the last month of the year, and we all want to catch up on our 2018 TBR 😀 I hope things will calm down for you soon!
I wasn’t originally planning on having more than one ARC to read this month because December is SUPER busy for me. But apparently life had other plans. And thank you! Me too! And happy reading
Yes Sawkill Girls. Be prepared to squirm in your seat because you’re so uncomfortable with In The House In The Dark of the Woods!
Yeah! I was planning on reading it in November…but alas
Oooo I plan on reading Jack of Hearts this month too! Looks like you have a lot of good reads and I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on them !
I hope you enjoy it! The tone is so different from what I was expecting haha
I hope you have a great reading month!
(www.evelynreads.com)
Thank you, Evelyn! I hope you do too!!!