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April-May Reading Wrap-up + Buzzwordathon Update

  • Writer: haleylynnthomas22
    haleylynnthomas22
  • Jun 2
  • 7 min read

Updated: 6 days ago

APRIL READS

  1. THE BEST WAY TO BURY YOUR HUSBAND BY ALEXIA CASALE (ADULT COZY THRILLER) (400 PAGES) (5⭐️)
Sally, Janey, Ruth, and Samira are all women trapped in abusive marriages. They all separately kill their husbands – some intentionally and others by accident – and come together to get away with the murders. I loved this sisterhood of survivors. The author has a background in working as a nonfiction editor focused on violence against women and children, so this delicate subject matter is handled with great care. Books like this can help raise awareness for the real-life versions of these fictional characters who are suffering in abusive relationships.
 
  1. WE SOLVE MURDERS BY RICHARD OSMAN (ADULT THRILLER) (381 PAGES) (4⭐️)
Private security officer Amy Wheeler teams up with her father-in-law and a famous author to solve murders while dodging death at every turn. I was saddened when Osman announced he was taking a break from the Thursday Murder Club series, but at the same time I knew I wanted to check out this new series. While I struggled to connect with Amy’s character, I liked how this was a “cozy”, humorous globe-trotting thriller. I also liked how the antagonist characters got POV chapters because that’s not something you see a lot.
FULL REVIEW: Coming soon to the blog!
 
  1. MATCH ME IF YOU CAN BY SWATI HEGDE (ADULT ROMANCE) (295 PAGES) (3.75⭐️)
Jia is trying to get her matchmaking business off the ground while Jaiman is struggling to keep his bar open. Can romance blossom between these lifelong friends? I attended a lecture by this author during a 2024 writers’ conference, so I knew I wanted to support her debut. Jia can be a polarizing character, but Jaiman is perfect book boyfriend material. I liked how there was so much Indian culture in the book but it doesn’t hold your hand and explain everything to you. This book includes the tropes found family, friends to lovers, and is a slowburn romance.
 
  1. ON A QUIET STREET BY SERAPHINA NOVA GLASS (ADULT THRILLER) (302 PAGES) (4⭐️)
Paige searches for the person responsible for her son’s death, while Cora tries to figure out what’s going on with her strange neighbor, Georgia. This was my second Nova Glass book and I liked how this one also had a sisterhood/women supporting women story. I don’t think domestic thrillers are necessarily my preference, but the twists and turns in this book took kept me captivated.
 
  1. VERA WONG’S UNSOLICITIED ADVICE FOR MURDERERS BY JESSE Q SUTANTO (ADULT COZY MYSTERY) (333 PAGES) (5⭐️)
Vera Wong is an elderly, lonely tea shop owner. When a dead man is found inside of her tea shop, she takes it upon herself to solve his murder. This book is a perfect balance of humor and intrigue. The characters and the found family they form is so lovable and my favorite part of the novel. Sutanto writes the characters’ POVs so that we get inside their heads without getting to know what they’re hiding which I think takes real talent. This was a reread and will probably forever be my favorite cozy mystery book.
 
MAY READS

  1. THE HALF KING BY MELISSA LANDERS (ADULT ROMANTASY) (381 PAGES) (4⭐️)
Cerise the acolyte teams up with a group of nobles including King Kian in order to break the curses placed upon the noble families by their goddess. This novel has a lot of commentary on organized religion. While I appreciate when fantasy books use allegories for real life topics, I know some may be sensitive to that. Other than that, I found the characters to be generally very likable and the romance to be quite cute and, bonus, the couple actually COMMUNICATES with each other. Imagine that!

  1. FOUR RUINED REALMS BY MAI CORLAND (ADULT FANTASY) (413 PAGES) (5⭐️)
This is the sequel to Five Broken Blades and follows the same six main characters from the first book as they travel to Khitan in the hopes of forging an alliance with the queen. This is one of the few sequels I loved as much as the first book. I’ve grown attached to these characters and they have such complicated relationships with each other that make the book that much more interesting. Corland is SO good at having shocking moments and grand reveals towards her books’ ends that make you hungry for more.
FULL REVIEW: Coming soon to the blog!
 
  1. VERA WONG’S GUIDE TO SNOOPING (ON A DEAD MAN) BY JESSE Q. SUTANTO (ADULT COZY MYSTERY) (325 PAGES) (5⭐️)
This is a companion sequel to Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers. This is another book I adored as much as the first. I was so happy that Vera’s found family from book 1 returned as side characters in this book. We also have a whole new group of characters for us readers and Vera to love. I actually found the mystery in this book more interesting than the first one, though it was also darker.
 
  1. THE BONES BENEATH MY SKIN BY TJ KLUNE (ADULT SCI-FI) (381 PAGES) (3.5⭐️)
When his life falls apart, Nate retreats to the cabin he inherited from his parents. There he unexpectedly finds a man (Alex) and a young girl he’s protecting (Artemis). He soon learns Artemis is no ordinary girl. This is sadly my least favorite Klune book I’ve read to date. I do love a good found family story, but the romance fell flat and other than Artemis I wasn’t attached to the characters. The plot was also predicable and not super original.
FULL REVIEW: Coming soon to the blog!
 
  1. THE VANISHING HOUR BY SERAPHINA NOVA GLASS (ADULT THRILLER) (304 PAGES) (3.5⭐️)
A mother, Kira, searches for her missing daughter. A man, Aiden, searches for his missing father. A woman, Grace, lives isolated after having been kidnapped and escaped years ago. How do all three of them and their cases connect? This book has solid atmosphere and captured me so much I read it in two settings. I did figure out the big reveal long before it was actually revealed, though.
 
  1. YOU’VE BEEN SUMMONED BY LINDSAY LAMAR (ADULT MYSTERY) (362 PAGES) (3.5⭐️)
Jane’s twin sister Sillian goes missing during a party at mansion once inhabited by Hollywood royalty. The book has a dual timeline following present day Jane searching for her sister and 1940’s actress Mary and her sister Macie. The gimmick for this book is that it’s an interactive mystery. Through mixed media elements serving as clues, you are tasked with solving the murder as a private detective. I bumped up the rating a little for the uniqueness. This is a style I’d like to read again. I preferred Mary’s storyline as she’s a morally gray character.
 
  1. HOME IS WHERE THE BODIES ARE BY JENEVA ROSE (ADULT THRILLER) (256 PAGES) (2⭐️)
Estranged siblings Beth, Nicole, and Michael are meeting in their childhood home for the first time in years following the death of their mother. They discover a tape in which their parents are covering up the mysterious death of a local child. This was my second and likely last Rose book. It was INCREDIBLY predicable and the characters were all insufferable.
 
  1. THE WILD HUNTRESS BY EMILY LLOYD-JONES (YA FANTASY) (417 PAGES) (5⭐️)
Every five years two kingdoms – one human and one fairy – take part in the Wild Hunt where the winner is granted a magical wish by the Otherking (fairy king). The novel follows hired huntress Branwen, Gwydion who is a foreign king’s nephew, and Pryderi who is a prince that was kidnapped and raised by a monster. This book is Lloyd-Jones at her best. The world is brimming with dangerous magic and the characters and their relationships are very well written.
FULL REVIEW: Coming soon to the blog.

DNFs

  1. When Haru Was Here by Dustin Thao (read 70 pages) (23%)
I anticipated loving this book as I did his debut, You've Reached Sam. I find myself drawn to books about grief and Thao's debut was so moving. Yet I struggled to connect with this story. I suspect it was because I didn't feel that connection between Eric and his late best friend. Even his romance with 'Haru' was too rushed. I tried starting this book over multiple times thinking I just wasn't in the right reading mood before ultimately accepting it just wasn't going to connect with me.

  1. This Book Will Bury Me by Ashley Winstead (read 125 pages) (26%)
I enjoyed Winstead's debut, then her second and third books were duds for me. I thought I'd finally found another one of her books I liked. I was pretty hooked for the first quarter. Then I started to realize that this book HEAVILY resembled the Idaho murders. I went to look up reviews to see if others also got that feeling and found it wasn't just me. I felt icky reading a book that took so much from a real life RECENT tragedy. Those victims still have living friends and family and it seems gross to make income by using their loved ones' murders as inspiration. That's just my opinion - you can feel free to disagree. However, I didn't feel comfortable continuing the book.

STATS:

PAGES READ (JAN-MAY): 9,664 (AVG. Book Length: 386.56 pages)
AVG. STAR RATING (JAN-MAY): 97.5/125 (3.9⭐️)

2025 Buzzwordathon
Youtuber Booksandlala (Kayla) does this annual event in which every month she gives a prompt for either a specific word or concept for you to find in book titles. In order to not stress and have fun completing the challenge, I'm not worrying about doing it in order - just finding them all within 2025.


Buzzwords/Concepts:

Truth and Lies
✅Water words: Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune
Thing (words with 'thing' in them)
Animals
✅"To"/Guides: The Best Way to Bury Your Husband by Alexia Casale
Memory related words
✅Punctuation: Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man) by Jesse Q. Sutanto
With
✅Events: The Wishing Game by Meg Shafer
✅Violent words: Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson
Never
✅Alliteration: Four Ruined Realms by Mai Corland
 
 
 

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