November Reads and Reviews (All the Books I Read this Month)

This is a series here on the blog where I round up and review all the books I’ve read in the past month. I love reading and sharing book recommendations, so this is always one of my favorite posts to write! I’ve included links to all available books through Bookshop.org, a great way to support independent bookstores.

To give you a sense of my reading background: I audiobooks, and love dark fairytale retellings, very science-y sci-fi, and YA with a good love story. Some of my favorite authors are Naomi Novik, Sabaa Tahir, Erin Morgenstern, Madeline Miller, and Blake Crouch. I read almost exclusively e-books and audiobooks checked out through my local library. (Support your local libraries, friends! It’s the best way to read free books.)

Note: this post may contain affiliate links (i.e., if you click my link and make a purchase, I’ll make a small commission at no additional cost to you). Read my full disclosure policy here.

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater: ★★★★★

This series has been on my TBR list for quite some time. I finally started it this month and it has not disappointed! This first book has been my favorite in the quartet (so far), but I also read (and loved) the two next books in the series this month. (Hopefully that that gives you an idea of how much I enjoyed them!) REALLY beautiful, atmospheric writing, a hefty dose of magical realism, a compelling plot, and the slowest slow-burn romance make it an easy winner in my book. (link to buy) The two other books in this series I read this month were:

The Dream Thieves: ★★★★

(link to buy)

Blue Lily, Lily Blue: ★★★★

(link to buy)


Malice by Heather Walter: ★★★★

I received an early digital review copy of this book through Netgalley. If you know me, you know I love fairytale retellings, and the premise of this one (what happens when the villain falls in love with the princess?) was compelling. I thought Walter did a great job turning a fairly bland fairy tale into a much more interesting story, with nice world-building and a unique magic system. While I felt the book had some pacing issues, the end of the book was fantastic. Overall, it’s a fun fairytale with a dark twist, and I really enjoyed my read! You can read my full review on Goodreads here. (expected release April 2021)

Fix Her Up by Tessa Bailey: ★★

I like a good romance to break up all the YA/fantasy/sci-fi I tend to read, but I was pretty disappointed by this book. I thought it was way too much sex and WAY too little actual storyline. In addition, I was very much NOT a fan of the whole big/powerful/strong/sexually experienced man with a tiny/virgin female who gets called “baby girl” every 3 sentences or so. I find that kind of power imbalance to be (1) so overdone and (2) a big turn off. (link to buy)

The Young Elites by Marie Lu: ★★★

I’ve enjoyed several of Marie Lu’s books in the past few years, and thought the superhero government-overthrowing setting of this series would be fun. While it was good, nothing about it particularly stood out to me; it was good but not great. (Although it did affirm my belief that morally gray protagonists are the most fun to read about.) I liked this book a bit more than Renegades (which I thought was very similar), but I’m not sure that I liked it enough to continue on with the series. (link to buy)

Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson: ★★★★

I’ve been wanting to read some of Brandon Sanderson’s work for awhile, but can have a hard time getting into adult high fantasy, especially with library books that I can only check out for 3 weeks. However, I think this book would appeal to a wide variety of readers (even if you don’t typically read fantasy). Sanderson calls it “One part Ocean’s Eleven, one part Lord of the Rings, one part Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, one part My Fair Lady,” which means it was a very fun read. I enjoyed the characters and the magical system, and am looking forward to reading more! (link to buy)

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik: ★★★★★

I’ve been a huge fan of Naomi Novik’s work for a few years now (Uprooted is one of my all-time-favorites). Her latest release was no exception; it was such a FUN read! The setting (a dark spin on Hogwarts if it was built into the void, monsters killed most of the students before graduation, and there were no teachers) and the protagonist (a snarky witch who just wants to survive, but with an unfortunate talent for mass destruction) made this an easy 5 star read for me! Smart, irreverent, adventurous, and quick; it’s a book that I’d recommend to literally anyone. (Note: a number of people have identified some problematic racial themes in this book; they are addressed well in this review.) (link to buy)

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab: ★★★★

This was one of my most anticipated reads for this year, and it was a really beautiful book. The book tells the story of Addie, a woman who has been given the gift of immortality at the cost of being forgotten by everyone she’s ever met – until 300 years later, when someone remembers her. I found it to have a slow start and I wasn’t as blown away by it as a lot of people seem to be. However, I found it to be incredibly well-written, with interesting, engaging characters (which is something Schwab always does well). If a character-driven story or magical realism appeals to you, I’m sure you’d love this book. (link to buy)

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi: ★★★

Again, this was a solid read, but without any features that really stood out to me. The stream-of-consciousness style writing was unique, but I found basically everything else to just be… fine. There was no real progression to the romance, no real character development, nothing very appealing about the setting. Despite all that, I did enjoy reading it and think that the other books in the series have potential, so I’ll likely keep reading, but I definitely didn’t enjoy this as much as most dystopian books I’ve read. (link to buy)


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