Unfortunately (for me), November’s reading recap is incredibly brief. Not only did I struggle to read all month in general, I DNFed two books and the one book I did manage to read completely was a novella – though nothing wrong with a novella. I haven’t been in the mood to read and the books I chose didn’t enthrall me enough to actually want to read; clearly a mix of things going on here. I don’t want to get to the point where I feel like I’m forcing myself to read, even though not pushing myself to read at all ends with results like these. Sigh.
That said, below are my thoughts on this month’s selections:
The Cemetery of Untold Stories by Julia Alvarez – DNF @ 14% – I was excited about this book because I love magical realism in stories, and because I haven’t read anything by Julia Alvarez; I know she’s well known and has great books but as a primarily romance reader, I hadn’t made an effort to try one of her books yet. Unfortunately, I DNFed at 14% because I was having a tough time following the story. It’s written as if it were one long stream of consciousness, where there are moments the main character is in conversation with someone and I couldn’t tell who was speaking or if they were thinking as there aren’t any quotation marks used either. I also found it difficult to take breaks as the chapters are long. Personally, I like taking breaks when reading before starting new chapters to make sure I’m still tuned in, which is hard to do if the chapters are very long.
Ready or Not by Olive Winter – I wanted something short and sweet to get me back into the swing of reading, given the prior DNF, and Ready or Not fit the bill. It’s a novella, which was perfect, of two strangers who met at a rooftop party and had a whirlwind evening that made them both question their life choices. Solene isn’t exactly dating, after breaking up with her first and only long term boyfriend, she’s not sure if getting that romantic happy ending is for her – especially after seeing her ex with his new girlfriend at a rooftop party. In an effort to push that visual away, and the accompanying thoughts, she heads to the bar where she meets Desiderio, a very good looking Dominican man, who offers to buy her a drink after she fails to get the bartender’s attention. Thus begins their impromptu evening together that turns into an all nighter as their attraction and chemistry is undeniable.
Their perfect night ends the following morning where things left unsaid send conflicting messages, and Sol and Desi are forced to look inward to figure out how to speak their truth and determine whether this one night was meant for more. I’m not a huge fan of insta love, but given that this is a novella, things move quickly. I loved their chemistry, but also their respective support systems as they each had to figure their own shit out as the story progressed. Do I think the story was super realistic? No lol but that’s not the point; one can hope they can have an evening like Sol and Desi did and have it end up the way it did. Either way, I was entertained and the story gave what I needed in the moment.
Only Lovers In The Building by Nadine Gonzalez – DNF @ 30% – Unfortunately DNFed as Lily and Ben’s banter felt forced and I did not feel any semblance of chemistry between them. Also the characters were giving cardboard cutout. Overall, I wasn’t drawn in by the story long enough to hold my attention to want to finish the book
