For this being the shortest month of the year, I was able to read the most books in a month I have ever read. Of course, it helped that three of the books were the other volumes in the Heartstopper series. I also used this month to start playing around with Kindle Unlimited and reading some of the lesser known books that have popped up on my TikTok For You page the past few months. As always for the next few book review posts, I won’t waste too much time talking up here since I’m releasing these quickly after each other. Let’s get into all the books I read in February.
A Flicker in the Dark – Stacy Willingham
Chloe Davis grew up knowing her father was a serial killer. When teenage girls begin to be murdered in Chloe’s new town in the same way that her father’s victims were killed, she has to figure out if there’s a copycat killer or was her father not the real serial killer? Not only am I a sucker for a good thriller trying to figure out what happened with a true crime twist to it, but this book is also set in Louisiana. I knew I had to read this book when it was a Book of the Month option in December.
There was just one situation that happens in the book that. I didn’t like and seemed out of character. It also didn’t feel helped move the story along at all. The epilogue ending of what happens after everything is revealed felt too short for me and didn’t really explain anything that happened leaving me confused.
I read this book as a hardback copy through Book of the Month.
Rating
🌟🌟🌟🌟/5
Heartstopper: Volume Two – Alice Oseman
Volume Two picks up right where Volume One leaves off. Nick and Charlie are now best friends, but Nick has to figure out the meaning behind all these feelings he has for his best friend. This book feels like a filler book for character development, but also doesn’t because it didn’t bore me the way other filler books in a series do. I continued to fall in love with Nick and Charlie, while also enjoying learning more about the secondary characters too.
I read this book as a hardback copy from the library.
Rating
🌟🌟🌟🌟/5
Heartstopper: Volume Three – Alice Oseman
Volume Three has Nick and Charlie figuring out how to let their friends and family know that they are in a relationship while still navigating high school. They go on a school trip to Paris and continue to develop feelings for each other. This one was my least favorite of the three and I’m not sure why. I still immensely enjoyed it, but it just didn’t hit me the same way the other two volumes had.
I read this as an e-book through the library.
Rating
🌟🌟🌟.5/5
Heartstopper: Volume Four – Alice Oseman
Volume Four continues the story of Nick and Charlie as they begin to realize that they’re in love with each other. However, Nick also begins to realize that Charlie may suffer from an eating disorder and struggles to figure out how to best help him. This volume might be my favorite as it does begin to deal with a serious matter and of course the cuteness between Nick and Charlie. It does leave you on more of a cliff hanger until Volume Five becomes released, but it definitely keeps your interest in the series going strong.
I read this as an e-book through the library.
Rating
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5
Well Met – Jen DeLuca
Well Met follows Emily, who gets roped into volunteering at a Renaissance Faire while her sister is recovering from an injury. Simon’s family has been running the faire since it’s beginning and is not as welcome to the ideas and suggestions Emily has to improve the faire. However, once Simon is in costume, he becomes a different person who flirts with Emily and she begins to question whether the chemistry between them is just for show or for real.
This was such a fun and lighthearted book to read. I honestly started looking up when Renaissance festivals and faire would be open around where I live because I got so caught up in the fun and excitement of experiencing that time period. Emily and Simon’s story was not only developed in a cute way to read, but there were also some serious moments throughout the novel, such as grief and loss. If you love an enemies to lovers romance and also love historical time periods. This story is the perfect mix for you.
I read this as a hardback copy through Book of the Month.
Rating
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5
Head Over Heels – Hannah Orenstein
Head Over Heels follows Avery, a retired gymnast, who moves back up following a public breakup and gets recruited by fellow gymnast, Ryan to help train an up and coming Olympian hopeful. This story is a mix of sports and romance that also deals with sexual abuse and emotional abuse. Avery is still dealing with the outcome of growing up in a toxic gym environment of an emotional abusive coach. Influenced by the current story of the sexual abuse the olympic gymnasts have suffered from with the team doctor, Orenstein handles it with grace and ability to help readers understand more of what is going on in the dark side of professional sports. My only desire I was left with in this book was more romance between Avery and Ryan, but at the same time, I preferred the focus more on the dark subject matters.
I read this book as a hardback copy through Book of the Month.
Rating
🌟🌟🌟🌟/5
Hooked – Emily McIntire
Hooked is a modern dark contemporary romance of Captain Hook and Wendy. I wanted to enjoy this more than I did because of how much BookTok was talking about it, but it was honestly too much mafia vibes for me to really enjoy it. This book is also super spicy on the romance scale, so if you don’t want to read something like that, then I would skip over this book. The plot twist that moved the action along was a little much for me, again with the mafia vibes, but the book never really had a slow moment to make it feel like it dragged on. I am interested to read the other two books in the series (one is The Lion King inspired and the other is The Wizard of Oz inspired) because they are available through Kindle Unlimited.
I read this book as an e-book through Kindle Unlimited.
Rating
🌟🌟🌟/5
The Wrong Game – Kandi Steiner
The Wrong Game is another book that caught my eye on my TikTok For You page. Gemma has season tickets for the Chicago Bears, and after her marriage ends, she decides to use the tickets as dates with different guys to get back into the dating pool. Zach is bartending when he overhears her plans and offers to be the practice round. After the first game, he tries to get Gemma to keep taking him to the games and even go on more dates with him. This book was funny and lighthearted with just a touch of sports with the games being the main location of the story. I loved Gemma and Zach as a couple and loved the banter they had between them. A book like this is one of the main reasons I love being on BookTok and having a Kindle Unlimited membership as I wouldn’t have discovered this book otherwise.
I read this as an e-book through Kindle Unlimited.
Rating
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5
The Golden Couple – Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
The Golden Couple is a duo point of view of Avery, who is an unlicensed therapist due to her unconventional methods, and Marissa, who is trying to save her marriage after being unfaithful. As Avery starts to intertwine herself into their lives, they begin to realize that there are darker secrets being held that may destroy the perfect couple that they are. This one had me hooked in from start to finish trying to figure out where the story was going and then the plot twist at the end had my mind blown. If you’re a fan of psychological thrillers, this book is for you.
I read this as a hardback copy through Book of the Month.
Rating
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5
melissaleighblog.com 