the 14 books i read in may 2023 fourth wing, jade city, summer horror, vampire romance, lightlark

I’m my opinion, Dain was such a Tamlin, WAY more than a Gail😂

I loved Jade City. All three books were amazing but I particularly loved Jade City. I think you should give it another try!!

one of my favorite thriller/mysteries I've read in the past year or so was The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware. for the LIFE of me I could not figure out what was going on and I was like totally hooked till the end to find out

I think it would be so much fun to hear your opinion on the Sookie Stackhouse series, if you'd read those. I'm obsessed.

i went into fourth wing expecting romantasy, even with all the hype, and was shocked to discover it wasn’t just meh and not for me: it was actively bad. so many aspects of the word don’t make sense, the dialogue is juvenile and doesn’t fit with the setting, and the characters are 2 dimensional at best. i wasn’t expecting to be blown away by it, but i’m amazed so many people have 5 starred this pretty objectively mediocre book.

Have you read the coven?

Katie Lumsden, the author of The Secrets of Hartwood Hall, is a booktuber. Her channel is Books and Things. Haven't read her book yet but it's on my list!

Highly recommend THE DEVOTION OF SUSPECT X for a great chilling thriller ❤ it has the most well-crafted excellent plot

Could you make a video recommending some of your favorite fantasy books with a subplot of romance? I read fourth wing, loving the concept but feeling like it was poorly executed. Some of my main critiques were the lack world building, predictable plot, and mediocre writing. Thanks!

Going to get myself some chocolate cake right now!

ive barely read the first two chapters of fourth wing and already it reminds me so much of an ember in the ashes, which was an amazing series, so i’m probably gonna dnf this one. wish i could trust the hype around books nowadays!!

Can you do a kindle unlimited video. Books that you loved that you got off od Kindle Unlimited. I also feel like it is a hit or miss but the comments and reviews are usually decieving.

i dnfed halfway through Jade city because to me it was so... boring. such a promising, exciting sounding premise for just... nothing? to me it was so anticlimactic. probably one of the biggest disappointments lol

Jade City is the one book I’ve heard so many people gush about but has never once appealed to me. I can usually be convinced to read books pretty easily and everyone loves it but gangs and drugs and emotional damage just never appealed to me 😂

I LOVE all the library support. Yessss, use your local library!!

Cari’s videos are really nice to listen to while writing, I think it’s because her voice is so soft. Very calming. I’m also surprised there aren’t more books about nuns in New Orleans. I live in southern Louisiana and we have a lot of catholics here.

The Passengers (by: John Marrs) is a good sci-fi thriller.

I had to DNF Lightlark :/

Hey Cari, have you heard about the 4th book on the Inheritance games series?

"A little too complicated for the life I was leading at the time" Never put it like that before but I feel that 💯 .

how do you have time for 14 books in a month ??

Would love more Mormonism content, it's fascinating.

I also didn't know that was what Jade City was about and it makes me want to read it now

Omg I am so happy and feel vindicated about my opinion about Fourth Wing! I thought it was not worth the hype at all, so many people saying it was their all time favorite (???) which I could not understand. It was a very cliche fantasy romance book, overall very weak for me !

Awesome video ❤

DEFINITELY adding "Our Crooked Hearts" to my TBR, as well as "Understanding Hart Mercy". Time to take a trip to the bookstore~!

**Mild City of Jade Spoilers**

I loved this series but I definitely went into it with no expectations/foreknowledge. Personally, I really enjoyed the in-depth world-building and non-western fantasy setting. I loved the family dynamics and I think the big death in the first book is my top 10 saddest book deaths.

I will say I think the first book is the weakest in the trilogy so definitely at least give Jade War a chance.

Lightlark was so bad, I didn’t get the hype

If you on da kindle reading them free books and want an awesome fantasy epic. I recommend the Bone Witch. Would love to hear your thoughts on it! I loved reading it!

Hi,Loved the video ❤
I want your opinion on the sinners anonymous by Somme Sketcher.
Its dark romance personally I really loved it specially the second and third book but want your feedback.💕

I started Jade City, read a decent amount of the book and was not connecting to ANY of the characters so I dnf'ed, which is actually pretty rare for me.

I'm actually quite glad that I went into fourth wing with low expectations, because I trust no reviewer after Colleen hoover (except cari, of course) and I think that's why I enjoyed it so much

I eat a lot of chocolate cake and I have AAs so I feel very cheated

omg i have a book rec for you I think you might like its called " A crown od oaths and curses" its the first of 3 books and there is 2 novelas happy reading :)

I promise you get so much more attached to the characters in jade war. The next two books were absolute masterpieces filled with action on every single page. Please at least try Jade war 😭😭

FINALLY someone who feels the same way about Jade City as me!! I could not get into the characters and have never understood the hype around this book. Like you said...not bad, but not what I was expecting. If you do read the second one I'll be excited to see if you think it's worth it.

Just finished heart of stone after you talked about in this video and it's soo cuteeeee but yeah not the letters 😅

I’m in the middle of Fourth Wing and do not understand how hyped up this is but I think the marketing campaign for it pushed it through the roof. Also; a super fun thriller read that came out this year is Killing Me by Michelle Gagnon.

I felt the same way about Jade city and was sobbing in the third book. I loved it overall but it’s not like an all time favorite.

A bit late here but I can't wait to hear your thoughts on The Shadow of What Was Lost! It's been sitting on my bookshelf forever and wasn't sure if I should pick it up!

I would love a reading vlog of you reading all 4 books in the Dark Fables Vicious Faeries series :D Your reactions are always so hilarious in the vlogs <3

I also keep thinking a book is a standalone because it says it's a novel, it's right in the title, and then later I find out it's part of a series.

I liked Jade City and Jade War, and but didn't connect with them the way I expected to based on the hype. But then I read Jade Legacy, and I S O B B E D at the end. Made me rethink my thoughts on the whole series. I only cry like that for one or two books a year, and definitely didn't expect it to be that one.

im so late but! jade city.

imo the reason u didnt like it is, as u said, because u couldnt focus on it. overall, it is a really political story that revolves around one generation of the kaul family and it does break ur heart later on lol but in the first book its not as visible. when i finished jade city i also thought the series was kinda overrated but then i’d read jade war and jade legacy and now its my second fav series of all time! fonda lee makes you love characters, then hate them, then love them again.

I can’t figure out why everyone loved jade city either. I thought it was boring. The next two have higher ratings on Goodreads but I’ve started the second and I’m still pretty bored 😩

I also did not enjoy Jade City. I had the same reaction to the main characters as you. I listened to the audio book and thought that might have been my issue, but I couldn’t buy into the main characters reasons for their passions. I also struggle with gang storylines, so I was at a miss starting this. But, I feel the same as you. I think the writing was fine, but stopped reading this at book one

I went into Jade City with zero expectations and I had no idea what it was about, but loved it 😄 for me it just worked in every way, but could see why it wouldn't be for everyone!

I also didn’t like Jade City. I wanted to like it but I just didn’t care for most of the characters and the gangster world. I only managed to make it a quarter of the way through the book before giving up.

do you like reading poetry books?

i loved Jade City!! I'll read the second book this month