February Favorites

I finally got back into reading this month. After a month-long hiatus due to studying, I can finally dip my toes back into the fictional worlds I read about.

I started February off with a popular book called "Twisted Love" by Ana Huang. Ava Chen is an innocent young woman, who aspires to be a photographer after college. She is the little sister of Josh Chen, a medical student who travels abroad to another country. When Josh leaves, he doesn't want to leave his little sister unprotected so he asks for a favor from his best friend. Alex Volkov is a mysterious and dark character, who later opens up for one specific person in his life. The main goal was to protect Josh's little sister, not to fall in love with her.

This story has a warning at the beginning on how "spicy" the book can get. But, there are also scenes of murder that can be pretty triggering if not talked about before reading. I loved the storyline between Ava and Alex- typical good girl falls for the bad boy vibes. It was definitely a different read for me. Most books I read haven't been this violent or have a dark background to characters. Overall, I love this series and bought the second book before I finished this one. Rating 4.8/5 Stars

This next book is one that I was very scared to read as I had been told that it was a difficult one, emotionally. I had seen this book on TikTok months ago and it took some convincing to read. "The Way I Used to Be" by Amber Smith. I am warning readers now: this book follows a teenage girl after she was raped.

Eden's life was simple and good. Until one night when her brother's best friend slips into her bedroom and does the unimaginable to her. She doesn't know what to do, who to tell, or how to process her feelings about this night. Can she trust her brother? Can she trust anyone with the event of that one night when her life changed forever?

Told in four parts, every year of high school, we follow Eden and the changes in her life. She freezes everyone out of her life until she is all alone with this one night in the back of her mind. She turns to drugs and sex to cope, her friends don't understand where the Eden they know went.

Amber Smith writes this book to help people understand that they aren't alone- even if they feel like Eden, who didn't know who she could trust with this huge secret. This wonderfully written story definitely challenges the reader with their feelings towards the main character but makes them understand her in the end. This story definitely tugs on your heartstrings and your emotions- I cried. It was not an easy read, but it was worth it. Rating: 5/5 Stars

The third book this month- what a shock, was written by Colleen Hoover. "Reminders of Him". The reader follows Kenna, a young woman who spent the last five years of her life in jail for a mistake. Sadly, that mistake was killing her boyfriend in a car accident one night. She moves back to his hometown, where their daughter lives with his parents. She wants to be back in her daughter's life, but would his parents allow her after the tragic loss of their son?

Ledger, the boyfriend's best friend, meets Kenna under an alias at his bar. But, once he finds out who she truly is, he wants to know what happened that night. Ledger starts to fall for Kenna and risks the chance of keeping Kenna's daughter in his life as his niece. Will the mistake of that night take a toll on the relationships created or will everyone finally be happy together?

This book kept me wanting to know more- what happened that night? What would happen if Ledger and Kenna kept their secret love going? Colleen definitely knows how to write a romance book, while bouncing around to the two main characters' points of view. A good book overall, hope she creates a second one about life after this one. Rating: 4/5 Stars

I did read another book, the second book of the "Twisted" series, but I am going to talk about that next month. (Just in case I finish the series, and can talk about it as a whole😉)

Stay tuned for March's Reading Madness!