The Books I Read In May 2023
- Alexa Burban
- Jun 4, 2023
- 5 min read
Woah, woah, woah - May's reads were spiiicccyyyy! So spicy that I can't put my thoughts into words, you have to read them for yourself. But I started the month by rereading a new favourite (Emily Henry's Happy Place) and found a new favourite I absolutely adored (K.A. Tucker's Say You Still Love Me). Here are my reviews for the books I read in May!
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(reshare of review)
I realize that this is a very bold statement however, I like to be bold. I can confidently say that Happy Place is my favourite Emily Henry book. It has also made it to my top-five favourite contemporary romances of all time. This is also solidifying that second-chance romance is my favourite trope.
To say I loved this book is an understatement but I will do my best to (briefly) summarize my thoughts as best as possible and without spoilers. This book was so much more than just a love story between two people but a love story between a group of six friends that are struggling to endure the test of time. Harriet and Wyn's love story is beautifully told in chapters that alternate timelines that allow you to fall in love as they do. It also shows the strong bond that the friend group shares over the course of eight (+) years and the many factors that contribute to the importance of their annual trip to Maine.
From start to finish, I was gripped and my heart was in Henry's hands. I'm at a loss for words for how much I loved it. I absolutely adored each character and what they added to the plot. I physically laughed out loud at their banter at many points throughout.
Again, I found myself relating to a character. Our heroine, Harriet, a non-confrontational people-pleaser struggles to confront and decide her own future, putting her happiness in jeopardy. Please note that I absolutely sobbed the last 15% of the book. :)
I have to leave with a quote that made me gasp and feel all the feelings: “In every universe, it’s you for me. Even if it’s not me for you.” - Wyn Connor
Thank you NetGalley and Berkley for an advanced copy. And of course, Emily Henry - I don't know what magic you're putting in these books but please never stop.
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This was everything I wanted and didn’t know I needed. The Emily Henry multiverse is alive and I am therefore living. Did I squeal at multiple points in this (very) short epilogue? Yes, yes I did.
I love you Emily!🫶🏻
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A different type of book to what I typically read. I had heard mixed reviews and can understand the indifference. There were times when I found an overshadowing “woe is me” mentality and had a hard time sympathizing with Dolly.
I didn’t read this for advice but found small bits that resonated with me:
“I finally grasped the machination and subtext of that phrase [Is this really all life is? … Tottenham Court Road and ordering shit off Amazon.] the year I turned twenty-five. When you begin to wonder if life is really just waiting for buses on Tottenham Court Road and ordering books you’ll never read off Amazon; in short, you are having an existential crisis. You’re realizing the mundanity of life. You are finally understanding how little point there is to anything. You are moving out of the realm of fantasy ‘when I grow up’ and adjusting to the reality that you’re there; it’s happening. And it wasn’t what you thought it might be. You are not who you thought you’d be.” - page 125
“Nearly everything I know about love, I’ve learnt in my long-term friendships with women.” - page 237
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This was cute but I found I wasn't fully convinced by the romance/felt the connection. When Will showed up at Fern's lakeside resort, I was excited to learn more about the couple's history but then it fell flat. I love a second-chance romance but if the characters don't have the chemistry or any sort of tension, it's not going to work for me. With second-chance romances there typically comes a miscommunication that is the cause for the initial breakup/separation but this one also wasn't that convincing. I don't know, I was just disappointed.
On a positive note, I do love that Fortune's books are set in and around Toronto. As someone who's not a massive fan of the city, it's nice to read about it by someone who loves it and find ways to appreciate it differently. I think that was my big takeaway from this book.
⭑.5
There were a lot of things I didn't like about this HOWEVER, I will say that I did generally enjoy myself while reading it. I laughed ... a lot, on multiple occasions for many reasons (the general awkwardness between the couple, the meh characters, and the spice... etc.). If you just want spice, this is your book but I wouldn't recommend it for plot and/or character development.
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Wow, I LOVED this! Like, really loved it! I haven't read a book in less than twenty-four hours in a long time but the long weekend + this book was the perfect combination!
Something about Tucker's writing is so detailed and vivid that I genuinely felt like I was in the book/was watching a movie. I felt the same way reading The Simple Wild series and thought it was just the story but no, it's Tucker. She's one of my new favourites.
A second chance romance with dual timelines (love, love, love) follows Piper and Kyle who come from two very different lives. Piper, the daughter of a multibillion-dollar businessman and will one day take over as CEO and Kyle, the tattooed "bad boy" whose family history he's anything but proud of and a boy Piper's parents would never approve of. The pair first meet as camp counsellors and over the course of six weeks, fall for one another with the promise to stay in touch. Thirteen years later, Piper's busy anticipating her father's retirement but never forgot about Kyle, who she never heard from again after that summer. Unexpectedly, Kyle reappears in Piper's life as the security guard at her office/the building her father owns and she's taken off guard but begins to believe that it's not a coincidence. She once considered Kyle to be the love of her life but now he claims to not remember her. Two people who come from very different backgrounds have nothing in common other than their shared love for one another but is that enough?
I was giggling and kicking my feet the whole time. Piper and Kyle had chemistry and I was genuinely rooting for them. I think I realized why my favourite trope is second-chance romance and it's because I (/the reader) gets to experience a couple fall in love with one another twice and despite the many factors that pull them apart, they persevere and find a way to make their love work. The hopeless romantic in me just eats it right up.
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I have no words, just emojis: 😯😏🤔🫣🥵😵💫😮💨🥴
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LOVED Jake. I have nothing more to add.🤭
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Oh this was sppiiiccccyyyyy! I've never read a "why choose"/MFMM before so this was a fun discovery. I recommend getting a girlfriend to read it with you and you share notes/your thoughts as you read. SO fun!
I've tried to plan out what books I'm going to read in the coming months but I've become a bit of a mood reader so I'm just going to keep going with the flow and see what fun I find.
Until next month! xx
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