Reviewer: @roelia_reads (Instagram)
Aftermath fiction at its most haunting—this isn’t a whodunit, but a what-now.
Some books don’t just tell a story—they strike a nerve.
5 Reasons to Read This Book:
💔 It reframes the crime genre – This isn’t your typical thriller. Dean focuses not on the act, but the aftershock—giving voice to the often-overlooked human cost of violence and the slow, painful unravelling of two lives intertwined by trauma.
💔 Two deeply human perspectives – Isabel’s raw, second-person narrative is searing and intimate, while Edward’s reserved, guilt-shadowed reflections offer heartbreaking contrast. Together, they form a portrait of a relationship dismantled in silence.
💔 A poignant nod to true crime victims – Echoing the real-life devastation of cases like the Golden State Killer, this novel centres survivors rather than the perpetrator, with sensitivity akin to “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark”.
💔 Exquisite writing with emotional precision – Dean’s prose is spare but lyrical, perfectly capturing the weight of memory, grief, and unspoken love. It’s the kind of writing that breathes through you long after the page turns.
💔 A book for deep feeling readers – If you’re drawn to stories that ache with realism, explore complex relationships, and ask what survival really means – ”The Death of Us” will hit home in the best and hardest ways.
⚠️ Content warnings: sexual assault, trauma, emotional distress.
The Death of Us isn’t here to sensationalise. It’s here to bear quiet witness. And that makes it unforgettable.
Thank you to Jonathan Ball Publishers for the opportunity to read this book.
@maraschapters(Instagram)
Rating: ★★★★★
Genre: Adult romance
“𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅.
𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑰 𝒔𝒂𝒘 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕.
𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆.”
King of envy follows Vuk Markovic, a grumpy yet guarded billionaire, and Ayana Kidane, a upcoming supermodel stuck in an arranged marriage to Vuks best friend, whose paths cross unexpectedly in a twist where flirtations become something much deeper and secrets threaten to expose everything they’ve come to love.
I’m a sucker for anything and everything Ana Huang, so the fact that I loved this book should come as a suprise to no one. Add that to the fact that this book centers around a grumpy billionaire who’s obsessed with his best friends fake fiancée, and you have yourself a binge-worthy book.
King of envy is book 5 in The Kings of Sin Series, and what a continuation it is.
Having enjoyed each and every book in this series, some more than others, this book might just be a contender for the top 2 favourites in this series.
“𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑨𝒚𝒂𝒏𝒂, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒐 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚. 𝑵𝒐 𝒏𝒆𝒈𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏. 𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒅𝒊𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒓.”
Gosh, I love when an author writes not only a down to earth and honestly quite endearing FMC but a MMC who yearns! Each and every character in this book was incredible. From the appearances of past characters to the little snippets of future ones, they all made this book such a fun and enjoyable one.
Ana Huangs writing has always been addictive to me, and this book was no different. I adore how easy her books are to read, and how the pace of the writing always seems to match up to the pace of the story.
“𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒑𝒊𝒅, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒖𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒆𝒔. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒈𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒅, 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐. 𝑯𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒐.”
Despite the love I have for Ayana and Vuk’s relationship, I really enjoyed how Ana explored the relationship that Ayana had with her family, as well as the development of both main characters in this book. They both grew so much throughout the book, that you couldn’t help but be elated when they finally got their happy ending.
Reviewer: @reading.to.survive(Instagram)
Two words in the synopsis made me curious about reading this: the name “Lars” and the word “Eurovision”. Lars, because back when I lived in Germany there was this kid in my class with that name, and Eurovision because who doesn’t love a whole bunch of Europeans putting on crazy outfits and singing weird songs?
But it wasn’t those words that kept me reading. This was the type of book that you don’t want to put down. The type of book that even when you are tired, will push you to read one more chapter.
Tina, a mixed race Swede, who has believed her father to be dead for years, struggles with her identity after she finds out her father is actually alive. She weaves through life with this new information, struggling to keep her head above water and makes some questionable life choices admist the turmoil in her life.
Nancy, her mother, relives her past and we find out how her quest for love leads to betrayal and heartache, shaping the way for her children and how she interacts with them.If you like books that explore important topics like identitiy crisis, racism in predominantly white communities, prejudice against mixed-race individuals and feminine rage, then you’ll love this.
Full marks for this one!
Reviewer: @katie.read.me(Instagram)
And so friends, that concludes The Library Trilogy.
Personally, books 1 and 2 are the favourite children of the series. But please don’t misunderstand me! It’s not that book 3 falls flat. It doesn’t. Rather I think because everything had to come to a “logical end” there weren’t as many “what did I just read” moments (until the last 10 chapters).
✨the review✨
The Book that Held Her Heart is a masterpiece tragedy. High fantasies are a lot of work ito wrapping your mind around the world systems at play. But once it clicks it’s so rewarding! So don’t be discouraged if you re-read a couple of things.
I enjoyed the addition of Anne! Her reunion with Yute and Kerrol at the end 🥹 I did not expect Arpix to be such a smooth operator 🤭 I mean can you imagine a librarian doing all those things with a canith!? And that canith being Clovis! I didn’t expect it at all! But I couldn’t stop rooting for them 😂 (and I’m not a fan of smut, yet here I was all the same 🤣).
Mayland is such a wild character (but for real). And that Starval plot twist!? I was NOT ready.
Evar and the library will always be connected because of what Mayland did. And the type of tragedies I love are the Shakespearean kind – where the decisions and choices of others determine our outcome. Initially, I didn’t enjoy the end because it wasn’t the tragedy I hoped for but upon reflection (and this is why I always advocate for mulling things over). It’s the most tragic and beautiful end. Evar and Livira will always be Evar and Livira, but the chasm between them is far too wide. Their story is locked between pages and no effort on either of their part will change that. In a way it’s also incredibly beautiful because it shows how words immortalise us, though we don’t go on our stories live on, echoing through eternity.
Reviewer: @masters.library(Instagram)
Book Review 💌 Dream Count By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
I first read Dream Count as an ARC, and then again for the @jonathanballpublishers read-along—which happened to align perfectly with our @wellandreadclub book club pick of the month. Honestly, I don’t even know where to begin. It became my first five-star read of the year 🧡
This novel is layered, heartbreaking, and stunningly human. Adichie has such a rare gift: the ability to write about pain, identity, and hope in ways that cut to the soul. I’ve always been drawn to novels told from multiple points of view, but here, each voice—Chiamaka, Zikora, Kadiatou, and Omelogor—feels like an entire universe unto itself. Kadi’s story… it stayed with me. Her journey as a mother, a refugee, a woman holding on to her dignity in the face of relentless loss and fear—was nothing short of extraordinary. The raw vulnerability and quiet strength she embodies made me cry more than once.❤️🩹
The mother-daughter relationships in this novel are some of the most poignant I’ve ever read. Adichie doesn’t just write about love—she writes about the weight of it, the ache of expectations, the quiet ways we fail and forgive one another. From Kadi’s fierce devotion to Binta to the strained, tender complexities between Omelogor and her mother, these relationships felt so familiar and true.
But Dream Count is more than a story about individual lives—it’s a searing reflection on migration, justice, gender, and power. It holds a mirror up to society and asks us to see what we too often choose to ignore. Adichie’s prose is elegant and devastating. There were passages I had to pause over, not just to absorb the beauty of the language, but to sit with the truths they carried. This isn’t just a book you read—it’s a book that happens to you.
I still think about this novel all the time. I don’t think it’s possible to forget it—even if, you didn’t love it, I truly believe it will leave a mark. It’s the kind of story that lives inside you, reshaping the way you see the world. Dream Count is unforgettable.❤️
5/5 🌟
