Mini Reviews Wrap Up January 2025

Posted January 31, 2025 by Julie S. in Wrap Ups and Mini Reviews / 1 Comment

Here at Chapter Break, we don’t always write a full review of every book we read. Well, now we decided to do these monthly wrap-up posts with roundups of our reviews this month and mini-reviews to fill in the gaps. Enjoy!

Mini Book Reviews

The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires: A Novel: So I thought this was going to be more humor and light, like Buffy, maybe even like Dexter. The cover was more Twilight than actual horror. And the book started out silly and funny between the characters. But the last quarter was PURE HORROR. There are trigger warnings galore. The characters were alright but I didn’t care for them. The relationship between husbands and wives was more 1950s than 1990s. The children being fed upon by VampyVamp and that being sexualized was disturbing. I get that the book displayed class and racial discrepancies, but there had to be something redeemable about the story for it to be for me. And it just wasn’t for me.

Butcher & Blackbird: The Ruinous Love Trilogy, Book 1: This was so fun! A fun dark romance – full of hot banter and murder. So enjoyable, truly, despite all the horror-filled warnings. The will-they-won’t-they romance of two serial killers who meet up once a year to kill another serial killer was a fun story. There were some surprises, lots of bad dudes getting what they had coming, and two strong anti-hero characters with a lot of tropey romance issues but also a HEA. The audiobook was well done too with dual narration. Purely enjoyable for people who love some dark smut.

Building Simple Habits to a Healthy Me: Easy 4 pillar system, worksheets and habit tracker: Building Healthy Habits is a combination of a guide and a journal. Dr. Orlena shares her Four Pillars to build for healthy habits, and throughout the book there are tips, motivation, real-life examples, and journal pages to keep you on track.

PUCK AND PREJUDICE: First completed book of the year. And meh, not a winner. I don’t understand the whole hockey romance fad that’s going on. But was intrigued here more due to time travel romance and Jane Austen themes. Needless to say, none of those hopes paid off. Instaromance between the two main characters, Tucker and Lizzy, without a lot of build up or emotional connections. I’m all for female historic characters with modern sensibilities. But here, Tucker is the one to inspire those thoughts in Lizzy. She may have been on the path herself, but he was the one to drive that train. For the first in what I can imagine being a series, the time travel aspect was thought out and well explained. But not necessarily important to the plot. Overall, I was bored through the majority of the book.

BLACK BIRD ORACLE: This next book in the All Souls series predominately focuses on Diana and her witch history. Lots of secrets exposed. Lots of witch history. Some very corporeal ghosts. Though, Gallowglass only gets a brief mention. Enjoyed this listen. Well written as usual. Great continuation of the series. Plus, with so many different teas, I kind of wished I was keeping a list!

THE DARK ARCHIVE: Yay, more Vale. Boo, less Lord Silver. Meh to the addition of Catherine, Irene’s new Fae apprentice. Irritating, petulant, teenage Fae are zero fun. Lots of adventure and heart-pounding action in this edition, with multiple assassination attempts on the core group of characters. Big secret reveal and big cliffhanger of an ending left me ready to listen to the next in this series. Only challenge here is Kristin Atherton’s narration is challenged by the number of male characters voices. They all tend to sound the same after awhile. Atherton is still doing great with Irene’s voice, though.

KILLERS OF A CERTAIN AGE: Nice change of pace in the age of the main characters! The main characters here are 60 year old women who also happen to be assassins. And are being forced into retirement. And also betrayed by their former employer. Good plotting, with switches between the current story and the start of their careers. Lots of action, which I always enjoy. No romance, which I appreciated. Hilarious to see the number of other characters, especially men, who discount these women. Enjoyed the main POV from Billie. But would have also enjoyed additional POV’s from the other characters. Ready for the next book in this series!

THE SOUTHERN BOOK CLUB’S GUIDE TO SLAYING A VAMPIRE: Yeah – what Julie said. Writing was fine. But I didn’t empathize with any of the characters. And honestly, didn’t really like them. The kids and husbands were even worst. The horror is graphically described, which isn’t for me. I almost DNF it a couple of times, but pushed through. Kind of wishing I didn’t, as the last third was uncomfortable to listen to.

Books we reviewed as a fully review this month:

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