Leah's November Reads

City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

Anna Dressed In Blood by Kendare Blake

The Merciless by Danielle Vega

The Retribution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Don't Look Back by Jennifer Armentrout

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson

The Many Lives of Ruby Iyer by Laxmi Hariharan

The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda

A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray

Under Different Stars by Amy Bartol

Unteachable by Leah Raeder

November was kind of a tough month for me book wise. I was in a big rut after finishing City of Glass and had a killer book hangover. I started and stopped at least four different books and just could not get into anything. It felt like every book I did read was pretty mediocre, so it was just adding to my hangover. Angela was feeling the same way, so we did a book swap. We both filled a tote bag full of books that we thought the other would enjoy and swapped. We have similar tastes, so it was the perfect way to find good books without having to search!

My favorite book this month doesn't have a clear cut winner. There was a tie between The Retribution of Mara Dyer, City of Glass, and A Thousand Pieces of You. Retribution was the final book in the Mara Dyer series, so it was like the end of an era. I got all the conclusion I needed for Mara and Noah, so while I am sad it is over, I am happy that I got what I needed. CoG is the best book of The Mortal Instrument series that I have read so far. It took me forever to get through it, but once I finally finished it... OMG. This is what put me into such a bad hangover. It was SO awesome that my brain was just completely dead after finishing. I just couldn't bring myself to read anything else because I just wanted more Jace, Clary, Sebastian, Simon, Alec, and Magnus. This series will be the death of me though because it is such an emotional roller coaster. It is definitely one of my all time favorites. ATPoY was sooooo good. I am loving the trend of time/dimension travel books lately, and this one just was so well done. The world building was breathtaking, and I just loved the characters. I can't wait to see where the series goes.

That was all until I read Unteachable by Leah Raeder. This book was in the bag I borrowed from Angela. When describing the book to me, she said two words: HOT TEACHER. So I went into it knowing there was a hot teacher and lots of steamy scenes. Within the first few chapters, I found myself blushing uncontrollably and feeling like this was the type of book I needed to read in private because it was so, SO detailed during the steamy scenes. I kind of kept up the impression that this book was just going to be lots of steam, but only surface deep as far as story.

Man, was I wrong. This book reached inside of my chest and grabbed my heart and twisted it before yanking it out and throwing it on the floor and stomping on it. Maise is such a kick ass character. In fact, I really want to take her and transport her into all other YA books that I've read just to see what she would do. She is raw and rough around the edges and slutty in all the wrong daddy issues kind of ways, but she knows it and she owns it. She knows her life is one big screw up, but she tries her hardest to just keep her head above water so she can not end up like her dealer mom. The relationship she has with Evan is so taboo and inappropriate on every tradition scale. But the funny thing about it all is that he is just as screwed up as her. They are both very broken and together they come together and force the pieces of themselves together to make something real. This isn't a happy love story. Yeah, there are happy parts, but like any real love story, their are parts that make you feel high as a kite and then kick your legs out from under you.

The last quarter of the book I cried my freaking eyes out. My heart hurt for Maise because of Evan, Wesley, Siobhan, the mom, Hyman (I know that's not her name but that's what I called that effing C U Next Tuesday in my head), and just whole screwed up her life really was. The ending of the book was perfect. It has you on the edge of your seat and biting down every last bit of nail you have...... and then the ending. Bravo, Leah Raeder. You successfully made me feel all the feels and made me identify with every single one of your characters in some way. This book is one of the best books I've read all year, and it definitely falls into the "holy cow I didn't realize how good this was going to be" category.

Just as a heads up, there is sex. Lots and lots of sex. Steamy sex that you probably want to read when you're by yourself with not even your dog in the room with you. Actually, you'll probably want to read most of the book in the shower to keep yourself from overheating. Also there is a lot of explicit language. Maise's favorite word is the F bomb, so if you're not a fan of that, then this isn't your book. If I could give this more than 5 stars I would. It was absolutely amazing.

5/5 stars

I have a HUGE.... HUGE TBR list for December. I have the books from Angela to finish as well as some recent purchases PLUS a huge book haul that is my Christmas present from my puppies (they helped me pick them out, of course). I feel super optimistic that next month will be better than next, so get ready for lots of reviews!