Lilibet’s Year in Books

What did you read this year?

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2023

209,921

pages read

599

books read

Lilibet Bombshell

1 like Like

Shortest Book

pages

Longest Book

896

pages

Average book length in 2023

350

pages

Most Shelved

1,506,246

people also shelved

Least Shelved

people also shelved

Lilibet’s average rating for 2023

4.0

Highest Rated on Goodreads

4.67 average

Lilibet’s first review of the year

really liked it

Real Rating: 3.5 / 5 Stars

Sometimes I’m reading a book and I can’t help but think where the idea came from–where the genesis of the book started for the author. In this case, a rather famous handful of days when an intimate and libertine group of writers and philosophers spent during a handful of interminably rainy days near Geneva, Switzerland in 1816 in a home known as Villa Diodati is what immediately what jumped into my head, and the various Real Rating: 3.5 / 5 Stars

Sometimes I’m reading a book and I can’t help but think where the idea came from–where the genesis of the book started for the author. In this case, a rather famous handful of days when an intimate and libertine group of writers and philosophers spent during a handful of interminably rainy days near Geneva, Switzerland in 1816 in a home known as Villa Diodati is what immediately what jumped into my head, and the various tales and known facts of what happened at Villa Diodati among Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Godwin (the future Mary Shelley), John William Polidori (Shelley’s personal physician), and Mary’s stepsister, Claire Clairmont. Mary wrote the first draft of the novel that would become Frankenstein, Polidori wrote The Vampyre, Byron finished up works he had been stuck on, and Claire Clairmont entered into a very short affair with Byron that produced a child she had no means to care for (the child was raised by Byron and his family). Byron proclaimed to hate her and that she was to stay away, but she held onto her obsession with him for years and never married. Percy Bysshe Shelley died a mere six years after the events at Villa Diodati in a sailing accident after a good many years of being in poor health and suffering from severe depression.

So you can see where, when I start to read a book where one timeline is about two best friends who are staying in a villa one summer where, in the past, a group of artists (a writer and three musicians), who are all rather bohemian and fluid in their relationships, all went through a few weeks where a similar (but not same) set of events happened…I wonder if this is a case of coincidence or if the author knew of this tale, cocked her head and said, “If you rework this some, it would make a great idea for a book”.

The thing is: it really does make for a great book idea in the way Rachel Hawkins plotted out the story. This story of covetousness, selfishness, predation, not asking but just taking, male entitlement, female silence, being forced into corners, mental illness, creation, destruction, and Faustian deals.

The problem is: predictability. I knew where this book was going and how it was likely going to end before I hit the 20% mark. I knew what was going on between the best friends in the present timeline, and I knew what was going on and how it was pretty much going to end in the past timeline. So while the writing was entertaining and engaging enough to keep me reading, the enjoyment of reading the book was affected by the book being so predictable. And that begs a follow-up criticism: I can’t be the only one who found it that predictable, which means it’s not just me that’s going to be disappointed by that fact.

Do I still recommend it? Sure. It’s a fun read. I won’t tell you to run out and buy it right now or that you absolutely must read it, but if you happen to like these type of books, why not give it a whirl?

Thanks go out to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for granting me early access to this title in exchange for a fair and honest review.

File Under: Crime Fiction/General Fiction/Psychological Fiction/Suspense Mystery/Women’s Fiction ...more

LILIBET’S 2023 BOOKS

Song of Silver, Flame Like Night by Amélie Wen Zhao

it was amazing

All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham

it was amazing

The Things We Do to Our Friends by Heather Darwent

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

The Girls Who Disappeared by Claire Douglas

it was amazing

it was amazing

The Trouble with Trying to Love a Hellion by Jennifer Cody

it was amazing

Finlay Donovan Knocks 'Em Dead by Elle Cosimano

it was amazing

Finlay Donovan Is Killing It by Elle Cosimano

Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano

Stardust in Their Veins by Laura Sebastian

it was amazing

Knot All Is Ruined Part I by Elizabeth Knight

it was amazing

it was amazing

it was amazing

Something Wild & Wonderful by Anita Kelly

it was amazing

The Lies of the Ajungo by Moses Ose Utomi

Lilibet’s last review of the year

it was amazing

This year I’ve felt like there was a time BSD (Before Stats Daddy) and ASD (After Stats Daddy). The era of ASD began on July 21st, 2023, when the first book in this series, Too Safe, was released. Ever since Abby Millsaps unleashed the wicked and cunning Kylian (AKA Stats Daddy) on the world with the publication of the first book in the Boys of Lake Chapel book series, I’ve decided no other book boyfriend compares.

With the release of Too Far, th This year I’ve felt like there was a time BSD (Before Stats Daddy) and ASD (After Stats Daddy). The era of ASD began on July 21st, 2023, when the first book in this series, Too Safe, was released. Ever since Abby Millsaps unleashed the wicked and cunning Kylian (AKA Stats Daddy) on the world with the publication of the first book in the Boys of Lake Chapel book series, I’ve decided no other book boyfriend compares.

With the release of Too Far, the last in this trilogy, my opinion has not changed. I don’t care how much more Josephine got of Kendrick, Nicky, or even the great Decker Crusade himself. No. It is Stats Daddy who forever holds my heart and is still, in my mind, the true male star of Boys of Lake Chapel.

This review is as much for the whole series as it is for Too Far; but make no mistake, Too Far is a truly excellent novel and is the epitome of what a series conclusion should look like. It picks up almost exactly where Too Fast left off and keeps hurtling forward, barreling towards disaster. It’s obvious that all it will take is a single slip-up for the house of cards to fall down.

The first half of the book is suspenseful, heartbreaking, emotional, and frustrating (so, so frustrating). The second half of the book is swollen with emotion, angst, love, and lust. The epilogues made me cry. And cry. And cry. Heck, this whole book made my eyes leak water several times. I did not sob. You did.

The last epilogue was so touching to me. I didn’t cry, but I was deeply, deeply touched. I can’t express how much it meant to me which character was chosen for the last epilogue and what they said in it. My heart grew fifty million sizes.

If you haven’t picked up this series, I can’t express how much I recommend it. This is my book series of the year. If you know me, you must know how rare it is for me to pick a non-LGBTQ Why Choose romance series as my series of the year. I just can’t escape how deeply this series touched me nor how hot Stats Daddy made me. The charisma of the group as a whole cannot be denied. Congratulations, Abby Millsaps–You’re a genius.

All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. No compensation was provided for this review. Thank you.

File Under: 5 Star Review/Book Series/College Romance/Contemporary Romance/Daddy Kink/Disability Representation/Found Family/Kindle Unlimited/Kink Friendly/Romance Series/Spice Level 3/Sports Romance/Why Choose Romance
...more

2023 READING
CHALLENGE

Lilibet Bombshell read 599 out of 575 books.

104%

What did you read this year?