Latest Reads That Are Worth a Review

The collection of books I’ve read lately capture my reading habits perfectly—I’m a genre-hopping bookworm who thrives on variety. I have an unspoken rule: never read the same genre back-to-back (though, I’ll admit, I break it here and there). Why? After finishing an incredible book—the kind that leaves me in a “literary hangover”—the next one always suffers by comparison. It’s as if the previous story lingers, overshadowing whatever follows, and the effect is worse when I stick to similar genres. So, to soften the blow, I bounce between worlds: I’ll escape from a dark fantasy filled with high faes, deadly battles, and ancient magic (you know the type) to a contemporary drama revolving around family dilemmas and mundane nine-to-fives. This shift in tone feels like a literary palate cleanser and allows me to fully enjoy each book without comparing it to the one before.

 So here are my thoughts on some of the books I’ve read lately:

American Dirt

by Jeanine Cummins

Lydia is a bookseller from Acapulco, Mexico. After her journalist husband exposes a local cartel boss and a tragedy occurs, her and her son Luca are forced to flee the city and make their way towards the United States, in hopes of finding safety and hope. During this dangerous journey, they encounter many other “travelers” who are also leaving their homes behind and running into the unknown.

American dirt is one of those books that I will be forever talking about. The story is constructed in a way that makes it at the same time relatable and unimaginable. Jeannine Cummins shines light into the hardness and hurt people go to in order to feel safe and to pursue hope of a better life. The characters are powerful and real, and the challenges they face are something everyone should be aware of. It is a work of fiction but all the details, characters, places and the plot reflect very real situations that have happened for years and continue to happen daily.

One of the things that made this story stand out to me the most is the way Cummins constructed the character of Javier, the cartel boss. She gives a complex depth to him that allows the reader to see beyond the senseless violence of a drug cartel and actually see a person in the very root of the violence. She shows the human side of Javier, alongside his cartel boss persona, pushing the reader to question if his acts are simply pure evil, or if there is a more complex game of power and guilt that guide his actions.

There is much to be said about the stories of immigrants, their suffering and their dreams. American Dirt creates a much needed space for these stories to start emerging.

Click here to check it out on Amazon

The Lost Bookshop 

BY Evie Woods

The book follows three protagonists, Martha, Henry and Opaline, whose lives become entangled in the search of a lost rare manuscript and a disappearing bookshop. The story is told in two different past time periods, Opaline’s in the early 1900s and Henry and Martha’s in “Dublin-nine-months-ago”.

After seeing the cover and reading the summary, I had such high expectations for this book, it had all the ingredients to become one of my favorites – a romance revolving around books and the power of stories. The book has an overall heartwarming and wholesome feel to it, the pace is easy and it reads quick. The writing is simple and all the different POVs are easily distinguishable, not only because they are separated by chapter, but the character’s voices are unique and well representative of their personalities. The author, Evie Woods, did an incredible job of starting all three stories in very different places and times and weaving them together slowly and subtly. 

The book contains not only elements of fantasy and historical fiction, but it also tangles in issues of domestic violence and misogynism, which are painted effortlessly alongside the plot. Those subplots give you a glimpse of those issues and their consequences for the characters without making them central themes to the story – take that as a good or bad thing.

Although it is a quick and easy read, the book leaves a few plot holes and unanswered questions that could be easily remedied with a little more background and detail. Some characters pop in and out of the story too fast and without much context, and end up not getting any type of closure or conclusion, living the reader wondering what happened to them. A lot of the book rely on the reader to fill in the gaps in between major events.

Overall, The Lost Bookshop was a great palate cleanser between other books. It delivered on the promise of a feel-good story, but, for me, it fell short on the intended grandiosity of the fantasy or the surprise of the plot twists.

Click here to check it out on Amazon

Babel 

By R.F. Kuang

Babel is a speculative fiction novel set in 1830s England. it follows Robin Swift, a Chinese boy who was taken under the wing of an English Professor, Mr. Lovell. He is trained to enter the prestigious Royal Institute of Translation, at Oxford University. The Institute, known as Babel, produces enchanted silver bars which power England’s global supremacy. Once there, Robin faces ethical, cultural and political issues that put his very identity and sense of right and wrong into question.

Babel is such a treasure! When I heard the story centered around the power of language, I knew it was going to be good, but it definitely exceeded my expectations. R.F. Kuang created a gripping blend of history and fantasy, uniting real and relatable issues with the other-worldliness of magic. 

One of the most fun things about this book is how heavily it relies on footnotes to add context to the story. The book has dozens of footnotes explaining historical figures and events and even giving extra background on different characters. When reading, you definitely don’t want to skip those because although the story makes sense without them, they make all the details of the novel a lot more interesting.

One thing I will say is that I wished the author gave us more in-depth understanding of the side characters. Although Robin is the protagonist, the book also follows Robin’s friends, who are in a similar journey but come from very different backgrounds. Only towards the end of the book we get one chapter from each of Robin’s friends’ POVs, which are, in my opinion, instrumental to fully understanding the motivations behind their actions.  

All in all, the story just blows you away, it is unexpected, brutal and beautiful. The social critique on real and current issues is subtle and yet jaw droppingly powerful. 

Click here to check it out on Amazon

Fourth Wing

by Rebecca Yarros

The story follows Violet Sorrengail, a frail but smart young woman who trained her whole life to become a scribe, but is ultimately forced by her mother to join the dangerous riders’ quadrant, where students train to become dragon riders. In a world where dragons bond with only the strongest and failure leads to death, Violet has to outsmart her peers and survive deadly challenges to prove she is worthy. Along the way, Violet encounters powerful enemies and uncovers dark truths about her world. 

I have jumped on the fantasy train, riding first class, window seat and I am not sorry. There is so much buzz about a lot of different fantasy books right now and after finishing ACOTAR last year, I needed a new obsession and Fourth Wing did not disappoint!

Fourth wing has everything a good-old-fashioned fantasy read needs, an “unfit” protagonist, a childhood best friend who is not-so-secretly in love with her, a harsh and deadly environment and a tall, dark and broody ‘enemy’. But Rebecca Yarros takes it a step further and gives us a new and gripping element: dragons. Beyond the enemies to lovers plot, the story is filled with intense action scenes and breathtaking adventures in the back of those majestic and deadly creatures.

It is intense, it is hot, it is romance fantasy at its best, and I am here for it!

Fourth wing is the first book of The Empyrean Series. The sequel, “Iron Flame”, has been published in 2024, and the final book of the trilogy, “Onyx Storm”, was just released on January 21st, 2025.

Click here to check it out on Amazon

Just For The Summer 

by Abby Jimenez

The book follows Justin and Emma, who both share a “curse” – every person they date finds a soulmate straight after they break up. In great rom-com fashion, they decide to date each other and break up to then be able to move on an d meet their happily ever afters.

Just for the Summer is a heartwarming summer romance that makes for a light, fun and fast read. It is the perfect beach or pool read. The story is set in Minnesota, which is a paradise during summer (Living in Minnesota, I am partial, but it is the truth). And it absolutely captures the magic of summer months by the lake. 

It is funny and witty, with a slow-burn, strangers to lovers plot. But more than that, the book also unravels some pretty serious issues, from traumatic childhoods and overall family responsibilities to toxic relationships.

The heaviness however is somewhat superficial, especially because it unravels all at once and significantly late in the book – so it kind of feels like you are reading to different stories. First, there is the lighthearted falling in love, where it’s all cute dates, romantic gestures and gooey mushiness and then it quickly flips into traumas and toxic past relationships emerging and pressuring into the relationship very suddenly. To be fair, it can be interpreted to feel exactly like a new relationship would, at first none of the bad sides appear, and when they do, it feels it’s hitting you out of nowhere, changing the whole dynamic.

Nonetheless, Just For The Summer, is a summer must-read, if anything, just for the way Justin and Emma wittingly fall in love while being on a fake relationship. I promise that Justin will definitely make it into your book boyfriend’s list!  

Click here to check it out on Amazon

Let me know if you’ve read any of the books from this list and what your thoughts on them were!