What I Read in January: January Reading Wrap Up

The Best and Worst Reads of January

Watch Books I Read in January | January Reading Wrap Up on YouTube

What a way to start the year.  Here’s everything I read in January.  I “read” the first series that I DNF’d.  I kept reading each book but became more disappointed the further I went on.  There was potential and I kept hoping the story would take off, but it never did for me.

There was also the second series I began I allowed myself to be hyped up about for nearly an entire year before I even began reading them.  Needless to say, I had high expectations for this one.  Fortunately for me, the story was better than I hoped for, but I had to stop reading the series digitally in favor of purchasing the physical copies later on.  It’s a 9-books series that I look forward to reading later in the year.

Two books I read in January made me realize that the “university student” trope just isn’t for me.  Yes, the story is enjoyable, but I found it difficult for me to connect to the FMC because I’m past the “student” stage in my life and I don’t particularly want to relive those days either.  I will finish this series (along with another series I started in 2025), but don’t plan to read anything set in an academic setting any time soon.

I did read a historical folklore collection that rekindled my love of medieval history, a subject I studied in school, and is very close to my heart.

*Note: The links below are affiliate links.  If you use them to buy something, I may earn a commission. This allows me to buy more books to review!  I currently use Bookshop.org to better support local indie bookstores and Amazon for convenience.  These links help my channel and blog running.  Thanks for your support!

“A Kingdom of Venom and Vows” by Holly Renee

“Kingdom of Blood and Betrayal” by Holly Renee

"A Kingdom of Stars and Shadows” by Holly Renee

(Books 1 through 3 of 4 in the Stars and Shadows Series)

Romantasy

Ratiing: 2/5 Stars

Synopsis:

This series is about Adara who is “star blessed” will magical blood.  She’s betrothed to a king from another kingdom since birth who wants to use her blood for political advantage.  Adara falls in love with the king’s half-brother, which is forbidden but he’s also her fated mate.

Thoughts:  There were moments during the first book that I was really enjoying the story, but quickly realized the story fell apart and the plot just wasn’t there.  There was so much potential for a good story to develop. I kept believing the story was about to take off, but after the third book, I gave up hope and DNF’d the series.  This is why I gave the series 2 stars.

"A Kingdom of Stars and Shadows” by Holly Renee

*Support Indie Bookstores: https://bookshop.org/a/121861/9781464249839

*Shop on Amazon: https://amzn.to/40krpRS

“Kingdom of Blood and Betrayal” by Holly Renee

*Support Indie Bookstores:https://bookshop.org/a/121861/9781464249846

*Shop on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4bcSf3c

“A Kingdom of Venom and Vows” by Holly Renee

*Support Indie Bookstores: https://bookshop.org/a/121861/9781464249853

*Shop on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4svGKel

“Curse of Shadows and Thorns” by LJ Andrews

“Court of Ice and Ash” by LJ Andrews

(Books 1 and 2 of 9 in the Broken Kingdoms Series)

Romantasy

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Synopsis:

This is a retelling of Beauty and The Beast with vikings.  We follow princess Elise who is to be married off and Legion Grey, who is her dowry negotiator.  They fall in love, which is forbidden.  I’m only through books two of three in the first part of the Broken Kingdom series, so I don’t know what happens to them.  I read both books digitally and intentionally stopped so that I may purchase the physical series when a special edition I’ve had my eye on is released later this year.

Thoughts:  I was influenced for a solid year before I started to read The Broken Kingdom series so I had a lot of expectations for it.  I met author LJ Andrews at a book event back in September, I began collecting her Ever Seas series which comes after The Broken Kingdoms.  I even planned on purchasing the entire set directly from LJ’s website before I even read book 1.  The stakes and expectations were HIGH on this one.  Now that Ive read book 1 and book 2, I can confirm the books have lived up my expectations.  I think I read both books in a few days.  That is how hooked I was.  I’ve put myself on a pause with this series for now-I read them digitally-so that I may purchase the full set of physical copies.

“Curse of Shadows and Thorns” by LJ Andrews

*Support Indie Bookstores: https://bookshop.org/a/121861/9798989893621

*Shop on Amazon: https://amzn.to/47oxBMz

“Court of Ice and Ash” by LJ Andrew

*Support Indie Bookstores: https://bookshop.org/a/121861/9798989893638

*Shop on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4s8SmEn

“We Who Will Die” by Stacia Stark

(Book 1 in the Empire of Blood Series)

Romantasy

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Synopsis:

We Who Will Die is about a woman who enters a tournament to win the favor of the emperor, whom she must kill, in order to save her brothers.  This book has vampires set in a gladiator arena.

Thoughts: I was first introduced to “We Who Will Die” back in August when I attended an event Stacia Stark and Callie Hart were at.  We were given a quick synopsis and I have to admit I wasn’t sure about it.  I’m not a big fan of greek mythology (yes, I’ve read a lot of it) and the idea was vampires meets gladiators with second chance romance.  I’m so glad I read this one.  It was the first time I encounter a more “mature” FMC, one who was clearly emotionally tired and a bit desperate, feelings that seemed so human.  This book was incredibly well-written and I’m looking forward to the rest of the series!

“We Who Will Die” by Stacia Stark

*Support Indie Bookstores: https://bookshop.org/a/121861/9780063436718

*Shop on Amazon: https://amzn.to/40fWHJJ

“On Wings of Blood” by Briar Boleyn

“The Bond That Burns” by Briar Boleyn

(Books 1 and 2 of 3 in the Bloodwing Academy Series)

Romantasy

Rating: 3/5 Stars

Synopsis:

In this story, we follow our FMC, Medra Pendragon, who is part fae and drops from another realm (literally on a pile of corpses) where she’s taken to Bloodwing Academy to learn how to be a dragon rider.  The dragon riders have been gone for hundreds of years as well as the dragons (that we know of) and it’s her red hair that has the king salivating over what he thinks she must be: the return of the dragon riders and dragons.  Any kingdom who controls both, controls the realm. Book 3 is due out later this year.

Thoughts: This series reads a LOT like Harry Potter in that the main setting is Bloodwing Academy, which is in a castle.  There’s four houses that people become a part of.  The atmosphere of the common rooms, castle hallways, classes, all heavily remind me of Hogwarts.  I really enjoyed this story, particularly the part at the end with the dragon.  I will continue this series, but this may be the last series where the main character is going to university.  I feel like I’ve aged out of that trope, and9 that’s perfectly okay.

“On Wings of Blood” by Briar Boleyn

*Support Indie Bookstores: https://bookshop.org/a/121861/9780778306283

*Shop on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4rja7Q8

“The Bond That Burns” by Briar Boleyn

*Support Indie Bookstores: https://bookshop.org/a/121861/9780778306276

*Shop on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4bc4flz

“The Mabinogion” Unknown Author

Standalone

Folklore

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Synopsis: This is a collection of ancient Welsh medieval stories predating The Canterbury Tales and The Death of Arthur.  The stories are full of adventure, chivalry, political intrigue.

Thoughts:  I really enjoyed the multiple short stories.  I must say that the progression of plot and complexity did advance as you moved throughout the book.  The earliest stories were indeed confusing.  The timeline was broken (characters began in one setting and intended to stay for a year and then suddenly appeared next to the featured characters in the next scene when we were told they wouldn’t be.  There were characters that were duplicated within the same story making it very difficult to follow characters in the story.  These inconsistencies were most likely due to the stories getting partially forgotten about as these were verbal shared and passed down through the generations.  Many of which were not written down until hundreds of years after they were first told.

I do find it interesting that King Arthur, Guenivere, Lancelot and even Percival appear at some point, but it’s important for me to mention that Arthur is already a great king in these stories-these predate the familiar collection of Sir Thomas Mallory’s collection of tales that depict Arthur’s journey to become a king.

I gave it 4 stars because I consider these to be origin stories of the fantasy genre that we know and love today.

“The Mabinogion” Unknown Author

*Support Indie Bookstores: https://bookshop.org/a/121861/9780460872973

*Shop on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4ujGmBl

And there you have it! These are the nine books I read in the month of January.

I’d love to know if you’ve read any of these yet? Do you feel the same way I do about some of these?

Connect with Me:

Instagram: @cassandraelizabethsilva

Bookstagram: @whererealmscollide

Blog: cassandraelizabethsilva.com

Storygraph: @whererealmscollide

Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/shop/WhereRealmsCollide