Welcome back to Reading, Reading, Reading!

It is my last wrap-up post of 2018, which is always bittersweet to write (read my TBR post for the final month of the year here). This year was pretty good to me, but I hope next year will be even better! Before I start this post off, I want to thank you all for re-welcoming me back into the book blogosphere over these past few months. I’ve had the most fun I have ever had book blogging over the past three months, and I only hope I continue to love doing this more and more! I also want to thank Simon and Schuster Canada, Penguin Random House Canada, Harper Collins Canada, Hachette Book Group Canada, and ECW Press, among others, for fueling my love of books and offering me fantastic ARCs to read and review for you. This opportunity is truly a once in a lifetime kind of thing, and I cannot express my gratitude to all of you enough.

The first book I finished this month was “A Darker Shade of Magic” by V.E. Schwab. I read about half of the book during the last few days of November, so I finished it within the first few days of November. I really wanted to love this book, as I have the entire box set. However, I ended up thinking it was just “OK”. I probably will continue on with the series, but definitely not anytime soon.

HELLO FRIENDS. This is Alyssa from the past (it’s December 4 when I’m writing this part, FYI). I JUST FINISHED “BEHIND HER EYES” AND OH MY GOD WHAT A BOOK, WHAT AN ENDNG, WHAT A CONCEPT. I THINK THIS IS ONE OF MY NEW FAVOURITE BOOKS OF ALL TIME. SOOOOOOO GOOD. SOOOOOOOOOOOO FANTASTIC. HIGHLY RECOMMEND FOR ALL PHYCOLOGICAL/DOMESTIC THRILLER LOVERS LIKE MYSELF. THIS BOOK HAS A HIGHLY UNEXPECTED THEME/CONCEPT IN IT, WHICH I LOVED (NO SPOILERS AS TO WHY OR HOW IT IMPACTS THE BOOK… BUT READ IT IF YOU WANT TO FIND OUT)! SORRY I CAN’T STOP WRITING IN CAPS LOCK, THIS BOOK WAS JUST TOO GOOD. READ. IT. NOW.

I wanted to take a break from reading for a few days after I finished “Behind Her Eyes” in order to digest and process what had happened in the novel. For Hanukkah, my parents bought me this GORGEOUS book that features a ton of fantastic illustrations and interesting facts about my first love… BOOKS! I HIGHLY recommend this book for any bibliophile you have in your life, although, if you’re reading this post you’re probably a bibliophile yourself!

The fourth book I read this month was “Watching You” by Lisa Jewell. I received an eARC of this book on NetGalley, and posted my review for it just a few days ago. You can read it here. In short, I really liked it and gave it 4/5 stars!

I wanted to try and read at least one “holiday” themed book during December, and I’m SO happy I picked “The Afterlife of Holly Chase” up! This book really pleasantly surprised me, as I was not expecting it to be this good! The story was wonderful, I loved all of the characters, and the ending was phenomenal! Obviously, I ended up giving it 5/5 stars!!

The last book I finished this month was “Looker” by Laura Sims. I received an ARC of this book from Simon and Schuster Canada. This book does not come out until January, so I don’t really want to spoil my entire review. But, I will say it was… interesting.

Those are all of the books I read this month! Overall, it was quite a successful reading month, and a great ending to 2018! How was your reading month this year? Let me know in the comments and/or send me a link to your December 2018 Wrap-Up post!

My next few posts will be all about my reading this year as a whole, as well as my 2019 Bookish/Blog goals!

Good Night Book Owls!

(P.S. I just upgraded my phone to the iPhone 8 Plus and I am OBSESSED with the camera/picture quality!! The pictures included in this blog post were all taken on my new iPhone using portrait mode with natural lighting.)