Arcana Academy by Elise Kova

Started: 12/9/2025

Finished: DNF

Year: 2025

Pages: 544

Genre: fantasy romance

Grade: D

Reason for reading: library book, trying to expand my genre interest

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "Clara Graysword has survived the underworld of Eclipse City through thievery, luck, and a whole lot of illegal magic. After a job gone awry, Clara is sentenced to a lifetime in prison for inking tarot cards—a rare power reserved for practitioners at the elite Arcana Academy.

"Just when it seems her luck has run dry, the academy’s enigmatic headmaster, Prince Kaelis, offers her an escape—for a price. Kaelis believes that Clara is the perfect tool to help him steal a tarot card from the king and use it to re-create an all-powerful card long lost to time.

"In order to conceal her identity and keep her close, Kaelis brings Clara to Arcana Academy, introducing her as the newest first-year student and his bride-to-be.

"Thrust into a world of arcane magic and royal intrigue, where one misstep will send her back to prison or worse, Clara finds that the prince she swore to hate may not be what he seems. But can she risk giving him power over the world—and her heart? Or will she take it for herself?"

Opinion: The writing was fine. The tarot aspect was good. I think that it's the fact that it was young adult that made me put it down. If anyone has any fantasy recommendations, please feel free to comment. I don't like gods or royalty so I know that that leaves out a lot of fantasy books out there.

All That Remains by Patricia Cornwell

Started: 12/5/2025

Finished: 12/9/2025

Year: 1992

Pages: 373

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with series

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "In Richmond, Virginia, young lovers are dying. So far, four couples in the area have disappeared, only to be found months later as mutilated corpses. When the daughter of the president's newest drug czar vanishes along with her boyfriend, Dr. Kay Scarpetta knows time is short. Following a macabre trail of evidence that ties the present homicides to a grisly crime in the past, Kay must draw upon her own personal resources to track down a murderer who is as skilled at eliminating clues as Kay is at finding them..."

Opinion: Decent continuation of the series. Mystery was interesting from a scientific aspect.

Do Not Disturb by Freida McFadden

Started: 12/4/2025

Finished: 12/4/2025

Year: 2021

Pages 274

Genre: mystery/thriller

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "Quinn Alexander has committed an unthinkable crime.

"To avoid spending her life in prison, Quinn makes a run for it. She leaves behind her home, her job, and her family. She grabs her passport and heads for the northern border before the police can discover what she's done.

"But when an unexpected snowstorm forces her off the road, Quinn must take refuge at the broken-down, isolated Baxter Motel. The handsome and kindly owner, Nick Baxter, is only too happy to offer her a cheap room for the night.

"Unfortunately, the Baxter Motel isn't the quiet, safe haven it seemed to be. The motel has a dark and disturbing past. And in the dilapidated house across the way, the silhouette of Nick's ailing wife is always at the window. Always watching.

"In the morning, Quinn must leave the motel. She'll pack up her belongings and get back on the road to freedom."

Opinion: Psycho like but not psycho. Slightly predictable.

Candy Cane Murder by Joanne Fluke

Started: 12/3/2025

Finished: 12/3/2025

Year: 2007

Pages: 148

Genre: cozy mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: continuing with series, library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "A collection of three holiday mysteries includes stories by Joanne Fluke, Laura Levine, and Leslie Meyer, and features fourteen Christmas recipes"

Opinion: I only read the novella from Fluke and it's another body discovered by Hannah and where she helps solve the whodunit. Decent mystery-took a while to figure it out and why.

All of Us Murderers by KJ Charles

Started: 12/2/2025

Finished: DNF

Year: 2025

Pages: 331

Genre: mystery

Grade: F

Reason for reading: library book

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "When Zeb Wyckham is summoned to a wealthy relative's remote Gothic manor, he is horrified to find all the people he least wants to see in the world: his estranged brother, his sneering cousin, and his bitter ex-lover Gideon Grey. Things couldn't possibly get worse.

"Then the master of the house announces the true purpose of the gathering: he intends to leave the vast family fortune to whoever marries his young ward, setting off a violent scramble for her hand. Zeb wants no part of his greedy family―but when he tries to leave, the way is barred. The walls of Lackaday House are high, and the gates firmly locked. As the Dartmoor mists roll in, there's no way out. And something unnatural may be watching them from the house's shadowy depths…

"Fear and paranoia ramping ever-higher, Zeb has nowhere to turn but to the man who once held his heart. As the gaslight flickers and terror takes hold, can two warring lovers reunite, uncover the murderous mysteries of Lackaday House―and live to tell the tale?"

Opinion: Blah. None of the characters are interesting enough for me to continue. Everyone seems petty and only out for an inheritance.

Force of Nature by Jane Harper

Started: 11/30/2025

Finished: 12/2/2025

Year: 2017

Pages: 324

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with series

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "When five colleagues are forced to go on a corporate retreat in the wilderness, they reluctantly pick up their backpacks and start walking down the muddy path.

"But one of the women doesn’t come out of the woods. And each of her companions tells a slightly different story about what happened.

"Federal Police Agent Aaron Falk has a keen interest in the whereabouts of the missing hiker. In an investigation that takes him deep into isolated forest, Falk discovers secrets lurking in the mountains, and a tangled web of personal and professional friendship, suspicion, and betrayal among the hikers. But did that lead to murder?"

Opinion: Decent mystery mixed with a serial killer

The Ex-Girlfriend Murder Club by Gloria Chao

Started: 11/25/2025

Finished: DNF (had to return to library and I don't want to finish it)

Year: 2025

Pages: 309

Genre: mystery

Grade: D

Reason for reading: library book

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "The body in the closet was going to be a problem. Kathryn Hu knew it. Yes, Tucker Jones was a cheating scumbag, and yes, she’d agreed to meet Olivia and Elle—Tucker’s other girlfriends—to exact revenge for all he’d put them through… But then they found him. Dead.

"Do they look guilty? Yes.

"Do they feel guilty for having wished him dead just hours before? Maybe a little.

"But—solid motive and a crime scene covered in their DNA aside—they’re innocent. They swear.

"To clear their names, Kat, Olivia, and Elle team up to find the real killer. But as they go undercover and lie to everyone, including the hot detective working the case, they realize that every person in their ex's life had a reason to want him dead. Will they uncover the truth before they go down for a murder they didn't commit?"

Opinion: Amazon describes this as laugh out loud....nope...not in the least. You have 3 women old enough to NOT play the stupid disgusting pranks that were described-especially when one is a lawyer. Yes he was a cheating ahole but just move on. The murder mystery was ok.

The Academy by Elin Hlderbrand and Shelby Cunningham

Started: 11/24/2025

Finished: DNF

Year: 2025

Pages: 413

Genre: literature

Grade: F

Reason for reading: library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "It’s move-in day at Tiffin Academy and amidst the happy chaos of friends reuniting, selfies uploading, and cars unloading, shocking news arrives: America Today just ranked Tiffin the number two boarding school in the country. It’s a seventeen-spot jump – was there a typo? The dorms need to be renovated, their sports teams always come in last place, and let’s just say Tiffin students are known for being more social than academic. On the other hand, the campus is exquisite, class sizes are small, and the dining hall is run by an acclaimed New York chef. And they do have fun—lots of parties and school dances, and a piano man plays in the student lounge every Monday night.

"But just as the rarefied air of Tiffin is suffused with self-congratulation, the wheels begin to turn – and then they fall off the bus. One by one, scandalous blind items begin to appear on phones across Tiffin’s campus, thanks to a new app called ZipZap, and nobody is safe. From Davi Banerjee, international influencer and resident queen bee, to Simone Bergeron, the new and surprisingly young history teacher, to Charley Hicks, a transfer student who seems determined not to fit in, to Cordelia Spooner, Admissions Director with a somewhat idiosyncratic methodology – everyone has something to hide.

"As if high school wasn’t dramatic enough...As the year unfolds, bonds are forged and broken, secrets are shared and exposed, and the lives of Tiffin’s students and staff are changed forever."

Opinion: The writing style was fine. Just didn't care about reading about teenagers in boarding school.