Mood Reading Momma

08/19/2025

📚Book Review📚

✨️Title: Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
✨️Method: Audiobook
✨️My rating: 5/5⭐️

Oh my goodness....I dont want to say too much because I am NOT one for spoilers...but I loved this book. It was absolutely fun and entertaining from stsrt to finish. There was not one lull or weak spot. I was happy to have listened to it rather than read it physically because the narrator really brought characters to life and made all of the scientific jargon feel more tangible to my not so advanced brain. This is a book that I truly believe everyone should read or listen to because the story start to finish is more than a story its a work of art and a beautiful sight into humanity. There was not a character that I didnt like and not a part of the book that I didnt enjoy. I felt excitement, sadness, hopelessness, fear and joy. This story takes you on a total emotional roller-coaster ride but has you wanting to hold on and stay put for the entire run. I could have easily binged this book and would have finished it much sooner had life not gotten in the way...it was that good. Again, I cant say much about it because I refuse to give spoilers and I truly think that this book is BEST experienced when you go in completely blind. What a beautiful story and journey Andy Weir takes you on and I am so happy to have been a part of it! Please read/listen to this book if you have not already!

08/11/2025

For 200 days I've read and ive met my goal for the year!

How are you doing in 2025 so far?

08/10/2025

📚Book Review 📚

✨️Title: Final Girls by Riley Sager
✨️Method: Kindle
✨️My rating: 3.5/5⭐️

This was my first Riley Sager book and I think maybe he was too hyped up for me? Or maybe this wasn't his most mind blowing work? The very beginning of this book hooks you, but instead of keeping you hooked, it slows down almost too much. Slowing it down made sense of course, after the initial scene we are taken through the main characters day to day life after surviving a horrible event, but because of the switch from immediate action and thrill to monotonous day to day living after surviving trauma all those years ago, for me it took awhile to get hooked again. So maybe I would say pacing was a bit of an issue for this book. Now all of that being said, once the story started to pick back up, the pacing stayed consistent and the plot moved along nicely, reading like a true thriller with constant twists and turns with nail biting scenes that had me unable to look away. The last 35% of this book saved it from being a DNF or a lower rating for me. Uneven pacing aside, this was still an entertaining read and I plan to read more Riley Sager books in the future. I dont know if I would recommend this one specifically as an introduction to Riley Sager but I would still definitely recommend it if youre looking for something twisty that will hit you out of nowhere with an ending that can pack a punch.

08/10/2025

📚Book Review📚

✨️Title: Incidents around the house by Josh Malerman
✨️Method: Physical Copy
✨️My rating: 3.25/5⭐️

Okay. This was a solid read. I really enjoyed reading from the perspective of a child and feel that it gave a more eerie/spooky experience. The perspective brings the reader back to when they were a child and their imagination would eek them out over the shadows that moved in the night. As a parent this book definitely spooked me because it put me in the thought process of what I would do if I were in the parents position and my child expressed to me they were being visited by a strange entity. I personally could not stand the mom in this book and there were multiple time where I wanted to reach in and shake her for her actions and questionable choices. Although the book was in the pov of a child and had an overall spooky vibe, there was not a point where I genuinely felt scared and instead I only felt anxious in the last 15% of the book. The ending was somewhat unsatisfying to me because I just wanted something different. Im not sure what I would have had as the ending of this book, but that honestly wasn't it. Despite me being disappointed in the ending, this was an entertaining book to read and I would recommend it because its a solid read with a unique perspective that I do think the author executed well.

08/10/2025

Yesterday was Book Lovers Day so I thought i would share some of my favorites! Do we have any in common??

08/06/2025

📚Book Review 📚

✨️Title: Before they are hanged by Joe Abercrombie
✨️Method: Physical/audio
✨️My rating: 5/5⭐️

Reading book two of the First Law trilogy has me going back and changing my rating for book 1. I didn't think it could get better and then I read this and was completely proven wrong. Book 2 followed the characters that I grew to love in the first book and added so much more to them. I didnt think they could develop any more...Joe Abercrombie developed them more! I didnt really anticipate any clicks or dynamics...Joe brought these characters together and made it feel so organic and real. He makes his characters so relatable and human and thatsbwhat i love about them. Every dynamic and relationship built within this book I found myself rooting for, excited to see them take their next steps. Although the plot of book one was slow, it took off in this book. SO much was happening in each chapter that contributed to the plot but it wasn't to the point of being overwhelming and confusing. No chapter felt like filler or building. It was a boulder rolling down the cliff after being tipped in the end of book one. And at the end of book two, the boulder has lifted off and is suspending in mid air, anticipation growing for book three. I need to get to the final book because the ending was not satisfying enough and I absolutely need more. If you haven't read this trilogy yet you need to!

08/02/2025

📚Book Review📚

✨️Title: The Thorns by Dawn Kurtagich
✨️Method: Kindle
✨️My rating: 4.75/5⭐️

Oh wow. This is the first book I have read by this author and it was quite a wild ride. This book ventures into the challenges of coming of age while also touching on trauma, mental illness, love, loss, obsession and heartache. I wasn't sure what to expect and when starting this book, I worried if it wasn't going to be what I was looking for. The beginning was somewhat slow and unassuming, but the authors prose and the characters dynamics had me wanting to figure out where the heck this plot was going. 100 pages in and things started to get more interesting, but I still had no clue where the plot was going. It wasn't until the last 70% that I found myself fumbling, gripping my kindle, biting my lip in intense anxiety and completely unable to take my eyes away from the pages. The imagery in this book was imaginavite, devastating, gorgeous and heart wrenching. The conclusion was not one I was anticipating. It slapped me in the face and whipped my head around 360! It jumped out of the insane depths of a twisty and creative mind. I did not see the ending and I love books and authors that can do that to me! I highly recommend this book if youre looking for a psychological thriller that will have you reeling and gasping!

08/01/2025

In honor of hitting 1.7k friends on my bookstagram..I'm doing a giveaway!! Head on over to my page to enter!

https://www.instagram.com/moodreadingmomma?igsh=MTl6d3JwNmpjcjZkdw==

07/27/2025

📚Book Review📚

✨️Title: The Devil Crept In by Ania Alborn
✨️Method: Kindle
✨️My rating:4.75/5

Mother of pearl!!! This book! This is my 5th book by Ania Ahlborn and I am yet again reminded why I keep coming back. She knows how to tell a captivating story that completely envelopes you and melts the reality and stress of the real world away. I really was not sure what to expect with this book because with Ania Ahlborn books...you dont ever know what to expect...but it made this book all that more insane and entertaining! At so many points in the story I found myself gripping my seat or arm chair with anticipation and anxiety for our main character. We follow a young boy of 10 who unfortunately deals with a barrage of mental illnesses and has to deal with the disappearance of his one and only friend/cousin. In his attempts to find his friend/cousin, he finds himself caught between the terror of not knowing what is real and what is hallucination. I loved that we got a whole other point of view from a different character that I wont go into detail about to avoid spoilers but it fleshed out this story all the more. I highly recommend this book if youre looking for a terrifyingly gripping tale that literally makes you forget what time it is.

07/25/2025

📚Book Review📚

✨️Title: Phantom by H.D Carlton
✨️Method: Audiobook
✨️My rating: 2/5

So I think I've got to start reading the synopsis before I venture into a book. I went into this thinking it was paranormal, thinking it was spooky, and it was not. This is a mob/stalker/cheating wife love story. The most paranormal aspects of the book lacked any importance and substance as it was mainly focused on the housewife and her stalker lover. I cant really knock this book because it was written well. It was based in the 40s during WWII and all aspects were believable, it just didnt do anything for me personally. I couldnt quite connect with the main character as I couldnt quite see myself doing the things that she did, HOWEVER, I have never been in her situation so one wouldn't know unless they found themselves in someone else's position. It also seems that was the thing people did back in the 40s, where divorce with a child was unheard of, so I could still understand and sympathize. There was one scene that gave me Scarface vibes and I enjoyed that, but otherwise it was difficult for me to keep up with all of the names thrown around in the mob. I didnt know who was important and who wasn't. The plot was anti climactic to me, with spicy scenes taking center stage and being what truly carried this book and then ending was somewhat boring and unsatisfying. I kept waiting for the other foot to drop and the husband to find out about the affair and some extra drama to happen, but it never did and it left me not really caring about the whole thing. I definitely think that people would enjoy this book, especially if that is their thing and H.D Carlton is very good with her words. The one thing I did enjoy was her prose and how easy it was to read this book, despite the content of it if that makes any sense. I cant really knock this book or the author because it was more my fault that I didnt look into the contents of what the book was about. So I wouldn't say that I wouldn't recommend it, it just wasn't personally for me.

07/25/2025

📚Book Review📚

✨️Title: Terror at the Gates by Scarlett St.Clair
✨️Method: Physical Copy
✨️My rating: 4.25/5⭐️

This was such an incredible journey. I am so glad this isn't a stand alone because I have so many questions and I need answers. Scarlett does not disappoint in her delivery in pulling you into another world and helping you understand the dynamics. I felt drawn to the main and side characters, I loved their interactions and connections. Lilith was a solid main character. She didnt do things that had me questioning her intelligence but she did have moments of being somewhat of a brat which I felt played into her character well. Zahariev was written SO incredibly well! Hes hot, older, hopelessly devoted to this woman...but that name...I personally could not take the spicy scenes seriously because I felt the name needed to be shortened or he needed some kind of nickname. It doesn't quite roll off the tongue.
I love that we got some background of Liliths past and some of the reasons why she was so opposed to the church and the societal norms because it helped to make her a little more human. She wasn't just this spoiled little brat who wanted to run away because mommy and daddy wouldn't let her live her life, she had reasons, scars, trauma.
Throughout the book I got a little lost on who the main villain was and it got a little twisty at the end which is why I am sooo happy its not a stand alone because I am sitting here like wait....I need more answers! Overall this was a very fun and entertaining read and Scarlett St. Clair has become an auto buy/ auto read for me because she has yet to steer me wrong with her writing and stories.
I definitely recommend this one!

07/18/2025

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