Sunday Confessions #334

 


Welcome back to Sunday Book Confessions, where I spill the bookish truths I’ve been holding onto all week. Whether it’s a plot twist that broke my brain, a character I couldn’t stand, or the unexpected read that completely stole my heart, this is the space where I lay it all out. No guilt, no shame, just honest reader chaos. So grab a cozy drink, settle in, and let’s confess together.


Sunday Confessions #333
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Weekly Menu #636 And The Book Of The Week
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Book Review: The Temporary Roomie by Sarah Adams
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ARC Review: Trad Wife by Saratoga Schaefer
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Book Review: Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson
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ARC Review: We Who Will Die by Stacia Stark



Weekly Menu #637 And The Book Of The Week
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November 2025 Wrap Up
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ARC Review: The Starseekers by Nicole Glover
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Book Review: Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe
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Book Review: The Bridge Kingdome by Danielle L. Jensen
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Sunday Confessions #335











386/100 2025 Reading Challenge
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0/102 2025 Goodreads Nominees Reading Challenge



And that’s it for this week’s Sunday Book Confessions. Thanks for hanging out with me while I sort through all my reader feelings. Dramatic, joyful, chaotic, or otherwise. If you’ve got confessions of your own, drop them in the comments so we can commiserate or celebrate together. Until next Sunday, may your TBR be kind and your current read be exactly what you need.

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ARC Review: We Who Will Die by Stacia Stark

 

Title: We Who Will Die

By: Stacia Stark

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 432

Release Date: December 20th, 2025

Rating: ★★★☆☆

 
Summary from Goodreads:

Life in the perilous Thorn district is a constant battle for Arvelle and her younger brothers. And the vampire standing on her doorstep is about to turn their world upside down.

Faced with an unthinkable choice, Arvelle makes a magically binding vow to do the impossible: kill the emperor, an ancient vampire created by the god Umbros. But first, she must enter the Sundering—an arena where only the fastest, strongest, and deadliest survive long enough to be selected for the emperor’s elite guard.

She quickly draws the ire of the Primus, the powerful figure charged with protecting the emperor. But the vampire under the armor is the last person Arvelle expects to encounter in the emperor’s court.

With her brothers’ lives in the balance, Arvelle has no choice but to ally with the man who once shattered her heart… and with the emperor’s sadistic son, Rorrik—two vampires whose motives are impossible to pin down. Rorrik holds the key to understanding the powers Arvelle is developing—abilities that would put a price on her head if discovered by the emperor.

To survive the arena and complete her mission, Arvelle must get to the bottom of a conspiracy that will change everything she thought she knew about herself—and the two vampires who are deeply entwined with her destiny…

 

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Review:

I really wanted to love this one, because the premise is incredibly compelling. Vampires and gladiator battles is a combination I was excited to see play out. But despite the strong setup, I found myself getting pulled out of the story more often than pulled in. The book starts with its own intriguing identity, then suddenly shifts into what felt like echoes of Fourth Wing, then The Hunger Games, then The Mortal Instruments, then Red Rising, and so on. Each new trope or borrowed element fixed the momentary plot need but didn’t carry much weight in the wider story, leaving me confused about what the book actually wanted to be. I kept finding myself asking, “Where did this come from?” or “Who is that supposed to be?” If the narrative had committed to one or two fantasy lanes, I think I could’ve focused more on the characters and their journey. As it is, the constant pivots made this a muddled but still somewhat enjoyable read, and I’m hoping book two finds a clearer direction.

Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review. 

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Book Review: Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson

 

Title: Not Quite Dead Yet

By: Holly Jackson

Genre: Mystery

Pages: 392

Release Date: July 17th, 2025

Rating: ★★★☆☆

 

Summary from Goodreads:

A twisty thriller about a young woman trying to solve her own murder.

In seven days Jet Mason will be dead.

Jet is the daughter of one of the wealthiest families in Woodstock, Vermont. Twenty-seven years old, she’s still waiting for her life to begin. I’ll do it later, she always says. She has time.

Until Halloween night, when Jet is violently attacked by an unseen intruder.

She suffers a catastrophic head injury. The doctor is certain that within a week, the injury will trigger a deadly aneurysm.

Jet has never thought of herself as having enemies. But now she looks at everyone in a new light: her family, her former best friend turned sister-in-law, her ex-boyfriend.

She has at most seven days, and as her condition deteriorates she has only her childhood friend Billy for help. But nevertheless, she’s absolutely determined to finally finish something:

Jet is going to solve her own murder.

 

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Review:
I think this might be an unpopular opinion, but I found the characters in Not Quite Dead Yet to be super annoying. It may have been the audiobook narrator. There was a lot of whining in the delivery, but the writing didn’t do much to balance it out. The plot itself is interesting and had plenty of potential, but I struggled to connect with the characters because their voices (literal and written) grated on me more than I expected. Overall, a decent concept with execution that just wasn’t for me.

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ARC Review: Trad Wife by Saratoga Schaefer

 

Title: Trad Wife

By: Saratoga Schaefer

Genre: Horror

Pages: 320

Release Date: February 10th, 2026

Rating: ★★★★★

 

Summary from Goodreads:

Every #tradwife needs a baby. She’ll get one at any cost.

When Camille Deming isn’t cooking, cleaning, or homesteading in her picture-perfect country farmhouse, she’s posting about her tradwife lifestyle for her online followers. She takes inspiration from other tradwives on social media, aspiring to be like them, but Camille’s missing a key a baby. And contrary to what she posts online, things with her husband Graham have been strained. Pressured by her eager followers, Camille fears that without a baby, her relationship will suffer and her social media will never grow out of its infancy.

When Camille discovers a mysterious, decrepit well in the wheatfield behind her house, she makes a wish for a baby. Afterwards, she has unsettling experiences that she convinces herself are angelic in nature, and when she’s visited one night by a strange creature, her wish comes true. 

Camille’s pregnancy announcement gets more engagement than anything she’s ever posted—so what if Graham’s reaction is lukewarm? Camille’s life is finally falling into place. Never mind that her pregnancy is developing freakishly rapidly and she’s suddenly craving raw meat. Being a traditional wife is worth it.

Rosemary’s Baby for the digital age, this disturbing horror novel is one you’ll want to devour in just one bite.

 

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Review:

OMG, I just finished Trad Wife and I have thoughts. I usually like to sit with a book before writing my review, but this one was so wild I had to talk about it immediately. The story starts with a trad wife, already a pretty triggering concept, but things escalate fast once the main character wishes for a child. From that moment on, the book becomes an intense ride into something dark, sinister, and impossible to look away from.

I was completely drawn in watching Camille try to rationalize what was happening to her. Was it a demon? An angel? Something in between? She doesn’t know. She just knows she suddenly has a baby, and the fallout from that moment is horrifying in the best possible way. The tone gets darker and darker, and I loved how the story unfolded, especially the part where her awful husband finally got the “find out” he deserved. So satisfying.

This book comes out in February, and if you’re a horror reader, you’re going to want to put this on your TBR immediately. Dark, gripping, and utterly unhinged in all the right ways.

Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review. 

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Book Review: The Temporary Roomie by Sarah Adams

 

Title: The Temporary Roomie

By: Sarah Adams

Genre: Romance

Pages: 286

Release Date: April 4th, 2021

Rating: ★★★★★

 

Summary from Goodreads:

What happens when you have to play nice with your greatest enemy? Revenge.

Drew Marshall may have let me move into his spare bedroom while my house is being renovated, but don’t think for one second his kindness comes without strings. Big, ugly, fake relationship strings.

That’s okay, though, Dr. Andrew. I’ll agree to your terms, move into your house, and act like your girlfriend when the big day comes; but I also plan to make your life miserable—make you pay for what you did to me.

I may not be good at forgiving or forgetting, but I’m excellent at getting even.

Get ready to laugh until you cry with this sizzling, hilarious, closed-door romantic comedy!

 

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Review:

The Temporary Roomie is exactly the kind of rom com chaos I adore. Light, quick, and so much fun you truly can’t take it too seriously (and you shouldn’t!). Sarah Adams delivers snappy banter, lovable characters, and a perfectly unhinged forced proximity setup that had me grinning from page one. It’s the kind of book you inhale in an afternoon and immediately want to shove into a friend’s hands just so you can laugh about the moments together. If you’re in the mood for an irresistibly feel good read with heart and humor, this one hits every mark.

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