reading 2026 ARC's, finding an unexpected favorite 🤍🏠✨ [thriller, romance, and horror reading vlog]

I feel like this is one of those thrillers where like the main thrilling thing that's happening is like this man that's like gaslighting and like emotionally abusive to his wife. And like I just really wasn't really in the mood to read something like this today.

And I just really didn't like the last like 30% of this book almost at all. And I feel like by the ending of this book, I just wasn't really liking any of the characters in this.

This is probably my most anticipated book of 2026 because this is from the same author as Don't Let the Forest In, which was my number one favorite book that I read in 2025.

Rainbow Rowell is absolutely one of my top favorite authors of all time because I think her book Fangirl is maybe my most reread book of all time. I think I've read that book like four or even five times.

I just overall really loved the writing in this book and I loved the exploration of like complicated sibling relationships and then also like the exploration of grief and like how grief can really change you as a person. And also the ending had me gooped and gagged.

But then if you do recall, I also read Hazel Thorn by C.G. Drews in October or November of last year and I gave that book two stars. So, I didn't really like that one, but I was still really holding out hope for this one because I knew that this was going to be an adult book and I thought it would be more up my alley because it's an adult horror.

I mean, Heated Rivalry and then Challengers like completely changed my life. And I am just really obsessed with anything queer sports romance lately.

Like it's something that I'm seeking out and this is one that I was so freaking excited for, but like after 60 pages, like I just cannot get invested in the story. I think it's just the writing style itself. Like I'm just not really connecting to these characters and I don't know why when I saw this book cover, I guess I had assumed that it was going to be about two guys who were like boxing.

I don't know, it all just felt so repetitive to me and I was so bored. And then I also thought the ending of this book was just very underwhelming.

And that's not usually my thing, but I loved Slow Dance so much. Like it was a five star for me.

I loved this book so much. I mean God, the way that I was able to fly through this 350-page book in one afternoon. I could not put this book down for the life of me.

I know that I'm only 80 pages in, but I really feel like this is reading a lot more like a domestic suspense as opposed to a haunted house horror and I am just really not invested in like the domestic suspense aspect of this book. I feel like the overall tone of this book has just been so sad and so bleak and so depressing and just like really putting me in the mood where like I really don't want to read this right now.