November Recap
Published December 2, 2023
October, like the rest of the monthly recaps, was full of adventures. In November, especially with the pressure of end of year work deadlines, I wanted to slooooow down.
My focus for November was to balance my stressful work days with relaxing weekends, and look ahead to my favorite holiday season.
November Recap
Book Releases
My November highlight was waiting for book two of Rebecca Yarros’s series, Fourth Wing, to be released.
Fourth Wing is a 5-book fantasy series that follows protagonist Violet Sorrengail as she enters Basgiath War College in the dragon riders quadrant.
Fourth Wing’s trials reminded me of The Hunger Games. I read a lot of fantasy books, and this was one of a few that include dragons, so I was hooked and excited to read Iron Flame within the same year.
(I won’t give any Iron Flame spoilers).
Overall, I enjoyed being back in the world with the familiar characters from Fourth Wing. I love the dragon’s personalities, the additional background into the world’s development, and the introduction of some new characters. Of all of the plot, there were 1-2 good twists that I didn’t guess.
I rate Iron Flame a 3 out of 5 for the following:
The book could’ve been 300 pages shorter and the plot would’ve been fine. I don’t enjoy filler plots and would’ve rather the book have been shorter for a stronger arc.
There are still too many characters introduced that have similar names! It makes it difficult to keep track of each character or to relate to them outside of the main protagonists.
The ending was confusing. It’s not often that I have to review a Reddit thread to understand what happened at the end of a book. Given that there were several threads on this topic, I see I’m not the only person who was confused. That’s a sign to me, that there needed to be more explanation in the plot / leading for the reader. I felt the ending didn’t have any emotional impact besides confusion, due to this reason, which is a missed opportunity for the reader.
Would I recommend this series, even with the above notes? Yes. Will I continue reading the series? Yes. Given how much has happened in just two books, I am excited to see how the characters evolve across the entire series.
Book three will be released in December of 2024 — so I am excited to see what Rebecca Yarros comes up with next, and if it will match the standard that Fourth Wing set in the writing and plot.
Christmas Decorations
My yearly tradition is to put up my Christmas decorations immediately after Thanksgiving. It’s nice to already start the month of December with the house decorated for Christmas.
Decorating the house for Christmas is a full day of sorting through boxes of decorations, exchanging it with the fall decorations, and setting up the Christmas tree.
The fun part of decorating is playing Christmas music and sitting down at the end of the long day to the twinkling lights.
This year, I featured some of our favorite foodie ornaments on the front of the tree. Our favorites include a cannoli with chocolate chips, a plate of calamari, a meatball with sauce, a sugar cookie, and slices of pizza.
What was Your November Highlight?
Did you read a new series, try a new recipe, or start your holiday decorating? Leave a comment below with your thoughts!
Explore my videos for recipe inspiration or to catch up with my monthly recaps as we look ahead to the end of the year!
