1.  A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Frost and Starlight is the 4th book in Sarah J. Maas’ A Court of Thorns and Roses series. It’s a blissful interlude after the breathless pace of A Court of Mist and Fury telling the story of Feyre, Rhys and their friends celebration of the Winter Solstice – Feyre’s first as High Lady.

The book is narrated by Feyre and Rhysand and is wondrous tale of hope and promise, setting the stage for the last instalment of the series – A Court of Silver Flames.

This novel had a mixed reception from fans, but when taken as a palate cleanser between books, it is a welcome and hopeful reprieve.

Read our full review of the first novel here.

2. One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid

One True Loves is a startlingly powerful novel about loss, heartache and the true meaning of love. The novel centres around Emma Blair who marries her high school sweetheart, Jesse. They build a life for themselves, leaving their hometown in Massachusetts and pursuing a life of adventure and travel. On their first wedding anniversary, Jesse is on a helicopter over the Pacific when it goes missing. Emma is heartbroken, quitting her job and moving home in an effort to put her life back together. Years later, now in her thirties, Emma runs into an old friend, Sam, and finds herself falling in love again. When Emma and Sam get engaged, it feels like Emma’s second chance at happiness.. until Jesse is found – alive. With a husband and a fiancé, Emma has to now figure out who she is and what she wants, while trying to protect both men who she loves deeply.

Read our full review here.

3. The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling

The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling is a very quick read, but for those expecting something clever from Rachel Hawkins, this is not it. The Ex Hex feels childish at times, not just with the content but the writing itself. Whilst an enjoyable and easy read, the characters feel quite surface level and so the reader is not suckered in in the way they have been in her other works. Honestly, we’d give this one a miss, despite its TikTok viral crown.

Read our full review here.

4. Men Who Hate Women by Laura Bates

5. Detransition Baby by Torrey Peters

Detransition Baby was one of the biggest, most acclaimed debuts of 2021. It is a whipsmart debut about three women—transgender and cisgender—whose lives collide after an unexpected pregnancy forces them to confront their deepest desires around gender, motherhood, and sex.

It is a provocative debut that will shift perceptions – an immensely eye-opening novel that will garner empathy for those of all genders encountering motherhood for the first time.

Pick up a copy here.

The post Everything I Read in February 2022 appeared first on off the record.

In Men Who Hate Women, Laura Bates takes a deep dive into the vast network of misogynist communities currently at work around the globe. It’s both a fascinating and terrifying read that traces the roots of misogyny from Incels themselves to Pick Up Artists and Men’s Rights Activists – exploring the way pervasive and pernicious narratives have become a large part of the mainstream, from political posturing to the large erasure of misogyny from the definition of terrorism. Bates looks deep into how these movements can groom and radicalise young and vulnerable men, tracing the origins of this extreme ideology from the internet to real life through real-life sleuthing of internet forums to interviews with trolls, former incels and academics understanding the movement.

Largely, the book feels despairing as Bates how pernicious these thoughts and narratives have become and how prevalent the idea of the manosphere is. Still, Bates does provide an element of hope in her examination of the conscious ways that people – particularly men – can work to undermine this momentum. More than anything in her desire to work against the narratives that are propagated on YouTube, Reddit and more. Bates largely feels empathetic in how impressionable young boys can fall prey to these narratives and it is this that prevents the book from feeling despondent. This is a vital and necessary read for people of any gender.

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