I’d been holding out with my current ereader that has slowly developed a minor battery swelling issue for the past year but unfortunately I could not resist the most recent Kindle sale and took the plunge with the new Colorsoft version. Yes, I’m fully aware of the endless bad press and reviews that have been all over the place since its less than smooth launch. However, I’ve always enjoyed trying out fun new toys from my techie background and although I have limited use for the color edition, I really wanted to give it a try (I also tried out a test unit in Bestbuy soon after it launched as I was curious on how distracting the Kaleido 3 “screen door effect” was). Of course as part of every new kindle purchase, you can opt in for 3 months of free Kindle Unlimited which everyone should do. It’s fully free as long you cancel the trial before the 3-months are up (plus there’s an option to send you a reminder 3 days before the trial ends).
One of my friends had also been enjoying her free months of Kindle Unlimited from the holiday season and after discussing some of her recent reads (we have very different reading tastes), I thought it would be fun to compile a list of Kindle Unlimited eligible books that I’m looking forward to reading. I probably won’t be able to get through all of them or even half of them, but it’s always nice to set some ambitious reading goals! With that, here are some of my upcoming reads that I’ll be picking from during my Kindle Unlimited reading marathon!:
Fourth Wing / Iron Flame by Rebecca Yaros
I’ve literally had a rental hold on Fourth Wing that I’ve been postponing since late 2023 mainly because I’ve been so busy and am concerned that if I’m not fully invested in the story, I won’t be able to finish during my library’s standard 3 week rental period. Several of my friends have been dying to see my reactions to this book, mainly because I’m not a typical Romantasy reader and because I’m not easily distracted by spice when it comes to analyzing the story and writing. Some booktubers I’ve followed have also had very mixed reactions to it, ranging from loving it to DNF-ing it as a waste of time. Obviously Onyx Storm is not included in Kindle Unlimited as it’s so popular and brand new, but I’ll definitely be looking at also picking up Iron Flame right after if Fourth Wing goes well-
Edit: 2/28/25: Linked by full reviewd, while definitely flawed in places, I found Fourth Wing to be highly entertaining and a solid popcorn read. Yes, I will be reading Iron Flame as well.
The Crash by Freida McFadden
So I read my first Feida McFadden book late last year based on a recommendation by my fellow avid reader friend Rachelle Heger, and while I found the concept behind Never Lie interesting, the execution and plot twist shocked me in all of the wrong ways. It was so unimpressed that it killed any interest I had in any of her other books, especially considering how many she has and how quickly they’re cranked out. However after writing my full review for Never Lie, I realized that although the writing style will likely still be an issue, I might be willing to give her book another chance assuming they don’t have such a ridiculous plot twist included. I’m tentatively considering reading The Crash which is her most recent book purely based on recency bias, however the plight of pregnant woman in crisis isn’t really my kind of read so I may swap to The Inmate which has a more fitting plot for me.
The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands by Sarah Brooks
Compared to the first two books, The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands is a lesser-known pick that was auto-suggested by Kindle Unlimited which has historically given me very mixed recommendations. Amusingly, it has an odd track record of suggesting me books that have the content and genre I like, but end up being very low-rated once I actually read them (2.5 stars of less on average). That being said, I have a weird obsession with stories involving trains in a fantasy or cross-country adventure. And while I know the comparisons can be a stretch simply for marketing purposes, The Midnight Library was one of my favorite reads of 2023, so I’ll be thrilled if this book can deliver at least half of the enjoyment I got from Matt Haig’s novel. I’ve also been on a historical fiction reading run lately which hasn’t always been one of my favorite genres, so here’s hoping this one can keep up the positive trend!
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
Yet another pick inspired by many book influencers hyping it, Gideon the Ninth is another book that’s been on my to-read list that I just never got around to picking up mainly since I’ve been juggling so many multi-book series and want to finish a few first. I’ve heard some of the world-building and harder fantasy elements can be a bit lacking in this one but I was interested regardless. And while I have read my fair share of fantasy adventure stories, admittedly I’m far less experienced with necromancy and its specific subset within the dark academia/fantasy genre. And as mentioned in Fourth Wing, I am not a regular romantasy reader so the more the merrier! At least I think Gideon is a romantasy, there’s so many that they’re starting to all blend together in my head.
Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak
This was an early addition to my to-read list when I was first getting back into reading and combing through past Goodreads choice winners. While I found the synopsis interesting, it didn’t quite grab me and this novel quickly got shoved down my reading list repeatedly in favor of Riley Sager, Grady Hendrix and some other recent horror books I have read. However, this one was of the top suggested in Kindle Unlimited for me and perhaps now is that time to finally give it a go! Then again, I tend to not agree with most Goodread choice award winners so we shall see-
Not That Impossible by Isabel Murray
Probably the least popular book on my list, this one is admittedly quite low on my priority list but is something I’d like to read if I have time for it. I read the first book in Isabel Murray’s anthology series and generally liked Not That Complicated. Inoffensive and delivering on romcom spice, it wasn’t a literary masterpiece but it also didn’t strive to be and knew exactly what it was doing. While I found the focal main characters just okay and kind of generic, my favorite character was actually the chief Detective Liam Nash who was on the case for the unknown dead body report and served as a competing rival love interest (the poor man deserved better). While not a direct sequel per say, Not That Impossible focuses on the minor character Jasper from the first book who is paired off with Liam in this novel. Some of the reviews mentioned this novel was less fun and less romcom-based than the first book, though both points might actually be a positive thing for me personally. Regardless, I’m always inclined to try read lesser known works and even if I walk away from the book unimpressed, I rather give an additional review and rating to an indie author vs an already popular author.
Edit 2/15/25: Full review linked, it was surprisingly solid and a huge improvement over Not That Complicated. Solid romcom read, 4 1/2 stars. I even ended up reading the 3rd sequel novel which I also enjoyed!
Quicksilver by Callie Hart
Yet another romantasy book that everyone has heard about unless you live under a rock, this novel has been making a lot of waves and noise among book influencers and I’m intrigued. The cinematic adaptation rights were also scooped up very quickly by Netflix in a pricy bidding war, so there’s gotta be something worthwhile in it reading right? I will admit that fae is not really one of my favorite sub-genres of fantasy, but I think my distaste for it comes from a lot of my past fae readings falling within the cozy fantasy realm vs more intense or darker reads. Not saying Quicksilver is either of those things, but it’s cozy fantasy it most definitely is not.
Edit 2/22/25: Full review added and linked, this was not my favorite read. While ambitious and at times creative, it felt equally as much derivative of every popular fantasy novel of the last 20 yrs and felt very chaotic with its world-building and plot.
All That’s Left In the World by Erik J. Brown
While this was a novel that was also suggested by Kindle Unlimited, I had actually already heard of this one from dystopian/YA booklists and for being a finalist on Goodreads’ 2022 YA Fantasy/Scifi award. While sounding interesting on paper, dystopian survival slow cross-country adventures don’t always hold my interest so this one sort of fell by the wayside on my to-read list. However, the sequel that came out late last year slightly renewed my interest in this novel and while Goodreads picks and me don’t always agree, its average rating of 4.23 is very high for the platform’s very fickle readership. All in all, this is on my potential reading pick list!
Edit 3/07/25: Full review linked, my heart is so warm and satisfied by this book, such a wholesome and sweet queer coming of age and found family/light romance story, this was outstanding!
Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft
This one is my stretch pick as I can technically borrow it outside of Kindle Unlimited, though it would save a lot of time and free up having to rush through the book. One of my absolute favorite genres if Steampunk and I’m always craving for more steampunk-themed books, movies, video-games, I’ll take anything. Josiah Bancroft’s The Book of Babel series is often recommended as a quintessential steampunk read. Unlike many other steampunk narratives, Senlin Ascends manages to avoid the questionable psuedo-science often used to keep cities in the air, instead utilizing the stacked Tower of Babel as the focal point that airships and other crafts fly around. Thomas Senlin is also a more lowkey, unlikely protagonist for a sprawling fantasy series which also adds more flavor it to the story. I don’t know if I’ll be able to get to it with so many books my list, but if so, this one is definitely one that I’m most interested in other than the fact that others on this list are harder to get outside of Kindle Unlimited.