NetGalley Update – March 2022 – Susan Lyn Knits and Reads

It’s time for my mid-month update on my NetGalley ARCs.

Stats

Approved ARCs: 39
Feedback Sent: 34
Feedback Ratio: 87%

I’m holding steady and actually increasing my ratio in the 80s. I’ve been a lot pickier lately about what I’m requesting which will hopefully make for better reads in addition to keeping my ratio high so I can get access to the books I really want.

Books Read Since Last Update

I have read 3 ARCs since my last update plus I had my first NetGalley DNF.

By Any Other Name by Lauren Kate (was published March 1, reviewed February 17)

This was pretty good and I did really enjoy the second half. However, the characters annoyed me so much in the beginning that I never really got over it. The idea that it’s such a huge deal to these women that the author is a man just rubbed me the wrong way. Once they got the whole how they met thing out of the way, I was totally on board. I ended up giving it 3 stars. You can read my full review here.

Tell Me an Ending by Jo Harkin (was published March 1, reviewed February 19)

This was officially my first DNF on NetGalley. I could tell within a few pages that this wasn’t a bad book but it wasn’t going to work for me. Constant flashbacks and no quotation marks, I was only 50 pages in and really dreading the rest regardless of the plot. I decided to DNF and didn’t rate it on Goodreads. Again, not a bad book, it was purely a writing style that I know doesn’t work for me and I didn’t want to set myself up for hating a book because I had to read it.

The Rumor Game by Dhonielle Clayton and Sona Charaipotra (was published March 1, reviewed February 27)

This book was not the social thriller that I was promised but it was a fairly interesting YA contemporary about the impact of rumors and social media. It had some promise and some good conversations but ultimately had really unlikeable characters. I think for this plot to work, I needed a character to root for and I just didn’t get that. I gave it 3 stars, it was ok. You can read my full review here.

A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I Lin ( will be published March 29, reviewed March 6)

This book has an amazing atmosphere. It totally sucked me in and this tea magic and competition had my full attention. The plot then got sidetracked by a lot of politics that I just thought weren’t necessary, I would have preferred sticking with the competition. But it pulled it around in the end and definitely made me want to read the next one. I gave it 4 stars, you can read my full review here.

Approvals Since Last Update

I received three ARC approvals since my last update. The first is My Mechanical Romance by Alexene Farol Follmuth. My degree is in mechanical engineering, I’ve spent countless hours in robotics labs, and I love a good YA romance, this was an easy pick for me. Then I received Eclipse the Moon by Jessie Mihalik. The cover of this one caught my eye and a sci-fi/romance sounded fun. However, I realized after the fact that it’s actually a sequel but it sounds like they can be read indepently so I guess we’ll see how that goes. Then earlier today I was approved for Upgrade by Blake Crouch. I really enjoyed Recursion and have been wanting to read more of Crouch’s books, I’m excited to give this one a try.