Feeling the pressure from Aardvark Book Club, Book of the Month began to upload hints to their application sometime after the 15th of the month. (There is no consistency on which date they share hints.) In comparison to Aardvark, BOTM’s hints have been a paltry attempt. It does not seem like a lot of thought goes into them. For me, I find them more of an annoyance than joyous and excited (as I experience when Aardvark posts hints). Well, this month, BOTM has truly outdone itself… they uploaded the saddest hint I have seen. It is quite possibly the worst hint ever.

The caption does not offer context or instructions. Instead, we have a background color and some black images on top.

Part I

Since BOTM did not provide context or instructions for this hint, I am going to go with the most obvious application: these images are either part of the title or on the cover. Regarding the background color, I am curious if it represents a book or a color that is present on all the covers. I will mention that the background colors are seemingly present on The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren.

And to throw us for yet another loop, BOTM updated the app once again with a new image:

All of this being said, it is unusual for Book of the Month to post multiple sets of hints. So it is possible that all of these lime green hints are related to one book or some other kind of announcement. The text does say “something new is coming,” and I am not sure that BOTM would refer to a book as something new. Plus, if these are all indicate a separate book, there would be an unprecedented number of selections. Honestly, we will have to wait and see. If it all relates to just one book, my guess is either Swiped by L.M. Chilton or A House Like an Accordion by Audrey Burges.

Part II

To add to the confusion of the first set of hints, BOTM added a second set of three hints this morning. At least these hints give us more to work with. The headline for these hints reads, “Classified info has leaked about some of our May selections. Here’s what we were able to recover.” I am positive about books 1 and 2. Because I have not read The Return of Ellie Black, I cannot fully complete the hint for book 3. I am checking in a friend who has already read an ARC for assurance.