Hello dear readers!
So yeah, I've been MIA for like 10 months, but hear me out.
Yeah no, I have nothing to say for myself. But I'm back now!!!
I'm going to attempt to at least keep up with the monthly round ups going forward, and maybe some mini reviews. The reviews I was writing before took forever to do and I'm back to work now so I don't have all the time in the world!
This May I read 7 books (one of which I did not finish, but I got through more than half of it so it still counts.) I read 4 audiobooks, two physical books and one e-book. I reached my goal of reading seven books, but they weren't the ones I was planning on!
This month's TBR included 5 physical books, one audio book, and one ebook. However...
I got 4 of the 7 books that were on my TBR, but some books came up through the library (Thanks Libby!) so I put a couple of them on hold. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell has been on my TBR for months - I actually started it in March and it's still ongoing, but I'm getting close and I will for sure finish it in June! Babel has been on there for quite a while as well, but it keeps getting pushed out in favour of library books that have an expiration date.
Here are some mini reviews of what I read this month!
A Day of Fallen Night - Samantha Shannon
Samantha Shannon's new book A Day of Fallen Night is a prequel to the events of The Priory of the Orange Tree, which I read last March. I was super excited for this book since I loved Priory so I actually preordered it through Indigo - that's the first time I've even preordered a book! However, this book didn't quite live up to my expectations. I started it at the end of March and finished it at the beginning of May, so it took a lot longer than it normally takes me to read a book. My biggest complaint was lack of dragons - there weren't as many as I was hoping and though the did play a big role in the plot, it still wasn't enough for me! I enjoyed reading this book and I'm glad I did, but it wasn't anything that stood out to me as a favourite.
A Touch of Malice - Scarlett St. Claire
This is the second book that I've ever DNF'd (Did Not Finish for you non-bookish readers!) I had gotten this audiobook through the library - it is the third in a series of books following a modern Hades and Persephone. The first two, A Touch of Darkness and A Touch of Ruin, I really enjoyed, but this one just didn't hit for me. I got really sick of Hades (and when the main love interest starts to annoy you, that's a bad sign) and it was a little too spicy for me - just gratuitous scenes that didn't advance the plot or enhance the relationship between the main characters. So when the library wanted it back after 3 weeks, I said sure and decided not to place a new hold.
The Sun and the Star - Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro
The Sun and the Star has been a highly anticipated book from Rick Riordan, author of the Percy Jackson series among others. Some of my favourite books of all time are Rick Riordan books, so I was super excited to read this one which follows two of my favourite characters, Nico di Angelo and Will Solace, the epitome of the GrumpyxSunshine trope. Once again, a book that I was really excited for did not meet my expectations. This book accomplished its purpose as a Solangelo book (the ship name for Nico and Will is Solangelo - Solace + di Angelo) and it was pretty cute, but it felt a bit forced and it also felt as though Rick read some of the fanfiction and incorporated that into the book, which I find weird. However, I'm not sad I read it.
Howl's Moving Castle - Diana Wynne Jones
Finally, a book that broke the 3 star curse! I got this ebook from Libby (the library app - seriously, it's the best thing ever) and read it pretty fast. This middle-year fantasy has been kind of a big deal for a while, partially thanks to the TV adaptation, and it mostly lived up to the hype. I really enjoyed this book, and I thought the premise was really unique. It didn't have that special something that would make it a 5 star read, but still very fun and interesting.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid
This was the best book I read in May. I stepped out of my usual genre of fantasy to read this contemporary romance, which has been going viral on Booktok and Bookstagram - and for good reason. This book DID live up to the hype so that was a relief! It was beautifully and interestingly written - partially an interview, partially the story of the journalist doing the interview, and partially back-in-time tabloid excerpts. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it's probably going to make its way onto my physical shelves at some point. Again, there was something missing that made it 4.5 stars rather than 5 - something I can't quantify and there are no specific things I look for to make it a 5 star read, but 4.5 is still really good!
From Blood and Ash - Jennifer L. Armentrout
This audiobook was a re-read for me - I read it last year as an ebook and when I found out the narrator was Stina Nielsen, I was in. She is the narrator of A Court of Silver Flames, which is one of my favourite books to listen to, so when my monthly Audible credit came up, I jumped on this one. From Blood and Ash is a vampire-esque fantasy romance with basically every trope you could wish for throughout the series (which includes From Blood and Ash, Kingdom of Flesh and Fire, The Crown of Gilded Bones, and The War of Two Queens) - the bodyguard trope, lovers to enemies, enemies to lovers, marriage of convenience, you name it, it's probably there. Sometimes a book gets a different rating from me when it's in audiobook format, but not this time - 4 stars for you, Jennifer!
A Heart So Fierce and Broken - Brigid Kemmerer
This is the second book in a series by Brigid Kemmerer that I started this March, the first book being A Curse So Dark and Lonely. The first book is a Beauty and the Beast retelling, so I was expecting a continuation of that story line for A Heart So Fierce and Broken, but my expectations were wrong (in a good way!). This book focused on different characters from the first book, but I found the new characters just as loveable as the ones from the first book - in fact, the author kind of made me start to hate one of the main characters from A Curse So Dark and Lonely, which I think is a sign of really great character development. 4 stars!
June TBR
Here's my June TBR (it's a bit shorter because we are moving this month!)
As you can see, I left some room for Libby books just in case something really cool comes up! I've joined a digital book club on Fable, and we are reading Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros this June. I'm SO EXCITED to read this book. I'm also going to finish the Wicked Lovely trilogy that I picked up at the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra's annual book sale (a whole series for less than $5, anyone?) Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel makes it onto the TBR for the fourth month in a row - I've only got 200 pages left so it shall be done!!! Winter is the fourth book in the Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer, which I'm about 30% done and I'm enjoying so far. Golden Son by Pierce Brown is the second book in the Red Rising series. It looks like June is a month for continuing series!
Hopefully (fingers crossed) I will check in with y'all at the end of June to tell you what I thought of these (and probably other) books!
-Love y'all, Raven