Hi everyone! It’s been a while but I’m back with my May Reading Wrap Up. It’s actually going to be May and April since I skipped a month. You can always go check out my March reading wrap up if you’re looking for more book recommendations. This one is going to be longer than normal so let’s just get into it.
April Books
Tempests and Slaughter | 5 stars
Wow. This book really brings me back to my childhood. I read the Protector of the Small and Song of the Lioness series’ as a young girl and proceeded to check out everything I could by Pierce from my library. Needless to say, I was super excited to see she was coming out with another series. This book was true to Tamara Pierce style with a classic way of writing that is descriptive and character driven. I love the world and it was good to see that the author I loved as a child is still as enjoyable today. This is definitely the start of a series with lots of world building and character development, but having this is what helps makes all the following books as great as they are. If you’re looking for a fantasy story that doesn’t fall into the common tropes saturating the young adult fantasy scene right now then this is for you.
Days of Blood & Starlight | 4 stars
It had been a while since I read the first book in this series, but Liani Taylor’s new book, Strange the Dreamer and the sequel coming out soon, kept coming up. And I really wanted to read that book but felt like I needed to finish this series first. I saw this on Libby available to check out and figured I might as well. I was looking for an audiobook for a break in podcasts on my commute and at work. First off, the narrator is incredible and added to my enjoyment of this book. The first book had stuck with me but I was on the fence about this series. This book really took it to the next level. I enjoyed the writing but what really kept me going with this book was the plot. None of the characters really tugged at my heartstrings, which is normally important to me, but they were enjoyable enough and the plot made this a fast-paced, enjoyable read.
May Books
The Bear and the Nightingale | 3 stars
I had heard a lot about this book, but unfortunately, it didn’t live up to my expectations and the beautiful cover. It is a Russian set fairytale-esque novel that almost seemed as if it was translated. I think this would be a great story to read out loud or listen to, but there was something about the writing that just did not click with me. It seemed jilted and short despite it being descriptive. I didn’t ever connect with Vasya which I think was a big part of the problem to me. I think I’ll still pick up the next book since it will be out fairly soon but I’m not that invested in this series or these characters. The writing style just did not live up to my expectations.
Financial Peace Revisited | 5 stars
Daniel bought this book a while ago and I thought it would be a good time to read it. It is a quick read but I would recommend not reading this in bed if finances aren’t riveting to you because I definitely fell asleep on it a few times. However, I think a lot of the things in here are really good to know and was written in a way that seemed manageable. I will be trying to implement his baby steps into our lives and will see how it goes!
Dreams of Gods & Monsters | 5 stars
As soon as I finished Days of Blood & Starlight I looked for this one and was glad to see it was also available as an audiobook from my library. This was a very satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. I’m often disappointed with writers taking the easy way out in finales or feeling like I’m waiting for me but this wrapped everything up nicely and was once again a great audiobook. I think this series overall got better as it went on and this one was definitely the best to me. Great writing and plot. I even started caring about the characters more and left this series on a high note.
Anything You Can Do | 3 stars
I have been hearing about R.S. Grey a lot from Booktubers and also from following her on Instagram. I love following authors on Instagram and it gets me excited about their books. Her new novel, Arrogant Devil, just came out but I found other books of hers on sale on Amazon that I thought would give a try to see if I liked her writing. This book I felt like could be edited a little more and took me a little bit to get used to but once I got into it it was an easy, fast-paced, light romance. It was cute and I think this was a good introduction to her for me. I would recommend checking her out if you’re looking for some good summer reads.
A Court of Frost and Starlight | 4 stars
I love Sarah J. Maas and I have really enjoyed this series so far, but this book didn’t seem as good to me. I know it’s a novella that’s supposed to help bridge the two trilogies but I didn’t see a point to the story. I wanted more from it and think this could have been condensed to the beginning of the next book and been a lot more meaningful. It was fun to be back with the characters but all of them sort of annoyed me, This seems like a tableau of scenes that would have been cut or shortened from a longer book, which I think was the point. I’m glad she was able to write it, but I think it would have been more impactful being at the start of the next it. It’s a typical Maas book from writing, to characters, to weird references to males. I know it’s a thing for that world, but it throws me off and takes me out of the story every time. Hopefully the next book is more exciting to me but I still like her writing.
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