I didn't expect to pick this up this month as I hadn't even realised it
had been released, but since I read The City of Brass trilogy last
month, I thought I may as well finish it up with this book. This is a
collection of short stories set in the Daevabad World from
The City of Brass. I can't say too much without spoilers, but it
follows a few characters previous to the first book, and it also shows
some perspectives of characters we haven't seen from before. It didn't add
too move to the story overall but it was enjoyable being back with these
characters so I'd still give it a 4 star and I recommend it to anyone
who's read the original trilogy.
3. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell (re-read) ★★★★
I read this book for the first time in 2015 but never read the sequel, so
I decided to give this a re-read to see if I still enjoyed it and to
refresh my memory. This is a fanfiction from a story in Rainbow Rowell's
other book Fangirl (which I also really loved), and it's basically
a parody of the magic school/chosen one trope. We follow Simon Snow (the
Chosen One) and his best friend, Penelope, and their adventures saving the
world of magic. But Simon is apparently the worst Chosen One that's ever
been Chosen, and he has to share a room with his worst enemy and vampire
roommate, Baz. But are Baz's and Simon's feelings for one another purely
hatred? Or is it something else? This is primarily a fantasy romance and,
to be honest, I found it as enjoyable on re-read as I did the first time
around. Once you embrace the obvious clichés and absurdity, you can see
that the story and characters themselves are really well done. Overall, an
enjoyable read, but, as you'll soon see, I don't recommend picking up the
sequel and it should probably be read as a stand-alone.
4. Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell ★★
After enjoying Carry On so much, I thought it was time to finally
pick up the sequel after owning it for years. Unfortunately, this was a
huge miss for me. I understand the importance of showing the trauma of the
characters from the previous book, but it felt like all of the development
from the first book had just vanished. The characters were also more
unlikeable in general. The road trip aspect was interesting in theory, but
again, it ended up falling flat. It felt like nothing happened in this
book: driving, they get captured, they escape, driving, they get captured,
they escape, etc. etc. It was just that on repeat and it got so boring I
was tempted to DNF it. The only reason I didn't was because it was such a
short book. Agatha's plotline also felt weirdly tagged on and I really
disliked the new character that was added midway through the book (who was
an obviously inserted love interest for one character). I definitely won't
be finishing this series and I'm just going to pretend that
Carry On was a standalone because it really didn't feel like it
needed a sequel.
5. The Hope of Elantris by Brandon
Sanderson ★★★★
I picked up this short story since I'd already read Elantris a
few years ago and just never got around to this before. This is a story
set in the world of Elantris and it's only 25 pages long so I
can't say much about it. I will say that if you've read
Elantris then I recommend picking this up as it's an enjoyable
and fun little read.
6. Book Lovers by Emily Henry ★★★★.5
I received an arc of this book from the publisher, via Netgalley and I
have a full review of the book
here. I loved this book. Nora is a wonderful character - she's incredibly witty
and I loved her dry humour. I also really liked that we got to see this
badass, powerful woman and how good she is at her job, but we also saw her
insecurities, especially about how others perceive her. Sadly, the book didn't quite get 5 stars like her previous ones but that's because I felt
like we didn't see quite enough of the love interest to get as fully
invested in him as we did with her previous books. That might just be a me
thing though! The romance overall was still well done and I did really
like the way Nora and Charlie interacted with one another when they were
together, I just wish we'd seen a bit more of it.
7. The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire
North ★★★★.5
This book shocked me so much. Before reading it, I really though this
would end up being a DNF or a 2/3 star read but I ended up loving
it. This is a sci-fi novel that follows Harry August, a person who is
reborn and lives the same life again and again and remembers
everything from his previous lives. This happens 11 times until
something finally changes. As Harry nears the end of his eleventh
life, a little girl appears at his bedside. This is the story of what
Harry does next. Honestly, this was very reminiscent of Blake Crouch's
writing and the repercussions of how you could change the world
if you already knew what would happen. Don't let the historical
fiction aspect of this put you off at the start, the plot is so
thrilling and has so many twists that it keeps you turning the page to
find out what happens next!
8. Circe by Madeline Miller ★★★★★
Again, this is another book I wasn't sure if I'd actually enjoy, but for
different reasons. Mostly because I only have a basic understanding of
Greek mythology so I wasn't sure if I'd have enough context to enjoy the
book. Thankfully, Madeline Miller does a fantastic job of telling Circe's
story and I was so invested the entire time I was reading this book. The
book itself is a retelling of Circe's story from The Odyssey. In
the original tale, Circe is portrayed as a terrifying witch and is only
seen for a few pages. However, in this book we see so much more of her
character and the things she went through. Circe is a strange child - not
powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning
to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does
possess power - the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into
monsters and menace the gods themselves. Threatened, Zeus banishes
her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild
beasts and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of
mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the
murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus. Miller's writing is so
beautiful and this story is so well told; I highly recommend it to anyone
even remotely interested in Greek mythology.
9. Rise to the Sun by Leah Johnson ★★★.5
This is my second Leah Johnson book and she is a great YA contemporary
writer. The book follows Olivia, an expert at falling in love... and being
dumped, and Toni, who is one week away from starting a college she doesn't
want to to and reeling from the loss of her father. When the two meet at a
music festival, they team up to win two competitions, but it becomes so
much more complicated than they bargained for, and Olivia and Toni will find
that they need each other, and music, more than they ever could have
imagined. I did really enjoy this book and the way it was told, but I just
wasn't the right audience for this book sadly. I'm not hugely into music
so the festival aspect didn't really appeal to me very much. However, the
character diversity of queer black girls was incredible to see, and I
loved the friendships between all the characters. Olivia could be quite
selfish and unlikeable at times and, while it's refreshing to see
realistic characters, it can be frustrating to read from their
point-of-view when you see them make huge mistakes. Overall, this book has
a lot to offer and it's a fantastic addition to the YA world.
10. Middlegame by Seanan McGuire ★★★★★ (re-read)
This was a solid 5 star re-read. Seanan McGuire is one of my favourite
authors and I decided to re-read this book because I received an arc of
Seasonal Fears - the sequel to Middlegame - and wanted
to make sure I didn't miss/forget anything. Middlegame is a pretty
complex book so it's hard to explain it easily so I think I'll use the
Goodreads summary for this one:
Meet Roger. Skilled with words, languages come easily to him. He
instinctively understands how the world works through the power of
story. Meet Dodger, his twin. Numbers are her world, her obsession, her
everything. All she understands, she does so through the power of
math. Roger and Dodger aren’t exactly human, though they don’t realise it. They
aren’t exactly gods, either. Not entirely. Not yet.Meet Reed, skilled in the alchemical arts like his progenitor before him.
Reed created Dodger and her brother. He’s not their father. Not quite. But
he has a plan: to raise the twins to the highest power, to ascend with
them and claim their authority as his own.
As with all McGuire's books, this is beautifully written and the
characters are so rich. She delves into so many important topics through
her fantasy and interweaves them flawlessly. Roger, Dodger, and Erin are
so interesting to read from and I loved the math/language divide and how
it all comes together in the end. 10/10 recommend this to everyone.
11. The Alloy of Law by Brandon
Sanderson ★★★★★
I've genuinely been putting off reading this series for years, and I now
have no idea why. After I finished the Mistborn trilogy in 2015, I
bought this book, which is the first in a trilogy that follows
Mistborn. But I'd heard this was set 300 years in the future and
was more of a Western and, while that's true, it's also so much more than
that. Kelsier, Vin, Elend, Sazed, Spook, and the rest are now part of
history—or religion. Yet even as science and technology are reaching new
heights, the old magics of Allomancy and Feruchemy continue to play a
role in this reborn world. Out in the frontier lands known as the
Roughs, they are crucial tools for the brave men and women attempting to
establish order and justice. One such is Waxillium Ladrian. After twenty years in the Roughs, Wax has been forced by family tragedy
to return to the metropolis of Elendel. Now he must reluctantly put away
his guns and assume the duties and dignity incumbent upon the head of a
noble house. Or so he thinks...
This book has a brilliant mystery to it and I was immediately hooked by
Sanderson's writing from the moment I started. I loved being back in this
world with this magic system. Wax and Wayne are both hilarious and the
Steampunk vibe was on point. If you've been hesitant to pick this book up
after reading Mistborn, I recommend just starting it. You'll soon see that
Sanderson has outdone himself with yet another epic plot and brilliant
characters.
12. Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay
Kristoff ★★★
This is a YA sci-fi written by the same authors who wrote the
Illuminae Files, so I decided to give it a go. It's not mixed
media like the Illuminae books, but their sci-fi plots are
usually very good. I will say that I was pleasantly surprised by this
book. While the worldbuilding wasn't great, the characters and
representation were very well done. I love sci-fi's with found families
and this covered that so well. The only downside was that a lot of
characters were introduced very quickly and I don't feel like we were
given enough time to get to know them as well as I would've liked. In
this book, it's 2380 and the graduating students of Aurora Academy are being assigned
their first missions. Tyler Jones has been a star pupil who hopes to
recruit the squad of his dreams but ends up with a mixed and volatile
crew. And Ty's squad isn't even his biggest problem – that'd be Aurora Jie-Lin
O'Malley, the girl he's just rescued from inter-dimensional space. Trapped
in cryosleep for two centuries, Auri is a girl out of time and out of her
depth. But she could be the catalyst that starts a war millions of years
in the making, and Tyler's squad of losers, discipline-cases and misfits
might just be the last hope for the entire galaxy. Overall, it's a fun
sci-fi, if that's what you're looking for, but it just lacked some depth
for me. I probably won't continue with the series but it was a fun
read.
13. The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi
Vo ★★★
I hadn't actually planned on picking this up this month, but I saw it on
Scribd and decided to give it a go. This novella was beautifully written
and it really read like a fairytale. The biggest downside for me was just
how short it was; I would've loved a longer story to get to know the
characters and world even better. This is a fantasy novella set in an
empire reminiscent of Imperial China. A feminist high fantasy and an indictment of monarchy, this debut
follows the rise of the empress In-yo, who has few resources and fewer
friends. She's a northern daughter in a mage-made summer exile, but she
will bend history to her will and bring down her enemies, piece by
piece. Overall I thought this was so well written and I do recommend it
for fans of novellas.
14. Seasonal Fears by Seanan
McGuire ★★★.5
I received an arc of this book from the publisher in exchange for an
honest review. You can see my full spoiler-free review for this book
here so I'll keep this mini review very short. I adored
Middlegame so I had really high hopes for this sequel.
Unfortunately, it didn't quite live up to the first book. I think it
was a combination of the different characters, their relationship, the
over-explanations, and the ending to this one that brought it down for
me. I do still love this world and McGuire's writing but this
sadly wasn't a favourite of mine. Again, more thoughts can be seen in
my review.
15. Shadows of Self by Brandon
Sanderson ★★★★★
This is the sequel to The Alloy of Law which I read
earlier in the month and I absolutely loved both of them. I can't
say much about the plot of this one without spoilers, but I will
say that I really liked the mystery aspect of this book and,
although I saw the twist coming at the end, it was still
spectacularly well done. Wax and Wayne are just brilliant
characters and I adored seeing the tie in to the previous
books. I highly recommend this series to fans of Mistborn.
16. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman ★★★.5
This was another book I hadn't actually planned on picking this
up this month, but my friend lent it to me so I thought I'd pick
it up sooner rather than later. This book took me completely by
surprise. I was under the assumption that this was a stereotypical
contemporary novel about a woman in her thirties. While this is
partly true, it also explores much deeper and darker topics (I
recommend looking up a full list of trigger warnings but off the
top of my head they include: mental health -
PTSD/Anxiety/Depression, death, fire, scarring, abusive parents,
fatphobia, physical abuse, animal abuse, attempted murder,
attempted suicide, alcoholism, etc.). At first I didn't think I
would like the book at all because Eleanor seems to be deeply
unlikeable in the first few chapters. However, the more we see of
her and learn about her past, the more we realise how she became
who she currently is. I loved that this didn't really feature any
romance and instead focused on the loneliness people can suffer in
their thirties, and the friendships that can still be made.
Overall, this book ended up being heart-warming and the exploration
of mental health was very well done.
So those are the 16 books I ended up reading in April! Let me know if
you've read any of them and what you thought about them. How much did
you read in April? Let me know below. I hope everyone had a good
reading month!
