Heyyy-o book ghoulies!
The month of February is over. Despite the leap year bringing an extra day, the month still flew by! Lucky for me, I get a "reading week" in February from University. Mind you, this week is supposed to be dedicated to studying and assignments. But, thankfully, all my midterms were written before the break so I didn't have to study. I certainly did have school readings to do, but I totally back burnered them so I could get some pleasurable reading done. Did it put me behind in school? Yes. Was it worth it? Heck to the yes.
Anyways, let us do our monthly wrap up!
Heir of Fire by Sarah J Maas
Read from January 25th 2020 to February 3rd 2020
Young Adult Fantasy
565 pages
Synopsis:
She was the heir of ash and fire, and she would bow to no one. Celaena Sardothien has survived deadly contests and shattering heartbreak—but at an unspeakable cost. Now she must travel to a new land to confront her darkest truth...a truth about her heritage that could change her life—and her future—forever. Meanwhile, brutal and monstrous forces are gathering on the horizon, intent on enslaving her world. To defeat them, Celaena must find the strength to not only fight her inner demons but to battle the evil that is about to be unleashed. The king's assassin takes on an even greater destiny and burns brighter than ever before in this follow-up to the New York Times bestselling Crown of Midnight.
Mini Review:
I want to thank Sarah J Maas for writing this beautiful book and getting me out of a miserable one month long slump! Praise SJM! I don’t know which book I enjoyed more, this one or Crown of Midnight. They were both pretty dang fantastic. I feel like Crown of Midnight was more focused on relationship development whereas Heir of Fire was character development and I LOVED IT. Learning about Aelin’s childhood and the devastation she faced was totally... I don’t want to say overwhelming... but perfectly whelming? Does that make sense? We see some character development with Dorian and Chaol in this book too and I am really enjoying the direction their characters are going. This book also introduces two pretty dope characters that have also become favourite characters for me; Manon Blackbeak and Rowan Whitethorn! Manon is this badass iron teeth witch that don’t take no shit and Rowan is a Fae prince warrior cut from the heavens. Hello! Sign me the heck up. I am sensing slow-burnness, enemies to lovers trope all over that Aelin/Rowan platter and I am having ALL OF IT. The blood bond was pretty weird and made me unconformable but that was really the only thing that I have to complain about.
If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio
Read from February 2nd 2020 to February 12th 2020
Mystery
432 pages
Synopsis:
Oliver Marks has just served ten years for a murder he may or may not have committed. On the day of his release, he is greeted by the detective who put him in prison. Detective Colborne is retiring, and he wants to know what really happened a decade before. As a young actor at an elite conservatory, Oliver noticed that his talented classmates seem to play the same characters onstage and off – villain, hero, temptress – though he was always a supporting role. But when the teachers change the casting, a good-natured rivalry turns ugly, and the plays spill dangerously over into real life. When tragedy strikes, one of the seven friends is found dead. The rest face their greatest acting challenge yet: convincing the police, and themselves, that they are blameless...
Mini Review:
Most of this book is written in verse, as it follows the lives of a handful of 4th year Shakespearean theatre students. Having little to no theatre knowledge before reading this book made it slightly challenging to understand portions of this book as the author kind of expects you to know the hierarchy of Shakespearean plays and their characters. That is my only qualm. This book devoured my soul. These characters, I love them so much. Oliver is just my little cinnamon bun character and even though he wants to protect everyone, I just want to protect him from himself. The amount of mystery was perfect. I was desperately trying to solve the murder through the whole book but I had no solid guesses with no good evidence. It was a well thought out plot and kept me engaged the whole time. The epilogue ruined my life. I wanted to throw everything and scream cry. And if you’ve read this book, there is only one ending that I will allow. I hope you know and understand which one I am referring to!
Blinding Night by Chantal Gadoury
Read from February 15th 2020 to February 16th 2020
Retelling/Fantasy
Kindle edition
Synopsis:
What if you were the missing piece in one of the world’s most epic legends? Despite being an art history student, Summer isn’t thrilled to be stuck with her archeologist family all summer in Greece. While the rest of her college friends are posting a million selfies by the pool together, Summer is stuck alone, trying to entertain herself alone in a place where she doesn’t even speak the language. Upon her arrival to Greece, strange dreams and even stranger shadows seem to haunt Summer, leaving her to ponder the meaning of pomegranate seeds and twisted, darkened faces. Suddenly, her stay abroad leads to tragic twists, leaving Summer in the arms of a dark stranger, who claims to be the god, Hades, whom she feels like she knows from another life. In a whirlwind through the busy streets of Athens, Summer is seduced to the lowest point of Greece where Hades’ lair awaits…the Underworld. Determined to find out who she is and where she belongs in an age-old myth, Summer joins Hades to discover that the secrets about her past life are beyond anything she could have ever imagined.
Mini Review:
I received a copy of this book from the author in return for an honest review. This is the Hades and Persephone retelling I was looking for! I am all for this twist on a mortal Persephone. Summer is your average American college girl. Her parents are archeologists who get this wicked opportunity to dig with National Geographic in Greece. Whilst in Greece, her life gets turned completely upside down! Cue dark and broody Darce (Hades). He comes swooping in hiding absolutely nothing about his true nature and completely confusing Summer. What I love about Summer is her character’s reaction feels totally genuine. This is probably 100% how I would react and what I would think if tall, dark, handsome, and creepy kidnapped me from a hospital and whisked me away. There was none of that unrealistic bs that you see in other novels. Summer thought she was going to be spending her holiday in Greece, well nope. How about THE UNDERWORLD! The banter in Summer and Darce’s relationship is what I was living for. It’s such gold. Summer is literally such a legit character, so their banter is just so real. I can just picture myself and my fiancé having similar banter spouts yanno? I LOVED that The Underworld had other deities. Forever thankful for the character development into Morpheus. I’m hoping the sequel sees more development into the other characters because they all seem badass. I binged this book and really enjoyed it. It was a light and easy read, which I totally needed. Perfect read for Valentine’s Day!
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
Read on February 17th 2020
Romance
333 pages
Synopsis:
A heartwarming and refreshing debut novel that proves one thing: there's not enough data in the world to predict what will make your heart tick. Stella Lane thinks math is the only thing that unites the universe. She comes up with algorithms to predict customer purchases — a job that has given her more money than she knows what to do with, and way less experience in the dating department than the average thirty-year-old. It doesn't help that Stella has Asperger's and French kissing reminds her of a shark getting its teeth cleaned by pilot fish. Her conclusion: she needs lots of practice — with a professional. Which is why she hires escort Michael Phan. The Vietnamese and Swedish stunner can't afford to turn down Stella's offer, and agrees to help her check off all the boxes on her lesson plan — from foreplay to more-than-missionary position... Before long, Stella not only learns to appreciate his kisses, but to crave all the other things he's making her feel. Soon, their no-nonsense partnership starts making a strange kind of sense. And the pattern that emerges will convince Stella that love is the best kind of logic...
Mini Review:
Normally I steer away from romance books of all kinds. I don’t even know why. This book just became my... guilty pleasure? I friggen loved it. Stella is this socially awkward math genius. She has trouble finding and holding down any kind of solid relationship, which she attributes to herself being on the autism spectrum. She believes that she can hire a male escort to teach her how to be a better *lover*. In walks Michael. Although Michael may look gorgeous and flawless, he is fighting off his own demons. This book was hella predictable. Do I care? Nope. I laughed my butt off. My heart broke. I almost cried. And I smiled, a lot. Please excuse me while I binge read a shit ton of romance books now.
The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
Read from February 17th 2020 to February 18th 2020
Romance
387 pages
Synopsis:
Nemesis (n.) 1) An opponent or rival whom a person cannot best or overcome. 2) A person’s undoing 3) Joshua Templeman Lucy Hutton has always been certain that the nice girl can get the corner office. She’s charming and accommodating and prides herself on being loved by everyone at Bexley & Gamin. Everyone except for coldly efficient, impeccably attired, physically intimidating Joshua Templeman. And the feeling is mutual. Trapped in a shared office together 40 (OK, 50 or 60) hours a week, they’ve become entrenched in an addictive, ridiculous never-ending game of one-upmanship. There’s the Staring Game. The Mirror Game. The HR Game. Lucy can’t let Joshua beat her at anything—especially when a huge new promotion goes up for the taking. If Lucy wins this game, she’ll be Joshua’s boss. If she loses, she’ll resign. So why is she suddenly having steamy dreams about Joshua, and dressing for work like she’s got a hot date? After a perfectly innocent elevator ride ends with an earth-shattering kiss, Lucy starts to wonder whether she’s got Joshua Templeman all wrong. Maybe Lucy Hutton doesn’t hate Joshua Templeman. And maybe, he doesn’t hate her either. Or maybe this is just another game.
Mini Review:
I was pretty amped about this book because my initial thought was that it was “the hating game, that has enemies to lovers written all over it” and it did, but it also didn’t?! The hatred was rather childish and reminded me of when you don’t like someone in highschool and you are thriving to make their lives miserable. I found that aspect rather disappointing considering this wasn’t supposed to be YA yet had that feel. The book dragged for me. I feel like nothing significant really happened until the end and everything else was just filler. And some of it unimportant filler. Maybe it was the pettiness of the anger in the beginning that set me off. I did enjoy the banter between Josh and Lucy though, they did have good banter! I appreciate that in a romance or any book really. The ending was fantastic. This may be spoiler-y, but the way that Lucy stands up for Josh was amaze balls and saved the book for me.
Songs from the Deep by Kelly Powell
Read from February 19th 2020 to February 23rd 2020
Young Adult Fantasy
320 pages
Synopsis:
A girl searches for a killer on an island where deadly sirens lurk just beneath the waves in this gripping, atmospheric debut novel. The sea holds many secrets. Moira Alexander has always been fascinated by the deadly sirens who lurk along the shores of her island town. Even though their haunting songs can lure anyone to a swift and watery grave, she gets as close to them as she can, playing her violin on the edge of the enchanted sea. When a young boy is found dead on the beach, the islanders assume that he's one of the sirens’ victims. Moira isn’t so sure. Certain that someone has framed the boy’s death as a siren attack, Moira convinces her childhood friend, the lighthouse keeper Jude Osric, to help her find the real killer, rekindling their friendship in the process. With townspeople itching to hunt the sirens down, and their own secrets threatening to unravel their fragile new alliance, Moira and Jude must race against time to stop the killer before it’s too late—for humans and sirens alike.
Mini Review:
This book is about Moira Alexander, a young girl living on the island of Twillengyle. This island is also shared by humans and sirens alike. Moira’s father and her friend’s, Jude Osiric, father fought to ban the hunting and slaughtering of sirens. But now, their peace is at stake again once mutilated bodies of island locals are discovered on the shore, seemingly killed at the hands of sirens. Only, Moira and Jude know better and figure that a human is at fault. The story is about Moira and Jude’s detective work into finding who is actually responsible for the murder of innocents and freeing the name of their beloved sirens. Kelly Powell’s writing flows beautifully. When I first began reading, I didn’t believe the book was YA. The writing was atmospheric and kept me hooked the entire time. BUT, as it is a book about sirens, I expected more about sirens. There was absolutely no lore about them, no siren development, or anything. I just felt as though that was extremely lacking and if it had been expanded on, this could have been a 5 star book for me. I just wanted that mythological vibe.