Tag: book wrapup

April 2021 Wrap Up

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A very mixed bag this month. I gave my first 1 star book of the year, some more 5 stars and another DNF. Plus some ARCs, some manga and a whole range of other things. I also have come to the conclusion that I will not be continuing the ONTD Reading Challenge as I have a whole load of books I want to prioritise more! More on that decision later next month.

  • I read 7 books this month.
  • I DNFed 1 book.
  • I didn’t complete my ONTD reading challenge this month.
  • Genre: 5 fantasy, 1 murder mystery and 1 romance.
  • Gender of authors: 4 women and 3 men.
  • Race of authors: 5 white, 1 black and 1 asian.
  • Age range: 5 adult, 1 YA and 1 middle grade.
  • Format: 3 paperback, 2 hardcover and 2 ebooks.

Shadow and Bone – Leigh Bardugo (2 stars)

This book was a major miss for me and I had read it in preparation for the Netflix show. I had heard mixed things about this trilogy before going in but I wanted to make opinions for myself and sadly I wasn’t a fan. I think it came down to execution for me, I loved the idea but I didn’t enjoy the writing. I have heard the show is great though.

The Plague Letters – V.L. Valentine (1 star)

My first one star of the year. I don’t normally give out one stars as I tend to just DNF the books I really don’t like but I had got so far and I did want some questions answered but it ended up being that I just skimmed it until the end. I felt that the characters were really under-developed, it took ages for the mystery to actually get going and so many other things that I just can’t list here. Read my review to find out more.

Ariadne – Jennifer Saint (4 stars)

This is when things started looking up. I love a greek mythology re-telling so I was super excited to get the chance to read this. I thought the writing was beautiful and Ariadne was a great character. But it did start to lose momentum in the last quarter of the book, I will be honest.

Orange: The Complete Collection Vol. 1 – Ichigo Takano (5 stars)

So, this was a pleasant surprise. I really liked the premise of this manga series and when it was on sale I decided to give it a go and I’m glad I did. It follows a young girl called Naho who receives a letter from her future self telling her to be-friend the new boy in school as he’s going through a tough time.

The friendships in this book are just so incredibly beautiful. The characters in this book couldn’t be any more different from one another but they stick by and support each other no matter what. The plot was super fun and I thought the art was beautiful. The author managed a great balance of funny moments with the more somber moments as well.

Beasts Made of Night – Tochi Onyebuchi (DNF)

Sadly, this book didn’t work out for me. This was another case of great idea, not the best execution. I wasn’t a massive fan of the writing style and the plot structure confused me a bit.

The Battle of the Labyrinth – Rick Riordan (5 stars)

This book still maintains the title of best book in the series for me. I enjoyed the blossoming relationship between Annabeth and Percy getting stronger, I loved how you can start to feel these characters get older as the end of the series arrives, Percy was, as per, a great protagonist and the ominous elements of the novel with the Big Bad trying to gain power was done really well.

What was super satisfying to me was re-reading this after so many years and still loving it just as much!

Breach of Peace – Daniel B. Greene (2 stars)

This was disappointing sadly. I am a massive fan of the author so I really wanted to like this book. I just felt that the novella, as a whole, was really under-developed. I needed more detail about the characters, the world and the plot.

March 2021 Wrap Up

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Started off the month a bit rocky as I DNFed my first book of the year. But I ended up ending on a good note. I also didn’t complete on of my challenges, this was the first time since I have started my blog. I always try to prioritise my challenges but I too many other books lined up that I wanted to read more of.

  • I read 5 books this month.
  • I DNFED my first book of the year this month.
  • I didn’t complete my ONTD challenge for the month.
  • Genre: I read 2 thrillers, 2 fantasy and 1 steampunk.
  • Gender of authors: 3 men and 2 women
  • Race of authors: 4 asian and 1 white.
  • Age range: I read 3 adult, 1 middle grade and 1 I was not sure of the age range.
  • Format: I read 3 paperbacks, 1 ebooks and 1 webcomic.

Bullet Train – Kotaro Isaka (DNF)

So, this was an ARC given to me by _ and personally it just didn’t capture me. If felt a little bit like a chore to pick up the book each time. Not much to say about this book.

City of Secrets – Victoria Ying (3 stars)

I am trying to venture more into graphic novels and such and I picked up this fun middle grade GN. I loved the art style and the characters in this book. I felt the setting and the friendships were really good as well. It did feel slightly rushed but it wasn’t a major factor in my enjoyment of the book.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask and A Link to the Past Manga – Akira Himekawa (4 stars)

I preferred this book over the Ocarina of Time one I read in Feb. I felt that the first game (Majora’s Mask) was adapted super well but I wish that it was longer. I felt that the story itself was over too quickly. The ALttP game was my favourite, maybe it’s because I never played it so it was a fresh new story for me to read but I felt that the characters were great, there was some brilliant world building and as per the art was beautiful.

PIGPEN – Carnby Kim (4 stars)

So, I started this webcomic back in January and only got round to finishing it in March but it was sooooo good. It went to places I didn’t expect, the art was super creepy and I loved the colour pallet. I highly recommend it.

Red Seas Under Red Skies – Scott Lynch (4 stars)

This took me such a long time to finish but I really enjoyed it. I loved the world-building, the friendship between Locke and Jean, the female characters in it were so much better than the last book and I just enjoyed getting lost into the world and the story.

PIGPEN Review

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A relaxing getaway in paradise, or a death trap? A young man wakes up on a breathtaking beac, but he has no idea who he is or how he got there. Try as he might to piece it all together, untangling this mind-bending mystery won’t be easy when every clue leads to more maddening questions… and the family that welcomes his into their home is not what they seem.

January Wrap Up 2021

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Here we go the first wrap up of the new year!! One of my challenges this year is to read more graphic novels and manga etc. Well, I decided to sign up to WebToon and read some of their webcomics and it was such a great decision! I had 2 5 star books this month, 1 for a webcomic and 1 for a manga.

  • I read 8 books this month.
  • I started both my 2021 Goodreads, Sequel, Physical and ONTD challenge.
  • Genre: I read 1 historical fiction, 1 thriller, 5 fantasy and 1 supernatural!
  • Age range: I read 6 adult and 2 YA.
  • Format: I read 3 paperbacks, 2 ebooks and 3 webcomics.

The Art of Dying – Ambrose Parry (3 stars)

Ok, so not a bad start to the new year. This was an ARC from Netgalley and it was just a solid 3 stars. I enjoyed the characters and I enjoyed the change in POV but it didn’t wow me. I probably won’t continue the series unless the next book looks really really good.

The Plotters – Un-Su Kim (2.5 stars)

So, this was for my ONTD challenge and I had never read a book by a Korean author before so I was quite excited to jump in. This book hit the middle of the road for me. I really enjoyed the dialogue and the Seoul Underworld described in this book but there was a lot of philosophical stream of consciousness esc passages in this book that bored me and ruined the pacing of the novel.

Lore Olympus: Season 1 – Rachel Smythe (5 stars)

So, here is my first 5 star of the year. Starting off well, one of the first web comics I picked up was this one. I had heard so many great things and it ended up matching the hype and exceeding my expectations. It is a re-telling of the “Taking of Persephone” myth from Greek Mythology, where Hades, King of the Underworld, kidnaps Goddess of Spring Persephone and makes her his wife. This is such a refreshing take on this myth, don’t worry everything is consensual between the two! The art-style is amazing, the romance between Hades and Persephone is just incredible and the characters in general are so varied and so well written.

The Steam Dragon Express – R. Merryweather & Porforever (2.5 stars)

This was another middle of the road comic for me. It follows a young girl who joins the Steam Dragon Express Academy to learn how to be an adventurer. The art style was super cute and colourful, I was super interested in the story but I found the episodes to be too short. Also, sadly the artist and the writer decided to go separate ways just as the comic started to really amp up so the ending felt kind of rushed.

The Fifth Season – N.K. Jemisin (4 stars)

I picked this up after hearing so many great things about it. I do think that after reading so much hype it meant that I went in with maybe too high of expectations than I would have gone in with if I didn’t know much about it. That being said it was still really good. I really enjoyed learning about the world and meeting all these new and exciting characters and I love a story with multiple POVs and every single POV was amazing!

Fullmetal Alchemist Vol 4. (10-12) – Hiromu Arakawa (5 stars)

Another, 5 star but this is not surprising! I love this series so much! This is by far my favourite of the series so far. We finally get a greater understanding of the world and the plot seems more important and exhilarating. The art as always is great and I just love how Arakawa can write both really deep and emotional scenes and then also write some incredibly funny scenes.

The Strange Tales of Oscar Zahn – Tri Vuong (4 stars)

Another webcomic to the list. This follows Supernatural Investigator Oscar Zahn through some of his adventures into the paranormal. This was just so good. The art work was amazing, the plot was superb but this comic just had a lot of heart and soul (no pun intended) embedded in these stories. Oscar is a great character and I need more!

Descendant of the Crane – Joan He (3 stars)

This was another book I picked up due to the hype. There were loads of elements of it that I liked; the plot, the sibling relationship, the mystery but sadly I couldn’t connect to the story at the beginning. The pacing at times was quite slow that my attention span faltered and I couldn’t engage with book as much as I wanted to!

Welp, there’s January 2021 all done and dusted. That’s so weird that it’s over already!!!

2020 Unhaul

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So, I didn’t do a post like this last year but I have seen a lot of unhaul posts and videos circulating recently. I personally really enjoy watching and reading unhaul content. I don’t really know why I just tend to find them really interesting and a lot more enjoyable than just videos or posts […]

December Wrap Up 2020

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Here we are. My final wrap up for 2020! Then the focus is on the new year at hand. I can say now that so far this year has been good to me. But more on that later. December was a good month for me, I got only 5 star books in just before the end and secured myself some new favourites. As well as finishing one of my all time favourite trilogies. The best way to end a pretty terrible year. Let’s jump in!

  • I read 3 books this month.
  • I completed my PHYSICAL TBR challenge.
  • Genre: I read 3 fantasy! The sub genres included: High Fantasy, Historical Fantasy and Urban Fantasy.
  • Age range: I read 3 adult.
  • Format: I read 1 paperback and 2 hardcovers.

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow (5 stars)

It feels so long since I read this book! I didn’t expect to enjoy this book as much as I did! I loved the writing style, I found the main character to be really interesting and I loved the romance elements as well. I feel as the years go by I’m enjoying romance more and more in my stories. What I enjoyed the most was the exploration into the themes of colonialism and race, specifically being mixed race.

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern (5 stars)

I loved the world-building in this novel. The intricacies and detail that went into this world should be applauded. I loved the plot, I was constantly trying to guess and work out why things were happening and how every tiny plot point was connected. I really liked the main character, he was a great way in to learning about the world!

The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson (5 stars)

This book broke my heart but in a great way. Can that happen? I don’t know! This was a brilliant ending to such an incredible trilogy! The world building, the plot choices, the characters! Chef’s kiss! I am so sad it’s over but now I just move on to Sanderson’s next series!!!