I have already finished 5 books in 2019. Which means I need to write my first 5 book wrap up. BUT I STILL HAVE TWO (and a bit) FREAKING WEEKLY WRAP UPS LEFT AAAAAAAARGH.
Anyway. Here’s what I read between 16th and 22nd of December.
Books read: 10
Pages read: 3.182 pages
#1: One Good Earl Deserves a Lover by Sarah MacLean
Audience: Adult
Genre: Romance
Plot summary: There’s two weeks left before Pippa’s wedding and she’s determined to find out what’s expected of her on her wedding night before it happens. But instead of turning to her fiance, she’s turned to one of London’s most notorious men.
Thoughts: I’ve been loving Sarah MacLean’s books recently, and this one was no exception. The characters were fun, the premise was pretty delightful, and the whole thing was a MASSIVE slow burn, which I loved. There was plenty of humour in the story, and a decent number of appearances by the characters from the first book in the series. Basically? It did everything I wanted it to do.
Rating: 4 stars
#2: Nevernight by Jay Kristoff (Reread)
Audience: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Plot summary: As a child, Mia Corvere’s family was imprisoned/killed by the powers that be. She managed to survive and now she’s out for revenge.
Thoughts: I’d honestly been meaning to reread this book ALL FREAKING YEAR so that I could finally read Godsgrave, and yet the knowledge that it was high fantasy – even a high fantasy book that I’d read before – put me off. Which is utterly ridiculous. I did find that even on reread, it took me a little while to get into it simply because the writing is often so flowery but I flew through this and absolutely loved it. The writing is stunning, the characters are amazing, the world is brutal and gripping, and there are sassy footnotes. What more could you ask for?!
Rating: 4.5 stars
#3: Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison
Audience: YA
Genre: Contemporary
Plot summary: A year in the life of teenager Georgia Nicolson and the trials and tribulations she suffers at the hands of her family, friends, and heart.
Thoughts: I laughed out loud multiple times while reading this book. But there were also multiple times where I cringed for extended periods because HOLY WOW IS THIS DATED. There are endless judgey statements about other female characters and mentions of how being a lesbian would basically be the worst thing in the world and 14 year old Georgia’s love interest is 18 which is just…no. Noooooo.
That said, Rennison definitely nailed the teenage voice – even 20 years after publication, it feels utterly authentic – and like I said, I laughed out loud multiple times.
Rating: 3.5 stars
#4: All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
Audience: Adult
Genre: Classic
Plot summary: In 1914, a group of German schoolboys are goaded by their teacher into joining up. Now, in 1917, those that are left are struggling for survival in the trenches.
Thoughts: This book has low-key on my radar for years but it’s never really been something I was especially interested in reading. But when I found myself lagging slightly behind my translated reading goal, I picked this one up because it’s barely 200 pages so I figured it would be a quick read.
Instead, I got a book that was brutal and honest and gut-wrenching. It deals with universal experiences of the First World War – of most wars, with the exception of the trenches part – and though it’s from the German perspective, it could equally be from the English, French, Russian, Australian or Belgian perspectives simply because the experiences of gas and going over the top and terrible food and mateship and struggling with returning to the real world were so universally applicable. I’m really REALLY glad that I finally read this.
Rating: 5 stars
#5: Fish Out of Water by Natalie Whipple
Audience: YA
Genre: Contemporary
Plot summary: Mika’s summer plans are turned upside down when her father’s estranged mother moves in with them.
Thoughts: I’ve read Natalie Whipple’s other books, both of which are sci-fi, so I was curious to see what she could do with a contemporary. I was doubly intrigued when I started it and realised that it had a biracial protagonist and that part of her story revolved around her (white) grandmother being pretty effing racist because of events in her past and having Alzheimer’s.
There were a lot of slurs in the story as a result, but for the most part it was compelling, as Mika slowly comes to understand why her grandmother is the way that she is, sees her attitude change depending on whether she’s having a good day or a bad day. I wasn’t entirely thrilled with the romance side of it, but the friendships were solid and I liked Mika as a protagonist.
Rating: 3.5 stars
#6: The Road to Winter by Mark Smith
Audience: YA
Genre: Dystopian
Plot summary: Two years after a virus wiped out most of the population, Finn’s quiet existence is shattered by the arrival of a young refugee who desperately needs his help.
Thoughts: I’ve been meaning to read this book since it first came out a couple of years ago. This…felt a lot like set up, to be honest. It’s not very long, and there was a lot of world-building type stuff to set up. So while I found this one pretty middle-of-the-road, I do feel like I would read the sequel to see if there’s more actual plot in that now that the set up has been done. I liked the characters and I liked the social justice messages that it contained. I just wanted…more.
Rating: 3 stars
#7: My Favourite Half Night Stand by Christina Lauren
Audience: Adult
Genre: Romance
Plot summary: When Millie and Reid’s friendship group decides they all need to find dates for an upcoming gala and that they should turn to online dating, Millie doesn’t know how to tell Reid that he’s matched with the profile she created under a fake name…
Thoughts: Oof. This is definitely my least favourite Christina Lauren book to date, but in a really complicated way. I mean, I loved the dynamic between the friend group. I liked the examination of online dating culture. I loved Millie and Reid as a couple. There was a lot here that was pretty swoony.
BUT. There’s so much in here that’s built on lies and the whole thing made me pretty fucking uncomfortable. Like, both of them had dozens of opportunities to say something, and neither of them did. And that infuriated the hell out of me. So it could have been worse. But it also could have been a hell of a lot better.
Rating: 3.5 stars
#8: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling (Reread)
Audience: YA
Genre: Fantasy
Plot summary: Harry Potter and the Year Voldemort Didn’t Bother Showing Up.
Thoughts: This is probably the last book in the series where it doesn’t feel like sudden death could hit anyone at any time. So…there’s that. Lupin is a delightful addition to the series, and I will never not love the idea of eating chocolate to get over having been near Dementors. Meanwhile, Snape is not only a garbage teacher but he’s a garbage human in general and he should have been fired into the sun in Philosopher’s Stone. Fight me.
Rating: 5 stars
#9: Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff
Audience: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Plot summary: The sequel to Nevernight features Mia selling herself into slavery to become a gladiator.
Thoughts: Wowwwwwwwwww. I don’t think I read the blurb at all before buying and (eventually) reading this book, so I had no idea the gladiator thing was going to be such a major part of the story. And I absolutely LOVED it. It gave the world this brilliant combination of medieval Venice and ancient Rome sort of a feeling, which was fan-fucking-tastic. There’s plenty of action, plenty of gore, plenty of smut, and plenty of humour. It’s basically everything I could have wanted and I’m horrified at myself for waiting so damned long to read it.
Rating: 5 stars
#10: Amelia Westlake by Erin Gough
Audience: YA
Genre: Contemporary
Plot summary: Two girls at an elite private school team up to carry out a series of pranks aimed at highlighting problems that the school is determined to sweep under the rug.
Thoughts: So here’s the thing: I really wanted to like this book. I mean, two lesbian teenagers teaming up to fight for social justice at their elite school? It sounds AMAZING. However. I found that I didn’t like either of the protagonists – Harriet was a total doormat and Will spent all her time hating on the privilege that surrounded her without acknowledging that she was benefiting from that privilege.
Add in the fact that it’s literally illegal for a school to react the way that this one did and I had a really fucking hard time buying this. If it was set in the 80s? Definitely. In the 90s? Maybe. But in 2018? There’s no way a school would sweep claims of sexual harassment and abuse by a staff member under the rug. So ultimately, I really liked the idea of this. But the execution? That was kind of a mess.
Rating: 3 stars
What have you been reading recently?
The Tea is Also Cursed 