May Reading Wrap-Up!
Hey everyone! May was SUCH a good reading month for me! I read 10 things, 8 books and 2 graphic novels, and had two 5-star ratings! I read a couple of books that have been on my shelves for a long time and some books that I have been excited for for a super long time. Without further ado, here are my thoughts on the books I read! ~ Em
This is the third book in the Wayward Children series. I thought that since the second book was a prequel, that each would be focusing on new characters and not include characters from the first book, however, this third book introduces new characters and follows some from the first book as well. I can't really say what happens in this book past that, because it would spoil a lot from the first book. I really loved the direction this book went it. There was more character development of some of the characters from the first book and the stakes were a bit higher. I am interested to see where the series will go from here! Rating: 4/5
This is the second book in the Shadow and Bone trilogy. I liked the continuation of this series a lot. I think this was my favorite book in the trilogy (you'll see that I finished the series later in the month). The stakes were so high and I felt like things were slightly less predictable. I still had some problems with it, mostly the fact that I just don't like the main character, Alina, very much. I love the magic system and just thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Rating: 4/5
Y'all, I loved this book! It's about a girl named Mila, whose best friend dies and it appears that it was a suicide. Mila and her friend practiced witchcraft together before the friend passed away, and Mila sets out to do a spell to bring her friend back from the dead, because she doesn't believe that she killed herself and wants to know what really happened. When she does this spell, Mila accidentally brings back the two mean girls from her school who had recently passed away in an apparent double suicide as well. This book has great discussions of friendship, feminism, grief, and death. It had great quips and dark humor that I loved. I love paranormal books so this was just wonderful for me. Rating: 5/5
This is the final book in the Shadow and Bone trilogy. Obviously I can't say what this was about, since it's the third in a series. For a big portion of this book, it focuses on a character I hate, so that wasn't very enjoyable. I also didn't feel satisfied with the ending, but I enjoyed reading this series and liked a lot about how we got to the end and the journey they took and things that they had to go through to get to the end. Rating: 4/5
I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned this on my blog, but one of my favorite niche categories of books is books about bands, or that include a band, so I was really excited for this book. This one is about a boy named Sammy who is in a band with a group of guys who just can't seem to get their crap together. The singer is a major jerk and makes everyone's lives miserable. They decide to compete in a Battle of the Bands but many things keep getting in the way of their success. It had some interesting music and band references that were fun and the story had some different elements than the typical band-based book that I enjoyed. Rating: 3/5
I have officially decided that short story collections are not for me. I have had this book on my TBR (to be read) list for a long time, and this month decided to listen to it on audio. I can honestly only remember small parts of two or three of the stories in this collection. All of the stories feature black characters in varying genres, from contemporary to magical realism. The couple stories that I do remember were well written and were good stories, but they just didn't resonate with me. Rating: 3/5
This book is one of the ones that has been on my TBR the longest. I would pick it up and read the synopsis and not feel super interested, and I'm not in the mood for thrillers very often, however I was pleasantly surprised! It's about a girl named Calliope who has developed graphomania after a traumatic event that she remembers nothing about. She gets compulsions to write and if she doesn't write the words that come to her head, she gets physically ill. As she writes, she remembers things about the traumatic thing that happened. This tackled some dark things, including sexual assault, abuse of power in religious settings, and mental illness. I didn't predict how the book ended and I was surprised by many of the twists and turns throughout. Rating: 4/5
If you take anything away from reading this wrap-up, it should be to READ THIS GRAPHIC NOVEL ASAP!!!!! It is one of the most wholesome and beautiful books I have ever read. It's about a boy, who by day is a regular prince and at night likes to wear beautiful dresses and makeup. He hires a girl to be his personal seamstress and she creates amazing, unique dresses for the prince. This books discusses acceptance, gender stereotypes, family dynamics, and friendship. I LOVED it. The artwork is so cute and the fashion is amazing! Rating: 5/5
Six of Crows is the first book in a duology set in the Grishaverse, which is the same world as the Shadow and Bone trilogy. It follows completely different characters and a completely different story line. It mostly follows six characters who are trying to pull off a seemingly impossible heist. I loved how high the stakes were and the twists and turns were very unexpected, in my opinion. My two favorite characters are Kaz and Inej. I feel that they have the most interesting backgrounds and story lines. It is diverse and each character is their own. They all have different motives and back stories and it's super interesting to read about all of them. It took me about 150 pages before I got truly invested in the story, so that's why it didn't get a full five stars. Rating: 4/5
