A Wrap Up: February 2019 Part Two

Hi, and thanks for stopping by.

Today's post is going to be wrapping up the rest of the books I read in February; if you want to check out part one, you can by clicking here. I'm so happy with February as a reading month, because I discovered so many incredible books - and I also reread Josephine Angelini's Worldwalker trilogy which I read for the first time in 2017 and loved just as much, if not more, the second time around. Anyway, on with the ratings & reviews...

Sarah Crossan’s We Come Apart

2 stars

This was an interesting book, mainly because of its unique verse form; I actually really enjoyed that aspect of it. It also tackled some difficult, upsetting topics such as domestic abuse and racism. I'm not sure exactly why I really didn't get along with this book but perhaps it was because it was a little dark for my state of mind right now. Regardless of my personal rating, I always respect writers for putting such issues under the spotlight.

Emma Mills’s Foolish Hearts

5 stars

Yet again, this book was absolutely brilliant. Emma Mills is a complete master when it comes to writing YA. I plan to write a full book review and have it up on here soon (in March) so I don't want to say too much now, but this story is adorable, hilarious, heart-warming and just written with such a magic touch. Couldn't recommend it more. I think This Adventure Ends still has a slight edge over it, but Foolish Hearts is my second favourite book that I have read in 2019 so far.

Louise O’Neill’s The Surface Breaks

3.5 stars

Not my favourite Louise O'Neill book, I have to admit; I definitely preferred her contemporary YA and dystopian YA to this fantasty/fairytale retelling. I wonder if the latter genre is the problem or me though; I haven't read a retelling yet that I've really loved, perhaps because due to the very nature of the genre, there's nothing to surprise or intrigue really, because you already kind of know what's coming. Still, the writing itself was as haunting and gorgeous as you'd expect from a book about the darkness of mermaids (& indeed human beings in turn).

Jennifer Lynn Barnes’s Little White Lies

4.5 stars

This book was SO entertaining to read. It felt like Gossip Girl in so many ways (minus yknow…Gossip Girl herself…and New York City…but basically in every other sense!!) and I loved all of the glamour and frivolity and mystery of it. There were so many plot twists and turns to keep you guessing and I was never 100% sure who could be trusted or what was going to happen next. It seems like the ending was really pointing towards a sequel, so I’m really, really looking forward to reading that!

Emma mills’s First & Then

5 STARS

Despite taking slightly longer to settle into this novel, it still turned out to be absolutely beautiful. I loved the slowly blossoming relationship between Devon and Foster; it had so many special, emotive moments in it. I also really loved the romance; it was subtle and quiet and never took over the story and yet somehow you get so invested in it working out that every setback pains you to read. Such an incredible debut.

David Owen’s All the Lonely People
2.5 stars

This book ended up falling really flat for me. There wasn’t anything necessarily problematic or unlikable about it, in particular, I just really didn’t connect to it on any level. I guess the extra 0.5 was coming from a place of appreciation for the discussion of toxic masculinity and how misogynistic, egotistical and dangerous of a place the internet can be.

Lauren Price’s A Bad Boy Stole My Bra

2 stars

This book was just a whole mess of cliches to me. It's like every single possible trope of what makes a guy attractive was mixed into one character in the form of Alec and I just found myself constantly rolling my eyes not only at him but at a vast majority of the interactions. I appreciate that there were some hints of more significant themes in here but they were kind of just brushed aside for surface-level flirting & that whole "if a boy pulls your hair in the playground, he likes you" idea.

Emma Mills’s Famous in a Small Town

5 stars

ANOTHER completely gorgeous YA contemporary from Emma Mills. I loved the "small town" aspect of this novel, how totally in love with her two Sophie is and how anxious she feels at the thought of leaving it behind (or anybody else leaving it behind, even). This book also had a great plot twist which I appreciated SO MUCH. I can literally only think of two other contemporary YA novels that had such twists in them and I always remember those books for that reason - this one will be no exception in the future.

Victoria Aveyard’s War Storm

 4.5 stars

I spent a good chunk of February rereading the Red Queen series in anticipation of finally buying the paperback release of War Storm, so I was in a really good position to read the finale. I ended up enjoying it so much. The first 2-300 pages are really quite action-heavy, which I expected so that's fine, but the final 200 felt so much more special. I guess I was really hoping Maven's character would have some kind of redemption in the end, because for me he totally carried the entire series... alas.

So those are the rest of the books I read in February! 2019 is turning out to be such a GREAT reading year so far - especially in comparison to 2018; I think I had only read one amazing, 5-star read in 2018 by March!! Let me know your favourite book of the month, or even the year so far, by leaving a comment down below.

Till next time

Katie