Hi, and thanks for stopping by.
This month I've decided to replace my usual monthly wrap-up post with a favourites post. This is for two reasons; firstly, I find wrap-ups can get quite long and I worry they'll be boring/repetitive, especially if you read my reviews on goodreads, too!! Secondly, often I read more books that I don't like/are overwhelmingly average, and I want to focus on the positives this month! I'll see how this goes and may continue doing it for a few months, or intersperse it with the usual wrap-ups!! Anyway, here goes - here are my favourite reads of February!!!
Robyn Schneider’s
severed heads, broken hearts
4 stars
I was so excited to read this book, because I've read Robyn's other YA novel Extraordinary Means and I completely adored it (I really want to try and reread it soon, actually!) so I had huge expectations for this. I ended up really loving it, luckily. Ezra, our protagonist, is left with a limp and walks with a cane, after being hit by a car - Ezra is funny, smart and unashamedly sweet. He made some really strong, solid friendships, dealt with losing tennis (this could've been developed further, I think) and fell in love. My main issue with this book was Cassidy's character, because I felt she was a little over-written; too quirky, quoting Foucault etc., although her backstory, once revealed, helped me to understand her ways better. Robyn is definitely an author I need to keep an eye out for in the future!
This was such a beautiful coming-of-age story about a gay teenager, coming to terms with his true feelings for his ex, boyfriend whilst simultaneously dealing with his best friend moving away and his extremely difficult parents. There was some really interesting discussion of religion (not overly positive, be warned) and sexuality (so well written, I adored every word of Patrick Ness's writing style). I ended up not being able to give this 5 stars because of this BIZARRE italics section that took over every few chapters - there was this weird fantastical, ghost story going on in the background and , to me at least, it literally made NO sense and had NO effect on the greater story. A shame - would've been 5 stars otherwise.
So yeah! February was a slow reading month for me (my slowest in SOOO long) partly because I just didn't come across that many books I loved (clearly) but also because I just felt like I was in a huge reading slump generally. And then at the end of the month, I ended up needing emergency surgery and so I basically read nothing for over a week...basically unheard of for me!! Hence why I've been gone for a little while!! I may not be back to regularly uploading twice a week for a week or two yet. Hope you're all well.
Till next time
Kiera cass’s the
elite & the one
Admittedly, I only decided to give The Elite 3.5 stars in the end, and The One got 4 stars from me, but I wanted to put them both in this favourites post because I SO enjoyed the reading experience; I read them literally one after the other, within 24 hours. I read The Selection actually a few years ago now, so the story was a little hazy, but I got back into it in no time at all. I adore America and Maxon as characters and I thought their relationship, chemistry and drama was written super well. There were some problematic areas; the Aspen love-triangle element was a non-starter for me, things could be quite repetitive & elements such as family relationships and the rebellion only felt about 75% committed to, in comparison to elements such as the romances. But my heart felt SO invested in this story and I can't wait to read the two companion novels, too!
I've been looking forward to reading this book ever since I heard about it - it didn't end up being the 5-star, perfect read I was hoping for, but it was a solidly satisfying 4 stars. It had great diversity, humour & discussion of some really interesting topics (sexuality, gender, friendship, religion, family dynamics, acceptance and lots more). I also really liked the small-town, American setting - it's one of my favourite places to read books about, not sure why I find them so fascinating, especially considering most characters usually hate living in them for understandable reasons!!
Patrick ness’s
release
So yeah! February was a slow reading month for me (my slowest in SOOO long) partly because I just didn't come across that many books I loved (clearly) but also because I just felt like I was in a huge reading slump generally. And then at the end of the month, I ended up needing emergency surgery and so I basically read nothing for over a week...basically unheard of for me!! Hence why I've been gone for a little while!! I may not be back to regularly uploading twice a week for a week or two yet. Hope you're all well.
Till next time
Katie
I’m glad you liked Release because I still need to read that one. I hope you have a great March!
ReplyDeleteAj @ Read All The Things!
I'd definitely recommend it!! :) You too, as always x
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