Hi, and thanks for stopping by.
Today's blog post is the first half of my usual monthly reading wrap up; below you'll find star-ratings (out of 5) and small reviews of each of the books I've read so far in May 2019. I'd love to hear about your favourite book of the month - leave a comment down below!!
Marieke Nijkamp’s
This Is Where It Ends
3.5-4 stars
I think I've read three or four YA novels focused on school shootings now. There was a really successful sense of claustrophobia and terror built up here, particularly during the scenes within the auditorium. It was an interesting perspective to have those chapters outside of the shooting too, to showcase the kind of heroism individuals have showed in these kind of scenarios in real-life.
Jessi Kirby’s The
Secret History of Us
3.5-4stars
I do feel I've read this exact plot about 1000 times before now (girl gets in accident, develops amnesia, has troubled relationship with crappy boyfriend and starts to suspect she had a secret love interest all along) and I don't think the execution of this was quite good enough to make it read any different to any of the rest, unfortunately.
Kim Purcell’s This
Is Not A Love Letter
4 stars
This was interesting because despite being a thriller, it didn't constantly feel like a really dark, scary story to read; if anything a lot of the time it felt more like a hard-hitting contemporary. It was really interesting to see how issues of race (particularly within the context of small-town America) were woven into the mystery and its aftermath/consequences.
Mary H.K. Choi’s
Emergency Contact
4 stars
Despite a somewhat slow start, I ended up really loving this story. Particularly I was a fan of the university setting; it still read like YA to me, not NA, which I loved. The reveal we get about Penny's character further into the novel completely shocked me, made me invest tenfold and took the story so much deeper than just a surface level cute romance.
Mackenzi Lee’s The
Gentleman’s Guide To Vice And Virtue
5 stars
I feel as though I really should have hated this; it's this kind of bizarre, historical, action plot, nobles travelling across Europe in the 1800's. Instead I ended up absolutely adoring it. It was fun, frivolous, sweet and included some great representation. I'm excited to read the second book in the series. Definitely my favourite book of the month so far.
Nisha Sharma’s My
So Called Bollywood Life
3.5-4 stars
I loved the fact that Winnie had a hobby in/passion for film (this is one of my favourite elements to be included in YA novels, but it is so often lacking) and the way that that was used to help structure the novel as a whole. I also think the prophecy element of the plot gave the story something a little more unique than the average contemporary romance.
Karen McManus’s Two Can Keep A Secret
3.5-4 stars
I think when you have a debut like One of Us is Lying, it's always going to be hard for your second book to live up to it?? Perhaps that's just subjective, but I definitely didn't enjoy this quite as much (pretty sure I gave OFUIL 5 stars). I am really in awe of how this author creates, and stays in control of, such interesting, winding thriller-narratives. I'll definitely read whatever she writes next.
So that's what I've been reading so far in May! Hopefully there's some more great stories still to come.
Till next time
Katie
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