Before March started, I had this goal to read 31 books in 31 days because I am nothing if not irrational (aka, I have accidentally done that two years in a row and wanted to see if I could do it again). I did not achieve 31 books in 31 days, but I did hit the highest number I have so far this year and I had a really solid reading month. I rated lots of things five stars on Goodreads, but maybe it’s my mood, but probably there are going to be lots of 4.5s in today’s rating. Regardless though, what a fantastic reading month. And maybe I’m wrong about our most prevalent rating. Let’s find out, shall we?
Books Read by Rating
5 Stars
I have ARC reviews already posted for both Promise Me Sunshine and My Big Fate Fake Marriage, so I’ll direct you to those for my thoughts on them if you’re curious. And I’ve talked so much about Hidden Legacy that I don’t think I need to say anything else about them. But The Reformatory deserves an essay full of words I don’t have about how absolutely brilliantly Due used horror elements to write about the horrors of the Jim Crow South and these “reform” schools. I am in awe, speechless, horrified, amazed, etc. over that book. It was absolutely brilliant and I will never forget it. But also, I wish I could erase it from my brain because it was so awful and hard to read. (I really am glad I did though!)
4.5 Stars
Each of these books was absolutely delightful. I’m truly obsessed with Elsie Silver’s writing, so it’s no surprise I loved the third book in both her Gold Rush Ranch series and her Rose Hill series. I know people haven’t loved Wild Side as much, but I personally had a great time. I gave it five stars immediately after finishing, but then I read Promise Me Sunshine and they both had a grief plot line and I just realized how much more deeply I felt the grief in Promise Me Sunshine and so I docked a half star for my final rating. Out of the Woods was fantastic for me. I love a marriage in trouble and Caleb and Sarah are great. If you have any issues though with trips to the hospital, maybe avoid this one if you’re not in a good head space. And finally, The Spare is a book I finished this morning and I rated a 4 star on Goodreads. I woke up though at just shy of 5 in the morning and wound up devouring the second half of this book before work. I haven’t stopped thinking about it all day and I’m excited to continue in the series. So while I did sort of hate the whole lie of omission thing, I loved the book and that’s how we landed at 4.5. I feel good about it right now anyway!
4 Stars
I’ve reviewed The King’s Messenger and Audre & Bash are Just Friends already so I won’t belabor any of those thoughts. I will say that I put Audre & Bash where I think my overall enjoyment lands here in this wrap up, whereas on Goodreads, I’ve rated it based partially on the fact that I think as a teen (the target audience), I would have ate this up with a spoon. I would have adored it. The messiness and the New York City private school vibes would have had me so engrossed. Anyway, as for the others, I really enjoyed CCJ always and Didn’t Mean to Love You was not an exception. I just found the MMC a little annoying. Like, bro, please! You’re already dating! So that aggravated me too much to fully love the book (but also, that’s her job so great job CCJ!). How to Steal a Galaxy by Beth Revis feels like I will hopefully finally have fully formed thoughts on the trilogy once I read the final book, if that makes sense. This novella just felt so… in the middle of the beginning and the conclusion that it’s hard to think of it on its own. Heart Strings by Ivy Fairbanks is an ARC copy of a book that comes out in August. I’m interested to see where I land on this one after I’ve had more time to think about it. I loved so many parts of it, but something about it wasn’t quite working for me. Then again, I don’t know that I loved Morbidly Yours as much immediately as I did over time so we’ll see. And then finally, Collide was so much fun, but also, WHY was it so long? You know? And it’s only 395 pages, but I felt like there were times where I was really feeling those pages. Overall though, very fun and I’d now like to continue on in this series.
3.5 Stars
I’ve already provided my ARC reviews on both of these books so I’ll not talk about them again here. Except to say that if you have a book recommendation for a book about a woman who keeps a garden and uses the plants in it to help women or people capable of getting pregnant deal with that, please, please, PLEASE share with me all of your recs. I loved Meg’s story in The Other March Sisters and I want a full size book now.
3 Stars
I had an ARC of each of these books and reviews are already posted for Get Lost with You, Harlem Rhapsody, and Duchess Material. So I’ll focus just on a quick thing for When Grumpy Met Sunshine and Ruined. For Grumpy, I liked the book! I really did. But also, it moved both too quick and too slowly at the same time. The pacing just didn’t quite work for me and it meant the romance didn’t land. But probably my biggest issue was how much thought the main character put into her weight and the way other people viewed her even though she said she was confident in herself. I 100% would have the same issue if suddenly I was being photographed constantly, but I didn’t want to have to hear about it. So is that fair? Maybe not, but this blog is about my reading so… There you have it. As for Ruined, I was so excited about this historical romance graphic novel, but then I read it and… well, it was a book I read. There was a lot going on in it for it to be sparse on words and sometimes I was confused about who the characters were supposed to be. I think it’s probably my lack of familiarity in reading graphic novels because I really don’t read that many, but ultimately, I desperately wanted to love this one (especially because I spent my actual money buying it), but didn’t.
Closing Thoughts
I normally would have statistics and link you to my blog posts from throughout the month, but I’ll be honest, I’m just not feeling up to that. If those are things that are important to you, please feel free to tell me and I’ll make sure I prioritize those in the future instead of, you know, not. I also miss sharing my links of things around the web so hopefully I’ll have the energy to bring that back in April. In the meantime though, if you have written a post or read a post that you loved this month and it’s not too hard, please share it with me! Tag me or link me or DM me, whatever. I would love to see!
xx
firewhiskeyreader 