March Wrap Up: 5 star reads + april high fantasy month tbr

hi friends,

april is upon us and i dont know about you all, but this never-ending winter weather that we’re facing has used up its time. it’s got to go!! i love winter and all but it’s starting to cross over into spring and i just need to be able to go outside and read in the grass before the summer bugs start attacking me

but no one came to listen to me complain so i’m going to jump straight into talking about books bc i remember exactly 0 things from march.

i found so many new favourites/5 star reads this month i am shocked. actually, my march has been pretty amazing in regards to books not movies though, hehe, i only watched like two

I read a total of 20 books. 6 physical books 📕, 8 e-books 📱, & 6 audiobooks 🎧
YARC reads will be represented with this emoji: 🍚 you can track my progress and mini reviews HERE

Links will take you to my reviews for each book.

 

 

 

 

🎧 The Bear and the Nightingale: ✦✦✦✦✧ (3.5 stars)

this series is so beautifully written. the characters are so well developed. the plot took some time for me to really get into but once it did, i was so invested in the story

📱 The Test: ✦✦✦✧✧ (3.5 stars)

this short story was sooooo messed up. it really makes you stop and think but i just wish it was a full length novel. i feel it could have had such a stronger impact that way

📱 Invisible Ghosts: ✦✦✧✧✧ (1.5 stars)

i,,,didn’t like this. not anything necessarily wrong with it but it just felt flat for the majority of the book

🎧 The Blood of Olympus: ✦✦✦✦✧

i !!!finally!!! finished this series. i love these characters so much, i want to adopt them all

🎧 One Day in December: ✦✦✦✦✧

i was pleasantly surprised by this book. not only were the narrators amazing but it was really entertaining to follow. and the ending made me feel all fuzzy

 

 

 

 

📕 Map of Salt and Stars: ✦✦✦✦✧ 🍚

guys i dont know what to tell you about this book other than READ IT RIGHT NOW PLEASE. it’s about the syrian crisis and my goodness, the writing, the prose, the descriptions, it’s so raw and painful.

i’m absolutely floored by this one

📕 An Assassin’s Guide to Love & Treason: ✦✦✧✧✧

i can see why readers would enjoy this book but the story just seemed very relaxed while really intense things were going on. and……i didn’t feel anything for the ship soz

📱 Daisy Jones & the Six: ✦✦✦✦✧

this book is so dramatic and realistic and i dont understand how these people aren’t real bc taylor jenkin reid writes in such a detailed way, i thought i was reading a documentary.

📕 The Loneliest Girl in the Universe: ✦✦✦✦✦

I DONT KNOW WHERE THIS BOOK CAME FROM BUT MY GOODNESS I LOVE IT

it was so fast paced and easy to read, i flew through it in one day and there were moments when i was shaking bc of how intense it got. wow, im so impressed with this book

also extra points for being set in space

📱 Skyward:✦✦✦✦✦

brandon sanderson could publish his shopping list and i would 5 star it. what is this guy doing to write like this??? is there anything he CANT write??

absolutely a new favourite

 

 

 

🎧 The Girl in the Tower: ✦✦✦✦✧

i actually enjoyed the sequel more than the first book. i felt the stakes were higher and the plot was more complex. i was more attached to the characters

(book 1 helped build the setting and conflict but this book was more entertaining)

📱 A Curse so Dark and Lonely: ✦✦✦✦✦ (4.5 stars)

this was just a fun, fast read. i love retellings of all sorts but i felt like this one was my favourite beauty and the beast retelling.

it was engaging, the characters were precious, and even though it wasn’t huge on world building, every aspect of it was just so charming, i couldn’t help but adore it

🎧 The Child Finder: ✦✦✦✦✦

Rene Denfeld has easily become one of my favourite mystery/thriller writers. She writes magic and i am enchanted.

📱 96 Words for Love: ✦✧✧✧✧ 🍚

i really couldn’t stand the characters in this book. they felt so one-dimensional and it was really romance heavy. there were sensitive issues brought up towards the end of the book and they were solved much too quickly in my opinion

eh, wasn’t for me

📕 First and Then: ✦✦✦✦✦

I’M AWARE THAT THIS OBJECTIVELY ISN’T A FLAWLESS BOOK BUT I DON’T CARE BECAUSE IT MADE ME SO HAPPY and it was SO cute and i LAUGHED and it’s emma mills, do you really expect anything else from me?

 

 

 

 

The Book of M: ✦✦✦✧✧ (3.5 stars) 🍚

the premise of this book was so interesting. I went in completely blind and i was captivated for the majority of the book. the plot twist was amazing but my biggest issue lies with how open the ending was.

i had so many questions and none of them were answered and i just,,,,,,want my answers

📱 The Bone Witch: ✦✧✧✧✧ 🍚

i’m sorry, i dont even know what happened with this book. really didn’t work with me.

🎧 You are a Badass: ✦✦✦✧✧

this was pretty good. overall it was a good reminder for what most of us already know, theoretically, on how to get our life together. it did offer some new perspectives on some things, so it was pretty good.

📱 Beauty of the Beast: ✦✦✧✧✧

uhhhhh, this felt really cheesy and excessively long. the plot took forever to start

📕 Emergency Contact: ✦✦✦✦✧ 🍚

i honestly went into this book thinking i was going to hate it and LOOK at us now!! emergency contact was so entertaining to read, i loved how realistic the characters were, the majority of the story takes place in a cute little cafe, there is in-book texting

!!!!what more do you want!!!

and that wraps up my reading month.

lets talk about april.

okay so i dont know why but i took it upon myself to do this but i’m challenging myself in April to read predominantly high fantasy it was supposed to be exclusive high fantasy month, but i am a contemp trash and i cannot live without my contemps, so i had to make some exceptions

the whole idea behind this was that i really LOVE books that are immersive and detailed and complex with their magic systems but i tent to shy away from high fantasy due to their length and theyre freaking scary, okay have you seen how big some of those series are??? absolutely terrifying

but i figured it’s time to face my fear also some of them are so hyped and excuse me?? i need to get in on that excitement too and the best way i thought would work for me would be to just power through a whole bunch

you know, get me in that mind set and all

so, if you care to know, my very loose april ~*TBR*~ i know, i never do tbrs but i’m trying to motivate myself with some sort of accountability for this month is going to be:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

can you hear me cowering in fear of this TBR?? i am terrified that all this high fantasy is going to slay my existence and my will to read but

am i really going to give up a chance to challenge myself?? the answer is no.

but for real, let me know if you guys have read any of these books, i’d love to know your thoughts on them.

how was your march? are you excited for spring? have you read any high fantasies and if so, which were your favourites trying to compile a list here?

that’s all i have for this month. i hope you’re all doing well and reading your life away,