May was such an awesome reading month! Although I had a couple of projects for uni, they didn’t take up as much of my time as I feared. Most of my free time, I spent with my head in a book. Not only did I read a lot, I also read a lot of awesome books.
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Belle Epoque by Elizabeth Ross
Unfortunately, the first book I finished was one of the weaker ones of this month. I also have a review written up to be published soon. In short, it wasn’t the late 19th century Parisian version of Gossip Girl I hoped for. Instead, it was a repoussoir itself: positively plain, dull, and boring. 2/5
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The Book of Three (The Chronicles of Prydain, #1) by Lloyd Alexander
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The Black Cauldron (The Chronicles of Prydain, #2) by Lloyd Alexander
Once upon a time, I bought a German bind-up of the whole series. Unfortunately, I had to find out that for some reason the printing had gone awry and a couple of chapters were missing here and there. Naturally, I didn’t want to read an edition with chapters missing, so I got rid of it. Yet, I still wanted to read the novels and was so happy when I got the box set. I’m really surprised how much I love this Middle Grade/YA series. It is delightful and fast-paced with adorable characters, funny banter, difficult journeys, a multitude of wicked situations, and the realisation that being a hero is not as simple as it sounds. 5-5/5
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Das Leben fängt noch einmal an (One Last Wish, #10) by Lurlene McDaniel
[OT: All the Days of Her Life (One Last Wish, #10)] -
Sommer der Entscheidung (One Last Wish, #11) by Lurlene McDaniel
[OT: A Season for Goodbye (One Last Wish, #11)] -
Reach for Tomorrow (One Last Wish, #12) by Lurlene McDaniel
I finally finished this series with lots and lots of tears. I loved having a group of characters to follow around while tying in with the previous standalone-ish novels. Therefore, the last novel really killed me. A lot of characters from previous novels came back and remembered the characters that died and the lives they’d lived. 3-4-4/5
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Fairest (The Lunar Chronicles, #3.5) by Marissa Meyer
When it comes to Fairest, I might be the odd one out. I did enjoy it, but by far not as much as I hoped I would. I wanted a strong, character-driven story depicting Levana becoming the cruel and heartless queen we know from the series. Unfortunately, I just didn’t really feel it. I couldn’t align the Levana from Fairest and the Levana from The Lunar Chronicles. Somehow, I feel as if they are two totally different persons. Oh, and I think you should read the series in publication order. Although this is a prequel, there are many spoilery cameos.
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Spaß mit deinem Pferd (Pferdewissen, #4) by Ardina Strüwer
[LT: Fun with Your Horse (Horse Facts, #4)]
Not much to say about this one. Nice pics, a couple of interesting ideas. 3/5
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A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR, #1) by Sarah J. Maas
A Beauty and the Beast retelling with faeries. What could possibly go wrong when combining two of my favourite things? Well, fortunately not much. I really enjoyed it but there are also a couple of things that really bugged me. Mostly, that I felt like reading two books instead of one. The first part was classic B&B, the second part was what I want from a faerie novel – quests and riddles. Too bad that the first part was a little too slow and the second part a little too fast for my liking. By the way, this is the first time I’m actually into both guys in that sort of love triangle thingy – and yet, I still ship Feyre and Tamlin, because Rhysand is MINE! 4/5
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The Wrath & the Dawn (The Wrath & the Dawn, #1) by Renée Ahdieh
Say what you want, I loved everything about this one. Every single page, every word, every letter, every tiny imprint of ink on paper – and all the delicious heartwrenching feelings they evoked, sweeping me away into this exotic dream. What’s not to love about this Arabian fairytale? My favourite part was the ending, though. A part of me wishes this would have been a standalone. This is just exactly how I love my endings. There’s just nothing like getting one’s heart ripped out, diced up, smashed into a thousand little pieces, drowned in a sea of salty tears and then seved to oneself on a platter of velvety words. 5/5
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Prudence (The Custard Protocol, #1) by Gail Carriger
Gail Carriger is a synonym for hilariously entertaining novels, this one being no exception. There’s just something so wonderfully charming about super/meta/preternaturals making small talk and sipping tea while everything around them goes to hell – whether that’s in London, on a dirigible, or in an Indian jungle. The characters are a treat. It’s so great to meet all the old (and the new) faces and learn what has become of our darling Parasol Protectorate characters. I can’t wait to continue following Rue around – and I really want to know how that‘s going to turn out with Quesnel. 4/5
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Der Ruf des Schicksals by Eleanor Jones
[OT: Tomorrow’s Tears]
It started out really nice but then got super weird. All in all, it was kind of nice, though. 3/5
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Für immer vielleicht by Cecelia Ahern
[OT: Where Rainbows End]
Ever since I saw the trailer for Love, Rosie, I wanted to give this novel a second chance. When I tried to read it for the first time at age 17 or 18, I was bored to death and put it down after about 80 pages. This time, I flew through the first 120 pages and was a little afraid I was getting old. I’m not much into chick lit but I was really enjoying myself. Well, I barely got that idea when the novel started to drag again and from there it went downhill. For one thing, the novel could have been 200 pages shorter. For another, I just don’t get how one could enjoy this story. It’s rather depressing. 2/5
Stats
Including pages of books I haven’t finished yet.
In Books |
In Pages |
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| Read | 13 | Read | 3315 | |
| First Reads | 13 | Pages/Day | 107 | |
| Re-reads | 0 | Pages/Book | 255 |
Quesnel, hehehehehehehehehe. I felt a bit bad for both of them because some things are so obvious and none of them really sees it. xD But they’ll get around, I’m sure.
I really need to get a copy of “The Wrath & the Dawn” though. It does sound awesome. D:
That was sooo funny! I loved it. This is going to be very very interesting indeed.
It is quite awesome – as long as one ignores that this book wouldn’t pass the Bechdel test (although the female characters are all really great) and it’s one of ‘those’ romances (which, as a matter of fact, I love for some reason). It’s just a really wonderful Arabian fairytale.
You’re making it sound less awesome right now. xD Well, that part about the romance in any way.
Not passing the Bechdel test, easy as is, is always pretty sad tbh, but sometimes it still works (or doesn’t despite passing the test). Cf. Pacific Rim and Mako Mori, who is a female main character with her own detailed and developed backstory instead of being just a prop.
Sorry about that, but I just wanted to point it out beforehand as some kind of warning. I mean, I do know how you like your books, so … But do read it! I’d love to hear your opinion.
Yeah, I know. I never really look out for it, but somehow this time, I paid attention. They are all really interesting and I think we’re getting more of them in the second book. So not all hope’s lost here.
And you’re not wrong to … it’s always better to start reading prepared for stuff that might be disappointing.
I will! Though I won’t order it until I worked on my SuB a bit. If I see it in a bookshop, though … 😉
Still awkward that there wasn’t a way to let two female characters talk to each about anything but boys. Like, the could have talked about the weather. xD