March Wrap-Up! Hey guys! This month has gone pretty quickly and here we are again for another probably late monthly wrap-up! Woohoo! Anyway, this month was a pretty good reading month, seeing as it went pretty quickly. I read a lot of great books but also some not so great books, but lets get into it! *I just wanted to quickly say that the order of my wrap-ups is in three different sections - finished reading (started in a previous month, finished in the current month), read (read the whole book this month) and started reading (started reading in the month but ran out of time, got bored etc.) and throughout these three sections, the books are ordered from lower ratings to higher ratings.* Finished Reading Dark Escape by Eileen Sheehan - Read 160 Pages *I was sent an ebook copy for review from the author - thank you Eileen! * Going into this book I sort of had medium expectations because I've previously read another book by Eileen (The Vampire, The Handler and Me) and found it to be just okay. I was hoping to like this one as it sounded like something I would like more. Luckily, I enjoyed this one a lot better and was able to connect to the characters, storyline and feel like I was properly invested in the story. I want to explain what the story is actually about but I know I will just end up making it sound really confusing, so I'll just attach the goodreads link below for you to check out yourself. To be honest, I don't think the synopsis even does it justice, it makes it sound more like a romance than it actually is. The book is full of adventure, weird beasts/creatures and magic. Really, you just need to try it for yourself! Rate - 4/5 GR - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29349368-dark-escape?from_new_nav=true&ac=1&from_search=true BD - NOT AVALIABLE AMAZON - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dark-Escape-1-Eileen-Sheehan/dp/0692629912/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1459524544&sr=8-1&keywords=Dark+Escape+by+Eileen+Sheehan REVIEW - http://sprinkleofbooks.weebly.com/blog/spoiler-free-review-dark-escape-by-eileen-sheehan Am I Normal Yet? by Holly Bourne - Read 384 Pages For months I've wanted to read this book and nearly bought it on countless trips to the bookstore, but have always put it down saying that I'll get it another day. This month I finally picked it up because I was going to Holly Bourne's and Eve Ainsworth's Manchester event and I'm so glad I did. I fell instantly in love with this book and ended up finishing it in like two days or something like that. I hadn't been that hooked in a book for a long time and I was so overjoyed that it was happening again. I loved everything about this book from the writing style to the storyline to the characters. I really cared for the main character (Evie) and couldn't help but cry nearer to the end when everything seemed to be going wrong for her and there was nothing she could do. What interested me in the first place about this book was that it deals with mental illnesses. Evie (the main character) is currently battling with her OCD disorder and trying to work towards completely coming off her meds and start being "normal". You really get to feel what Evie is going through and that's why I couldn't help but care for her so much. In this book Holly Bourne interprets many different problems/issues that teenage girls would/could be tackling: feminism, boy problems, drifting away from friends, making new friends and mental health. She uses all these things and connects them to each other. Personally, I think that Holly handled the mental health disorder very well and made it feel real for the reader and really made you think about how mental health can really affect someone and how they might feel. Rate - 5/5 GR - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23592235-am-i-normal-yet?from_new_nav=true&ac=1&from_search=true BD - http://www.bookdepository.com/Am-I-Normal-Yet-/9781409590309 REVIEW - COMING SOON! READ The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Chris Riddell - 3/5 - 69 Pages I've heard so many great things about this book, so when I saw it at my local library, I knew I had to pick it up. Before going into this, I didn't really know much apart from that there is a lot of illustrations and that it's like a fairytale sort of thing. I ended up being really disappointed by this. The illustrations were really great (Chris Riddell did such a great job), but I felt the story lacked. I was confused at points (despite it being very short) and I'm still confused about certain parts now. Also, I don't really know what to think of Neil Gaiman's writing style. I can certainly understand how many people love it as it is quite different and interesting, but I think it's also not for everyone. I think I'm one of those people who are just meh about it. Rate - 2.75(ish)/5 GR - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23301545-the-sleeper-and-the-spindle?from_new_nav=true&ac=1&from_search=true BD - http://www.bookdepository.com/The-Sleeper-and-the-Spindle/9781408859643 REVIEW - Tinder by Sally Gardner - 265 Pages When I went to my local library and picked up The Sleeper and The Spindle, I also picked up this as I'd also heard really great things about it. I enjoyed this one slightly more than The Sleeper and the Spindle, I did still find parts confusing in this but most of it came clear by the end. I did enjoy parts of this but after reading it, I just didn't feel any connection to the book whatsoever (apart from that was okay). I thought the ending was good as it did wrap a lot of things up and didn't really leave any loose ends. Rate - 3.25/5 GR- https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18113422-tinder?from_new_nav=true&ac=1&from_search=true BD - http://www.bookdepository.com/Tinder/9781780621494 REVIEW - From Ashes Into Light by Gudrun Mouw - 240 Pages *I was sent a physical copy from the author in trade for an honest review.* When I received an email about this book, what caught my eye first was that it featured the war. I immediately got excited as I really love books about any of the wars. I'm just really into that part of History. Anyway, after reading more I found out that the book featured 3 different voices: Ruth, a Jewish teenager during Kristallnacht in World War II Austria, Saqapaya, a stalwart Native American from coastal California during the time of the Spanish conquest and Friede Mai, born during the war to a Bavarian Soldier (a prisoner of war) and an East-Prussian mother. Linking these three voices together is a Phoenix who flies between these characters, following them through the wars. I enjoyed the story and I found the way the author linked all three character together to be really interesting. However, I was really confused by Saqapaya's parts as I didn't really understand what was going on, I only had a vague idea. However with the other two characters, Ruth and Friede-Mai, I really cared for the two of them and understood their stories well. Rate - 3.75/5 GR - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24264409-from-ashes-into-light?from_new_nav=true&ac=1&from_search=true BD - http://www.bookdepository.com/From-Ashes-Into-Light/9781941203071 REVIEW - Kindred Spirits by Rainbow Rowell - 62 Pages When I found out that Rainbow Rowell was going to be releasing a WBD Book, I literally freaked out and instantly knew that I'd be getting a copy as soon as I can. As soon as I received my voucher (to get a free WBD Book) from my school, I flew (not literally) over to my local bookshop, which luckily had every WBD book in, and purchased it. I'm a big fan of Rowell's books though have only read two of her books (Eleanor & Park and Fangirl), though I do have Carry On on my TBR pile (well it's sort of a shelf but sshhhh no one needs to know that). This one is features around the latest Star Wars movie, but don't worry, you don't need to be a Star Wars to read or understand it. The main girl, Elena, is a huge Star Wars fan and decides to camp out for a week (I think it's a week) outside her local cinema. She's so excited and can't wait to be surrounded by people who love Star Wars just as much as her. She arrives and is person number 3 in the queue (lucky right?) out of three people (oh). It's just her and these two guys ahead of her for the whole time she's camping. Oh well, Elena's not going to let anything put her mood down, not even her mum who keeps driving past to keep an eye on her. Lots of things happen and it's just a great book and everyone needs to read it (especially Rowell fans). Rate - 5/5 GR- https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26365537-kindred-spirits?from_new_nav=true&ac=1&from_search=true AMAZON - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kindred-Spirits-World-Book-2016/dp/1509820833/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1459616332&sr=1-1&keywords=kindred+spirits+rainbow+rowell Spot The Difference by Juno Dawson - 85 Pages This is another WBD book which I picked up at my local bookstore. I myself have never read a book by Juno, but have always wanted to and her books have always been on wishlist. Anyway, I was reading the synopsis of this WBD book and I knew I needed to pick it up. It sounded like something that might be quite relatable to lot of people. I'm not going to go into detail about what the book is about as I know for a fact that I'm not going to do any justice whatsoever. Anyway, this book is so freaking relatable it's ridiculous. I loved every single word of it and in my own year group at high school, I could definitely relate certain characters to people I know. This book I would total recommend, it's so relatable and honestly just an important book that everyone (especially people in high school+) should read. Rate - 5/5 GR - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27268882-spot-the-difference AMAZON - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Spot-Difference-2016-World-Book/dp/1471405672/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=0JCGZXHXJ1ANMCSW3XW2 The Potion Diaries by Amy Alward - 356 Pages Last summer (when this book came out I think), I was in my nearest Waterstones (which isn't exactly that near but oh well) with my mum and I was looking through the buy one get one half price offer tables Waterstones switch up every so often. These tables are literally the reason I love Waterstones (they have popular new releases as well as not so popular releases as well as older books), they have great offers and I always find what I'm looking for on these tables. Anyway, this book had just been released, but it was back when I was just getting back into reading again so I didn't really care for it. They had a whole display of the book and I remember my mum pointing it out to me saying that it sounded good. I wasn't really interested as I already had two books I wanted to get, Will Grayson,Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan and Looking for Alaska by John Green (two books that are still on my TBR...). Anyway, a couple of months back I was browsing through either Waterstones' website or Goodreads and I saw this book again. I thought I'd just read the synopsis and see what I thought. I really wanted to get it. However, it's one of those books that I just keep putting further and further back on my list to buy and I'll probably never get round to it. I was talking to my friend the other day (she loves books and always has, but fell out of reading about a year ago or so and is just starting to get back into it) and she started talking about this book and that I needed to read it. Luckily she had a copy and she let me borrow it (and I let her borrow two of my books) and omg. I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH. As soon as I can, I will be getting my own copy! I thoroughly recommend this book to any person who loves just a fun, but different YA book. I also thought that it would be a great book to any teenager/child starting out in the YA genre or maybe someone who's new to reading as this book is so fun that you won't stop reading it. Seriously. I'm not joking. Rate - 5/5 GR - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23344222-the-potion-diaries?from_new_nav=true&ac=1&from_search=true BD - http://www.bookdepository.com/The-Potion-Diaries/9781471143564 7 Days by Eve Ainsworth - 246 Pages I've wanted to read this book for so long, but never knew what it was about. I went to the Holly Bourne and Eve Ainsworth event in Manchester at the start of March and they had a signing at the end. I purchased both of Eve's books, 7 Days and Crush. The other day I really wanted to read a contemporary and I decided on this one. I didn't know what it was about until I finally decided to read the synopsis. It sounded like something I'd love so I started reading it. OH. MY. GOSH. THIS BOOK IS AMAZING. LITERALLY. There were guessable parts, like I'd worked out what was going to happen at the end quite early on but that didn't stop me loving the book less than I would probably do originally. Anyway, I thoroughly thoroughly recommend this book to EVERYONE. Rate - 5/5 Started Reading I read 1/2 of Dark Escape by Eileen Sheehan
and I also read about 50 more pages of M is for Magic by Neil Gaiman (A Collection of Short Stories) Overall, I'm pretty pleased with the amount I read this month and discovered a lot of new favourite books and authors that I want to read more of their works. BYE! WHAT WAS YOUR FAVOURITE BOOK YOU READ THIS MONTH? IF you've read any of the books I mentioned above, please feel free to share your thoughts below and I'll try and respond!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorHello and welcome to Books With Beth! I'm Beth and on this blog I share a mix of all my bookish thoughts through reviews, book tours and hauls. Have fun! Categories
All
Archives
August 2019
|