Books. Cats. Nonsense.
It may be cold, windy, rainy, and unpleasant outside, but it's Friday! Thank goodness. Life has been so hectic lately, but I've still managed to sit down and read, as well as get some things scheduled in here. That hasn't left much room for free time though, oh well.
I have started a very casual project of reading some classic YA books that have helped build the genre into what it is today. Throne of Glass was the first book I read for this little project, and I have to admit that I assumed I’d hate it. I’m (now) very vocal about my grumpy feelings toward A Court of Thorns and Roses, the first book in Sarah J. Maas’s other series, and figured some of those themes I strongly disagreed with would carry over into Throne of Glass. So you can imagine my surprise when I actually found myself enjoying Throne of Glass! Is it brilliant? No, I don’t think so. But damn, is it a compulsive readable. I buddy read this with brilliant author, blogger, and YouTuber Josie Jaffrey and I think that was the best way for me to tackle this book. I’d highly recommend the audiobook because of the story’s pace and plot -- your house will never be cleaner.
Why is it that January feels like the longest month of the year? Maybe it's the cold and dark, maybe it's the fact that it's the start of a new year. Whatever it is, we survived! Hooray! This was an interesting month for reading. I started the month pretty poorly, but then managed to read three 4.5-5 star reads. Overall, it was a pretty solid book month -- I managed to read 7 books.
Welcome to my stop on the Kick the Moon blog tour! I was so excited to hear about this book, as I absolutely adore Muhammad Khan's spectacular debut I Am Thunder. Today, I'm sharing an extract from his new contemporary YA novel. He gives such an incredible voice to modern teens, and I couldn't recommend his books more highly.
The Wayward Children series has been such a rollercoaster for me so far. Every Heart a Doorway is basically perfect, Down Among the Sticks and Bones was infuriating and disappointing, and Beneath the Sugar Sky was a good read but nowhere near as great as the first book. I was so apprehensive about reading the fourth instalment in the series, In an Absent Dream, but I knew I had to give it a try because I love the concept so much. I’m so pleased to say that In an Absent Dream really turned the series around for me and is such a beautiful book.
So if you read my review of The Cruel Prince last year, you may recall that I was not hugely impressed. Fae books don’t often work for me, and while I liked The Cruel Prince more than the other fae books I've read, I thought it was a great, big mess of a book with a great ending. Despite this, I still wanted to read The Wicked King. You guys, I’m so glad I gave this book a chance! If you liked the insane ending of The Cruel Prince, you’re going to love this book because it keeps that same energy going.
You know that feeling when you love a book and you can't quite put into words why? You just want to run around, throwing copies of it into the hands of unsuspecting readers? That's how I feel about The Gutter Prayer, Gareth Hanrahan’s astonishing debut. The Gutter Prayer is a breath of fresh air in a genre that can sometimes feel stale, and I cannot get enough of this insanely cool world.
