May Wrap-Up | I read one of the most popular recent books 👀✨

✨ album of the month: Room Under The Stairs by ZAYN ✨

Greetings folks,

I read quite a few books this month. The start was a rush of audiobooks as Audible had a few titles from their Plus catalogue expiring mid-May, hence the mad dash. At the end of the month, I finally got around to reading physically. I ended up reading 11 books this month, my personal best of the year so far. Congratulations me!

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24 books for 2024 progress check: 9/24

The Order of The Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho 🎧

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

This was my favourite read of the month. I always struggle to talk about the books I love, because I’d rather you experience them firsthand and there are only so many ways I can phrase “I loved it” or “I connected to the story.” But I will try my best.

This novella (only 176 pages) is about a young votary who joins a group of bandits to protect a sacred object, but, of course, it ends up more complicated than she originally planned. It starts like an unlikely (bickering) found family quest and in many ways, it ends like that too, but there was something more to this story. The personal lives of the characters were explored, but it wasn’t your typical fantasy characters/backstories either. It had the comforting feel of fantasy adventure stories but with a well-nurtured personal depth that enhanced the story beautifully. Another bonus was the subtle humour throughout. It made me smile many times, for example, this is the first line in the synopsis, “A bandit walks into a coffeehouse, and it all goes downhill from there.”

Zeroboxer by Fonda Lee 🎧

⭐⭐

Rating: 2 out of 5.

You may see a poorer rating for my favourite author and think it means I was greatly disappointed, but it really, really doesn’t. Going into this sci-fi boxing story, I knew it wasn’t my type of story. I read it to experience Lee’s debut out of curiosity and complete her backlist of books.

This book follows Carr, an up-and-coming zeroboxer (essentially a zero-gravity fighter). It starts as the story of an underdog athlete but progresses into a story about space politics. The space politics is where you could see Lee’s skill as a writer. How she focused on small details to create a larger web of intrigue, that smoothly evolved through the use of reveals and additional characters. The talks of genetic enhancement, celebrity status, underground criminal schemes, personal secrets, Earth-Mars relationships and public reaction proved Lee’s strong attention to detail. It was the strength of the novel, but it felt like the start of conversations which were ultimately cut short. I was disappointed to not explore the finer details of politics and what it meant for the public as it was the most unique part of the novel.

I wasn’t a fan of the romance, it felt forced (potentially a symptom of the time) and the whole “she’s like no girl I’ve ever met. She is capable, rather than a besotted fangirl” is one of my least favourite tropes (again, a symptom of the time?). The talk of genetic enhancement was tret with the biases of the narrator. It should have been a nuanced conversation, rather than an uncomfortable, unfair statement. The plot’s direction had the opportunity to explore further, but it missed it. Due to a combination of these flaws and forming no attachment to the characters, I decided to rate this book two stars.

The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells 🎧

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I had heard so much about The Murderbot Diaries that I couldn’t resist the chance to explore them. Each book is novella-length, around the 150-page mark, which made each book feel like an episode in a show. Each story follows “Murderbot” in its life, starting as a company-supplied security android/SecUnit until it hacked its own governor module making it self-aware and free to do as it pleases. Following Murderbot’s view of its life, you experience the diaries of this unique main character in its adventure in space. Its narration is full of scorn for humans, balanced with a neighbourly, caring quality.

The narration style itself is the main attraction. Through a non-typical narrator, who processes emotions differently and experiences different needs, the author creates a memorable voice. Despite an absence of the usual layer of relatability, the Murderbot is likely to universally appeal to readers. I do not say universally appeal lightly, but the humour and human nature themes have a timeless quality. The stories themselves are well-considered, usually the Murderbot’s unique situation to create risky situations from secrecy to old-fashioned danger, not forgetting to add in the Murderbot’s history, personality, and genuinely good side characters. This series is good at what it does, it just is. If you haven’t checked it out yet and want a good novella, please read it.

Spirits Abroad by Zen Cho 🎧

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Zen Cho is a talent with short stories as proven by the novella I read earlier this month. Spirits Abroad is a collection of short stories that captures what I love so much about Cho’s writing. She showcases fantasy stories with a deeply human message and journeys that aren’t simply good vs bad, but about rather specific monsters that reflect individuals’ feelings or lessons they need. Rather than trying to capture a large epic tale, it is intimate and I love seeing fantasy writers focus on these details.

As with all short story collections, you like some more than others. There were some 3-star stories, but the majority were 4-star, with a few 4.5-star. If anything I said about fantasy in the previous paragraph appeals to you, please check out Zen Cho. Spirits Abroad is a great place to start, even if you don’t consider yourself a short story fan.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

I finally read the famous and adore Addie LaRue! If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you may know I have enjoyed Schwab’s books but never with a passion. Addie LaRue is probably my favourite of what I’ve read.

One of the things that drew my attention to this story was the concept of immortality. But after reading it, I can safely say it is a story about loneliness. Immortality is simply a magnifying glass to it. It doesn’t capture the expansive nature of time or history, but the toll of living forever alone. It is a very self-indulgent story as Addie talks about Addie. But when everyone forgets you, who is left but yourself? Sometimes I found it frustrating or rather would have preferred an open acknowledgement of this factor, how selfishness had become the only way she could ultimately exist. There was a comment or two, but it was overshadowed by how fast she was adored by all who saw her (the power of seven freckles).

Speaking of looks, I would have adored a deeper look into how she was ultimately viewed and judged on her looks because her identity was taken from her. This would have been a very different story if she wasn’t viewed as beautiful (across time). The discussions around beauty could have linked it with the wider theme of memory and art.

I like how the book inspires conversations and strangely I end up having circular arguments about what the book intended through Addie’s character. But, ultimately, I felt like Addie wasn’t as flawed as she rightly should have been because the story wanted everyone to love her. The book itself was also in love with loneliness and the idea of a devil figure loving you, which took away from the themes I loved most. But it was almost there.

Due to this and perhaps a small note of stagnancy in the middle (the flashbacks were interesting but told with a certain level of hollowness, even the tragedies invoked no emotion in me, and there was no historic presence. Mostly I found them repetitive.) that prevented me from adoring this story. But three strong elements won me over to this book. The concept of art as memory and preservation appealed to me on a profound level. I loved how Addie left her mark through art and how there is a part of art that can’t be controlled, as it passes from person to person creating one of the most important journeys of humanity. Inspiration has its own force. I felt the author’s passion for this theme and adored it all.

Next, as much as I could predict Henry’s deal and end, I really liked how his “deal reveal” was written. As mentioned, I found Addie’s sorrowful tale quite emotionless, but when Henry said [SPOILER] “the simple truth is that he would have sold his soul for less, would have traded an entire life of this for just a day- an hour, a minute, a moment- of peace.”, that was the moment that broke me. It truly, truly got me.

Finally, the end. The full reveal was a long time coming and I was intrigued to see how it was going to wrap up. I was really pleased with how the story closed off. The last chapter was ✨IT✨ and I felt it matched the journey we had seen, rather than forcing something I was worried would take centre stage. [SPOILER] The use of the book (art) as a memory of life was fittingly beautiful too.

Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan

⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Thank you to Little Brown Book Group UK for the ARC via NetGalley.

The request said not to publish my review any earlier than two weeks before the pub date. Whilst my wrap-up is not the review, I am going to take the guidance very literal and not talk about my thoughts here. Oh, the anticipation.

I will give you this though… This book is about Rae who enters the world of her favourite fantasy novel becoming the villainess character of the story. The villainess is about to be executed, meaning Rae needs to dabble in villainy to survive. If you want a darker, light-hearted portal fantasy, this is ideal for you as it is a well-done version of this specific trope.

full review coming soon

Rule Of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo 🎧

⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3 out of 5.

I read King of Scars the week of release in 2019(?) and only got to the sequel now. This tells me it was no great love of mine after devouring Six of Crows. Yet, I still wanted to finish the series. Ultimately, it felt like a project that was added because fans loved the characters and the idea for the plot came afterwards.

Still, I enjoyed the insight into the other members of royalty we hadn’t seen before. The imperfect, even cruel ones, as they were a more complicated enemy. The main characters couldn’t fight using sheer force and I found it refreshing. The characters are all charming, as to be expected. Nikolai with his cocky show of arrogance, Zoya with her fiery streak and wonderful Nina adapting to a different role. It was enjoyable because of these traits, but overall the plot wasn’t memorable to me. I don’t think I will be reading any more of the Grishaverse because it is the type of YA fantasy I think I have moved on from after reading many from the same formula (and I will always compare it to the memory of Six of Crows which is unfair to the books). My most passionate opinions for Rule of Wolves are… (1) This is Bardugo’s best book cover and [SPOILER] (2) David shouldn’t have died, it was unnecessary and only added for a sad pause. It wasn’t even written how a death scene should be written.

Evocation by S. T. Gibson

⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3 out of 5.

From the author of A Dowry of Blood, I was intrigued to see the author take on another story away from vampires, and the advertisement of an arrogant main character got my attention. Unfortunately, I was a little disappointed by this book. From reading A Dowry of Blood, I loved how Gibson used words and themes to create an atmospheric story. Evocation was a more character-led story with matter-of-fact writing. It felt like a different writer. One isn’t right or wrong, it depends on personal preference. But, I missed the beautiful writing I had come to expect from Gibson. Yet, it is unfair to base all my thoughts on comparison, so…

Evocation had a group of adults well established in the medium arts until the main character, David, comes “under the weather” via a curse and has to ask his ex (and ex’s wife) for help. Firstly, the magic and mystery elements were very straightforward which made the book feel more basic than it should have. The synopsis strongly infers how there is a lovers-to-exs-to-rivals romance and it was nothing really. They didn’t talk, then they did. That’s about as tense as it gets. Overall, this book was not what was advertised. However, it did two things really well. David, the arrogant main character mentioned earlier, comes across as a cocky loner. Plots that put arrogant characters in positions where they need help always appeal to me as it is a strong character journey. I wanted to keep reading because of this. The second strength was the main relationship of the book, how David and his ex’s wife, Moira, became friends. It happened slowly as they got to know each other amid their strong personalities, and I felt like you could see how much they cared in the end. However, I don’t think I will be continuing with this series.

★★★★

★★★½

★★★

★★★★

BIG MOOD // I love the chaotic 20s/30s TV shows. This was a great addition, mainly because it focused on female friendships and it didn’t romanticise mental illnesses at all. I liked the humour alongside the drama, it focused more on good one-liners, so it didn’t take away from the dramatic nature of the plot. I really hope it has a second season!

EXTRAORDINARY S1 // Like The Boys, this show offers a unique take on superheroes that focuses on what the reality of superpowered humans might be like. However, this is the cute, millennial version and I mean that complimentary as it has an ideal target audience and does it well. It shows fantasy in a fun way, whilst having believable consequences. The main character is a classic underdog which I believe suits the theme of superpowers very well. The show has my approval ;).

THIS TOWN // A pretty slow-going series, but it has distinct characters, and good music choices to create an atmosphere. Plus I love how it was set where I live and got to experience some local history, even if the story is fictional, some of the events were not. I won’t be running around recommending it, especially as the plot felt incohesive at times, but I’m glad I watched it.

CLARKSON’S FARM S3 // I don’t think you need to like Clarkson to enjoy this show because it is interesting to see behind the scenes of the farming industry and all it entails. I enjoy watching it for that and seeing what new things they try. Plus, it is surprisingly emotional which proves how it can be an impactful watch.

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Posts I’ve Loved Lately

• Abi @ Scribbles & Stories looked back at series… progress made and whether to complete them or not. Earlier in the year, I had a series fixation so I love seeing Abi’s own list of series. It is fun to reflect and comforting to know we all love starting series without finishing them!
• Clo @ Cuppo Clo shared book recommendations for the star sign, Taurus. The detail and thought that goes into these posts are amazing. These book recommendations shouldn’t be missed!
• Lila @ Hardcover Haven created a list of her favourite webcomics. I have adored webcomics in the past. The art and storytelling are a great comfort if you are in a slump or feeling a bit low. They are like a warm hug. Lila’s list featured many I hadn’t heard before, but they look stunning!
• Tasya @ The Literary Huntress discussed the bookish trends she has lived through as a blogger which was an amazing post, providing me with plenty of nostalgia for the 2010s and made me think about the patterns in book publishing trends. If you are a book blogger, you must check this post out!
• Cas @ Daydreaming Ink shared an album review for Out of The Blue by Brynn Cartelli. I love talking about music and this album was new to me. It was a lot of fun hearing Cas’s thoughts and listening to the songs myself!
• Caro @ bookcheshirecat gave us lots of wonderful recommendations for books with mental health representation. You can find a variety of different books to enjoy here!
• Charlotte @ Bewitching Books, Ravenous Reads created a list of Greek Mythology books on her TBR. There are many wonderful Greek mythology books and I look forward to hearing Charlotte’s thoughts on these books.
• Sumedha @ The Wordy Habitat provided a bumper list of her best book recommendations. I adored the variety of books included in this list and the detail of why each book will be worth your time so you know what to expect.

Have you read The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue? Did you like it? What did you think to the characters?

Have you read two books by the same author and felt like it was two different writers?