May Wrap-Up 2017

Hello Hello Hello my nerdlings! How is your day going? It’s the end of May. And what an adventure May has been. My beloveds ACOWAR and Avenged arrived on my doorstep. I watched my brother cry as his bride walked down the aisle. And I got a lot of reading done. It’s been a good month and I’m sad to see it go. Let’s take a look at what I got into this month.

Books I Read

 

1. Fruits Basket collector’s edition Volume 3

I really enjoyed this edition. Which was nice considering that vol 2 fell a little flat for me. But I still love my characters and really delighted in their interactions. I definitely recommend this series if you’re looking to get into manga. 5/5 Stars

2. A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

This book destroyed my emotions. I was laughing, crying, yelling with joy. All of these emotions were experience out loud which created an odd reading environment. I was not disappointed by the ending or the way things played out. I look forward to the spin off series and seeing what else is in store for some of my favs. 5/5 Stars

My Favorite Quotes from the A Court Of series

3. Once Upon A Time: Red’s Untold Tale by Wendy Toliver

This series accompanies the tv series Once Upon A Time and uses it’s previously created and established characters to tell “extra stories”. I am well aqauinted with OUAT so I figured this would be cool. I was actually kind of bored. Granny didn’t stick with her previously televised character development. And Red didn’t really have much character development. The “mean girls” story was old and trite. And overall I found this story lacking. Full review to come later. 2.5/5 Stars

4. Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

If you follow my instagram you know that my TBR for my vacation was The Infernal Devices. Let me just put this out there … I did not like book one. I thought it was boring, Tessa was annoying, and Will was a pain in the ass. I could already tell he was to be “the broken boy” which tbh isn’t my thing. Part of my disappointment could have been caused by the fact that I spoiled myself on some major plot points. I looked up a character and read up on all of their actions which told me several major plot points. Whoops. Overall I only continued with the series because I was assured that books 2 & 3 were ten times better. 3/5 Stars

5. Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

And boy were those people right. I stinking loved this book. Everything was so intense. I even shed some tears. I loved Tessa’s growth as a character. (Especially compared to Clary.. cough cough) Will grew on me, if only because he never failed to make me laugh. And Jem stole my heart. I pretty sure I highlighted like 1/4 of the book on my iPad. 4.5/5 Stars

6. The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West

Next I read the book pick of the month for Java and the Librarians. Like all Kasie West books it was a quick read. In fact I read it in about 6 hours. First time ever for me to read a book in one day. It was funny. It was cheesy yet heart warming. And I mostly just loved seeing how Gia’s different friendships pulled and pushed her, and how she used the experience to blossom as a person. 5/5 stars.

Review of Kasie West’s Contemporaries

7. Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

I highly enjoyed this one. I didn’t give it 5 stars because the ending just wasn’t right for me. It was too perfect for my liking. But the book as a whole was very good and I would even dare to say I might reread it one day. 4/5 stars

8. P.S. I Like You by Kasie West

Great Kasie West book to finish out my readathon of her contemporaries. Loved the main character. Struggled with the love interest. It was a quick and easy summer read though so over all 4/5 stars.

9. Bookishly Ever After by Isabel Bandeir

I recieved this from netgalley and will be doing a full review in the coming weeks. It’s a cute contemporary with a very bookishly geeky girl. I personally DNF-ed at 50% for reasons I’ll make more clear in the review. BUT I think it could make a cute contemporary for someone else. 3/5 Stars

10. The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher

I listened to this on audio book. To be honest I didn’t even finish it before it was due back to library. But I loved the first half and would love to check it back out again. Fisher and her daughter narrate the book. With Fisher narrating all of the talk in the present and her daughter reading Fisher’s diary entries from the diaries that Carrie kept during the filming of the Star Wars movies. It was heartfelt, inspirational, and a little gossipy. Who knew Fisher was hiding this wise and philosophical women underneath. Her diary entries read so much smart than my own. haha. From what I read 5/5 stars.

11. All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda

Loved this book. Surprising since I read one of Miranda’s YA books in 2012 and hated it. But this book was so good. It reads like a thriller more than mystery. But I can honestly say that I didn’t see the ending coming. And we all know I like to predict the endings of mysteries. 5/5 Stars

12. A Tragic Kind Of Wonderful by Eric Lindstrom

I picked this up back in January because it was supposed to have good bipolar rep. I love a good mental health story. This was surprisingly hard to read for me. I’ve never shied away from bipolar stuff before. But I saw this version of myself in Mel that was so #relatable that it hurt. It did question certain sterotypes which was good. But it embraced one or two others. However every person’s mental health story is different and I think overall this had some pretty great representation. If you guys would like for me to do a review with an in-depth look at the representation in this book then please let me know down below. 4/5 Stars

 

E-Books I Hauled

 

Net Galleys I recieved

 

Pre-Orders That Arrived

Used Books I Hauled

***I want it noted that I rarely go this nuts. Part of this is stuff my mom brought me home from her classroom or were from her personal library that I “needed” to read someday. And the rest I got from McKay’s books which sells stuff dirt cheap. ***

Bookish Merch I Received

I pre-orderd a May ACOWAR themed box from A Court of Candles

Box Included:

– Purple Coffee Travel Mug with book quote

– Black Notebook with the names of the inner circle

– Two 4 oz candles in scents of “Fire Night” and “Summer Solstice”

– Two 2 oz candles in scents of Tamlin and Sidhra River

Overall I’d say I had a wonderful month. Both reading and otherwise. Comment down below and let me know a) Your favorite book you read this month and b) if you hauled anything fabulous. I hope you guys are having a wonderfully bookish day!