WARNING: THERE WILL BE MINOR SPOILERS BELOW
Beautiful Days by Anna Godbersen 8/10 (358 pg)
2017 was off to a pretty great start thanks to this book. Anna Godbersen, if you can't tell, is a total guilty pleasure author for me, and I was completely hooked on the Bright Young Things series right from the very first page (this is the second book in that series). While I wasn't thrilled with some of the plot points, this book did not feel like a middle book at all to me, and I can't wait to read the last book (I love Astrid, by the way. She's totally Daisy Buchanan and I adore it). Also, this book is written like a (very) watered down F Scott Fitzgerald novel, so how can I not love it?
2017 was off to a pretty great start thanks to this book. Anna Godbersen, if you can't tell, is a total guilty pleasure author for me, and I was completely hooked on the Bright Young Things series right from the very first page (this is the second book in that series). While I wasn't thrilled with some of the plot points, this book did not feel like a middle book at all to me, and I can't wait to read the last book (I love Astrid, by the way. She's totally Daisy Buchanan and I adore it). Also, this book is written like a (very) watered down F Scott Fitzgerald novel, so how can I not love it?
Not much to say about this, except that it’s the aforementioned play and I liked it a lot. Sure, I kind of hated all the characters in it, and Blanche was annoying as all hell, but it was still a really good and quick read.
This book was advertised as being if "Lolita was a love story", which are two things don't belong together but regardless, still peaked my interest because I'm twisted. The romance still squicked me out a little, since I firmly believe that under no circumstances should an adult be having sexual relations with a minor. Even if it isn't technically sex, and the minor "consented". I'm not one to get on my moral high horse too often, and my reading tastes should tell you that, but I did not like how positively these kinds of relationships were being portrayed in this book. It was still nicely written and had a cool setting, so I gave it a pretty high rating, even if it did drag at the end and had unnecessary multiple viewpoints. Pretty short, too (or at least it felt short to me), which is always a plus.
One Night in Winter was one of those books that felt much shorter than it actually was. I flew through this book, to the point where I was shocked that it actually was over 400 pages. This of course bodes well for my chances of getting to Sashenka in the next month, since that thing's over 500 pages. This book follows a group of teenagers (the children of Soviet royalty) who are placed under suspicion after the deaths of two of their friends during the late 1940s. It was also based on a true story. I really liked this book, even if I wasn't too attached to any of the characters and thought that there was something lacking, though it's hard to put a finger on what. This book was just what I wanted at the time, and I liked it for what it was- a well-researched and engrossing historical fiction novel about Russia. Which, to me, is one of the best kinds of novels.
I confess to having read this series a little bit backwards. I actually started with The Trespasser by Tana French, asking for it for Christmas and having no idea that it was part of a series. I read it, and, while it wasn't the best book I ever read, I still really wanted to read more by her. So I picked up the first book in the Dublin Murder Squad series and fell in love. This book follows a detective who is investigating the murder of a young girl, and he thinks the murder is tied to the disappearance of two of his friends when he was a little boy. This time, I gave it the time it deserved to unfold the mystery, which it needs. I keep describing her books as slow-burning, because that's the perfect adjective for them. Don't go in expecting a quick read- enjoy how the story unfolds as you go deeper into the mystery. The awards this book got are well-deserved, and I can't wait to sink my teeth into The Likeness starring the lovely Cassie Maddox. My only complaint is the same one everyone has- that one mystery remained unsolved and the other mystery had kind of anticlimactic ending. But, honestly, it didn’t impact my enjoyment of the book much at all.
I’ll make the rest of these quick because I have reviews up for most of them. If you want to see my complete thoughts, I’ve linked my reviews.
My Review: Rumors by Anna Godbersen
A book I actually liked more than I thought I would. I found myself feeling underwhelmed by The Luxe, but after this book I’m honestly really excited to continue on in this series, surprisingly.
A book I actually liked more than I thought I would. I found myself feeling underwhelmed by The Luxe, but after this book I’m honestly really excited to continue on in this series, surprisingly.
My Review: Gilt by Katherine Longshore
A mediocre historical fiction about (in theory) Catherine Howard, Henry VIII's 5th wife with too much filler and a narrator that I really didn’t like. However, I was not deterred from reading the rest of the series.
My Review: It Takes One by Kate Kessler
This book is notable for its completely wasted potential and horrible main character. No, I’m still not over the disappointment of this book. It was advertised as a crime novel starring a criminal psychologist, but ended up being more about the MC's love life than anything else.
My Review: Snow in May by Kseniya Melnik
Snow in May was a book of short stories that fell a bit flat for me, but I’m happy I read it nonetheless. This followed a group of people who lived in Magadan, Russia, which used to be a gateway to a Stalinist labor camp.
A fantastic novel that was perfect for when I read it. I was actually a little apprehensive to read it, but ended up loving it, as is the way of most books like this. This is about many things- a piano prodigy, a young Belarusian boy, and a doctor sent to deal with the Chernobyl disaster.
This literary fiction novel is hard to write about, but worth picking up just for the emotional impact that came out of it.
I have been wanting to reread this book for a while now, and recently got my own copy to do just that. I remember reading this book for the first time, and sitting in my bedroom being completely engrossed in the story, unable to stop reading. When I finished the book, I lifted my head up, shook it a few times to get rid of the hazy book fog I was in, and decided I loved it. If I had been in the habit of making Best Of lists back in 2015 this would have been a sure-shot on there. Now, I'm not so sure. I still really liked this book, but I wasn't as in love with it as I was when I first read it. It was still a quick read (for me at least), and I loved Julia's twisted relationship with her brother, but as a whole this book was a lot slower than I remember it being and with way too much building up of her relationship with Michael (thought his name was Finn for some reason- it's been a few years okay don't judge me). I still like it more than I like most YA thrillers, and I am looking forward to Panitch’s other book, which is on my February TBR, but I’m not expecting great things.
My Review: A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
A great end to a great reading month, and another book well worth its buzz. It was a complete impulse buy for me, but in retrospect I’m still happy I bought it. This book is about a grumpy old guy who learns that there is more life left to live, even after the death of his beloved wife.
Page total: 4,502
Average rating: 7.5/10 (rounded down)
Genre breakdown: 6 historical fiction books
3 mystery-thrillers
2 contemporaries 1 magical realism/surrealism
1 play
Of those, 9 were adult and 4 were YA
Overall, January was a great reading month for me and a great start to the new year. Now, I've got tons of books on my list for this month, so I'd better get started. My next review will be up soonish, I hope.
Genre breakdown: 6 historical fiction books
3 mystery-thrillers
2 contemporaries 1 magical realism/surrealism
1 play
Of those, 9 were adult and 4 were YA
Overall, January was a great reading month for me and a great start to the new year. Now, I've got tons of books on my list for this month, so I'd better get started. My next review will be up soonish, I hope.
No comments:
Post a Comment