April 2021 | What I’ve been reading
I feel like I’ve been so busy, and sleepy that I haven’t really read all that much, but looking back, it’s been a pretty decent reading month, with all the books being pretty good. All the books have been 4 star or higher, with lots of new fantasy, and I’ve finally started the Shadow and Bone series which I am loving and totally understand the hype. P.S. the Netflix series is absolutely amazing and might even be better than the books which honestly is a first for me.
I do have two on the go currently, including my Kindle book Legendborn which I am enjoying but reading quite slowly due to tiredness which is likely due to doing a lot of writing in the evenings.
1 | Q | Christina Dalcher
4/5 stars | I really quite enjoy Christina Dalcher’s thrillers as they are quite different to most, with a highly philosophical debate hidden amongst the plot.
This book looks at intelligence and how we treat those with different intellects, especially outside the parameters of the “norm”. Schools have been adjusted and everyone has a point system. If your school age child scores below 8, they go to a yellow school, away from their parents.
It’s a very thought provoking book on the problems in our education system and our bias toward intelligence being best.
2 | A Vow so Bold and Deadly | Brigid Kemmerer
4/5 stars | The third in the trilogy and a quite highly anticipated read. I did enjoy it and thought it was a good end to the series. It’s quite political with lots of conflict maneuvering and a whole lot of character angst. I still really like Grey, probably the most across the main characters, Lia Mara coming in a close second. I just don’t love Harper or Rhen unfortunately though I think their character flaws are well written and entirely make sense, especially Rhen who has gone through a lot of loss and trauma.
I thought the ending was good and tied up all the loose plot points nicely and ultimately made the conclusion satisfactory if perhaps a little fast for the main action scene concluding. I’m not sure there was anything wrong with this book, I just haven’t loved the characters as much in this series as I have in others.
3 | A Deal with the Elf King | Elise Kova
4/5 stars | I really enjoyed this book that was on Kindle deal, and I’ve seen a lot of on Bookstagram. The concept is really interesting with the Elf King needing a Human Queen, who had magical powers, to create balance and magic in his own kingdom. Luella *spoiler* becomes the Human Queen after finding out she had magic that was hidden from her by her friend. This book follows her relationship with the Elf King and how she plans to break the cycle of Human Queens and restore the magical balance.
I really loved the character development between the characters and independently and definitely got some Feyre/Rhysand vibes with the enemies to lovers. I quite enjoyed the ending, but as I thought it was a series, I thought it would be left on a cliffhanger. It is one in a series, but like Bridgerton, it’s a same universe series focusing on different characters for each book, so this had a definitive ending. Overall I really liked this book and the writing style was easy to follow which was helpful as I was predominantly reading at night. I’ll definitely be reading more books by Elisa Kova in the future.
This book is currently available on Kindle Unlimited (03.05.2021).
4 | Kingdom of Ash | Sarah J Maas
5/5 stars | The last of the Throne of Glass series. I don’t want spoil this book but it is honestly one of my absolute favourite books. I just adore it so much. There is literally every emotion going, and I absolutely cried several times even having read it before. Actually I do think some parts might have been worse second time around because I knew they were coming (if you’ve read KoA you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about!).
This book is very long at over 980 pages, and starts off at a slow pace, with a slow build with a lot of tension. There is still plenty of action and heart racing moments. The ending for me was perfect. The right balance for epic fantasy and a good tie up for all the characters and their stories. You will be both satisfied and heartbroken.
5 | Shadow and Bone | Leigh Bardugo
4.5/5 stars | I am ashamed to admit just how long I have had this book on my bookcase, and not read it. I think I was holding off until I bought the rest of the series, and with the release of the Netflix series, decided to finally get into the books. This is a much lighter book than Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom, with a dark fantasy vibe.
I love the magical concepts of this book, and the characters are really well put together, though I can’t say I’m a huge fan of Mal. I think he’s a love or hate character, and I’m the latter. I like Alina quite a lot, and the Darkling is the best antagonist/antihero/naive character going. I don’t know whether to love him or hate him at the moment.
Without giving too much away, this is a great plot with some good twists and developments. The ending is decent with a good set up for Siege and Storm. And if you’re watching the Netflix series, it is a pretty good comparison between them, though I think the representation is better in the TV series.
May is definitely going to be the month for Grishaverse reading I can tell as I have the King of Scars duology to read, and think I’m going to reread Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom too.
What have you been reading in April?
Read my previous 2021 book reviews below:
