February Wrap Up

2018 has been one heck of a year so far... My Uncle died, my dog went missing and got hit by a car then needed surgery when we got him back. His recovery didn't go to plan so we lost him March 1st. We all miss Jake...

My brother has also had problems with school so we've been trying to help him with that as well. The plan was to get my life back on track mid January but that's when all the drama happened and nothing got done.

When Jake's surgery was over and done with I decided that I now would be a better time to get things back on track. I started planning blog posts, writing book reviews and taking new photos for Instagram and my online shop. So, I'm writing this while preparing for March!

I haven't done much reading this month due to being busy and I've also been in a bit of a reading slump. However, I did manage to read and buy some books! I got accepted for a lot of ARCs so I definietly have a long reading list to get through before they release.

E-Books (Kindle)

- A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickins

- Flame in the Mist - Renee Ahdieh

- Gemina - Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff

Hardcopy

- Crooked Saints - Maggie Stiefvater

ARC books

- The Last Laugh - Tracy Bloom

- Twinkle Twinkle Little Star - Marilyn Bennett

- Our Homesick Songs - Emma Hooper

- Rise of the Empress - Julie C.Dao

- Forest of a Thousand

- Plank's Law - Lesley Choyce

- Hot Pursuit - Rebescca Freeborn

- The Unfleshed: Tale of the Autopsic Bride

- Spectacle Vo. 1 - Megan Rose Gedris

Books I've read this month. (And January)

Flame in the Mist - Renee Ahdieh

Gemina - Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff

Wintersong - S Jae-Jones

Planks Law - Lesley Choyce

Twinkle Winkle Little Star - Mariyln Bennett.

Books I'm reading but didn't finish in Feb.

The Hate U Give - Angie Thomas

Furyborn - Claire Legend

All the Crooked Saints - Maggie Stieftvater

So yeah, I've got a lot more books but didn't get much reading done! I need to pick up on my reading because I've got a reading goal of reading 75 books this year.

Since I'm getting back into updating this website and getting my schedule up and running I deicded to write some book reviews! I've done quite a few ARC reviews for NetGalley but not many for published books! However, I did manage to get two book reviews out for the 5 star books in my life.

The full review of the book will have their separate post so if you want to read them then scroll down to the recommended and they should be there. If not then check out the "books" tab! Happy reading.

The Upside of Unrequited - Becky Albertalli

Let me start off by saying this is honestly one of the first books that I could relate to on so many levels. The writing is beautiful, the characters are relatable and the characters are diverse! I haven't read Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda so I didn't compare it to that. A lot of people have compared it to Simon.. but I HAVEN'T SO I THINK ITS AMAZING!

Let me also start off by saying that this book is very diverse. The majority of the characters are part queer or POC. In this day and age, it ticks all the boxes of diversity and it makes me feel happy! The 'theme' of this book deals with anxiety and love. We follow Molly who has had several crushes but none of them has given the love back. She's a cute, relatable, Pinterest loving and caring character to follow. The writing for her character and her interactions are adorable and like I keep saying, relatable. We finally have some real dialogue and that is definitely 3 STARS right there.

The Rose and the Dagger - Renée Andieh {The Wrath and the Dawn #2}

As soon as I finished this book I felt like my life meant nothing! Honestly, this is one of the best books I've ever read and it was an amazing end to an amazing duology. (This is now my favourite duology of all time!!!!) Usually sequels aren't that amazing BUT in this case, it was fantastic. It was an amazing end to the journey we've been going on.

The Rose and the Dagger had some beautiful writing. In all honesty, the way this book flowed was magical and wonderful. The writing between the characters and the way they interact draw you in for more and it's a real page-turner. It may not be a thriller, but I definitely read it like one. This book includes magic carpets that come along with us on the emotional rollercoaster!

To wrap this month off.. I've decided to set myself a set of goals. Its not been an amazing year so far but I intend on making it one of the best even though life is throwing curveballs at me. As I am writing this and tryoing to be motivational.... I'm waiting for my Sims to update so I play it for countless hours of the day. I've given myself a bit of a break due to my dogs death but I will be up and running soon enough.

I hope you have all had a wonderful month so far and I hope March is good to us all.

Till next time!

#lifestyle #books