I haven’t really been reviewing books very much this year, mainly because I felt that reviewing was having a major impact on my enjoyment of the books I was reading. While fundamentally reading was still something I adored, I was very caught up in the numbers and statistics and I would find myself stressed to read as many books as possible and always be critical. Not reviewing has taken a lot of that stress off me, and while I do want to start again, I need to find a place where I am comfortable, and I haven’t found it yet. But I am going to share a few thoughts about the things I read in April, if you were interested in what I’ve been reading.
So I only read seven books in April, and I know for some people, that seems like a lot, but last year I was reading an average of fourteen to fifteen books a month, so for me I haven’t been able to read as much as I wanted to. But I am happy with that, because I feel like my reading has a much higher quality to it than it did before. And I have been doing so much revision for school this month, as well as not being in the right head space to read for at least a week, so I am still really satisfied with everything I have read.
Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte
This was one of my most anticipated books of this year, and the cover is absolutely stunning. Genuinely, every time I looked at this book, it filled me with so much excitement, and so it saddens me to say that it was actually quite disappointing. I am in love with the concept – I have always loved stories with different factions/sectors that people can be “sorted” into, and give me queens and I am 100% sold. Unfortunately, that was about the only thing I liked about this book. I thought that the mystery was very predictable, and the information that was necessary in solving it was very clumsily inserted into the story. I totally guessed what had actually happened. I did not like Keralie at all – I felt that the author was trying to make her into a badass-i-dont-give-a-damn kind of character, but really, she was just annoying. I much preferred reading the perspectives of the queens, but, ya know, the title is literal, so that’s fun. Also, I have heard a lot of people saying its problematic, and while on the surface it isn’t so obvious, the more you think about it, the worse it seems. No spoilers, but I’m a little salty.
Okay, so from this point onwards these are the books I read in order to complete the OWLs magical readathon. I know that I was hoping to read for all twelve exams, but unfortunately, that wasn’t going to happen. But I did manage to read all the exams for the wandmaker career – although I did end up changing quite a lot of the books to cater to the mood I was in (I was not in any way in the right mindset to read anything complex/too deep/metaphorical because my brain just wouldn’t process it).
Imprison the Sky by A C Gaughen
I read Reign the Earth last year and I loved it so so much. I think I have grown past it a little bit, and I am a little dubious sometimes about the writing style in these books, but I do still really love them. Give me any kind elemental magic and I am satisfied. I am really enjoying how this series is following a new character for each book – its something that I really enjoy in a series. At first I was not the fondest of Aspasia (she reminded me a little too much of Scarlet from A C Gaughen’s previous series which is, in my opinion, a hot mess). But she grew on me, and by the end I was rooting for her and her family. I really liked the plot and Aspasia’s internal struggle to help the ones she cared about who were close to her, but also do what was morally right. I cannot wait for more interaction between her and Shalia. I am a little nervous, because I don’t think the next books in the series have been sold, but I really hope that the author is able to continue and write more about this amazing world. It would make my shrivelled little soul so happy to have one book for each element, and besides I want to reunite with all the characters from the first book. I will say that these books deal with some pretty heavy topics, such as abuse and slavery. They are not afraid to go to dark places, but I think that there is always an element of hope in this book, and that is what makes them so powerful. I do think I prefer the first book, but I cannot recommend this series enough (it is so underrated) and I don’t think that there was anything worse about Imprison the Sky, just that it wills suit different readers in different ways. (This completed the challenge for Potions)
A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer
First let me say something a little bit controversial – I don’t understand the hype around Beauty and the Beast retellings. It isn’t really my favourite fairytale, and I don’t like very strict retellings that draw a lot of parallels to the original tale, even if they seem very different. Also, I just find the romance a leeetle bit weird. Like, beast dude captures girl and keeps her in castle to make/wait for her to fall in love with him? okay. I wanted to expect a lot from this book but honestly it gave me just what I was expecting. I don’t love the writing – I have never loved the first person present tense style, especially in fantasy; it just feels so shallow and dumbed down to me. And the characters were not my favourite. They were just not very well rounded (and forgettable too – literally had to go and look up Harper’s name), and neither was the world. There were lots of details sort of dropped in, but it still felt like The Beginner’s Guide To A Fantasy World kind of world. It was kind of like contemporary-fantasy, if you know what I mean. There was nothing very unique about the world, except it was set in the past, and there was some one dimensional witch lady who could cast relatively unexplained magic. I will say that this book was very readable though , and I enjoyed actually reading it. I would consider reading the sequel, even though I am very cheesed off that the author felt the need to put in that ONE plot point that would make it need an otherwise unnecessary sequel. I feel like Rhen and Harper’s story is done, and to drag it out any longer would be painful. There was representation for cerebral palsy in here, and although I could not say whether it is accurate, it is really good that books are showing that you don’t have to be able bodied to star in a fantasy novel. (This completed the challenge for Ancient Runes)
It’s Not About The Burqa edited by Mariam Khan
I feel that there are many types of people who this book is for. Foremost, all the Muslim girls and women who need to be seen and need this book. Then all the people who need to stop assuming and start listening. Or in this case, reading. I am not Muslim myself, so if you want to read an own voices review, this is not the place to be. I am sure own voices reviewers will have something so much more valid and important to say than I do. My feelings about this book are very complex, despite being unanimously positive. I think this book is so damn important, and it has taught me so many things I didn’t know. Seeing from such a wide range of women offered me a whole new take on the world. It teaches us not to simply assume about things we know nothing about, and discusses so many different things. I will definitely be reading it again, because I think that I was not able to take in everything I wanted the first time around. I urge you to read this book. (This completed the challenge for Arithmancy)
The Red Scrolls of Magic by Cassandra Clare and Wesley Chu
I absolutely adored this book! I love Magnus Bane so damn much and seeing him and Alec exploring their relationship together is so precious and cute. And I mean, there is a more serious plot line, but this is a lot more light hearted than any other shadowhunter book. It follows their disastrous attempt at a holiday in Europe, and I just loved it. It did all the characters so much justice, and I was overjoyed to see Aline and Helen star as side characters in this book! I love those two so much, and seeing them meeting for the first time is so amazing. There were both new characters and cameos from other characters (I actually love cameos so much and this book gave them to me), and what I love is that despite the lighter tone to this book, all of the characters feel real and dynamic and flawed. The writing didn’t feel quite like Cassandra’s usual writing, however, which makes me wonder about the process of cowriting the book. I think that would be interesting to find out. I didn’t mind it, it just felt different to me at the beginning. I would recommend this book to any shadowhunter fan, but I would recommend reading it after you’ve read all of the other series, even The Dark Artifices, because it has links to all of them. I just hope this book gets the love it well deserves. (This completed the challenge for Charms)
The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi
This book gave me a lot of mixed feelings, and I am still not really decided on how I feel about it. Mostly, I really liked it, and I think the quality of this book is pretty much perfect – there’s nothing particularly wrong with it. However, for me, the story wasn’t always very suited to what I like, and what I can keep up with. For example: heists. I love heist books, don’t get me wrong, but I can never keep up with them, even in books like Six of Crows. I struggle to understand what exactly the characters are doing this for especially when they become very complex. This heist is very complex, and I sort of lost track of its purpose, which rendered the book a little meaningless for me. Also, a lot of the plot/magic system is based around maths and puzzles, which confused my brain. Either I’m just really dumb…or I’m really dumb. But these characters are here working it out and I’m just sat there thinking “I have no idea what you just did but okay”. I felt like I had to simply go with the flow because I didn’t understand anything. However, I adored the writing – it is absolutely beautiful, and it did do a good job of describing the amazingly complex magic system. I also thought the characters were splendiferous. I adore small group casts, so that was an element was definitely for me. My favourite characters were definitely Zofia and Laila – Zofia for her actually character, and Laila for her intriguing backstory. Overall, I would recommend, and I am totally interested in the sequel, I just found this one a little too complex for my small, exhausted brain. (This completed the challenge for Herbology)
The School For Good and Evil: A Crystal of Time by Soman Chainani
Some people grew up with Harry Potter, eagerly awaiting each new book. I grew up with The School for Good and Evil. As a child I was obsessed with the first book. I couldn’t tell you how many times I reread it, and the amount of times I read my favourite scenes. A World Without Princes was the first book that I ever preordered. And now, this series is almost over. I wasn’t entirely sure at first whether this series needed an extension, but I am enjoying these new sequels quite a bit, and this one was definitely better than its precursor. I love the humour, and the solidity of these books, and that despite the fact that it’s over 600 pages long, I can still smash it out in 2 days. Sophie and Agatha are certainly some of the best friends ever to be written, and I love them to pieces. This is one of the best middle grade series out there – for kids looking for something vaguely like Harry Potter (there’s a magical school, the children age throughout the series), then I think this series is perfect, and for adults, and teenagers – these books are suitable for everyone, I think. Go and read them. (This completed the challenge for Care of Magical Creatures)
That is it for the books I read in April! My favourite book was definitely The Red Scrolls of Magic, but I did enjoy the majority of them. I hope you all had an amazing reading month, and an amazing month in general!
The Bookish Courtier 