Tuesday, May 3, 2022

Monthly Reading Wrap-up - April 2022

This year I thought I would share a little more of all my books and I thought the best way to do that would be if I wrapped up my reads of each month, so I can share mini reviews on all the books I've gone through! 

It could be a big range from 2 to 10 books depending on how much I read, but I figure I can share a little synopsis and quick thoughts on each book. I will still be doing more in depth reviews on books that really capture me! 

Monthly Reading Wrap-up - April 2022
I purchased or borrowed all these books - this post contains affiliate links

So, in April I read 10 books - a mix of genres from a middle grade graphic novel to non-fiction true crime books. I love most genres, and I really want to keep my reads diversified this year! I think I have been doing a great job of that so far. Also, what was great about this month was the mix of old and new books I read was about a 50/50 split! I read these mostly via audiobook (6 of the 10, 3 physical books and 1 e-book on my phone). 

Here's a quick look at all the books I read in the past month:  

Monthly Reading Wrap-up - April 2022

The Princess and the Fangirl by Ashley Poston ~ ☆☆☆ - 3 stars. This is the second book in the Geekerella series (I forgot to finish the series last year when I was wrapping up all my outstanding series), so a young adult geeky romance. This is a retelling of the Prince and Pauper, so there is a character swap (which I don't love), so this was cute and easy, but not my most favourite trope or book in the series, but fine! 

Read Between the Lines by Rachel Lacey ~ ☆☆☆ - 3 stars. This is a sapphic adult romance, so a little steamier than the YA romances this month. I liked the bookstore setting of this and I enjoyed the plot. There was a few weird bits in the writing, just things the author focused on that distracted a little, but it was a cute romance overall. 

Bookish and the Beast by Ashley Poston ~ ☆☆☆ ½ - 3.5 stars. This is the third book in the Once Upon a Con/Geekeralla series - so a young adult romance with a geeky twist and this one was a Beauty and the Beast retelling. This one features an exiled bad boy and a girl helping fix up his library. Cute, I may have enjoyed this most of the three books.

Monthly Reading Wrap-up - April 2022

Hotel Magnifique by Emily J. Taylor ~ ☆☆☆☆ - 4 stars. This is a young adult fantasy that came in my April Owlcrate - this was one of my most anticipated reads of the year! It was compared to The Night Circus and Caraval as it's about a magical travelling hotel - it came across a little younger than I originally thought with a character that's a little slow to catch on, but it was still a good story and I enjoyed it! 

Heartstopper: Volume One by Alice Oseman☆☆☆ ½ - 3.5 stars. This is a young adult romance graphic novel - I wanted to read the novel before the Netflix show was released. It's about a high school boy who is discovering his sexuality and a main character who is already openly gay. This was cute, but not as cute as the hype made it out to be - maybe it gets a little better in the next volumes, but this one made me a little more sad than I was expecting. I won't carry on with the series, but I will check out the show! 

Son of A Trickster by Eden Robinson ~ ☆☆☆ ½ - 3.5 stars. This is labelled as an adult fiction book, but is often labelled as a young adult fantasy - it's somehow a blend of all the genres with a little indigenous story in there. This book is difficult to rate - I really like the writing style; however, found the story started off slower. Jared's life was difficult to read about - neglect, abuse, heavy substance use - it's not an easy read seeing him try and make it through high-school. I enjoyed the magical elements as they popped up and the trickster storyline that comes to at the end has me excited to see where the trilogy goes!

The Family Next Door by John Glatt☆☆☆ ½ - 3.5 stars. This is an adult true crime book - it is all about the Turpin family who abused their 13 children. It is a hard book as there is a lot of detail about child abuse. They were locked inside, not allowed to eat, and eventually one child escaped and helped rescue all of her siblings. It presented all the information about the case, and it didn't get to a rationale, and sometimes this is one of those stories that we'll never know why. 

The Baby-Sitters Club Graphic Novels #1 Kristy's Great Idea by Raina Telgemeier and Ann M. Martin☆☆☆ - 3 stars. This is a middle grade graphic novel and it's a cute little rendition of the original book. I loved this series as a kid, so this little graphic novel was a perfect, quick easy read. The characters are a little one dimensional in this version, so the new show series did a good job with them, I can't remember what the original series did with them, but this was a cute read (I probably won't try more of the graphic novels though). 

Where Dreams Descend by Janella Angeles☆☆☆ ½ - 3.5 stars. This is a young adult fantasy novel - it's set around a group of magicians facing off in a daring game of magical feats, but dark secrets start coming out as magicians start disappearing. I liked the writing, I think it was beautiful and very atmospheric. I enjoyed the concept and I liked the characters, specifically I really enjoyed Demarco and the side characters. I think the middle of the story dragged a little, I could have used a little variation and it was a little hard to follow what was going on sometimes; but, am intrigued to hear what happens next!

Dear Sweet Pea by Julie Murphy ☆☆☆ ½ - 3.5 stars. This is a middle grade contemporary fiction - I love Julie Murphy's writing and I'm going back through all of her older works. It's about a 13 year old bumbling her way through middle school, parent's divorce, gay father, and friendships. She decides to help out with a paper's advice column and everything snowballs from there. I enjoyed Sweet Pea and was rooting for all the characters in here. Cute, quick read.

I would I would call April a good reading month - nothing ranked super high and nothing ranked super low, everything was good! 

Here's a little refresh of my rating system:

5 Stars: Excellent/Fantastic/Amazing Read 
4.5 Stars: Really Great Read
4 Stars: Great Read 
3.5 Stars: Really Good Book
3 Stars: Good Book 
2.5 Stars: Eh, It was Okay Read
2 Stars: Finished it, but Didn't Enjoy It
1.5 Stars: Not Good at All
1 Star: DNF (Did Not Finish)

What was the best book you read this month?! My favourite of all of these was probably Hotel Magnifique.

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