Hello lovelies! How are you? How was your February? I was honestly surprised when I saw how much I’ve read this month, cause I felt like I was reading so slowly and not making reading time enough of a priority. But I actually read 14 books this month, which is great. But I’m even more happy that I genuinely enjoyed every single book I picked up this month so much. I gave 8 books 5 stars, and sure half of those were rereads – but it’s still wonderful. I think February might have been my best reading month yet?
WONDERFUL
The Looking Glass by Janet McNally ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I fell in love with this book after just a few lines. It’s got that perfect combination of beautiful writing and a compelling narrative, which makes me not want to put a book down. It follows a girl who receives a book of fairytales in the mail from her older sister, who disappeared a year ago, and decided to look for her. I loved the atmosphere of this story, it wraps you up in a magical world of ballet and fairytales, road trips and a Fleetwood Mac, romance and mystery…
Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Emily of New Moon is a delightful coming of age story about an orphaned girl who goes to love with her aunts at New Moon, a beautiful farm on Prince Edward Island. This is the kind of warm and cozy read that makes me want to come back to it again and again, which is why I re-read it this month. I love Emily, she’s a wonderful heroine. With her overactive imagination, love of writing and stubborn streak – I find her very relatable
Night of Cake & Puppets by Laini Taylor ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Night of Cake & Puppets is a companion novella to The Daughter of Smoke and Bone series, It’s centered around my favorite side character, Karou’s best friend Zuzana, and takes place one snowy day in Prague. I don’t want to give anything away if you haven’t read the series, but this is a lovely story about finding your person and making your own magic. And there’s cake!
Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo by Ntozake Shange ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo follows three black sisters, a dancer, a weaver and the youngest – a girl with too much South in her, as they come of age in Charleston with their single mother and as they move on to L.A and New York to pursue their art and romantic relationships. I fell in love with it’s opening paragraphs and just had to read it, and I’m glad I did, cause this is one of the most poetic books I’ve ever read. What a beautiful little hidden gem.
The Girl in The Tower by Katherine Arden ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I decided to re-read the first two books before picking up The Winter of the Witch, partly to remind myself what happened, but mostly cause I’m sad my favorite series is ending and I wanted to make it last longer. I enjoyed this one more the second time, I think going in knowing how different it is from The Bear and the Nightingale helped. The first book’s still my favorite though, at least for now. I’m currently reading the third one and it might be even better.
Promising Young Women by Caroline O’Donoghue ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This novel follows a young woman’s descent (and yes that is the word I want to use) into an affair with an older, married man who’s her superior at work. It explores the physical and emotional toll this relationship takes on the protagonist and really digs into why women enter into these kind of relationships, what they gain from them and if it’s worth the price This wasn’t an easy read. It made me so angry and frustrated at times, but I couldn’t put it down. I think I’m still high off the feminist rage seething under it’s surface.
White Oleander by Janet Fitch ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
White Oleander is a poetic, hauntingly beautiful and chilling coming of age story about a girl who grows up in foster care after her mother kills her lover. I mentioned this book in my Pisces recommendations post, realized it’s been 6 years since I read it and knew I had to re-read it. I didn’t think it’d be possible, but I loved it even more the second time. Books this beautifully written are few and far between, which I didn’t fully appreciate before.
Say Yes to the Marquess by Tessa Dare ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Say Yes to the Marquess is a fun and sexy historical rom-com, that’s not too concerned with historical accuracy (but that just makes it more fun). When the heroine inherits a castle, she sees it as her chance at independence and tries to break off her 8 year long engagement. But her fiance’s prize fighter brother insist on planning their wedding. The romance in this mad me swoony, I love their funny banter, the ridiculous situations, and grand gestures (All I’m gonna say is: A ROOM FULL OF WEDDING CAKES)
“Where there is a woman there is magic. If there is a moon falling from her mouth, she is a woman who knows her magic, who can share or not share her powers.” – Sassafrass, Cyypress & Indig
GREAT
The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Dud Avocado is 1. A modern classic and 2. responsible for me finally learning to spell av-o-cado. It’s also a wonderful coming of age story set in 1950’s Paris about a young American woman who parties, dances, flirts and drinks herself into all kind of trouble and, mostly, charms her way out of it. I love the opening scene where she’s wandering around Paris in the morning dressed in an evening gown, with freshly dyed pink hair. If this had been filmed, she’d be as iconic as Holly Golightly.
A Duke by Default by Alyssa Cole ⭐⭐⭐⭐
A Duke by Default is an adult contemporary romance about a New York socialite who moves to Scotland to become an apprentice swordmaker. She discovers that her gruff Scottish boss is a duke and offers to help him navigate the posh world of the aristocracy. This was such a fun, sexy and charming romance novel, with a wonderful cast of diverse characters. I really enjoyed it and will definitley be reading more books by Alyssa Cole!
Far from the Tree by Robin Benway ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Far from the Tree is a YA contemporary about three biological siblings who find each other after one of them becomes a mom, and chooses to give her own daughter up for adoption. This was a very emotional read, which explored a lot of heavy topics beautifully. Each character had a really distinct voice, which made it easy to connect with them all. Though I personally felt most invested in Grace’s storyline.
“Once upon a time I believed Julia even when she told me a girl could sleep a hundred years and wake up happy, or be cut, still alive, right out of a wolf’s belly.” – The Looking Glass
GOOD
Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray ⭐⭐⭐
This is the sequel to The Diviners and for me, it didn’t quite live up to the first book. I loved the new characters it introduced. Especially Ling, a Chinese-American girl who’s disabled after childhood Polio. But Bray didn’t balance the cast as well as I’d liked and I felt like the narrative lacked focus. Side note: I’m living for the love triangle between Evie, Sam and Jericho. Well written love triangles reveal how fickle I really am. Who are you guys rooting for?
Bone by Yrsa Daley-Ward ⭐⭐⭐
This book is the perfect example of my ambivalent relationship with poetry. I loved some of these poems with all my heart and was mostly indifferent to the rest. I still don’t know how to talk about poetry in a way that will be meaningful to anyone else, but if poems about difficult love, broken families, religion, mental health and self image sound interesting to you. This might be your cup of tea.
New People by Danzy Senna ⭐⭐⭐
New People is a short, literary fiction novel about a mixed-raced woman who’s engaged to a mixed-race man, and develops an intense crush on a poet. It’s very much a book about race and race in America in particular, I’m sure there’s a lot of nuances I missed out on as a non-American reader. There was something strange and hypnotic about this narrative, I was very immersed in Maria’s story while reading. But the ending was too abrupt and I think it let the novel down.
I’m glad to hear you’re liking The Winter of the Witch! I’m not completely sure I’ll read it because the second book disappointed me, but since the popular opinion seems to be that the third is better, I probably will.
And Far From the Tree!! Emotional contemporary that deals with heavy topics while being a relatively easy, not-too-dark read is my favorite kind of contemporary.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Acqua, it’s a fairytale! It’s all strange forests, magical creatures and impossible magic again. I’m so happy about it. I think you’d enjoy it more than the second book, for sure.
Same! That’s why This Is What It Feels Like is on my TBR!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s great! I hope I’m able to get to it soon – I’m currently reading nothing but ARCs because I’m behind on them, but I will get to it.
And I hope you end up liking TIWIFL as well!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I hope you will too and that you’ll love it as much as I did!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s amazing that you read so many books that you loved this month! 😄 I love it when that happens! I haven’t read any of these, but I really need to continue with the Diviners series 😬
LikeLiked by 1 person
It was such a wonderful reading month, I picked some good books 😊 I’m so excited to continue reading the Diviners series too!
LikeLike
I love the way you displayed the books you read! It was super refreshing to see something other than 5-star, 4-star etc.
Sounds like you had a really great reading month!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much! I’m so glad you think so 😊 I hope you had a great reading month too!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow! You had a great month 😱! Look at all those 5*s – thats amazing!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much! It was a wonderful reading month 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
CONGRATS ON READING 14 BOOKS!!! that’s an amazing achievement. also i’m really sorry to hear Lair of Dreams didn’t live up to the hype, but i hope you continue with the series!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much! 😊 I’m still really excited to continue reading the series, this one just didn’t live up to my expectations.
LikeLiked by 1 person
14 books – Wow! and even better that the majority were great reads 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! I got very lucky with my reading choices this month 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
So, i have never had ANY interest in reading romance but i keep seeing so many people reading books by Alyssa Cole and I feel like I’m really missing out on something because so many people seem to be reading her books???
LikeLiked by 1 person
If you don’t have any interest in romance novels, I don’t think you’re missing out by not reading her books. But it if you’re ever in the mood to try a romance novel, definitley try one of hers 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
I bought myself Once Ghosted, Twice Shy to give it a go and see what all the fuss is about 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m so excited to read that one. I hope you’ll enjoy it! 😊
LikeLike
Ahhh. This made me add another books on my TBR list haha. Thanks anyway and congrats for reading a lot of books in Feb! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much! Haha, those TBR’s just keep growing 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
February sounds like a great month for you. I am glad you are enjoying The Winter of the Witch. And so many interesting books on your list, I’m taking notes. Have a wonderful first month of spring, happy reading. 📚
I love that parting quote! ❤️
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, it was a really good one! I loved The Winter of the Witch so much, it might be my favorite in the trilogy. The interactions between Vasya and Medved were just as good as you said 😊 I’m just sad the series is over! But there’s always re-reading ❤️
Thank you! I hope you have a wonderful Match too and happy reading! ❤️
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh I’m so glad you enjoyed it. And big thumbs up to re-reading this series. I think I may do that when the next winter comes to embrace the atmosphere yet again. ❤️
LikeLiked by 1 person
Always nice when you read lots of great books!
(www.evelynreads.com)
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s the best! 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m glad that you’ve had a great reading month! There’s so many books on here that look simply amazing! Im adding Emily of New Moon to my TBR. Anne Shirley is so much more popular that I’ve hardly heard anything about Emily. Still, she sounds as lovely as Anne! Anyway, Night of Cake & Puppets. There’s something about seeing food in books that makes the food sound wonderful. And the fact that there’s “cake” in this title… :’-)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much! I actually haven’t read about Anne yet, but I’ve bought a copy of Anne of Green Gables and it’s on my March TBR 😊 If she’s as lovely as Emily, I’m sure I’ll love it! Food in books always sounds so good, especially desserts…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Regarding the love triangle in The Diviners, I’m fully on Team Sam.
LikeLiked by 1 person
After Lair of Dreams I am too!
LikeLike
What an amazing month for you!!! Even more impressive that you loved so many of your reads! I hope March is just as good to you! 💕💕
LikeLike
I was very lucky with my reading choices! Thank you so much, Leslie! I hope March will be a wonderful month for you too 💕
LikeLiked by 1 person
You are welcome! 😊 Thank you, I’m hoping it will be!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ooooh, I had not heard of The Looking Glass before! It sounds interesting!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s such a hidden gem! 😊
LikeLike
I have to read Night of Cake & Puppets !!, I love Zuzana, she’s such an amazing friend 😄💛✨
LikeLiked by 1 person
YES! I love Karou and Zuzana’s friendship so much ❤️ Night of Cake and Puppets is wonderful, I hope you’ll love it 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
14 books and a ton of 5 star ratings?! That sounds like an epic reading month to me! Well done and long may it continue 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I know, right? It was wonderful! Fingers crossed March will be as good 😊 And I hope yours is too! ❤️
LikeLiked by 1 person
What an amazing month! So many 5 stars! I’m delighted you read so many great in February and I’ve definitely added a few to my list after this post! 🙂 ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much! It was a lovely reading month 😊 I hope you have a wonderful March! 💕
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow!! 14 books 🙂 sounds like you had a great month!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! It was great 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Such an amazing wrap-up! So glad you read some great books 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much! It was a lovely month 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Alyssa Cole is one of the authors I’m desperate to get to this year. I hear such good things about her work. Same with Tessa Dare. I love your wrap-ups too! 😊
LikeLike
So glad you loved night of cake and puppets as much as I did!! 😀 And I’d love to reread bear and the nightingale!! great wrap up!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s such a magical story! I’ve read it 4 times and I definitley recommend re-reading it 😊 Thank you so much!
LikeLike