January 2018 Wrap Up!

This month was filled with reading, burritos, school break, and the end of it. As students, and past students, know, college approaches very quickly in January, and now we find ourselves back to the grind. Ellie is still reading as much as humanly possible, and Annalise is still trying to find her groove and work reading time in! We both hope that we surpass our reading goals this year with flying colors, and are excited to share how we started them off.

Annalise:

This month I read a total of 5 books. I read Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor, Our Dark Duet by Victoria Schwab, The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson, The Heart of Betrayal by Mary E. Pearson, and The Beauty of Darkness by Mary E. Pearson. Now, I probably could've shoved three or four more books in this month (as I was planning on doing), but when school started up, I fell back into not reading as much as I wanted! I hope in February this will be remedied!

Strange the Dreamer: This book was absolutely stunning. It was the perfect read to kick off my year, and left me absolutely speechless. Usually I think about what I am going to say about each book pretty soon after I finish it, but this one just left me in a daze. I have never read anything by Laini Taylor before, but this novel made me want to order them all instantly. Her writing is positively phenomenal, it's so lyrical and reads with this beauty that makes you wonder how on earth these were formerly just letters. Taylor's story building was also brilliant. The first one hundred pages or so were a little slow, but then everything feels like it all happens at once despite it occurring over the next 400 pages. It was seamless, the plot moved at the perfect pace and the characters were instantly likable (or dislikable, depending on their motives), but most of them fell between this gray area between the line of ethics and it was so fascinating to watch the plot grow alongside the them. I loved this book start to finish, and I found it to be an excellent example of a fantasy story. I will definitely be reading the second. I gave this book a 4.5/5 stars.

Our Dark Duet: What can I say about this book without breaking down into total and utter feels. This book was the perfect continuation of This Savage Song, it was such a flawless transition between the two books, it felt like I never left Verity. I was so completely taken by surprise by this duology that I've written a full review of it here! Check it out if you want all the gory details, my thoughts, my feels, and the beauteous creation that is the Monsters of Verity duology! I highly highly highly recommend to all! I gave this book a 5/5 stars.

The Kiss of Deception: This book was mind-blowing! Mary E. Pearson knows how to play on your expectations, on stereotypes, how you perceive characters, and on your own second guessing - and this book is a phenomenal example of that. The entire time, while reading this book, I was thinking one thing, except once where I thought, ' oh, maybe it is the other way around . . . no, no, it couldn't be', and then BAM, out of no where, this book takes everything you gathered on you own accord and throws it in your face. Now maybe to some people this was a painfully obvious story and you didn't enjoy it very much, but while the first 100 pages or so were slow, once it picked up, golly, did it pick up! Pearson is a lyrical writer with a stunning sense of prose and has created an novel new world that aches to be expanded. I gave this book a 3.5/5 stars.

The Heart of Betrayal: I cannot get a enough of this story. This second book in the Remnant Chronicles has completely exceeded all expectations. The world grew so much from the first book, all of the characters (new and old) were fleshed out and their complexities emulsified to create real people. The storyline was brilliant, I couldn't believe how well Pearson extended this story with out it ever feeling like it was getting repetitive or boring. This series is very clearly on a linear track when it comes to world and character development and I was ecstatic that Pearson did such a wonderful job of making this world so much brighter. I gave this book a 4/5 stars.

The Beauty of Darkness: Marathoning this triology was one of the best decisions I've made in a long time. There's something about staying in a single world for multiple books that gets you that much more attached to them. This concluding novel was really well done. I'm extremely impressed with Pearson's pacing, which I had realized was amazing in the past two novels, but was stunned by in this one. It stays quick, keeps you on the edge of you seat, but also slows down at the perfect moments. This is a long book, but I never felt bored. The only complaint I had about this novel was that (*kind of, not really, but just in case: spoiler*) I just felt that the battle at the end wasn't as epic as it was laid out to be. I guess when comparing it to other fantasy novels that end in war (as most do), I was just a little underwhelmed. (*spoiler over!*) When it came to the conclusion, however, I was pretty happy, and left this series feeling like I had lived in Lia, Kaden, and Rafe's shoes. I gave this book a 4.5/5

Ellie:

This month I read a total of 11 books. Four of that eleven were rereads, but I think they still count!

Extraordinary Means, by Robin Schneider: I had read and loved "The Beginning of Everything" by Robin before, so I had high hopes for Extraordinary Means--and it did not disappoint! This story is a dual perspective novel surrounding the lives of (primarily) two teens in a tuberculosis sanatorium. This sanatorium and this plot line is not something from the 1800's, but is made to fit the plausible future of TB returning to America-and being drug resistant. Lane and Sadie are both in the sanatorium, and they fall in and out of love as Lane gets accustomed to sanatorium life. They also provide each other with emotional support as their FRIENDS DIE FROM TB. This novel, while a beautiful romance and a wonderful, almost dystopian-esque read, was so much darker than I expected! However, the darkness was real. People would die from TB if it came back to America, and there would have to be places for people who were "contaminated" to go. This was an interesting book to start 2018 off with, but was one I found myself engrossed in! 3/5 stars.

Tell Me Three Things, by Julie Buxbaum: This novel was so cute! Annalise recommended it to me, and I am so happy she did. It is a YA romance, that incorporates loss, remarriage, drug abuse, and other serious topics into a fluffy online romance. The identity of the boy in the romance is kept hidden until the last few pages, but it is easy to figure out who he is (and may I say, I'm so happy it was him!) I won't bore you with anymore, as Annalise already discussed this book in our Autumn wrap up! 4/5 stars!

Snow Falling, by Jane Gloriana Villanueva: This book! Jane the Virgin is a CW telenovela that makes viewers laugh and cry each week, and leaves them on the edge of their seats after each episode. In the series, Jane, the main character, writes about her love story with her husband to cope with his untimely death (sorry for spoilers! but it was two seasons ago, so I'm not that sorry). When I saw on Twitter that the book had been actually written, I was so intrigued that I paid the $16 to get my hands on a copy. The only author listed is Jane, but since she is a fictional character, I am so confused as to who wrote this novel. But whoever did deserves an award! This novel is beautiful and explores Josephine's (Jane) and Martin's (Micheal) relationship in a wonderful way (where he DOESN'T DIE!). 4.75/5 stars! (I only take off the .25 because I am a total Rafael fan!! I need more of him and his abs in my life).

The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto by Mitch Albom: Let me preface this mini-review with this: I will willingly and gladly read literally ANYTHING Mitch Albom has written. A grocery list, a post-it note reminder, anything. And this book did not disappoint. It is written from the perspective of music, and invites us to view the life of Frankie Presto. Frankie is one of the most intricate and developed characters I've ever had the privilege of reading about, and I wanted to be able to meet him more than anything. We hear stories from Music itself, and ones from people that knew Frankie at varying points in his life, and this book is one that flows beautifully and kept me intrigued for hours on the couch. 4.5/5 stars.

To Burn by Kayma Snook: If you've never heard of this author, it's because this is her debut novel and she is a student at my university--but please do not let that influence your decision on whether or not to read this! You should read this collection of poetry because, much like Milk and Honey or The Princess Saves Herself in this One, Kayma explores the topics of life, love, depression, and self-esteem in beautiful poetry that will make you think, "wow, did she reach into my brain and pull this out?". I am not just being nice hahahaha, it was really that good! You can find it on lulu.com! 3.5/5 stars.

The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur: UM this Milk and Honey sequel is...perfection. I love her poetry, her words on the paper are like jewels in a golden crown. I have so many sticky tabs in this book, marking every single poem because I love all of them! The book itself is very aesthetically pleasing, but the interior, the beautiful works of poetry that are inside of this book make my heart so full of passion for writing. I cannot say enough about this, it is one of those books that makes me stutter when I explain it because I love it so much that I cannot clearly state it. There's one poem in here that makes me giggle, so when you stumble upon the unibrow poem, please laugh and think of me! 5/5 stars!

Lessons Learned by Cimorelli: This is an interesting book choice for me, to say the least. I've watched Cimorelli (a group of six singing sisters) on YouTube for around 3 or 4 years now, and have loved their harmonies as well as their more traditional sit-down-and-talk videos. In a video I watched in the beginning of December, I saw that they wrote a book, so I decided to take the chance and order it! It came in the mail just before Christmas, but I only just had time to pick it up now. It's a collection of stories, advice, and life lessons, divided up into chapters titled things like family, friends, money, and faith. I honestly enjoyed reading all of the advice found in this short book, and I do not regret buying it at all! It was something I was a little hesitant about buying, but it truly was very insightful and interesting to read!! 3/5 stars (I have to take off stars because I cannot deal with typos and font changes).

I used to reread books all the time, but in the last year or so, I've really focused on new reads instead. While this is lovely and great, I missed the feeling of reading a book that I already loved once, the feeling of picking up a slightly worn book and sitting with a cup of tea to reread favorite stories or passages. SO, that being said, I reread four books this month!

Let's Pretend This Never Happened and Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson (go to our July wrap up to find out what I thought about these two memoirs!). They made me laugh out loud as much this time as I did reading them the first time, and I will always hope for a third installment to Jenny Lawson's life stories!

Love Letters To The Dead by Ava Dellaira: I read this book for the first time in March 2017, and it hit me in the heart and ripped out my soul. & it did that again! It is such a powerful book, and I recommend it to any reader who likes a heart-wrenching story with a strong family plot line.

How They Met and Other Stories by David Levithan: This little collection of romance stories is beautiful and wonderful. They are all written by David Levithan, and they all make my heart sing! They are little stories that will brighten your day, and will make you long for a romance as pure as the ones written about here. Read them if you love romance, they'll enhance your love to the max!

#MonthlyWrapUp #JanuaryWrapUp