May 2019 Wrap Up

I thought I’d start this post with the obligatory “I can’t believe we’re already five months through the year!” But seriously, I can’t. May was an amazing months for a couple of reasons. Sure, I got quite a bit of reading done and the majority of the books I gave pretty high ratings, but George and I now have a small addition to our family.

Selma is an 18 month old lovely little girl who we rescued from a local shelter. Sadly her previous owners could no longer commit to looking after her so we can’t wait to give her the long and happy life she deserves. She’s really settled in and I’m sure that there will be lots more Selma around here, especially on my Twitter and Instagram. Now onto the books!

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

The first book I read in May was fairly unexpected, in that I hadn’t planned on reading it and didn’t even own a copy. One morning I was browsing on Amazon, saw the paperback on offer and decided to get my hands on it. It arrived on a Friday night and by the Saturday afternoon I’d finished it. A YA crime/thriller story, it was suitably gripping and kept my guessing and plotting right up to the very end. The towns narrow mindedness was extremely frustrating but I appreciated how our main character dealt with this. I raced through this book and thoroughly enjoyed it, and I can’t wait to meet Holly Jackson and get my copy signed at YALC! 4.5/5 stars.

Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan

This book had been on my radar for a while and I was so excited to read it; I actually ordered the US copy from Book Depository just so that I could read it sooner! I’d heard a lot about Wicked Saints, from the fact that it was based on Darkling fan fiction to that it was action packed, fast paced and featured blood magic and godly powers – let me say, I wasn’t disappointed. I could definitely recognise the nods to the Darkling and Grisha but it wasn’t overdone or jarring. Another book I devoured in only two days, I’m excited for the sequel and to see where this story goes. 4/5 stars.

Finale by Stephanie Garber

Caraval was one of my favourite books back in 2017, and while I didn’t love Legendary as much I was still super excited for the final book in the trilogy. Finale featured everything I had loved about Caraval: atmospherical magic, lush world building and romance. Sure at times it was predictable and over the top, but I definitely enjoyed it and it felt super nostalgic for me! I’m sad that the series is over but overall I’m happy with how Stephanie wrapped the story up. 4/5 stars.

The Flat Share by Beth O’Leary

This book kind of took book Twitter by storm and I can definitely see why. The premise sounds super unique and cute – two people live in the same flat but one is only there during the day and the other at night so they communicate through Post It notes! I love me a good romcom, but this was so much more. Yes it made me laugh, it gave me a warm feeling in my tummy and I loved the romance, but it was also emotional and deep and went to places I really wasn’t expecting. I highly, highly recommend! 4.5/5 stars.

Loving Mr. Daniels by Brittainy C. Cherry

I decided to download the Kindle ebook of this after seeing it was fairly inexpensive and remembering that a friend had really enjoyed it. A forbidden love story, I did enjoy the premise but there was just something lacking for me. At times I was really enjoying the story but then there would be a certain scene or piece of dialogue that would undo all the good thoughts I had just been thinking. This story does deal with grief very gracefully but I would still give a trigger warning for death, cancer, drugs and murder. This was the kind of book that I didn’t love, but also didn’t hate – it’s just kind of hanging in the middle. 3/5 stars.

Risky Play by Rachel Van Dyken

Ok so this book. Again, the ebook was very cheap on Amazon, around 99p. I checked it out on Goodreads where it has an almost 4.3 star rating so I thought “great!” Erm, yeah this was not a 4 star read for me. There was definitely potential here but I just could not get on board with this story. Don’t get me wrong, I love some angst, but there were times that the constant drama and obstacles just felt very unnecessary and when on every other page there is a fight or argument I quickly lost interest. I did finish the story, and yes there were some scenes I did enjoy, but overall I wasn’t too happy. 2/5 stars.

So I’m really happy with my reading in May; I got through a decent number of books but also a lot of them were very highly rated! I’m also chuffed with the fact that (so far) I seem to be sticking with posting these wrap ups too. What did you read in May?

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