Jun 1

Jun 1 May Wrap-Up: Spark Joy Readathon

This month I participated in Read With Sam’s Spark Joy Readathon and I managed to read almost all my backlisted books from Netgalley! I didn’t think I was going to reach my goal because I barely read in the beginning of the month but for the past week I have just blown through my books! I finished 8 books and 1 audiobook. I’m going to try to read just as many in June!

Here is my May Wrap-Up list:

*Click on titles for the Goodreads synopsis*

Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas

My friends have been trying to get me to read this series for years and finally one friend bought me the first book for my birthday. So finally I decided to read it and I really enjoyed it so of course I just had to buy the rest of the series 😁 I really enjoyed the banter and sass and Celaena’s character in general is just amazing. She loves reading, dogs, and desserts just like me!...and probably 70% of the population but still. I love the characters and Celaena's friendship with Nehemia. I'm so excited to read the rest of the series!

4/5🌟

How to Survive in Ancient Egypt by Charlotte Booth

I received a free eARC of this book from Netgalley and I absolutely loved it. I was always a huge fan of ancient Egyptian history and this book was such a fascinating read about the daily life in ancient Egypt. There was lots of information ranging from the types of food people ate, pregnancy, and politics. I thought this book was very well written and Booth used many reputable sources. I highly recommend this book!

4/5🌟

Behind the Dragon’s Veil by Christina Jolly

I got a copy of this eARC from Netgalley as well. I didn’t really enjoy this book. It was a very good idea but it was executed a bit badly. There was just so much happening and so much new vocab and concepts and characters thrown at you. I feel like this book really needed a glossary and character guide because I barely had any idea who was who aside from Ann, Fall, Kilin, Reign, and King Rypere. I loved how there was a trigger warning at the beginning of the book. The map was very beautiful but I think Jolly could have come up with a better place name than 'Holocaust Springs'. I was also very confused by the world-building and the concept of blood spools etc. I enjoyed the beginning third of the novel where Ann starts off on her journey with her burgarri but then everything just got so confusing and all over the place that I quickly lost interest in continuing the book. It was a struggle to finish but I did it and the plot twists at the end just hurt my brain even more. I had no idea what was happening by the end. I hope the sequel will be better written than the first book but either way, I won't be reading it.

2/5🌟

Evie Everyday Witch: Secret Magic by Elena Paige

I received a free copy of this eARC from Booksirens. I really enjoyed this book for the most part but there were some plot points that didn’t make sense such as how some characters would act. I thought Paige did a great job with writing from the perspective of a child though because I really felt like Evie was telling me her story. I feel like a child will really enjoy this book because it is quite imaginative and I loved the illustrations!

3/5🌟

Chinatown Pretty by Andrea Lo and Valerie Luu

I got a free copy of the eARC from Netgalley and OMG I SUPPORT THIS BOOK SO MUCH. I loved it! I don’t usually read non-fiction books but I saw this and couldn’t resist requesting it from Netgalley. This book is basically a bunch of photos of seniors found in various famous Chinatowns and their outfits. The book is divided into chapters based on each Chinatown location and there's a little blurb in the beginning about the history of each Chinatown. With each senior who had a photo, there was a blurb about their outfit and sometimes details of their life. This was just such a sweet book to read and I loved looking at all the creative outfits and reading the stories that went along with them. This was a very quick read as well since half the book is made up of pictures. I was so sad that I couldn’t see the colourful outfits because I read this on my black and white kobo. I just really want to buy this book now so I can experience all the colour. This would be a great book just to have on your coffee table to flip through. Seriously great book go check it out! HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

5/5🌟

Where the Veil is Thin by Alana Joli Abbott and Cerece Rennie Murphy

I also got this from Netgalley. When I read the first story in this anthology I wasn't sure if I would enjoy the rest of the book but after that one story I loved it! This book is comprised of numerous tales about faeries and other mythical creatures. Each story was written in a very poetic style and I really enjoyed them. There was even one story that was in a "choose your own story" format which was fun to read but slightly more difficult when reading from an ebook format. Some of the stories were a little bit confusing because of the language and writing style but I enjoyed them nonetheless. The stories in this anthology were a bit darker than the usual fairytales you read but that's one thing I liked about them. I really enjoyed 'See a Fine Lady' and 'Colt's Tooth'.

4/5🌟

Gilded Ruins by Chantal Gadoury

I received an eARC from Parliament Press and Chantal Gadoury. Overall I thought the plot was pretty great and I loved how each of the Greek gods and goddesses were portrayed. I also loved how Aphrodite was a ‘they’ because they represented all types of beauty in the world which wasn’t limited to one gender. Zeus reminded me of Gatsby especially how he kept saying “ol’ boy” every 5 seconds 😆 I wasn’t a huge fan of Summer in this book because she made some silly decisions which I guess worked out for the plot but still. I felt like she also acted a tad bit childish too because she was very jealous of Minthe when she seriously had no reason to and even though she was warned that people would manipulate her view of Darce, she still listened and got emotional about everything they had to say. Also Morpheus omg why. He has a moment where he does something which I thought was completely inappropriate and unnecessary at a certain point in the story. All in all I thought it was a very imaginative story and it reminded me very much of a dramatic soap opera and I enjoyed reading it 😂

3/5🌟

Strange Girls Anthology by Azzurra Nox

I received a copy of the eARC from Netgalley. I blew through this book! All of the stories were so creepy and strange and I really enjoyed reading them. ‘Self Portrait with Pears’ was one story that stuck with me for a while because of how disturbingly realistic it was. The writing styles were great and I think every authour did a great job. This is a highly entertaining and thought provoking set of horror stories that I would highly recommend every horror lover check out!

4/5🌟

Changeling by Molly Harper

I listened to this on Audible. I highly enjoyed listening to this! The narrator could do so many different accents for each character and she even sounded the school headmistress sound like Professor McGonagall from Harry Potter. I loved the plot of the story and omg Mary's character was so irritating I was so glad with how she ended up. Mrs. Winter was such a sassy lady under her stern demeanour, she was great. I thought the “blossoming relationship” 😉 between Gavin and Cassandra was a bit unnecessary though. I read the summary for the sequel and accidentally spoiled the ending of this book for myself but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I can't wait to listen to the sequel!

4/5🌟