April Wrap-Up

Hey bookworms!

I can’t believe it’s already May! Once again this past month just flew by. It’s my bf’s birthday soon and I thought I had more time to prepare because I felt like April would exist a little longer but NOPE. Anyhoo I did not get a lot of reading done this month at all and I didn’t even finish a single audiobook. I got a ton of books in the mail and had a dark romance haul but I have barely read anything. I also received a book from Brynne Weaver called The Diviner which is what I’m currently reading, and loving so far. Hopefully I get more reading done in May since it’s the #SparkJoyReadathon again, run by @readwithsam! Fingers crossed I read more than the 7 books I read this month because I’m already behind in my Goodreads challenge 😅

My Library

Desperate Measures by Katee Robert

Review:

TW: Consent non-consent, death of a parent, emotional abuse by parent, sex scenes

So this wasn’t exactly what I was expecting but I did enjoy it! I kind of wish this was set in the OG city of Agrabah, but the mafia type modern setting was fun to read about too. I thought it was cool how there were some characters from other books in the series because now I want to read more about Meg and Hades. Jasmine and Jafar’s relationship was definitely all hot and sexy but I also liked how there was a caring aspect as well. There is a lot of BDSM type dynamic and play in this book and I am so glad there’s mentions of birth control, getting tested for STDs, virginity is a social construct, and also how Jasmine and Jafar have a safe word. Ooh also there’s aftercare! There is also a Daddy/babygirl kink in this story which wasn’t really my thing (makes me cringe for personal reasons lol), but if you like it then you’ll enjoy this book even more! The sex scenes were hot AF aside from the Daddy kink so I just wish I had a version of the book where they change the nicknames to something else 😅 I really liked the plot twist at the ending though and Jasmine did go through some character development which was great to see. Overall this was a fun retelling and I can’t wait to read more of the series!

3.5/5🌟

Netgalley eARCs

Little Wade and Watchtower by Sean March

Review:

TW: Child abduction, murder, gang violence

Thank you Netgalley and Sean for the eARC! I almost didn’t get a chance to review this book because it was only on Kindle format on Netgalley, but Sean kindly sent me an ePUB file so I could read it. This book was pretty good! It was very imaginative and creative with all the names of the characters. Sometimes I got a bit confused because there were so many names to keep track of. Aside from the characters, I really liked the messages told in this story. There’s a lot of emphasis on consent like when Little Wade gives Abigail the contract and before they do anything they always ask her if she consents. They also tell her that even though she is a child she still has the ability to make choices. Another one is when Abigail is hesitant about which clothes to wear on her adventure and Little Wade tells her that as long as she feels like herself that’s all that matters. Also that everyone’s problems matter no matter how big or small. This is a very empowering book and can be used as a good influence for kids. Story-wise it was an interesting plot but I felt like the battle scenes were very complex and so much was happening in the final 100 pages of the book. This story is also based in New York and Sean includes many different ethnic groups in his story. He also writes some of the characters with their accented speech in the dialogue which I thought worked for the story but I’d like to hear what people’s opinion about this is. Overall this was a very inspiring and empowering story that has some great lessons for kids to learn.

3.5/5🌟

Even and Odd by Sarah Beth Durst

Review:

First of all I loved the dedication! I thought the plot of the story was very magical and also emotional because of the border closure and all the displaced magical creatures. I enjoyed all of the magic worldbuilding and thought it was very imaginative. This book makes me wish I had a gateway to a magical world in my backyard. In regards to characters, the villain of the story was a bit morally grey which made for a more thought-provoking story in my opinion. I also liked the character growth Even goes through about her relationship with her magic and the magical world. I didn’t like her at the beginning and middle of the book because she seemed a bit stuck-up or self-absorbed like she couldn’t fathom that some people might not have the same views on magic and Firoth as she does. I really liked Odd though, and her love for animals was totally relatable. Jeremy was also such an adorable bumbling character and he was fun to read about. The Academy of Magic sounded so much like organizations today with how it takes forever to change something or appeal to them because of all the policies and paperwork they must go through. One plot thing I thought was a nice lesson for kids is that when you’re anxious or feel bad, you think of 5 things that you are grateful for. There’s also a theme in this book for being positive and optimistic. Overall this was a fun book and I think kids will definitely enjoy reading about the magical world and characters!

3.5/5🌟

A School Frozen in Time Volume 1 by Mizuki Tsujimura

Review:

TW: Suicide and self harm

This manga is officially my new fav horror read of forever. I LOVED IT! It was everything and more that I have dreamed a horror manga would be. This book just brings out all the feels and manages to be creepy AF at the same time. Like I actually felt creeped out while reading this and that barely ever happens. My skin was crawling. The stories each student share are also so heartbreaking and emotional and I almost cried while reading this too. This is literally an emotional rollercoaster of a read and you will be flying through those pages wanting to find out more. There is also a great sense of camaraderie among the students and they all have their own unique personalities. This is like the horror version of The Breakfast Club and the anime Another all wrapped into one great manga. I highly recommend this and I need the next volumes ASAP! This is definitely a “must-buy” for me!

6/5🌟

The Treasure of the King and the Cat by You Kajika

Review:

This was such a cute manga mainly because of how FREAKING CUTE Volks is! He is such a precious little human whose light and joy must be protected for eternity. His affection for O’Feuille was such a joy to read and it was just so heartwarming and cute! Also Nio and Castio’s hidden love for each other was so precious and I really hope they end up getting together. All the cats in this story especially the ones near the end were so adorable and their personalities were so entertaining. There’s some sexual jokes and mild inappropriate bits but I think they worked well with the storyline and characters. I liked the main story and side stories but I got a bit confused with how the magic system worked and how charms and occult magic worked. Either way I got the gist of it well enough to understand the story. I really want more of the story though because I need more Volks!

4/5🌟

Edelweiss eARCs

Yakuza Lover Volume 1 by Mino Nozomi

Review:

I was super excited for this manga because of the dangerous type romance between Yuri and the Yakuza boss Oya. However the story was not as great as I had hoped. It started off very smoldering sexy but then I got a little uncomfortable with the numerous makeout scenes featuring a hella lot of tongue. This may be some person’s cup of tea but not mine 😅 The other romance and sexy scenes I was perfectly fine with though. Oya is definitely very sex-crazed and is completely enamored with Yuri the second he sees her. Their relationship is very much insta-love because they have one makeout session and Yuri is all “I love you I want to be your lover.” One thing I didn’t like about the plot was that Yuri starts off as a very outspoken girl who has no qualms about standing up for herself but once she meets Oya she turns into such a demure girly girl who spends so much time pining over him. I did kind of like their relationship though because even though Oya admits to having a jealous streak, he doesn’t really punish Yuri for it or make her feel bad and he tells her he’ll forgive anything she does to him because she is his gf. He says he accepts her as she is which is basically what Yuri was looking for in a bf at the beginning of the story. Also I thought the first date sequence scenes were very cute and cat Yuri is adorable! I do think this manga has some potential though and I’m excited to see where the story leads. I hope Yuri gets some of her outspoken self back though and is able to hold her own in her relationship with Oya. Overall this is a mature manga for sure and has quite a few sexual scenes and some violence but it has a decent base storyline and I would like to continue reading it.

3/5🌟

Other eARCs/ARCs

How to Save a Queendom by Jessica Lawson

Review:

Thank you Simon and Schuster Canada for the ARC! I don’t know why it took me so long to pick this book up because once I started it, I fell in love. Also the last couple pages totally made my eyes leak a little. This book is quite an adventure and has themes about family that were such a joy to read about. I love the concept of the earrings and how you can have another set of piercings for new parents, step-parents, etc. So family isn’t just the typical 2 parents that’s it, but it factors in multiple different family dynamics.

Another aspect of this story that I loved was how female-centered it was. First of all, it’s set in a Queendom not a Kingdom. Next, when couples get married you they can choose who takes whose last name, and queens could be single mothers. There’s literally no mention of kings or princes that I can recall. Finally, even the castle guards are female which is something I rarely see in books.

Beaman. Y’all Beaman was my fav character ever. When Lawson mentioned that he cooks, I was hooked. All the food descriptions in this book were so mouthwateringly delicious and I really want to try the soup that he made on his adventure. There could totally be a companion cookbook for this book 😅 He was also so precious with how passionate he was about cooking. Such a sweetheart.

Stub was so resilient and I’m really happy with all of her character growth throughout the book. She starts off being quite skeptical of people and doesn’t think she can get out of her current situation, but as she meets Orlen, Beaman, and others along the way she learns to open up more and stand up for herself. Also her relationship with Peck the chicken is so heartwarming (on the book cover he kinda reminds me of Hei Hei from Moana lol).

Plot-wise I enjoyed it until the middle where there’s a plot twist that I was not expecting. After that point everything seemed like it was just happening just to further the plot. There were, what felt like random events and motivations happening here and there, but it was entertaining nonetheless. I also wasn’t too sure if everything would be resolved by the end of the book because there were only a few pages left, but everything worked out well. Sonora’s backstory is quite interesting as well. I also feel like there is definitely more to Renart than meets the eye as there were many moments where he seems to have some heart and emotions. I wish we could’ve gotten a bit more of his backstory because I was getting some “he was in love with the queen” vibes. Sonora’s mother the queen, not Sonora.

Overall this is such an inspirational story and it’s filled with adventure, family, and friendship. Oh and magic. Lots and lots of magic! I highly recommend this book so be sure to check it out!

4/5🌟

Audiobooks

I was so excited to listen to Three Keys, which is the sequel to Front Desk, but for some reason my audiobook kept glitching and would stop randomly when I played it. Since I listen to audiobooks while I drive I figured it wasn’t very safe for me to be distracted by trying to figure out what was wrong while driving, so I gave up and listened to Spotify for the month 😅 I ended up listening to this audiobook whenever I was working on some tasks but I didn’t finish it in time for this month’s wrap-up; I still have about an hour left. It’s super good though so I can’t wait to review it once I complete it!

Anyhoo that’s the end of my wrap-up and I hope May is a better reading month for me 🤣 Also y’all should definitely check out the #SparkJoyReadathon because it’s such a fun and relaxing readathon with no pressure to finish a huge list of prompts. If you need some new bookmarks or a pretty bookish mug for your reading drinks then go check out the @bibliophileprints shop! I’m an affiliate for Erin and you can use my code NESSA15 for 15% off your purchase!

Happy reading 😄