Book Talk: April Wrap Up

Happy Star Wars Day! I've got a busy day today but that doesn't mean I won't make time to talk about the books I read this month! I've been in a bit of a slump (but not severe enough to sound the alarms) so there aren't as many books as I'd like in this post, but it's definitely not my worst showing. I think the trick at this point is to get read books with some quality romance. This time of year is when I start jonesing for some cutesy contemporary novels. While I didn't get to any contemporary novels in April, click the read more to see what I did end up reading this past month!

Stats:

• Books Read: 6
• Genre:
• Historical Fiction: 1
• Sci-fi: 2
• Fantasy: 3
• Page Count: 1,873

Books:

Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein 

Rose Under Fire is the companion to Code Name Verity. These books are set in World War II and they're just as difficult to read as you'd expect. While Code Name Verity was more about a female pilot's "adventure" (to put it extremely lightly), Rose Under Fire focused on the concentration camp aspect of it. That alone is enough to make me sick to my stomach. What Wein does differently in Rose Under Fire is that she makes the novel a journal. Before Rose gets captured, she is updating her journal as things happen, but when the story takes us to the Ravensbruck concentration camp, it's told from the "future," so to speak. As Rose recounts her time living in these horrors, I was comforted in knowing she made it out alive. It was also grounding that we were allowed to return to the "present" as to give us a break. Although this is a fictional story, it was interesting seeing the repercussions of being a survivor and how being in a concentration camp and experiencing those horrors (horrors that give me nightmares just to hear about) can fundamentally change a person.

Morning Star by Pierce Brown

There is so much to say about this book. I'm sad that it's over, but the ending was so satisfying. There are no regrets. Before we even get into the wonderful, wonderful story, I want to mention how much I appreciate the inclusion of the bit of "Previously on the Red Rising trilogy..." with the list of key players and the brief recap of the first two books. These books are sagas -- it'd be nearly impossible to keep all the events straight in your head if you read them as they came out like I did. That being said, this is one of those series where, as you're reading, you're begging it to be longer. I can't give too much away, but this is a trilogy you should really pick up, and who am I to give spoilers? I mostly want to talk about how much I love these characters. It's been such an up-and-down journey for Darrow, especially going from the second to the third book. I'm going to miss Darrow and Darrow when he's with Mustang. She is so smart and cunning and the two complement each other. Mustang just might be my favorite because I strive to be like her. What a warrior (but also diplomatic) goddess. I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned this on xo, Yvette before (knowing me, I probably have), but I have such a soft spot for gentle giants. It's probably my favorite trope of all time and there is no shortage of them in this world. Ragnar, an Obsidian, definitely fits the mold. He's a warrior when the role calls for it but he's a kind heart and loves children. I'll miss reading his character. The Telemanuses are also gentle giants, which I really appreciated. I love large men who wear their hearts on their sleeves (@therock, @vindiesel, @johncena etc.).

I recently learned of this literary device (not sure if it's an actual device but we're gonna go with it because I cannot come up with a better word) where if the reader knows the plan, it is guaranteed to go haywire, but if the reader is left in the dark, it's going to go off without a hitch. The thing is, I didn't even know there was a plan in action, which had me figuratively running around my room like a chicken with its head cut off. Not knowing really killed me, but once I came to the realization that Darrow and Mustang were involved, I knew that there was a plan in place and understanding this literary device brought me so much comfort. Brown executed the whole story arc so flawlessly and this book was so well done. From the suspense to the action, to the resolution, it was all perfect. Overall, I am so happy with the ending. It was extremely satisfying and brought me a sense of peace. Everything is going to be okay and they're all going to have good lives moving forward.

P.S. You really gotta prepare yourself for those last hundred or so pages. They were so emotional and emotional. It was an exhausting ride, but exhausting in the best way. (Plus the epilogue makes everything worth it. Trust me.)

Iron to Iron by Ryan Graudin 

Luka Lowe is my precious baby boy. I am so happy Graudin decided to go back and give Luka some more character development because I was lukewarm on him before, but now I can't get enough. He's not at all pure (He's racing for a Double Cross, after all. You can't get the first one even without fighting dirty.) and yet he's somehow the purest thing in the world. That doesn't make sense, really, but my heart is filled to the brim with affection for this boy. All he wants is someone to love him. I can be that person. There's not much to say in terms of story, since it's all stuff we inferred from characters talking about this race in Wolf by Wolf (did I mention that Iron to Iron is the prequel novella to Wolf by Wolf? My bad...) Now that I know more about how his mind works, I want to go back and reread Wolf by Wolf and see things from his perspective. If only I were strong enough to shoulder the burden of his heartbreak (and if only I actually had time to reread books...). I wonder what role he has to play in the next book, Blood for Blood. He doesn't have an obvious part based on what we know so far, but we've spent way too much time with Luke for him to be anything but the second lead going forward in this series (duology?). The next book cannot come soon enough.

Irredeemable, Vol. 6 by Mark Waid & Peter Krause

Ah, how history repeats itself. It's been a while since I read Vol. 5 so I was worried I would have some trouble recalling what had gone down in the previous volumes (*cough* The Grisha trilogy *cough*) but that was a complete non-issue. The visuals helped trigger some panels from previous issues so I was able to remind myself of the events that have already went down as I went on reading. With a story like this, you wonder how it could get any darker, and then it manages to do just that. The Plutonian is in an odd situation and it kinda makes me uncomfortable, especially seeing Modeus's relationship with Tony. Who is this Masked Man? Surely it's not Modeus. That'd be really creepy, in my opinion. It kinda feels like every character in this story is going insane and I don't blame them. The only thing is that I feel like I'm spiraling with them. It's all very terrible. And now Cary (or, I guess, he goes by Survivor now) wants to build his own Suicide Squad? I'm definitely with Qubit on this one. Bad idea. From where we stand now, The Paradigm's storyline looks pretty straightforward, but I bet Waid will turn that right on its head. Tony's storyline, however, could go in many directions. I'm curious to see where exactly it will go. That display of power in this issue couldn't have been just for kicks. I hope none of that gave anything away, since this is the sixth volume, after all. Only four left to go! Would it be naive to allow myself to hope for the well being of the human race? We'll find out soon enough. 

The Siren by Kiera Cass 

I was so excited to get to read Kiera Cass's new book. This is the first novel she's published outside of The Selection series so I was curious to see where she could take us in a new world. The cover is a little bit deceiving simply because every book cover features a girl in a gorgeous dress. I'm not complaining, just a smidge envious. This book was about sirens, as you probably gathered from the title, but Cass took her own spin on the lore. Instead of sirens being a species, they're girls that the Ocean chooses to save from drowning and gives immortality (for a hundred years) in exchange for their voices. I won't get into any spoilers but it's on the verge of sadistic. Needless to say, the concept is very interesting. I really enjoyed the book overall, but there was one aspect that really bothered me. It's hard to see if you aren't familiar with what an abusive relationship can look like, but that's exactly what's happening between the Ocean and these sirens, especially with Kahlen, the protagonist. She was always telling her she loved her and making Kahlen feel guilty for wanting her own life. It was scary to see because how do you run escape from literally all the water on earth? I'm not well-versed in abusive relationships so I can't explain it well but it's clear that's what this is when you're reading. It's not just Her relationship with Kahlen -- it's also with the other sirens. Lashing out at them, forcing them to do things they don't want to do, just all the red flag type of stuff. On the flip side, Kahlen meets this charismatic boy named Akinli and I fell in love with him right away. I guess that's how I was able to accept the insta-love in this book without missing a beat. He's so sweet and open and genuine. It's oh so hard not to love him. Just thinking about him gives me butterflies. When all is said and done, I can see why some people may not love this book, but my love for Akinli and appreciation for the unique spin on the siren lore is enough to push it over the edge. It was also a quick read, which was great given my reading slump. I just wanted to keep coming back to this mystical world as often and for as long as I could. 

Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo 

I'm gonna be honest, the only reason why I'm carrying through with this series is because I want to know all the canon before picking up Six of Crows, which is sort of a companion heist novel set in the same world. I've heard more of much better reviews for that book than I have for this series. Having said that, these are possibly some of the least memorable books I have read in my life. Even now having finished the final book in the trilogy, I'm not clear on what happened in the first two installments. From what I've gathered I think they hunted a stag in the first one and then a sea serpent (?) in the second one? I know they were going after the firebird in this one. I know the antagonist is the Darkling but like in the end he didn't even seem that powerful??? Everything just came real easy. Maybe that's overstating it, but things definitely worked out on their own. Like, there was an easy fix for everything. This whole thing feels like a Mary Sue (as much as an entire book can be a Mary Sue), if I'm honest. There were also a lot of fake-Russian words which could've been cool since this is a Russia-adjacent type of world, but I don't even know the original Russian word it was inspired by so most of the time I was just mad-libbing this book, filling in random nouns to test them out. A glossary would've been nice. I don't know. This whole series is a great concept not executed to its full potential. It checks off all the boxes of things I'd like to see but, man, does it fall short. I'm writing this two days after I finished the book and I already don't remember anything that happened. It was a good time while I was in the story, but once you're out, you're out. There's nothing compelling you to come back, nothing to latch onto your mind and keep you engrossed in what could've been a spectacular world. Overall, I'd give this series a hard pass, unless you've really got nothing else to read. Otherwise, there is a plethora of fantasy novels out there that are far more captivating than this. 

I still feel like I didn't read a lot this month, but I certainly had a lot to say about the books I did read. It's looking like May is going to be another busy one so fingers crossed I can find the time to explore some new worlds! Let me know in the comments if you've read any of these books and what you thought of them! I'd also love to hear your cutesy contemporary recommendations because I feel like I've read them all (I know for a fact I haven't, I just have to find them!). I can't wait to see what May has in store for me!

May the Fourth be with you.

xo, Yvette