Book Talk: November Wrap Up

Oof. My reading months are looking worse for wear. Despite reading fewer books in November, I'm not feeling as meh about this month as I did about October, maybe because I was very excited about and loved every single book I read this month. It really picked me up out of my not-slump. Having some time off of school reinvigorated me. It's much needed energy as well considering I am currently so far away from completing my Goodreads Reading Challenge...

Stats:

• Books Read: 4
• Genre:
• Fantasy: 2
• Science Fiction: 1
• Dystopian: 1
• Page Count: 2028

Books:

Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas

Have you started the Throne of Glass series yet? You're going to wish you had if only to read this book. The plot at this point is very convoluted and there is just so much of everything happening so I can't give anything away. People are coming into their powers, there are a lot of high-intensity action scenes, and we're starting to see more of those hints dropped at the beginning of the series circling back and playing their role. Now that I'm discovering how each character fits into the bigger picture, I'm becoming more fond of them. Of course there are those that I've loved from the moment they were introduced, but others (*cough* witches *cough*) didn't win me over until this installment. All I needed was some humanity. I'm also having a fun time trying to figure out the politics within Maeve's cadre. My best guess is that we'll be seeing a lot more of it in the final (!!!) installment of this series. 

Broken Crowns by Lauren DeStefano

If you recall from last year's June Wrap Up, I was very disappointed bythe second book of The Internment Chronicles. The plot was barely there and, while it delivered a lot of character development, I personally thought a novella would've acheived the same results. I am happy to announce that Broken Crowns was far better. Truly, a solid end to the trilogy. I liked the action taken by the cast of characters and the tumultuous yet happy ending. I can see a bright future after a road of recovery for these two kingdoms and all the people we've grown fond of over the course of these three books. There are novellas in between following some slightly forgetten characters that I intend to read in December. I want to be able to see the full picture before letting go. I also want to up my book count. There is no beating around that bush. Another thing I want to note for Amy's sake (hi Amy!) is that this is the book where there's a character named Amy and her older sister is Daphne. Life imitates art. Overall, a very satisfying ending to a good trilogy.

Gemina by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

Y'ALL. I love this series. I was so happy to learn that this series is a set of companion novels because last time something like this happened, it was the Starbound trilogy and it's still my most favorite thing ever. The only difference is there was a year in between for each of the Starbound novels and no time in between The Illuminae Files. If you need a refresher, read my book talk of Illuminae. Gemina follows the same formatting but the twists and turns are all new. I love the cleverness and how they get the most out of their advantages. And the twist? Oh my god. It's everything. Looking at the book as a whole, I have to say Illuminae edges Gemina out by a smidge, but this bombshell catapulted it to first place in my book. Fingers crossed we get to see more of it in the next book. I also appreciated that there was significantly fewer zombie-esque people in this installment. One of the benefits of this series being so close together chronologically is how easy it is to tie the previous book in. I don't know how I'm going to go another year without the third book. (Oh, and Marie Lu did all the illustrations in this book! Super awesome!!!)

The Forgetting by Sharon Cameron

I've been bad. I told myself that I would read my Uppercase Box book before the next box arrived the next month so I wouldn't have a TBR pile for longer than a lending period at the library. The Forgetting was September's book. I know it doesn't seem like that long ago, but the books are starting to pile up and it is not making me happy. I feel the need to justify that getting a subscription box is worth the money and letting the things I get in the box sit around and collect dust while I read other things is not helping my cause! Enough about that, though. Let's get into this book. It was a really good book. I kinda wish I could erase it from my memory and read it for the first time again. I guess you could say I kinda wish I could... forget it. (I promise I did not plan this.) One of the main reasons why I didn't pick this up immediately was because it was described as a dystopian and while I guess that's technically true, it's so much more and better than that. The Forgetting takes place in a society where everybody forgets everything every twelve years. They rely on their books and what they've written in them to keep them on track and to literally give them an identity. We find ourselves just a few short months, possibly weeks (I never really got a good grasp on how they measured time), from the next Forgetting and all of Canaan is frantically preparing to Forget. Unless you happen to be Nadia. Nadia doesn't forget. Then there's Gray, the glassblower's son. Excuse me, it should go more like this: Then there's Gray *swoon*, the glassblower's son. Their relationship is so compelling and it fills my heart. It sounds weird but I felt like I was a third, equally invested, person in their relationship. Since I got this book in my Uppercase Box, I was privy to some exclusive content and sometimes they're things like "add your thoughts!" but click these links on page 154 and page 246 because they give you some wonderful insight into Gray's mind and they also might make your heart explode from happiness. I really don't want to give anything away so I have to stop typing here but the second half of the book was not what I was expecting and more than what I could have ever wanted. It was perfect. 

One standalone, one conclusion, and two sequels. I guess I should consider myself lucky that I found the time to read four books in November. It was a strange month, to say the least. I have a lot more faith in December. Since I mentally had a good book month, I am very in the mood to talk about books! Let me know what books you've been reading recently and how you're doing on your reading challenge! I genuinely hope you're close to completion but know you're not alone if you're like 20 books away from the finish line. Novellas and graphic novels here I come!


Talk to you soon!

xo, Yvette