April and May Reading
Jun. 2nd, 2024 06:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kpopwinemomHello! I skipped April, so this is going to be April and May. In April, I continued reading Percy Jackson and mythology books, as well as a few ARCs for work. In May, I read a horrifying amount of books - I actually do not know how I had time - and dove into romance novels, because in Florida it's basically Summer, and the mood is brainless. Let's go! I'm trying to put in more cuts this time, because otherwise the WHOLE THING will be too long.
April
In April, I finished The Trials of Apollo by Rick Riordan. This Riordan's third Greek Myth series, and the one I struggled with the most. Book #3, The Burning Maze, I nearly DNF'd. I never really gelled with Apollo/Lester and Meg. This book felt like a SLOG. It did pick up at the end, and I ended up being really glad I didn't DNF, because I LOVED #4, The Burning Maze and #5, The Tower of Nero. I filled both with many sticky notes, and in The Tower of Nero the two characters I STARTED this whole journey with (Nico and Will, in The Sun and the Star) came back and played a significant role, and that made me very happy.
Overall I liked the series, but it was my least favorite of the 3 Greek Myth series in Riordan's extended universe. I liked it, but I struggled.
Once I finished The Trials of Apollo, I was FREE to move on to The Chalice of the Gods. Technically #6 in The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, chronologically it takes place after Heroes of Olympus and right before the events of The Trials of Apollo - Chalice is set the Fall before Apollo begins, in January/February. I wasn't sure where it was in the universe's timeline, and was worried it would contain spoilers for Apollo, which came out earlier, and saved it for last.
Anyway, Chalice kicks off a new trilogy of PJO books. Officially, these will be books 6-8 of PJO, but honestly, they're set AFTER two other series in the universe, and so I think they function more as a trilogy unto themselves. They follow Percy Jackson as he completes minor quests in order for college recommendation letters.
It was Fine. It was aggressively fine. Like, I've preordered the next one. I'm gonna read all of them as they come out. But it wasn't really great.
The issue was the tone and target audience of the book: Riordan wanted this to be a middle grade book, like the other books in the series, but at the same time, he clearly had targeted it for the now-adult original fans. And furthermore, in the original series, Percy is 12-16, slowly growing up over the course of the books. Percy is now seventeen, he has a girlfriend, he's been in two wars. He's getting ready to go to college, and he is solidly not a child. The end result just felt jumbled and confusing. The theme of the book is not being afraid to age/grow up. Like, explicitly. Percy talks about wanting to get old with Annabeth, to have children and then grandchildren. And at the start of the book, there is a joke about millenials who don't want to recognize they are aging. Percy, look in a mirror! Honey, you were (explicitly, canonically) born in 1994. What does that make you?
This brings us to the other issue with the book: the whole series is written to be contemporary to the time it was published, but they also take place in pretty tight period of time. In each series, you can tell that they were published a few years later, but it isn't really an issue. But in book six of PJO, especially if you've read the first five recently like I had, it feels jarring. The first five books in the series were published from 2005-2009, and are contemporary to that period of time. Chalice was published in 2023 and is clearly set in 2023. In universe, this is just a year or so after the events of The Last Olympian, but simultaneously, it's clear 15 years have passed. Did Percy et all go sleep in The Lotus Hotel following the events of Heroes of Olympus? What happened?
It made me feel insane.
Anyway, this wrapped up my Percy Jackson deep dive! Wrath of the Triple Goddess comes out in September, and I'll read that then, but I am done with Riordan for now. He does have like, A TON of other books - a few more in this universe that are based on Norse and Egyptian mythology, and a standalone, but a girl needs a break.
I did read one other mythology-inspired book this month! I finally picked up Circe by Madeline Miller! I LOVED it. It was VERY slow to start - the whole novel felt like it drug on. But then when it picked up (over halfway through...) it really did feel worth it. I LOVED how it ended. It actually made me cry?
In the end, I did feel like the slog worked because it felt important that it feel the way it does to Circe - long, endless, boring - until you got to where her life began to take form. I don't think I loved it as much as Song of Achilles, which is one of my favorite books of all time, but I did love it.
I read two ARCs this month! One of them...very late. After the book came out. Whoops. That was Late Bloomer by Mazey Eddings. Another Fine book. This is about two neurodivergent women, who, through circumstances, end up having to share a cottage on a flower farm and fall in love. I liked the set up, I didn't like the ending or tie-up. I don't think most romance readers would have an issue with it, but for me it felt...lazy, and like it didn't tie together the themes or plot in the way I would have liked.
The last ARC is for Fall, and I read it very early. It's A Dark and Drowning Tide by Allison Saft. This is Saft's first adult novel and...I could tell. Again it was Fine. Not awful, not great. Just very mediocre. The worldbuilding and politics felt half-assed, which was annoying because it was a pretty significant part of the plot. Major events in the world's history seemed to be treated cavalierly - it's just casually mentioned oh, there was a war, half of the main characters fought in it and did Atrocious things! What was the war about, what did they do? Who knows.
It felt immature and lazy.
I DID like the tension between the two main characters, and the sex (one scene) was delicious to me, but I thought this book was blah.
May
How did I read so many books in May? I started a few in April that I then finished in May, but honestly, I don't know what is going on. I don't think I have read this much since I was a child. It's great.
Anyway, this month I DID read a few more Greek myth books, but not as many! The theme in May was romcoms. I ate them up. I ATE THEM UP. Many thanks tomerryofsoul, who has listened to me talk about them nonstop, and read a few with me!
The first two books I finished this month were The Other Side of Perfect by Melanie Florence and The Gathering by C.J. Tudor. These were two very different novels I finished the same day, and they both pissed me off by virtue of having DERANGED endings. Incredible.
The Other Side of Perfect is a middle-grade novel I bought for the store. It's about two middle schoolers, a little indigenous girl who's wealth and attractiveness has forced her to be part of the popular group, even if she doesn't really like them or share their interests, and a very poor white boy who has run away because of his father's repeated abuse. When Autumn finds Cody passed out near her house, she lets him live secretly in her dad's art studio and they begin a friendship that forces them to see the world differently.
What I loved: these kids are NOT NICE to each other. Autumn gives Cody a place to live, but she's bitchy and not warm or friendly to him at all. Cody is racist towards Autumn, because he doesn't know any better. I loved seeing them not immediately gel with each other, it just made the book feel real. They become friends in the end, but this part...was kinda rushed, unfortunately!
What I hated: No one EVER tells Cody what is like, going on with him. Autumn's parents never explain to Cody the legality of their custody, and thus the reader ALSO does not know. Something is clearly going on, and it's just left out entirely. And the ending was SO ABSOLUTELY STUPID. And yes, this is stupid even for middle grade. Cody's dad shows up at an event they are having, is drunk, yells, GETS ATTACKED BY A BIRD, WALKS INTO TRAFFIC, AND IS HIT BY A CAR. And then they just continue on with the event, presumably leaving his dad not dead but severely injured in the road.
I am so serious. So that annoyed me, but I flew through the book. It was a fun read! If you have kids who are fast readers and just eat up books, not a bad choice for them.
Earlier that day I finished The Gathering by C.J. Tudor, and that ALSO annoyed me! It was a mystery and the way the strings tied up in the end...did not feel well laid out. I nearly threw the book across the room. I came into work early to read it, and my boss felt so bad when I was annoyed, haha. She is great. Anyway, this is about a world in which vampires are basically an endangered species and if a vampire attacks a human, human detectives must investigate to see if the vampire colony can be culled. Great concept, meh book. Wouldn't recommend.
Anyway, in the first week of May I went to the mountains withaceaceaceace for a writing retreat, and I did write some, and I also read some. On the trip, I devoured Emily Henry's Funny Story. Loved it. I've loved Henry's last three books. I didn't like the first two so much, but either I have gotten used to her or she's grown as a writer. I order her book every year now, and they are the start of summer for me. She writes fun, swoony romances that aren't so light as to be silly, and are just light enough to enjoy on the beach. If you like her, you'll like this one. If you don't like her, well it's nothing particularly new.
I also finished Medusa by Nataly Gruender, which I received an advance copy of through my job. This is the fourth Medusa book I've read this year and I guess it's not my least favorite, since I DNF'd Stone Blind by Natalie Hayes, but it felt incredibly mediocre. It didn't seem to have a theme, or any through line at all. The events simply unfolded, and I felt like I drifted from scene to scene. I was unsure why anyone did anything. All in all, a very blah book. I liked it at the start, but then there was no follow through on any of the aspects I loved. Don't read this book when it comes out in August.
I also finished reading Emily Wilson's translation of The Odyssey! I had been meaning to read this for years, and finally started it...probably sometime in late February. It took me a while to read, as I read it aloud and only a chapter a day. This was my Mount Everest this year! I loved it. Reading it aloud was SO fun - it made me wish I had kids to read it to, hahaha. I was surprised by how little time was spent on elements of the story that have so much weight in western culture. Circe was just one chapter!
I really loved this, and I'm planning on reading Wilson's translation of The Iliad when it comes out in paperback in September. I guess I should put that on preorder. I'll probably also end up reading Caroline Alexander's The Iliad since like Wilson was the first woman to translate The Odyssey, Alexander was the first to translate The Iliad.
I got back to reading ARCs this month. Were they the ARCs I should be reading (the April/May/June ones)...NO. They were for October. Do I make good choices? Also no. But I would argue that I did not so much as make choices as these books fell into my lap and I ate them up.
The first ARC was Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang. This was originally self-published before it was picked up by Del Rey. It's still available in e-book version, but the print version will be released in October! I LOVED this book. I ATE IT UP. It's a dark academia about the human cost to empire, and it was so rich and well-written. I feel like it's very similar to R.F. Kuang's novels? But those of you who didn't like Kuang will likely like this better. It's less graphic, for one, and it's a tighter novel. There was one thing at the end that I felt like could have been cleaned up a bit, but overall, this was a very good standalone fantasy. I highly recommend it, whether you grab the e-book now or the physical book when it drops.
Immediately after that, like a palate cleanser, I read The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch, which I got through Netgalley because I did not get a physical ARC. No one is sending us romance arcs! BOO! Hiss! What are our reps DOING? Hello?
Anyway, again, I devoured this. It's a holiday romcom about the prince of Christmas falling in love with the prince of Halloween while in an arranged courtship with the princess of Easter. This is...very silly. The prince of Christmas is named Nicholas and goes by "Coal". The prince of Halloween is named Hex. But you know what? It was DELIGHTFUL. The internal worldbuilding and politics held up enough for me to not be rolling my eyes, the romance was charming, the characters fun. After the VERY heavy Blood Over Bright Haven this was perfect, and I immediately preordered a copy. I also intend to read its sequel, an excerpt of which was in the back of this ARC. I hope to have many books in this series - particularly one in Halloweentown. I am very attached to Prince Hex. Highly recommend!
This kicked off my romance reading kick, and that's where I've been since. Cat Sebastian's newest book, You Should Be So Lucky came out, and I picked it up at the store and could not put it down. I read all day and then brought it home and finished it. I loved it! It follows journalist Mark Bailey who is morning the loss of his long-term partner, and Eddie, who is a baseball player struggling with his game and an image problem. The book is set in the early 1960s, and I apparently love that period. Once I finished that, I went backwards and read the first book in the series, We Could Be So Good which was also great. I liked the second book better, but again, this period really works for me and I found both books to be highly enjoyable.
I then moved on to The Queer Principles of Kit Webb, also by Cat Sebastian. This one I liked the least. I bought it at a signing she did at a local library last year, and I just didn't love the time period. This was actually the last book I finished this month - I finished it yesterday - despite starting it immediately after finished We Could Be So Good. It's about Kit Webb, a former highway man, and a lord who fall in love while planning to rob the lord's dad. It's a good book, but I knew going in that I don't love period romances, and I struggle with anything earlier then late 19th century. Since this book was set in 1751, I dragged.
This month, I finally picked up Ali Hazelwood's STEM books. Last year, I read her fantasy romance Bride and was surprised to find I loved it. So when someone brought her debut novel The Love Hypothesis to a bookclub book exchange, I grabbed the copy. After I watched the Star Wars hotel video, I was reminded that I did like Adam Driver's face (understatement of the year...) and finally decided to pick it up.
I ADORED it. Just like Bride I pounded the book on the desk, I screamed, I put the book in Book Jail for doing me emotional damages. All in all, I had a very good time. It's not the most SERIOUS book in the world - it's a romance novel - but it's a fun one, and I really enjoyed it. After I finished that, I moved right into her third book Love, Theoretically, which I ALSO really enjoyed. The main character basically only eats cheese. How relatable! I didn't love it as much as The Love Hypothesis but I loved it enough to consider buying it.
All in all, I've been really surprised by how much I like Ali Hazelwood's writing. I'm currently reading her second book, and loving it. I'm also listening to the audiobook of her upcoming sixth book, Not In Love which I like enough to keep listening to even though I hate the audiobook. Our reps didn't send us ARCs of this one, so to read it before it comes out, I'm using the bookseller audiobook app. Hopefully our copies come in soon because this is ridiculous.
DNF
There was one intentional DNF in the two month period: I dropped Medea by Eillish Quin. Reading it was stressing me out. I knew the myth going in but the way Quin handled it was a lot for me. Not a bad book, but I couldn't do it.
April
In April, I finished The Trials of Apollo by Rick Riordan. This Riordan's third Greek Myth series, and the one I struggled with the most. Book #3, The Burning Maze, I nearly DNF'd. I never really gelled with Apollo/Lester and Meg. This book felt like a SLOG. It did pick up at the end, and I ended up being really glad I didn't DNF, because I LOVED #4, The Burning Maze and #5, The Tower of Nero. I filled both with many sticky notes, and in The Tower of Nero the two characters I STARTED this whole journey with (Nico and Will, in The Sun and the Star) came back and played a significant role, and that made me very happy.
Overall I liked the series, but it was my least favorite of the 3 Greek Myth series in Riordan's extended universe. I liked it, but I struggled.
Once I finished The Trials of Apollo, I was FREE to move on to The Chalice of the Gods. Technically #6 in The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, chronologically it takes place after Heroes of Olympus and right before the events of The Trials of Apollo - Chalice is set the Fall before Apollo begins, in January/February. I wasn't sure where it was in the universe's timeline, and was worried it would contain spoilers for Apollo, which came out earlier, and saved it for last.
Anyway, Chalice kicks off a new trilogy of PJO books. Officially, these will be books 6-8 of PJO, but honestly, they're set AFTER two other series in the universe, and so I think they function more as a trilogy unto themselves. They follow Percy Jackson as he completes minor quests in order for college recommendation letters.
It was Fine. It was aggressively fine. Like, I've preordered the next one. I'm gonna read all of them as they come out. But it wasn't really great.
The issue was the tone and target audience of the book: Riordan wanted this to be a middle grade book, like the other books in the series, but at the same time, he clearly had targeted it for the now-adult original fans. And furthermore, in the original series, Percy is 12-16, slowly growing up over the course of the books. Percy is now seventeen, he has a girlfriend, he's been in two wars. He's getting ready to go to college, and he is solidly not a child. The end result just felt jumbled and confusing. The theme of the book is not being afraid to age/grow up. Like, explicitly. Percy talks about wanting to get old with Annabeth, to have children and then grandchildren. And at the start of the book, there is a joke about millenials who don't want to recognize they are aging. Percy, look in a mirror! Honey, you were (explicitly, canonically) born in 1994. What does that make you?
This brings us to the other issue with the book: the whole series is written to be contemporary to the time it was published, but they also take place in pretty tight period of time. In each series, you can tell that they were published a few years later, but it isn't really an issue. But in book six of PJO, especially if you've read the first five recently like I had, it feels jarring. The first five books in the series were published from 2005-2009, and are contemporary to that period of time. Chalice was published in 2023 and is clearly set in 2023. In universe, this is just a year or so after the events of The Last Olympian, but simultaneously, it's clear 15 years have passed. Did Percy et all go sleep in The Lotus Hotel following the events of Heroes of Olympus? What happened?
It made me feel insane.
Anyway, this wrapped up my Percy Jackson deep dive! Wrath of the Triple Goddess comes out in September, and I'll read that then, but I am done with Riordan for now. He does have like, A TON of other books - a few more in this universe that are based on Norse and Egyptian mythology, and a standalone, but a girl needs a break.
I did read one other mythology-inspired book this month! I finally picked up Circe by Madeline Miller! I LOVED it. It was VERY slow to start - the whole novel felt like it drug on. But then when it picked up (over halfway through...) it really did feel worth it. I LOVED how it ended. It actually made me cry?
In the end, I did feel like the slog worked because it felt important that it feel the way it does to Circe - long, endless, boring - until you got to where her life began to take form. I don't think I loved it as much as Song of Achilles, which is one of my favorite books of all time, but I did love it.
I read two ARCs this month! One of them...very late. After the book came out. Whoops. That was Late Bloomer by Mazey Eddings. Another Fine book. This is about two neurodivergent women, who, through circumstances, end up having to share a cottage on a flower farm and fall in love. I liked the set up, I didn't like the ending or tie-up. I don't think most romance readers would have an issue with it, but for me it felt...lazy, and like it didn't tie together the themes or plot in the way I would have liked.
The last ARC is for Fall, and I read it very early. It's A Dark and Drowning Tide by Allison Saft. This is Saft's first adult novel and...I could tell. Again it was Fine. Not awful, not great. Just very mediocre. The worldbuilding and politics felt half-assed, which was annoying because it was a pretty significant part of the plot. Major events in the world's history seemed to be treated cavalierly - it's just casually mentioned oh, there was a war, half of the main characters fought in it and did Atrocious things! What was the war about, what did they do? Who knows.
It felt immature and lazy.
I DID like the tension between the two main characters, and the sex (one scene) was delicious to me, but I thought this book was blah.
May
How did I read so many books in May? I started a few in April that I then finished in May, but honestly, I don't know what is going on. I don't think I have read this much since I was a child. It's great.
Anyway, this month I DID read a few more Greek myth books, but not as many! The theme in May was romcoms. I ate them up. I ATE THEM UP. Many thanks to
merryofsoul, who has listened to me talk about them nonstop, and read a few with me! The first two books I finished this month were The Other Side of Perfect by Melanie Florence and The Gathering by C.J. Tudor. These were two very different novels I finished the same day, and they both pissed me off by virtue of having DERANGED endings. Incredible.
The Other Side of Perfect is a middle-grade novel I bought for the store. It's about two middle schoolers, a little indigenous girl who's wealth and attractiveness has forced her to be part of the popular group, even if she doesn't really like them or share their interests, and a very poor white boy who has run away because of his father's repeated abuse. When Autumn finds Cody passed out near her house, she lets him live secretly in her dad's art studio and they begin a friendship that forces them to see the world differently.
What I loved: these kids are NOT NICE to each other. Autumn gives Cody a place to live, but she's bitchy and not warm or friendly to him at all. Cody is racist towards Autumn, because he doesn't know any better. I loved seeing them not immediately gel with each other, it just made the book feel real. They become friends in the end, but this part...was kinda rushed, unfortunately!
What I hated: No one EVER tells Cody what is like, going on with him. Autumn's parents never explain to Cody the legality of their custody, and thus the reader ALSO does not know. Something is clearly going on, and it's just left out entirely. And the ending was SO ABSOLUTELY STUPID. And yes, this is stupid even for middle grade. Cody's dad shows up at an event they are having, is drunk, yells, GETS ATTACKED BY A BIRD, WALKS INTO TRAFFIC, AND IS HIT BY A CAR. And then they just continue on with the event, presumably leaving his dad not dead but severely injured in the road.
I am so serious. So that annoyed me, but I flew through the book. It was a fun read! If you have kids who are fast readers and just eat up books, not a bad choice for them.
Earlier that day I finished The Gathering by C.J. Tudor, and that ALSO annoyed me! It was a mystery and the way the strings tied up in the end...did not feel well laid out. I nearly threw the book across the room. I came into work early to read it, and my boss felt so bad when I was annoyed, haha. She is great. Anyway, this is about a world in which vampires are basically an endangered species and if a vampire attacks a human, human detectives must investigate to see if the vampire colony can be culled. Great concept, meh book. Wouldn't recommend.
Anyway, in the first week of May I went to the mountains with
aceaceaceace for a writing retreat, and I did write some, and I also read some. On the trip, I devoured Emily Henry's Funny Story. Loved it. I've loved Henry's last three books. I didn't like the first two so much, but either I have gotten used to her or she's grown as a writer. I order her book every year now, and they are the start of summer for me. She writes fun, swoony romances that aren't so light as to be silly, and are just light enough to enjoy on the beach. If you like her, you'll like this one. If you don't like her, well it's nothing particularly new. I also finished Medusa by Nataly Gruender, which I received an advance copy of through my job. This is the fourth Medusa book I've read this year and I guess it's not my least favorite, since I DNF'd Stone Blind by Natalie Hayes, but it felt incredibly mediocre. It didn't seem to have a theme, or any through line at all. The events simply unfolded, and I felt like I drifted from scene to scene. I was unsure why anyone did anything. All in all, a very blah book. I liked it at the start, but then there was no follow through on any of the aspects I loved. Don't read this book when it comes out in August.
I also finished reading Emily Wilson's translation of The Odyssey! I had been meaning to read this for years, and finally started it...probably sometime in late February. It took me a while to read, as I read it aloud and only a chapter a day. This was my Mount Everest this year! I loved it. Reading it aloud was SO fun - it made me wish I had kids to read it to, hahaha. I was surprised by how little time was spent on elements of the story that have so much weight in western culture. Circe was just one chapter!
I really loved this, and I'm planning on reading Wilson's translation of The Iliad when it comes out in paperback in September. I guess I should put that on preorder. I'll probably also end up reading Caroline Alexander's The Iliad since like Wilson was the first woman to translate The Odyssey, Alexander was the first to translate The Iliad.
I got back to reading ARCs this month. Were they the ARCs I should be reading (the April/May/June ones)...NO. They were for October. Do I make good choices? Also no. But I would argue that I did not so much as make choices as these books fell into my lap and I ate them up.
The first ARC was Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang. This was originally self-published before it was picked up by Del Rey. It's still available in e-book version, but the print version will be released in October! I LOVED this book. I ATE IT UP. It's a dark academia about the human cost to empire, and it was so rich and well-written. I feel like it's very similar to R.F. Kuang's novels? But those of you who didn't like Kuang will likely like this better. It's less graphic, for one, and it's a tighter novel. There was one thing at the end that I felt like could have been cleaned up a bit, but overall, this was a very good standalone fantasy. I highly recommend it, whether you grab the e-book now or the physical book when it drops.
Immediately after that, like a palate cleanser, I read The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch, which I got through Netgalley because I did not get a physical ARC. No one is sending us romance arcs! BOO! Hiss! What are our reps DOING? Hello?
Anyway, again, I devoured this. It's a holiday romcom about the prince of Christmas falling in love with the prince of Halloween while in an arranged courtship with the princess of Easter. This is...very silly. The prince of Christmas is named Nicholas and goes by "Coal". The prince of Halloween is named Hex. But you know what? It was DELIGHTFUL. The internal worldbuilding and politics held up enough for me to not be rolling my eyes, the romance was charming, the characters fun. After the VERY heavy Blood Over Bright Haven this was perfect, and I immediately preordered a copy. I also intend to read its sequel, an excerpt of which was in the back of this ARC. I hope to have many books in this series - particularly one in Halloweentown. I am very attached to Prince Hex. Highly recommend!
This kicked off my romance reading kick, and that's where I've been since. Cat Sebastian's newest book, You Should Be So Lucky came out, and I picked it up at the store and could not put it down. I read all day and then brought it home and finished it. I loved it! It follows journalist Mark Bailey who is morning the loss of his long-term partner, and Eddie, who is a baseball player struggling with his game and an image problem. The book is set in the early 1960s, and I apparently love that period. Once I finished that, I went backwards and read the first book in the series, We Could Be So Good which was also great. I liked the second book better, but again, this period really works for me and I found both books to be highly enjoyable.
I then moved on to The Queer Principles of Kit Webb, also by Cat Sebastian. This one I liked the least. I bought it at a signing she did at a local library last year, and I just didn't love the time period. This was actually the last book I finished this month - I finished it yesterday - despite starting it immediately after finished We Could Be So Good. It's about Kit Webb, a former highway man, and a lord who fall in love while planning to rob the lord's dad. It's a good book, but I knew going in that I don't love period romances, and I struggle with anything earlier then late 19th century. Since this book was set in 1751, I dragged.
This month, I finally picked up Ali Hazelwood's STEM books. Last year, I read her fantasy romance Bride and was surprised to find I loved it. So when someone brought her debut novel The Love Hypothesis to a bookclub book exchange, I grabbed the copy. After I watched the Star Wars hotel video, I was reminded that I did like Adam Driver's face (understatement of the year...) and finally decided to pick it up.
I ADORED it. Just like Bride I pounded the book on the desk, I screamed, I put the book in Book Jail for doing me emotional damages. All in all, I had a very good time. It's not the most SERIOUS book in the world - it's a romance novel - but it's a fun one, and I really enjoyed it. After I finished that, I moved right into her third book Love, Theoretically, which I ALSO really enjoyed. The main character basically only eats cheese. How relatable! I didn't love it as much as The Love Hypothesis but I loved it enough to consider buying it.
All in all, I've been really surprised by how much I like Ali Hazelwood's writing. I'm currently reading her second book, and loving it. I'm also listening to the audiobook of her upcoming sixth book, Not In Love which I like enough to keep listening to even though I hate the audiobook. Our reps didn't send us ARCs of this one, so to read it before it comes out, I'm using the bookseller audiobook app. Hopefully our copies come in soon because this is ridiculous.
DNF
There was one intentional DNF in the two month period: I dropped Medea by Eillish Quin. Reading it was stressing me out. I knew the myth going in but the way Quin handled it was a lot for me. Not a bad book, but I couldn't do it.
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Date: 2024-06-03 10:34 am (UTC)I just read a chapter a day and took my time with it!
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Date: 2024-06-16 09:49 am (UTC)Very interested in Blood Over Bright Haven, because I've heard so many good things in this last week alone. Also didn't really vibe with Kuang's fantasy so you saying I will like this better is good!
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Date: 2024-06-16 05:54 pm (UTC)It depends on why you didn't like Poppy Wars, honestly - I know a lot of people don't like how Kuang basically wholesale lifted Chinese history, so if that's your issue, then yes, this will likely be better, since it's a contained world with its own history (which is important to the narrative).
I did really like it though, and I thought it was a very good, tightly plotted novel where the overall worldbuilding contributed to the theme and narrative arc. I did think there was a piece at the end that I was like. OK I will let that slide, but generally it was a very solid standalone fantasy!