The Potion Diaries by Amy Alward -
This is the first book in a YA fantasy series about a princess who accidentally drinks a love potion and falls in love with herself, and a young alchemist involved in the competition to find her a cure. I was going to unhaul this as I lost interest, but decided to try the first chapter before making up my mind. I am so glad I did this as I ended up desperate to read it. I picked it up for my first read of 2019 and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was so much fun, I flew through it. It is not a literary masterpiece - the world-building and character development are a little lacking - but it is a really enjoyable read with some fun adventures and a lot going on. I will definitely be carrying on with the series.
Rating: 4/5
A Quiet Kind Of Thunder by Sara Barnard -
After reading and enjoying Beautiful Broken Things by Sara Barnard last year, I decided to pick up another of her books. This follows a girl with selective mutism & social anxiety and a boy who is deaf as they meet and get to know each other. I thought this was so insanely adorable, I loved both main characters and how their relationship developed as they got to know each other more. I can't speak to the representation of selective mutism or deafness, although I did find the insight into both very interesting, but I can speak for the anxiety representation, which was some of the best I have ever read. My only small issue with this book was that things got a little over dramatic towards the end. I love Sara Barnard and will read everything she writes.
Rating: 4/5
Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick -
I have loved Anna Kendrick since before she was the crazy big deal she is now, so of course I had to read her memoir. I have had this on my shelves for ages but, for whatever reason, didn't pick it up until now. I found it very entertaining with a lot of laugh out loud moments, as you would expect from Anna Kendrick. However, I did find it was a bit dry at times and I got a little bored. I think that is just the nature of this kind of book, it can't all be exciting. I did enjoy it and would definitely recommend listening to the audiobook as she narrates it herself.
Rating: 3.5/5
Fierce Fragile Hearts by Sara Barnard -
This is the sequel/companion to Beautiful Broken Things, one of my favourite reads of 2018. It follows Suzanne two years after the events of the first book. I absolutely loved this book! The characters are some of my favourites ever, and the friendships, both new and old, are amazing. The plot is not full of crazy twists and turns and a lot of drama, but it is such a beautiful story. It is not slow-paced, despite being very character focused, and is so well written. I could rave about this book all day.
Rating: 5/5
Billy and Me by Giovanna Fletcher -
I don't know how many TBR lists this has been on over the last few years but I have finally read it. This follows a woman who meets a famous actor and is taken out of her comfortable small town world and thrust into his. This was a nice, enjoyable read, but it wasn't anything special. I have read one of Giovanna Fletcher's more recent novels, which I enjoyed much more, and this made it very apparent that this was her first published work. It wasn't bad, it was a sweet romance with nice characters and a steady moving plot, but I just found that there was nothing particularly unique or memorable about it.
Rating: 3.5/5
Giant Days Volume 1 by John Allison, Lissa Treiman & Whitney Cogar -
I discovered that graphic novels are available on Scribd so decided it was the perfect excuse to try out some that I have heard great things about. This is one series that I have heard a lot of people rave about. It is about a group of friends navigating university life. As I am coming to the end of my university life, I really enjoyed following characters just getting started and found it quite nostalgic. The plot wasn't the most exciting and it felt a bit disjointed as we jumped from one storyline to the next. However, the characters are great and the art is beautiful so I will definitely keep reading.
Rating: 3/5
Giant Days Volume 2 by John Allison, Lissa Treiman, Max Sarin & Whitney Cogar -
My thoughts on this are basically the same as the first volume. I did enjoy this a little bit more and I think that will continue to be the case as I get to know these characters more throughout the volumes.
Rating: 3/5
Seven Ways We Lie by Riley Redgate -
I picked this up one audiobook on a whim after hearing some good things about it in the past. It follows seven students as a scandal breaks in their high school. They are all very different, with their own issues going on, but are brought together as the scandal drama ensues. I didn't enjoy this as much as I expected to. I struggled to differentiate between the characters as I struggled to work out which narrator was who, but also as the character's written voices were all pretty similar. I also found it a bit boring and don't remember a lot of what happened already. It did get better towards the end as the story picked up and I enjoyed the last quarter a lot more.
Rating: 3/5
Roar by Cecelia Ahern -
This is something quite different from one of my favourite authors. It is thirty short stories of thirty women, all sharing messages of issues facing women in the world today. Each story is incredibly unique and they all feature a very interesting take on these issues. It is so hard to explain, I'm sure there are reviewers on Goodreads who have done a much better job than me. I really enjoyed this, I thought the stories were very clever and written well. I did lose interest at times as some stories felt very similar to others and thirty stories is quite a lot. Overall, I think it was very well done.
Rating: 4/5
Pivot Point by Kasie West -
Kasie West is one of my favourite authors but I have only ever read her contemporary books. I wanted to give her paranormal duology a go to see if I enjoyed it just as much. Pivot Point is the first book in the duology, which follows a girl who has the power to see both outcomes when faced with a choice. When her parents divorce she is faced with the choice of staying with her mother or moving with her father and uses her power to determine which option to take. This was a very interesting concept and I really enjoyed reading both outcomes. Despite being paranormal, it read much like a regular Kasie West contemporary, with a lot of focus on love interests and friendship. I would have liked a little more information on the Compound and the powers of those who lived there, the story lacked world building. Although I enjoyed it, it took me forever to get through. I wanted to not be able to put it down but ended up not finding the desire to pick it up a lot of the time. Perhaps I just wasn't in the right mood for it. However, like I said, I did really enjoy it and definitely want to pick up the sequel some time soon.
Rating: 4/5
Rating: 5/5
Billy and Me by Giovanna Fletcher -
I don't know how many TBR lists this has been on over the last few years but I have finally read it. This follows a woman who meets a famous actor and is taken out of her comfortable small town world and thrust into his. This was a nice, enjoyable read, but it wasn't anything special. I have read one of Giovanna Fletcher's more recent novels, which I enjoyed much more, and this made it very apparent that this was her first published work. It wasn't bad, it was a sweet romance with nice characters and a steady moving plot, but I just found that there was nothing particularly unique or memorable about it.
Rating: 3.5/5
Giant Days Volume 1 by John Allison, Lissa Treiman & Whitney Cogar -
I discovered that graphic novels are available on Scribd so decided it was the perfect excuse to try out some that I have heard great things about. This is one series that I have heard a lot of people rave about. It is about a group of friends navigating university life. As I am coming to the end of my university life, I really enjoyed following characters just getting started and found it quite nostalgic. The plot wasn't the most exciting and it felt a bit disjointed as we jumped from one storyline to the next. However, the characters are great and the art is beautiful so I will definitely keep reading.
Rating: 3/5
Giant Days Volume 2 by John Allison, Lissa Treiman, Max Sarin & Whitney Cogar -
My thoughts on this are basically the same as the first volume. I did enjoy this a little bit more and I think that will continue to be the case as I get to know these characters more throughout the volumes.
Rating: 3/5
Seven Ways We Lie by Riley Redgate -
I picked this up one audiobook on a whim after hearing some good things about it in the past. It follows seven students as a scandal breaks in their high school. They are all very different, with their own issues going on, but are brought together as the scandal drama ensues. I didn't enjoy this as much as I expected to. I struggled to differentiate between the characters as I struggled to work out which narrator was who, but also as the character's written voices were all pretty similar. I also found it a bit boring and don't remember a lot of what happened already. It did get better towards the end as the story picked up and I enjoyed the last quarter a lot more.
Rating: 3/5
Roar by Cecelia Ahern -
This is something quite different from one of my favourite authors. It is thirty short stories of thirty women, all sharing messages of issues facing women in the world today. Each story is incredibly unique and they all feature a very interesting take on these issues. It is so hard to explain, I'm sure there are reviewers on Goodreads who have done a much better job than me. I really enjoyed this, I thought the stories were very clever and written well. I did lose interest at times as some stories felt very similar to others and thirty stories is quite a lot. Overall, I think it was very well done.
Rating: 4/5
Pivot Point by Kasie West -
Kasie West is one of my favourite authors but I have only ever read her contemporary books. I wanted to give her paranormal duology a go to see if I enjoyed it just as much. Pivot Point is the first book in the duology, which follows a girl who has the power to see both outcomes when faced with a choice. When her parents divorce she is faced with the choice of staying with her mother or moving with her father and uses her power to determine which option to take. This was a very interesting concept and I really enjoyed reading both outcomes. Despite being paranormal, it read much like a regular Kasie West contemporary, with a lot of focus on love interests and friendship. I would have liked a little more information on the Compound and the powers of those who lived there, the story lacked world building. Although I enjoyed it, it took me forever to get through. I wanted to not be able to put it down but ended up not finding the desire to pick it up a lot of the time. Perhaps I just wasn't in the right mood for it. However, like I said, I did really enjoy it and definitely want to pick up the sequel some time soon.
Rating: 4/5
Those are the ten books I read in January. I'm so glad I got 2019 off to a good start, I just hope it continues.
What did you read in January? Did you find your first 5 star read of the year?
Sophie :)
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