April 2020 Wrap Up

April has been a weird month. Life is looking a little different for pretty much everyone and, as someone who isn't a big fan of change, this has meant that my reading has been a bit odd. I seem to have been going through phases of wanting to read and then not, and reading super quickly and then taking forever to get through a book. I guess I'm still just trying to get used to a new normal and how that will impact my reading. I did manage to read a total of 5 books in April, so slightly more than in March but not as many as I had hoped.

Love, Life, and the List by Kasie West - 

This is a YA contemporary romance, from one of my favourite authors, and exactly what I needed to pick up. This follows a girl who compiles a list of goals to complete over the summer in order to improve her art enough to be accepted to show her work in the local museum, and enlists the help of her best friend, who she has had an unrequited crush on for some time. This had so many of the components I adore in this type of book - the beach setting, trying to complete a list, great friendships, friends-to-lovers - it was just my ideal book. I loved our main characters and their friendship. They had an amazing relationship, filled with such fun banter that made their connection so apparent. I also liked the friendships outwith our main characters, particularly the new friendships Abby develops throughout the book. I thought the family dynamic was really interesting, seeing how Abby and her family were dealing with, or struggling to deal with, her mother's anxiety, and enjoyed having an involved family in the story. The art aspect of the story wasn't something I was initially interested in but I found the completion of the items on the list and seeing how that evolved into artwork quite fascinating. Overall, I just really loved this story. It was light enough to make it a quick read, but did have some more serious points, and the romance was one of my favourites from Kasie West. My only tiny issues with it was some of the drama that lead to the conflict was a bit much for me, but I do need to remember that these characters are teenagers and I need to cut them some slack.

Rating: 4.5/5

Unnatural Causes by Dr Richard Shepherd - 

My non-fiction read of the month was, of course, another medical memoir. This is the memoir of a forensic pathologist, which is something I definitely haven't read before. Many of my doctor friends had recommended this to me so, while I wasn't so sure about it before, I decided to pick it up and see what the fuss was about. Reading about death is not something I choose to do all that often and I had my reservations that this would be too upsetting or gruesome for me, but I didn't find that at all. I found the way this book was written was both medical/informative enough that it was more fascinating than gruesome, and though there were a few stories that did pull on my heart strings somewhat, I was not particularly upset but the subject matter. However, it should be noted that all of the stories mentioned were told with the greatest of respect and sensitivity, which I thought to be very important. Despite my reservations, I found this to be a very interesting book and I gained so much knowledge and insight into a profession I knew very little about. I was especially interested in reading about Dr Richard Shepherd's involvement in some more high profile cases. I did find it slow in some places and was a little bored at parts, but I read the majority of this 400 page book in a day so that says quite a bit.

Rating: 3.5/5

Eve Of Man by Giovanna and Tom Fletcher - 

This was a reread as the second book in the series was released in April, and I could remember very little about this first book. This is a YA dystopian which follows Eve, the first girl born in 50 years, who has lived her whole life separated from the outside world and, after a chance meeting with a boy her age, begins to question everything she thought she knew about her life and the outside world. This concept is interesting and the execution is fine, but I wouldn't say this is anything all that special. The story is fine and the world, the technology used within the world in particular, is interesting, but the characters are dull and the majority of the book is pretty slow. My thoughts on reread are the same at they were initially - interesting idea with a lot of potential but average book overall.

Rating: 3/5

The Eve Illusion by Giovanna and Tom Fletcher -

I picked up the second book in the series immediately following my reread of the first book, which picks up directly after book one left off. My thoughts on the second book are much the same as the first. The plot was fine, if a little slow, but included a lot of torture and death, which made for a much darker storyline. I enjoyed the characters a bit more in the second book, as they showed a bit of development, and liked seeing some of the relationships develop more. The books in this series are not bad but, like I said about the first book, they are just nothing all that special in my opinion. I will probably pick up the final book in the trilogy when it comes out to see how the story concludes.

Rating: 3/5

What I Thought Was True by Huntley Fitzpatrick -

I have had this book sitting on my shelves since 2016 and for some unknown reason I decided to pick it up in April. This is another YA contemporary romance following a girl who lives on a small island and is trying to come to terms with some of her past mistakes. I typically love summer romances set on small beach islands, so this seemed like my kind of book. However, this was almost 500 pages of nothing. I was so bored throughout this entire book as very little actually happened. I liked the romance, they were sweet together and it was nice seeing them work out their history, but that did not need so many pages. Most of the subplot I found to be boring and unnecessary and I didn't get the small beachy island vibes I love so much. It was fine but I was left quite disappointed.

Rating: 3/5

Those are all the books I read in April. Mostly pretty average reads for this month so hopefully I can pick up some books I will enjoy more in May. I have found myself giving out a lot of 3 star ratings, as I mentioned in my March wrap up, so I think I maybe need to change up my reading a bit.

What stand out book would you recommend to get me out of this 3-star giving slump?

Sophie :)

The Eve Illusion by Giovanna & Tom Fletcher Review

The Eve Illusion by Giovanna & Tom Fletcher
Series: Eve Of Man #2
Published On: April 16, 2020
Published By: Michael Joseph
Genre: YA, Dystopian
Pages: 400
Format: eBook
Source: Netgalley
Rating: ★★★

Eve is the last girl on earth. 
For the last sixteen years, Eve has been a prisoner. Guarded by the Mothers. Trapped by her fate. Watched by the world. 
Until she took her chance, and escaped. 
Eve finally has the freedom she has wanted for so long, and with Bram she has the love. But both come at a price. In this dangerous new world beyond the Tower, the regime are only ever one step behind. And together with the desperate rebel group fighting against them, Eve has found herself in more danger than she ever could have imagined. 
With everything stacked against them, can Eve and Bram survive?

This is the second book in the Eve Of Man trilogy by Giovanna & Tom Fletcher, a book I didn't realise I was anticipating until it's publication was announced. The premise of this series sounded so interesting to me when the first book was released. It is a dystopian series following Eve, the first girl born in fifty years. While the first book was interesting and enjoyable enough, it didn't blow me away or make me super excited to know how the story would continue. However, upon seeing the second book being published, I found myself interested in how Eve's story would progress.

The second book picks up immediately after the first book ends, so be aware there will be spoilers throughout this review. This isn't something I find happens often, but I very much enjoyed diving straight back into the story and being right in the middle of Eve's escape. I also enjoyed the extra perspective brought in to this sequel. I particularly enjoyed Michael's POV of the escape, as this helped to make it feel more real.

While the first book in the series did a great job of setting up the story and introducing us to the life Eve was living within the tower, the second book brought the action. Though not a huge amount went on in terms of development of plot, the authors did not shy away from hard-hitting, action packed scenes. There was a lot of torture and death throughout this instalment, with nothing appearing to be too gruesome. I found this aspect to be quite thrilling and made me feel deeply for our main characters.

Despite all the action, the main plot was a bit boring. As I previously mentioned, there wasn't much plot development until near the end, which resulted in much of the book dragging. While the characters did show development, and I really enjoyed seeing them and their relationships with each other grow and evolve with the new situations they found themselves in, it just wasn't enough to keep me interested.

Overall, this was an enjoyable book and decent second instalment in the series. I would say it is on par in quality with the first in the series, but the series itself is still just average for me. I do enjoy the characters and found many of the elements of this book thrilling and interesting, but not enough to keep me invested in the story. I am interested to see how the series concludes, so will be picking up the final book, which I have higher hopes for given the ending of this one.

March 2020 Wrap Up

Well, life took a turn in the month of March. The world is suddenly a much different, and pretty scary place, with everyone having to adapt to a new normal. For me, as a 'key worker', my new normal looks a lot like my old normal, just with a lot more working involved. I have been working constantly, and I don't expect that to change any time soon, which has meant that I only managed to read 4 books in March. That is less than I would like but, given the circumstances, I'm just glad I managed to read anything.

Never Greener by Ruth Jones -

Being a huge Gavin & Stacey fan, as soon as I found out about Ruth Jones' debut novel, I knew I had to read it. I even went to an event to hear her talk about this book when it was first released back in 2018, but of course didn't pick it up until now. This is about a woman who had an affair with a married man, which ended abruptly and not on great terms, then, 17 years later, the two reconnect. It follows these characters both in the past when they were first getting to know each other, and in the present when they meet again and must decide whether to walk away from each other once again, or take a chance on what could have been. I had such mixed feelings while reading this. I am not the kind of person who necessarily hates cheating in books but it did make me somewhat uncomfortable at times while reading this. I do think the way that topic was covered was well written and I thought the way it wrapped up was very well done, but I did have some issues with it at times. The characters are not very likeable, but in a way that I think adds to the story. If you are someone who needs to like your characters, this book is not for you. Callum's wife, Belinda, is a real standout character, however, and I would absolutely love a book from her perspective. The real highlight of this book is the writing. As I expected from the person who co-wrote one of my all time favourite TV shows, this book is just so well written. I will read any book she ever writes because her writing is amazing. With this book, though, the story fell a bit flat and at times I felt it was much longer than it needed to be, but definitely still worth checking out.

Rating: 3/5

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren -

After being disappointed by Roomies in February, I decided to give Christina Lauren another chance. This one follows the sister of the Bride and brother of the Groom, who hate each other, who go on their siblings' honeymoon after being the only wedding guests not to get food poisoning at the reception. I love a good enemies to lovers romance, and this was a good one. From the first page I loved these characters and couldn't get enough of their sarcastic banter. They had so much chemistry and I found myself rooting for them so early on in the book. I also really loved the Hawaii setting, I always find there's something so romantic about a beach resort setting, and seeing the characters explore their surroundings. It was just a really fun, cute read and I can now see why people have been raving about Christina Lauren.

Rating: 4/5

Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren -

I apparently went on a bit of a Christina Lauren binge in March. This is a second chance romance following two childhood best friends turned lovers who reunite after not seeing each other for ten years. It tells both the story of them first falling in love in the past, and them reconnecting in the present day. This is another one I enjoyed much more than Roomies, although not as much as The Unhoneymooners. It was a really sweet romance following nice characters who are quite obviously meant to be together. Their chemistry pretty much jumped out the book it was so clearly there. The storyline wasn't super exciting but it did have some twists and secrets being revealed along the way that kept things interesting. I did enjoy this but it wasn't really anything special.

Rating: 3/5

UnSouled by Neal Shusterman -

This is book 3 in the Unwind series and the first in the series that is not a reread for me. I read the first two books years ago but never carried on to the third. I am finally getting around to finishing off this series. The third book follows straight on from the second. I'm still enjoying this series but not nearly as much as I did when I first read book one back in the day. They are action packed and there's never a dull moment, but I'm starting to find that there are too many characters. Each book in the series introduces a few new characters and, while they are all really great characters with interesting stories, I'm finding it hard to keep up with who is who. I'm interested to see how this series will wrap up and if I'll enjoy the final book more, but for now this is turning out to be a pretty average series for me.

Rating: 3/5

Those are the books I read in March. I seem to be giving out a lot of 3 stars this year so hopefully I can find some really great books to give higher ratings to soon. I'm struggling to work out what I'm actually wanting to read this year, it's something I've never had a problem with before. We'll see what April has in store but right now I'm just hoping for some time to read.

What was the best book you read in April?

Sophie :)