January was a really good reading month for me. Well, it definitely started out great and then I got extremely busy with writing blog posts and just life in general. I got around to reading seven books this month with the first six being within 12 days. 

If you couldn’t tell from that I’ve fallen into a bit of a reading slump. I do want to read but currently I’m wanting to spend my free time doing other things. 

I reviewed almost every book I read this month so I will be linking to those within this post. Please check them out if you are interested in a more indepth review. 

Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron 

Read: 01/01/21 – 03/01/21          Rating: 3/5

This was a great book to start off the new year and month with. It had been so long since I read a physical book and I had really missed it. I think I read this in around 2-3 sittings and I really enjoyed the story. 

Also can we just talk about how stunning the cover is? It is definitely up there with some of my favourites. 

Read my full review here. 

Goodreads synopsis: “It’s 200 years since Cinderella found her prince, but the fairytale is over.

Sophia knows the story though, off by heart. Because every girl has to recite it daily, from when she’s tiny until the night she’s sent to the royal ball for choosing. And every girl knows that she has only one chance. For the lives of those not chosen by a man at the ball are forfeit.

But Sophia doesn’t want to be chosen – she’s in love with her best friend, Erin, and hates the idea of being traded like cattle. And when Sophia’s night at the ball goes horribly wrong, she must run for her life. Alone and terrified, she finds herself hiding in Cinderella’s tomb. And there she meets someone who will show her that she has the power to remake her world.”

Fable (Fable #1) by Adrienne Young 

Read: 02/01/21 – 05/01/21          Rating: 4/5

This was my first arc of the month which technically wasn’t an arc. I had been searching for this book for months to then find that it was not out in the UK until January. I’m guessing from that you could imagine how excited I was when I got the arc. 

I did enjoy Fable but it wasn’t anything like I expected it to be and I think I hyped it up too much with all those months of seeing other people reading it and not having it available for myself. Don’t get me wrong, once it got going I loved the story and I can’t wait to see more development of the story and characters in Namesake. 

Read my full review here. 

Goodreads synopsis: “For seventeen-year-old Fable, the daughter of the most powerful trader in the Narrows, the sea is the only home she has ever known. It’s been four years since the night she watched her mother drown during an unforgiving storm. The next day her father abandoned her on a legendary island filled with thieves and little food. To survive she must keep to herself, learn to trust no one, and rely on the unique skills her mother taught her. The only thing that keeps her going is the goal of getting off the island, finding her father, and demanding her rightful place beside him and his crew. To do so Fable enlists the help of a young trader named West to get her off the island and across the Narrows to her father.

But her father’s rivalries and the dangers of his trading enterprise have only multiplied since she last saw him, and Fable soon finds that West isn’t who he seems. Together, they will have to survive more than the treacherous storms that haunt the Narrows if they’re going to stay alive.”

Love Is A Revolution by Renée Watson 

Read: 05/01/21 – 06/01/21         Rating: 3/5

This was an extremely quick read for me. As it was very much a teen read, the writing style and story were simple and I flew through the pages. Because of this I liked it but didn’t love it. 

A lot of the issues faced and drama felt quite juvenile to me. This does not mean that everyone will feel the same way. I would say that this book is perfect for the 13-18 age range. I have no doubt that anyone within that age range would really enjoy this.

Read my full review here.

Goodreads synopsis: “When Nala Robertson reluctantly agrees to attend an open mic night for her cousin-sister-friend Imani’s birthday, she finds herself falling in instant love with Tye Brown, the MC. He’s perfect, except . . . Tye is an activist and is spending the summer putting on events for the community when Nala would rather watch movies and try out the new seasonal flavours at the local creamery. In order to impress Tye, Nala tells a few tiny lies to have enough in common with him. As they spend more time together, sharing more of themselves, some of those lies get harder to keep up. As Nala falls deeper into keeping up her lies and into love, she’ll learn all the ways love is hard, and how self-love is revolutionary.

In Love Is a Revolution, plus size girls are beautiful and get the attention of the hot guys, the popular girl clique is not shallow but has strong convictions and substance, and the ultimate love story is not only about romance but about how to show radical love to the people in your life, including to yourself.”

Queen of Dark and Light (Whims of Fae #6) by Nissa Leder

Read: 06/01/21 – 07/01/21         Rating: 2.5/5

Honestly I have no memory of this book. I’m not saying it was the book’s fault, it’s probably more my fault. I’ve been so busy with blog posts this month, reading arcs and just life in general that there is no room left in my mind. 

This was the end of the entire series and because I can’t remember what happened I’m going to guess it was very anticlimactic. I wrote a review of book five in this series and let’s just say it wasn’t very positive. I was holding very high hopes that this would make up for the lacklustre second half of this series. These were not met. 

I think I made the mistake of reading the Whims of Witches series before finishing this one and knowing what happens in that once didn;t make this very exciting for me. In my defense I did not know that they were in the same universe and would feature some of the same characters. 

Goodreads synopsis: “After the events of the last battle, how will Scarlett find a way to win the war? And in the midst of all the darkness, will anyone find the key to her heart?”

All That Glitters (Enchantèe #1) by Gita Trelease

Read: 07/01/21 – 12/01/21          Rating: 3.5/5

It took an extremely long time for me to get into this. Although the photo is of my Kindle I actually listened to the audiobook of All That Glitters.

Now I know what you’re thinking “you said in one of your 12 Books of Christmas posts that audiobooks aren’t for you”. Yes, yes I did and you know what I’m still not a huge fan. But I had the opportunity to get an arc of the second book in this series and listening to the audiobook of this was easier at the time (I just want to make it clear that this has been on my to be read since it came out. I would never accept an arc of a book that I’m not genuinely interested in). 

My lower rating for this comes from my lack of concentration with the beginning chapters. I wasn’t too interested in the characters’ backgrounds, I just wanted the magic and excitement of the French court. 

Once it got past that part I really enjoyed it. I do think I’m going to enjoy the second book more as I can read it myself. I find the pacong with audiobooks difficult. The normal setting is too slow, but turn it up slightly and it’s way too fast. Anyone else have this issue? 

Goodreads synopsis: “Paris is a labyrinth of twisted streets filled with beggars and thieves, revolutionaries and magicians. Camille Durbonne is one of them. She wishes she weren’t…

When smallpox kills her parents, Camille must find a way to provide for her younger sister while managing her volatile brother. Relying on magic, Camille painstakingly transforms scraps of metal into money to buy food and medicine they need. But when the coins won’t hold their shape and her brother disappears with the family’s savings, Camille pursues a richer, more dangerous mark: the glittering court of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.

Using dark magic forbidden by her mother, Camille transforms herself into a baroness and is swept up into life at the Palace of Versailles, where aristocrats both fear and hunger for magic. As she struggles to reconcile her resentment of the rich with the allure of glamour and excess, Camille meets a handsome young inventor, and begins to believe that love and liberty may both be possible.

But magic has its costs, and soon Camille loses control of her secrets. And when revolution erupts, Camille must choose—love or loyalty, democracy or aristocracy, reality of magic—before Paris burns.” 

The Dream Thieves (The Raven Cycle #2) by Maggie Stiefvater

Read: 04/01/21 – 12/01/21          Rating: 4/5

I finally got around to reading The Dream Thieves! If you’ve been reading my blog for a while you will know that I kept putting this on my to be read just to ignore it every month. Well that pattern finally ended. 

I am super annoyed at myself for constantly putting this off. I loved it. Although it did take me quite a while to get going as you can see from the eight days it took to finish. 

As with The Raven Boys it took me a long while to really get into the book. There’s something about Maggie’s writing style that takes a while for me to absorb information. However, just as with The Raven Boys as soon as I was into this I was hooked. 

There’s just something about these characters that I find so compelling and I can’t help but love them all. Gansey is still my absolute favourite though. 

I’m going to try my hardest to not put off Blue Lily, Lily Blue (book three) as much as I can. Wish me luck!

Read my (short) but full review here. 

Goodreads synopsis: “Now that the ley lines around Cabeswater have been woken, nothing for Ronan, Gansey, Blue, and Adam will be the same. Ronan, for one, is falling more and more deeply into his dreams, and his dreams are intruding more and more into waking life. Meanwhile, some very sinister people are looking for some of the same pieces of the Cabeswater puzzle that Gansey is after…” 

Of Wicked Blood (The Quatrefoil Chronicles #1) by Olivia Wildenstein and Katie Hayoz

Read: 12/01/21 – 18/01/21         Rating: 4/5

My last arc and last read of the month. I did also start The Near Witch by V.E Schwab but my kindle unlimited ran out without me realising and I don’t have the funds for it at the moment.

This was also a very slow start for me. As always with audiobooks I find it hard to absorb a lot of information and with this being a multiple perspective book I kept forgetting really things like the ages of the characters. That was a very bad thing to forget when Slate who you thought was mid to late twenties was making sexual comments about Cadence who seemed like she was only 15. Yeah I definitely need to start paying better attention to those types of facts.

Although in my defense I was not the only person who got the characters ages completely wrong. A lot of people agreed with this and because the narrator for Slate sounds many years his characters senior. 

Other than that this was a really interesting read and the storyline was exciting. The book isn’t out until the 2nd February but I recommend you think about picking this up.

Read my full review here.

Goodreads synopsis: “No rest for the wicked… or the cursed.

SLATE

I didn’t mean to steal the Bloodstone from the De Morel’s crypt.

Scratch that, I did mean to steal it.

Until I realized it was a curse-magnet that only comes off if I, along with a jolly trio, successfully defeat four curses.

If any of us fail, I’m dead.

I’ve never been a glass-half-empty sort of person, but my glass looks in dire need of a refill right about now.

The only highlight of this wicked treasure hunt: feisty, entitled Cadence de Morel.

CADENCE

I was raised on tales of magic, in a small town reputed to be the birthplace of French witchcraft.

Did I believe all the stories I heard? Absolutely not. I mean, if magic existed, Maman wouldn’t have died, and Papa wouldn’t be stuck in a wheelchair, right?

Wrong.

The night Slate Ardoin waltzes into my life, wearing a ring he stole from my mother’s grave, I call him a monster.

But then I meet real ones, and Slate, well . . . he becomes something else to me.

Something frustrating to live with but impossible to live without.

Something I will fight for, no matter the cost.”

I have just started reading an arc of Everything That Burns. I originally had the arc of Liberté, which I am certain was not set for release until the 18th February. Turns out with the title change came a change of release as well so now Everything That Burns is out on the 2nd. I’m about to go binge-read that for the next few days and I will hopefully get a review up for the date of release. 

WANT TO SEE WHAT I’VE BEEN READING LATELY? CHECK OUT MY GOODREADS HERE

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Like this post? Why not read this one too? To Be Read: February 2021