I started the month by finishing The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden, the second book in the Winternight Series. I was already in love with Vasya and the Russian fairy tale of Morozko and this book solidifies that love and builds on it, creating a strong, independent female character in Vasya that every reader will appreciate.
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For a young woman in medieval Russia, the choices are stark: marriage or life in a convent. Vasya will choose a third way: magic…
The court of the Grand Prince of Moscow is plagued by power struggles and rumours of unrest. Meanwhile bandits roam the countryside, burning the villages and kidnapping its daughters.
Setting out to defeat the raiders, the Prince and his trusted companion come across a young man riding a magnificent horse. Only Sasha, a priest with a warrior's training, recognises this 'boy' as his younger sister, thought to be dead or a witch by her village.
But when Vasya proves herself in battle, riding with remarkable skill and inexplicable power, Sasha realises he must keep her secret as she may be the only way to save the city from threats both human and fantastical…
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Another beautiful trip to the Russia that Arden has created, a beautiful story, a strong female lead and a background love story that has me itching to pick up the next book... I will wait for the paperback!
Check out my review here and then keep your eyes peeled for a book three in the series coming out in paperback for my next and final review of the series.
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Next up was Lanny by Max Porter. This was a Book Club choice for the book club I run in store at work. It is not something I would normally pick up, but I like to try and read at least two of the choices each month, and this one intrigued me. Poerter's last book, Grief in the Thing with Feathers was a Waterstones' Book of the Month in its time and is highly praised amongst many.
It belongs to Mad Pete, the grizzled artist. To ancient Peggy, gossiping at her gate. To families dead for generations, and to those who have only recently moved here. But it also belongs to Dead Papa Toothwort who has woken from his slumber in the woods. Dead Papa Toothwort, who is listening to them all.
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I'm not going to lie. I didn't get this book at all... It has had fantastic 5* reviews across the board but I just found it dull and a hard read. And to top it off, no one in Book Club actually read it!!
You can look at my review but be warned it's not a good one!
I picked this one up at work because I was intrigued, graphic novels have never been something that I would be interested in, but I wanted to give it a go, Heartstopper, Volume One by Alice Oseman.
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Charlie and Nick are at the same school, but they've never met ... until one day when they're made to sit together. They quickly become friends, and soon Charlie is falling hard for Nick, even though he doesn't think he has a chance.
But love works in surprising ways, and Nick is more interested in Charlie than either of them realised.
Heartstopper is about love, friendship, loyalty and mental illness. It encompasses all the small stories of Nick and Charlie's lives that together make up something larger, which speaks to all of us.
This is the first volume of Heartstopper, with more to come.
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I picked this up one evening at bedtime and read it cover to cover... Normally when I say that it's because the book was absolutely unputdownable. This time, that wasn't the case. Although a beautiful story, I do not get on with the graphic novel format. There was nothing to get my teeth into, no description, no way of getting to know the characters in the drawings.
Check out my review.
That's all I got through this month, however, I have three on the go currently that will get their reviews in next month's post! you can have a nosey now by following the links, but full information will be in the next post :)
Scarred by Kylie Walker
Bookworm by Lucy Mangan
My own book (reading as a last proofread) - the first of the Cursed Novels, the new series due to be launched in July. There will be a cover reveal on May 16th so full details will be in the next post and there will be several posts dedicated to the book alone!
Until then,
Happy Reading!
But love works in surprising ways, and Nick is more interested in Charlie than either of them realised.
Heartstopper is about love, friendship, loyalty and mental illness. It encompasses all the small stories of Nick and Charlie's lives that together make up something larger, which speaks to all of us.
This is the first volume of Heartstopper, with more to come.
~~~
I picked this up one evening at bedtime and read it cover to cover... Normally when I say that it's because the book was absolutely unputdownable. This time, that wasn't the case. Although a beautiful story, I do not get on with the graphic novel format. There was nothing to get my teeth into, no description, no way of getting to know the characters in the drawings.
Check out my review.
That's all I got through this month, however, I have three on the go currently that will get their reviews in next month's post! you can have a nosey now by following the links, but full information will be in the next post :)
Scarred by Kylie Walker
Bookworm by Lucy Mangan
My own book (reading as a last proofread) - the first of the Cursed Novels, the new series due to be launched in July. There will be a cover reveal on May 16th so full details will be in the next post and there will be several posts dedicated to the book alone!
Until then,
Happy Reading!
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