March Wrap-up – 2021

Click to listen!

Hello Hello! How are you?

Happy first of April! I am so surprised by how fast this year has been going. I think the change in routine and timetables each week has been making me struggle with my pain and my fatigue, but as the year is moving forwards, I know my first year of master’s degree will soon be over, which means I get a tiny bit of time off before my internship begins!

As I’m going to be focusing on my thesis research, reading and work in the next month and a half, I’ve decided to try to be kind to myself and not have such a massive TBR as usual. If you are interested in seeing what books I’ll be reading in April, you can find my TBR post here.

Now that the last day of March has gone and I was able to squeeze a final book into my wrap-up, I can now say that I read a total of 14 books last month, which is the biggest number of books I’ve managed to read in a month so far this year! I am really proud of that and I wonder if I can keep it up.

BOOKS READ

Favourite Book(s) of the Month

Silence is a Sense by Layla AlAmmar – 5 stars

This is the second 5-star book that I have read this year and one that I was expecting to like, but nowhere near as much as I did. I am still struggling to get my thoughts in order on this book because it was really just incredible. Beautifully-written, so poignant, real and a genre I don’t usually read (literary fiction), but I’m glad I gave it a shot, I highly recommend it. You can read my gushing review here.

Moon Over Soho (#2 Rivers of London) by Ben Aaronovitch – 4.5 stars

My second fave book of March just had to be the second book in the Rivers of London series. I loved it, I liked it more than Rivers of London (book 1). I really enjoyed the bigger focus on the investigation, getting to know the characters more and especially the case, I thought it was so interesting. I also really enjoy reading about the magic system, I’m still so fascinated by it and can’t wait to learn more in Whispers Under Ground. I need to write my review for it soon, but I need to get my thoughts together first ahah.

March Books

Anoka by Shane Hawk – 4 stars

This is (I think), my first horror of the year and I still can’t believe I have started reading horror, my reading tastes have really changed in the last few years. This was such a clever book; I don’t think I would say it was scary, but it was creepy and although it was a very fast book to read, it was very spine-tingly and atmospheric. I really enjoyed it and you can read my full review here.

The Murder on the Links (#2 Hercule Poirot) by Agatha Christie – 3.5 stars

The second book we have been reading in the Hercule Poirot chronological buddy read was another one with Hastings and what an idiot he is. He honestly had me laughing so many times. I read half of the physical book and continued the second half on audio, which let me get a really good feel of both Poirot and Hastings. While this wasn’t one that I enjoyed as much as Murder on the Orient Express, I did think that Poirot and his attitude towards Hastings, waiting for him to put the pieces together, was hilarious. I will have to get my review written soon.

Marrow Charm (#1 The Gate Cycle) by Kristin Jacques – 4 stars

One of the #BBNYA2020 books I read this month was a kind of grimdark fantasy with a great magic system, a great sibling relationship and a great little hint at a romance I am already rooting for. This was definitely my kind of book. I found the world-building really good and interesting. I like that we only saw a tiny bit of the world as it leaves the next books open to much more development. I will be reading the next book in this series for sure. You can find my full thoughts here.

The Stars That Guide You Home by Jemma Robinson – 3.5 stars

This was a book that was on the lower side of my ratings in March and I think it’s because mainly I wasn’t the right audience. I found this book to drag a fair bit, I wanted a lot more to happen than it did and it was a tad obvious. I also found that there were multiple very big triggers and even though I’m not triggered easily, it was a tough read. I did enjoy it, but not as much as I was expecting and if you are curious to know more about it, you can find those thoughts here.

What Beauty There Is (#1 What Beauty There Is) by Cory Anderson – 1.5 stars

My lowest rated book of the month and the year so far is one that I would never have thought I wouldn’t like. I read this for the #UltimateBlogTour organised by Dave from @The_WriteReads. I was expecting to love it, but the first chapter opened on one of my triggers that made me feel very uncomfortable and the book just got bleaker and bleaker as I went on. I can see why so many people loved it because it did have a very particular writing style, but I personally did not like it at all and found it quite jarring. This was not a book for me, unfortunately.

Bloodlust & Bonnets by Emily McGovern – 4.5 stars

I was really happy to pick this graphic novel up after What Beauty There Is because I needed the laughs and the fun times. From page 1, I was laughing so hard I think I actually cried. I loved the humour in this book, it was very on point, the dialogue was quick and witty, it was a fast-paced, crazy and fun adventure with such eccentric and dramatic characters that made me smile throughout. If you love graphic novels or want to try something new, this historical fiction fantasy with Lord Byron (“You know, from the books”), vampires, and a hectic plot with a beautiful drawing style, I highly recommend it. I’ll get my review up shortly.

City of Fallen Angels (#4 The Mortal Instruments) by Cassandra Clare – 3 stars

The latest book I read with Fiona and Erika for the Shadowhunter mission we are currently on was the 4^th book in The Mortal Instruments series and unfortunately, my least favourite book of the whole universe so far. I loved the first section and then the characters just really bugged me, and the plot wasn’t dragging me in. The final chapter dragged me back and broke my brain a little bit, and I’m still not quite sure what to think about it, but I’ll soon find out more when I pick up book 5. You can find my mini-review and Erika’s thoughts here. Don’t forget to check out Fiona’s post and Erika’s post too!

The Last Spell Breather by Julie Pike – 2.5 stars

This was another flop this month and one that I’m actually quite sad that I was disappointed by. Reading the blurb and seeing that cover just before I picked it up, I was expecting to be going into a 4-4.5-star read and it’s just not what I got. It was good, but the reason I rated it down a fair bit was because I was confused by the magic system for the whole book, I just didn’t understand it. The main character was very mean to another character and I didn’t like that, and the ending… just did not make sense and I don’t believe it at all. I think it could have benefitted from some extra editing and more details about the world and the magic system. It just didn’t work for me, unfortunately, and I’ll not be reviewing it.

Karolina Dalca, Dark Eyes by M. R. Noble – 4 stars

Back to another #blogtour organised by Dave from @The_WriteReads that I actually really enjoyed. I love books with vampires and this had such a great and unique take on the vampire and powers. I was totally rooting for one of the couples in the love triangle and I am really looking forward to the second book because I’m sure it will be full of more adventure and Karolina will get into more scrapes. You can read my full review here.

Nightbooks by J. A. White – 4.5 stars

Thankfully, the Middle Grade Marvels had a second book to read this month and it was SO good. I’ve been getting into more spooky and scary books lately and I was expecting to be more afraid by the events of this book, but what I can say is that it was really creepy and atmospheric. I loved Alex, Yasmin, Lenore. Natacha was an interesting character and we learn a lot more about her towards the end of the book. I particularly enjoyed the stories Alex read to Natacha and that ending was so good!! I will hopefully get a review up soon.

Shadows (#0.5 Lux) by Jennifer L. Armentrout – 3 stars

Last year I read Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout and LOVED it but didn’t realise there was a short novel before it, so this year, I have decided to go back and make my way through as many books by this author as I can. Shadows is the first book in my Armentrout mission and I quite enjoyed it. I learned a lot about some things that we hear about in Obsidian and I am not okay by that ending, not at all. I enjoyed it, it did have flaws, but I think the series will just get better and better, so here’s to the next book.

D’autres vies que la mienne by Emmanuel Carrère – 4 stars

And the last book that I managed to squeeze in and finish last night was my first French book of the year. I read this book for an assignment I have due next month, and I have another book by this author to read for that same assignment. I think I will enjoy the next one more, but this one was good, although very triggering for me personally… it’s a true story, kind of a memoir about the tsunami in Asia in 2003/2004 and then about the decline and death of someone with cancer, so I took that second half in the guts a bit. The thing is, the writing style was a bit long, flowery and far-fetched, but all in all, I enjoyed it and it gave me feels. I have high hopes for L’Adversaire by this same author and will try to write a review soon.

March Reading Stats

Number of books: 14

Number of pages: 4, 279 pages

Star ratings:

1.5 stars : 1 book

2.5 stars: 1 book

3 stars: 2 books

3.5 stars: 2 books

4 stars: 4 books

4.5 stars: 3 books

5 stars: 1 book

Average rating:3.67⭐

Genres: 1 contemporary literary fiction, 1 urban fantasy mystery, 1 horror short story collection, 1 Classic mystery, 2 YA fantasies, 1 historical romance, 1 YA thriller, 1 historical fiction fantasy graphic novel, 2 MG fantasies, 1 urban fantasy paranormal, 1 YA paranormal and 1 nonfiction memoir/true story.

Physical Book left for Ellie’s TBR Game: 690 books.

That was a really successful month in my opinion. While a few books majorly flopped, I did like so many from my March reading and even found my second 5-star read of the year!

That’s all for now, I hope you enjoyed reading this post. Tell me about what books you read in March! See you soon, stay safe,

Ellie xx