readtorambleHello Hello! How are you?
Today I’m bringing you my second instalment of the “Series Catch-Up” trend I started on my blog a few weeks ago. I thought it was a great way to see how far I’ve come in a certain series and how much further I had to go. In the case of the previous series, it made me want to continue the Hercule Poirot series as soon as possible, so it’s also a great motivator.
So for today’s post, we are going to be diving into the world of St Mary’s through The Chronicles of St Mary’s series written by Jodi Taylor and highly recommended to me by Fiona from Fi’s Bibliofiles. I’m loving this series so far, so without further ado, let’s see where I’m at with it!
Books I’ve read so far and my thoughts
Just One Damned Thing After Another (#1) — 4.5 stars
I read this book around March, and it was at quite a difficult time (my fiancĂ© had just had a car accident), but this book helped me through. I’ve always said I didn’t like books with long chapters, but Fiona has proved me wrong with this series, and with the Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch. Despite some chapters nearly 40-50 pages long in these books, it doesn’t bother me in the least. You definitely get the “one more page” kind of feeling with these books, and this first one showed me that, as I read it in about 2 days. I was already obsessed with the characters and I am such a history nerd that I couldn’t have not liked it anyway. it’s a win-win!
The Very First Damned Thing (#0.5) — 4 stars
This was the first of the short stories that the author has written in conjunction with the main series, and I really liked this kind of prequel to the first book, which I read after it. It explained a lot of things but also made me so curious about a lot of details and information that we have gotten from the various books so far. I like that her writing flows well as either a full-length book or a novella.
A Symphony of Echoes (#2) — 4 stars
This was the second book in the main series and I was so excited about starting it because it featured Jack the Ripper. As well as being a total history nerd, I’m a big fan of true crime, so I threw myself wholeheartedly into this book and it didn’t disappoint. A few times I got a bit lost or thought it was a bit drawn out, but I think that was due to me and my mental state, so not a criticism pointed at the book. My fiancĂ© also started reading this series this year and he has overtaken me so fast, he is already around the middle of the series, and he nearly spoiled me with this book, but I managed to convince him to not say anything haha!
When a Child is Born (#2.5) — 4 stars
This was the second short story I read and I honestly loved it so much. It is a kind of story about how the women in history are just as important, and sometimes much more important, than the men. I didn’t really know where it would go when I first started it, but it ended up so good and despite being a lot shorter than the first short story, I still felt like it was really well-executed and flowed very nicely.
Currently Reading
A Second Chance (#3)
I’ve only just started this third book in the series but I am already liking it a lot, especially with how funny this one started out. I’ll only say one thing — Oh My God, they are BLUE! It’s hilarious and I’m honestly so obsessed with this story and these characters, so diving back into this series is such a cosy and comforting experience for me. I’ll hopefully have this book finished before the year is over, but if not, I think it’ll count towards my 2023 books. In any case, I’m hoping to finish this series next year, although I really don’t want it to be over… not that I should complain with the number of books in the main series, in the spinoff and all the short stories!!
That’s all for now, I hope you enjoyed reading this post and will fancy picking this series up soon if you haven’t already!
See you soon, stay safe,
Ellie xx