May Wrap-Up

I read three books this month! I also finished my AP US history text book (all 921 pages of it) and started another book.

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas was spectacular, but I already wrote about it here so I'm not going to go into depth. 

Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson was amazing. Amazing doesn't do it justice, but I don't know how else to describe it. The writing was so easy to read, and I read it so quickly. I fell in love with a lot of the characters, and though it wasn't a perfect book (at times, I wasn't a fan of Taylor and Henry's romance) I liked it enough to grant it 4 starts on Goodreads.

Lastly, I read The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Sallinger. I really didn't like it. Holden was too unlikable, and his narrating seemed too unreliable. The ending was good-ish but it ended too soon. No wrap-up, no explanation, no Jane Gallagher. Overall, pretty disappointing.

In addition, I started Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson and I'm eternally grateful to BookTube for suggesting this to me. I'm blown away by the plot and world building. I haven't been reading it for a few days, but I've been busy with homework. Hopefully I can get to it tonight for awhile.

Next, I plan on reading An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir. Maybe I'll tune into the Booksplosion discussion taking place next weekend.

On a similar note, it's Book Expo America this weekend, and I'm sad because there's no place I'd rather be. Alas, I am stuck in the cool and rainy Midwest. Perhaps someday.

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current music : lose it : oh wonder : oh wonder

I Need A Break

I need a break. 

I have been working hard for school nonstop since spring break ended. Exams are coming up, and things are only going to get harder before teachers pass out exam reviews. I'm still learning in most of my classes, an alarming but true fact. In just a few short weeks, my knowledge on this new and old information will be tested. 

My brother's graduation party is up north at our cottage this weekend. I'm excited for the party, but I'm mostly looking forward to relaxing. It's been better now that APUSH is over, but I still can't claim that I'm totally relaxed. Soon, though. It'll be summer before I know it, and I can spend warm days at the cottage and put with friends and reading in my back yard. 

In conclusion to this very short post, life is hard and stressful, and I need a break from it. I hope this weekend is every bit as cathartic as I need it to be before I dive head first into final exams. 

A Court of Thorns and Roses

Last night, I finished A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, My Queen. I adore her Throne of Glass series, so my expectations for the long anticipated ACOTAR were set high.

I was not disappointed with the world building and new set of characters! I noticed a lot of similarities and differences between Feyre and Celaena, which impressed me. Feyre was genuine and likable, even when she made dumb choices. Tamlin is also a beautifully constructed character, but he was quite absent from the second half of the book, so I lost a lot of my emotion for him. Lucien is my favorite (Oh, how I love the tragic back stories!). His life was cruel before we met him, and it just goes downhill from there.

The villains in this book are powerful and scary from the beginning. While Throne of Glass takes some time to build up terror towards the King, ACOTAR jumped right into making them real. Amarantha was horrifying, but I'm curious where SJM will go from there, since it was already so intense. Rhysand is more complicated, and I still haven't sorted out my thoughts for him. I like his character, but I'm not sure that I like him/admire him since he makes such poor decisions? I don't know--it's just something a lot of fans have been talking about. (This is me trying/failing to avoid spoiling.)

All in all, I really did enjoy the book. The plot was so interesting, and the build up to the climax was probably my favorite part (especially the second trial). I gave the book a 5-star rating on Goodreads, but my opinion might change in a week or two, as it usually does.

A disclaimer: I hate writing book reviews. My hope will always be to briefly share my thoughts while not spoiling and not boring myself.

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current music: stoick's ship : jim powell : how to train your dragon 2