April Recap

I seem to be posting my recaps later than ideal. Hopefully my May recap will be up on time for a change, at the end of May rather than a couple of days into June. I wouldn’t even say I’ve been too busy with work or real life, I just seem to have been really lazy this month.

As far as April goes I think my contemporary YA month was definitely a success. I made it through a massive chunk of my to-read list and have added a lot more books onto it for the near future. Don’t get me wrong I still love fantasy and it is still my number one genre but I think contemporary has become a close second.

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Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

This book was so sweet, like sugar coma sweet. I’ve seen Simon Vs around a lot recently and through it sounded perfect to kick-start my contemporary YA month. Luckily it more than lived up to the hype and all the amazing reviews I saw for it. I loved the relationship between Simon and Blue even though they didn’t meet face to face until late in the book I was rooting for them from the start.

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A Fierce and Subtle Poison by Samantha Mabry

Magical realism is another genre I definitely want to start reading more of. A Fierce and Subtle Poison was a good book, it had an incredibly unique concept and story which I was hooked on from the start. I loved the setting, the stories and legends Lucas sought out from the señoras. The only downside was Lucas’s character. He was well written and developed but the relationships he had with Isabel and his friends just fell flat.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley.

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Jandy Nelson

Jandy Nelson is such an amazing author, after reading I’ll Give You the Sun and The Sky is Everywhere anything she writes is now on my auto-buy and auto-read list. I really enjoyed I’ll Give You the Sun; the relationship Noah and Jude had, and the secrets they kept from one another, were heartbreaking to read at times. However I think I liked The Sky is Everywhere just that little bit more. I really felt for Lennie and her situation, and I loved the journey she took throughout the course of the book.

I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

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Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is another book that I’d heard a lot about before picking it up; a book with great reviews and a fair bit of hype surrounding it. There’s not much I can really say about the plot because the whole story is about Aristotle and Dante growing up, their friendship with one another, and the journey they take throughout. There is a second book being released, and although there is no cover or blurb it is definitely on my to-buy list.

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Anna and the French Kiss Series

After reading books like Aristotle and Dante and Jandy Nelson I needed something light and fluffy to move onto next. The Anna and the French Kiss series definitely fits that bill and although they weren’t my favourites of all the books I picked up this month I really enjoyed each one. The settings were probably one of my favourite part; I’ve been to all the places Anna and Étienne, Lola and Cricket, and Isla and Josh went to and it made me want to go again to see all the sites they did.

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

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The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi

This was one of my most-anticipated releases of May and after finally getting my hands on it I was so thrilled to see it more than lived up to all my expectations. The Star-Touched Queen is now the front-runner for my top read of 2016 and it’s going to be really hard to beat this one. Maya was an amazing character, I loved reading her story and her relationship with Amar, but the setting for this book is what really made it stand out for me. Akaran was so beautifully written it made me want to believe in magic again.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley.

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We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

So if you’ve heard of this book then, even if you haven’t read it yet, you will have heard about the twist at the end. Don’t worry there are no spoilers in this recap but honestly it was the twist that bumped this book up from a four star read to a five star one. While reading I started to think I knew what it was, clues were dropped and there were subtle hints throughout, but I was wrong and when the real twist was revealed I was left stunned.

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Firebird Series

So if you’ve heard of this book then, even if you haven’t read it yet, you will have heard about the twist at the end. Don’t worry there are no spoilers in this recap but honestly it was the twist that bumped this book up from a four star read to a five star one. While reading I started to think I knew what it was, clues were dropped and there were subtle hints throughout but I was wrong and when the real twist was revealed I was left stunned.

A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray

Ten Thousand Skies Above You by Claudia Gray

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Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson

Morgan Matson has been on my to-read list for a while now and I finally got around to picking up one of her books. Since You’ve Been Gone was honestly really good. I loved the idea of the list Sloane had left for Emily and all the tasks which she had to cross off. I think my favourite part of this book though was Emily’s development throughout; she started off shy and withdrawn but by the end she became much more confident and outspoken.

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I took part in three Top Ten Tuesday topics over the course of April.

Top Ten Books Every … Should Read

Top Ten Books That Made Me Smile and Cry

Top Ten Bookworm Delights

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I featured four books as part of the Waiting on Wednesday tag.

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore

A Million Worlds With You by Claudia Gray

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Next month there are more than a few of my most-anticipated releases that I can finally get around to; The Raven King, The Rose and The Dagger, A Court of Mist and Fury, not to mention a few new discoveries. I am also going to (finally) try and get around to reading the Percy Jackson series. I’ve seen a lot of it around recently and heard a lot of great things about the books so I am so excited to pick up the first one and see what all the fuss is about.