April reads

Mini reviews of everything I read last month

It didn’t feel like it at the time, but April was an incredible reading month - I just didn’t notice! The weather has finally perked up enough for me to start reading in the garden, which has definitely helped me wile away the hours lost in a good story. Here are my reviews for last month…

Current TBR list

In case you’re new around here, I’m trying to cut down my TBR list as I have soooo many books to read. This is how I hold myself accountable!

Physical: 32

Kindle: 15

ARCs: 0

Total: 37

My Friends by Fredrik Backman

After meeting the artist of one of the most prized paintings of the modern day at a gallery auction, teenager Louisa finds herself on a cross-country adventure with the artist’s best friend Ted. Despite the decades between them, the two learn they aren’t so different in their upbringing and life stories as Ted shares the story of his childhood friends and how the famous painting came to be.

I had quite the ordeal getting hold of this book. As I now exclusively get my reads from the library, on an ereader, or secondhand I had a fair adventure of my own bouncing to-and-from local libraries that claimed to have this in stock (reader, they did not).

Sadly, the effort was for nothing as I couldn’t get on with this read at all. If it hadn’t have been my book club’s choice for April, I would have DNFed when I started to feel fed up around 15% into it. I ended up muddling through it on audiobook, and even then found it an uphill battle at times.

I found the whole thing somehow painfully twee while being utterly miserable, and none of the characters felt three-dimensional to me in any sense.

As a writer (of sorts) by trade, I unfortunately have a terrible habit of picking up on writing styles and patterns quite easily. Once something starts to irk me, I can’t shake it. Unfortunately My Friends had several elements that bothered me - repeated phrases being one of them - and they utterly ruined the experience for me because I struggled to see past them. If this sort of thing doesn’t affect you, you might get on better with it.

The reviews at book club were a very mixed bag, with some giving it a firm five stars while others gave it as harsh as a zero (I was pretty tough on Backman, giving the book a one) and most others found themselves somewhere in between.

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J Maas

The second instalment of the Throne of Glass series.

I’ve not read a series in a loooong time, so if you’re new around here I’ll let you know that I don’t summarise the plots of books in a series after book one (unless they’re, like, mega old or really well known) to avoid spoilers for people who may want to read them in the future!

Crown of Midnight was packed with character development and story building like no other. I do find SJM’s writing to be a little slower at the start of her books sometimes, and it was definitely the case here. It took me almost a week to read the first half of this book, then once the action really kicked in I devoured it within a matter of hours… as in, I put my phone down at 7pm one evening and didn’t pick it up again until gone 12pm the following day because I was that invested in this read.

It’s only the second book in the series, but at the time of reading I thought Crown of Midnight would be my favourite read in the TOG world…

The Assassin’s Blade by Sarah J Maas

The third instalment of the Throne of Glass series in publishing order, or the prequel to the series in chronological order.

…until I read The Assassin’s Blade. This prequel (which I highly recommend reading third, as does SJM!!!) is made up of several novellas that add up to the larger story. It gives an extremely in-depth back story to some beloved characters and the novellas themselves are extremely enjoyable.

Potential spoiler: You will need tissues.

Heir of Fire by Sarah J Maas

The fourth instalment of the Throne of Glass series.

Maybe I Throne of Glassed too close to the sun, because I fought my way through Heir of Fire. This is where the story really starts to shift - we are introduced to new characters, locations, and storylines and this book is most definitely a world-building, transition read that seems to line everything up for future stories. Personally, I found it quite slow and complex at times but by the final pages I was hooked back in and eager to pick up the next book in the series!

On Writing by Stephen King

Part memoir, part writing guide, this non-fiction novel by Stephen King reflects on his early years before becoming one of the best authors alive and talks about the life-changing accident that almost killed him in 1999 (while On Writing was still being written). The heart of the book is full of practical writing tips and motivators for anyone who might want to get into fiction writing.

I adored this book and swallowed it up in a handful of days. Though I’ve not actually read a tonne of his work, Stephen King is up there as one of my favourite writers. He is an absolute master at the English language (in my opinion, at least) and it was so interesting to learn of his earlier life and how it shaped his stories.

On Writing was a gift from my lovely boyfriend at Christmas, as he knows full well how much I would love to write a novel. One story in particular has been kicking about in my brain for several years, and occasionally I will pen some part of it but will inevitably fall out of the habit. Reading this left me so motivated to just write and since finishing it, I have accomplished at least 1,000 words per day. Sometimes you just need an extremely successful bestselling author to give you the kick you’ve been after.

What did you read (and enjoy!) in Apri?