April Wrap-up

April has been a great month for reading and I’m so pleased with this achievement! I set my goal for 1 book per week, just like last year, and like last year it has been a bit hard to keep up. This month though, I’ve managed to read 9 books. Yay!

• The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli (ARC) – 4/5 stars, ebook and feel free to read my spoilerfree review for this gem!
• Falling Into Bed with a Duke by Lorraine Heath – 4/5 stars, ebook.
• The Earl Takes All by Lorraine Heath – 3/5 stars, ebook.

• The Witches of the Glass Castle by Gabriella Lepore (ARC) – 4/5 stars, ebook and another gem with a spoilerfree review if you’re interested.
• Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller – 4/5 stars, book. Three words; kickass female pirate… Loved reading this!
• Stars of Fortune by Nora Roberts – 4/5 stars, ebook. The first in a new trilogy that follows Roberts usual story pattern, but still delicious to read!
• Bay of Sighs by Nora Roberts – 4/5 stars, ebook.
• Island of Glass by Nora Roberts – 4/5 stars, ebook.
• The Siren by Tiffany Reisz – 2/5 stars, ebook. A bit uncomfortable, but not a bad story.

Lots of romance this month, but it is spring here in Sweden after all 😉

Next month I’ve got Strange Alchemy by Gwenda Bond, Witches of the Dark Power by Gabriella Lepore, Coral and Bone by Tiffany Daune and probably a reread of ACOTAR with a straight dive into ACOMAF and A Court of War and Ruin by Sarah J Maas on my TBR. Let’s see if I can keep this flow going!

What has been your favorite read in April? 😊 

The Witches of the Glass Castle by Gabriella Lepore (ARC)

This was such a delight! Witches, mystery and darkness, what more can you ask for? And it was easily devoured, which is a very attractive quality that shouldn’t be undervalued. I love the satisfaction of it, to get so carried away with a story… It’s happiness.

The story follows Mia and her brother Dino who discovers that they are witches. Their whole family are witches (well, at least on their mother’s side) and all it takes is one small incantation, even said by mistake, to awaken the magic within. Because of their awakening powers, they are sent away to a place that can help the siblings learn control and nurture whatever power they may have. At the Glass Castle, they meet frightening but handsome warrior witches with feral instincts called Hunters and witches called Arcana that can read peoples thoughts and have visions of the future. It’s a strange but colorful new world where Mia and Dino must both come to terms with who they are and as events begins spiraling out of control they must choose what they think is right and where their allegiances lie in the end.

There’s some really good twists and turns in this book. It kept the story and my interest peaked through the whole thing. I’m also very fond of how the author portrayed her characters (and their dynamic). It was just the right amount of goof, cuteness and realness to make the relationships work.

I really recommend this book to anyone who love YA fantasy, and witch lore. A fascination with witches should be existent when picking this up. Just saying… 😉

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars! Witches of the Glass Castle is the first book in a duology, where the Witches of the Dark Power is the second book and they both releases today the 18th. So, Happy Book Birthday to Gabriella Lepore!

The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli (ARC)

Becky Albertalli’s story about a young girl named Molly, who’s constantly falling in and out of love, is delightfully written and I’d also like to add that her penchant (as I understand it) for diverse characters is spot on in today’s climate. It’s refreshing to read about a family dynamic that’s both something originally new and still manages to convey the modern-day family that often consists of more than one “correct” version.

Molly’s a seventeen-year-old girl who’s never been kissed and has never had a boyfriend. What she has had though are multiple crushes and thus she’s avoided experiencing rejection. Molly doesn’t see this as a problem, she’s careful… that’s all. When her womanizing and somewhat cynical twin sister Cassie suddenly falls madly in love, Molly can’t deny that she’s lonely and longing for connecting with someone of her own. Maybe having a boyfriend will even help her reconnect with her sister, as well as gifting her with her first kiss. Luckily (or maybe confusingly) for her, two boys pop up catching her attention. Who will she choose? The cute hipster boy Will who’s best friends with Cassie’s new girlfriend or her coworker the charming nerd boy Reid. And will she have the guts to put herself up for potential rejection?

Some scenes in this book had me cringing, not in a bad way, but in the way that I was acutely embarrassed on behalf of a character. That’s some really good writing and makes me very keen to read her Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda!

4 out of 5 stars!

I received this copy from the publisher (Penguin Random House UK Children’s) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Geekerella by Ashley Poston (ARC)

The story of Geekerella follows two protagonists, the first being Elle Wittimer who’s a diehard Starfield fan that lives with her stepmother and two stepsisters after tragically losing her father in an accident. The one season long TV-show Starfield was the fandom that she shared with her father and after his passing she doesn’t falter in her devotion to him or the show. She’s an avid blogger and now that Starfield’s getting rebooted as a movie she’s got ample ammo to use in her posts.

The second protagonist is Darien Freeman, an actor that’s been employed to be the new version of the main character Federation Prince Carmindor in the reboot. He used to live for cons and especially everything Starfield, but since getting famous for being in another TV series and then getting drafted for this role.. Let’s just say that his living the fandom at cons have been severely limited since then. Being Carmindor in this new show is like a dream come true, but can he overcome the Starfield community’s scepticism and the media’s heartthrob labeling? 

When Elle finds out about the cosplay contest being held at ExcelsiCon, at the con that her father helped get started no less, and with the hard to resist prize of tickets enabling her to get away from the stepmonsters, she decides to enter. There’s a bit of snag tough when her non-starfield stepsisters decides to enter too…

This retelling follows the pattern of Cinderellas tale but with refreshingly original content. It’s like a mix between Cinderella, Fangirl and something more. It’s wonderfully geeky with it’s own fandom and I thought it was such a cute read. Just call me a Stargunner now! 

4 out of 5 stars! 

I received this copy from the publisher (Quirk Books) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.