May 2021 Haul and Wrap-Up

Hi everyone, hope your weekend is starting well.

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these posts, in part because I’ve been going through some financial restrictions recently (my scholarship is coming to an end this year, and jobs are a bit uncertain in my field, so I’m trying to spend less and save more to cover any months where I’m between incomes). And also space is a little tight, since we live in a two bedroom flat and the shelves are filling up fast! However, since I’ve been teaching recently, I wanted to treat myself to a bunch of books.

So, let’s start with the haul of books that I bought myself this month, and what came in boxes etc, and what I got accepted for on Netgalley.

• A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire by Jennifer L. Armentrout. I’m not certain about this one at all, since I wasn’t a huge fan of FBAA. However, I never posted my review of the first book online, because I was on hiatus when I picked it up, and my thoughts were very mixed. So because it’s so popular and so hyped, I wanted to give it another try, both for myself and to see if my thoughts on the series could be properly channelled into a book review.
• Rent a Boyfriend by Gloria Chao. I absolutely adored American Panda which I read a few years back. It was such a cute summer read, and so easy to get through too, so I wanted to try more of her books.
• The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni. This was included in the April Fairyloot box. I’ve already read it and posted a spoiler-free review of it, so check it out if you fancy hearing more of my thoughts about it.
• Vulture by Bex Hogan. I do love me some Isles of Storm and Sorrow. I’ve been dying to pick up the last book in the series since it came out, but I held back until I thought I could afford to treat myself to it. Also, huge thanks to Bex for being a complete sweetie and sending me a signed bookplate to put in my new copy!
• Skyhunter by Marie Lu. Everything Marie Lu writes is amazing to me. I’ve loved all of her books to date, so I’m super-excited to get around to picking this one up! I haven’t heard too much hype around it, but it’ll be awesome, I’m sure.
• The Ones We’re Meant to Find by Joan He. I’ve heard so many good things about this book, and everyone is talking about how amazing it is, so I couldn’t resist purchasing a copy when it was released.
• In The Ravenous Dark by A.M. Strickland. This one arrived in the April Illumicrate subscription box. I hadn’t heard too much about it, except the snippet of information that Illumicrate gave out when they announced the theme of the box, so I didn’t know quite what to make of it. However, book bloggers have been pretty positive about the book in recent reviews, so I think I’m looking forward to reading it in June. Also, the additional details that IC included are gorgeous, especially the stencilled edges (they have a flower design on them!)

I’ve also pre-ordered two books:

• Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé. I couldn’t resist purchasing this one after seeing all the character art for the promo and the amazing trailer. It’s a dark academia too, which sounds sooooo good right now.
• Xoxo by Axie Oh. I first heard about this book when Fairyloot started selling special edition copies, but held off on buying it through them because it’s quite expensive and I wasn’t certain. However, I preordered the standard copy after a few days of humming and harring. I think I’ll really like it, as it sounds like a cute contemporary read, which I normally love right around summertime.

Books I got through Netgalley/Publishers:

• Of Princes and Promises by Sandhya Menon. I actually finished this one last night, so I’ll be posting a review really soon! I wasn’t really sure what to expect with this one, since it sounded contemporary but also had a fairytale-retelling kinda vibe to it, but I knew I wanted to try and read it.
• Monstrous Design by Kat Dunn. This will probably be a book I pick up super soon because it’s coming out in only a few weeks. I did really enjoy Dangerous Remedy when it came out, so it’ll be nice to delve back into the world and find out what messes these characters have gotten themselves into.
• Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim. I loved Spin the Dawn and was looking forward to getting to read more of Lim’s work. The covers of the new editions are stunning, and this one looks just as pretty. I’m also a huge fan of retellings, especially ones which are less revisited, so I’m curious to see how the book explores the tale.
• Little Thieves by Margaret Owen. Owen’s The Merciful Crow was one of my favourite reads of last year, so I was delighted to see that she’s bringing out more stories. This one doesn’t come out til October, so it’ll be a while before I post my thoughts on this one, but the hardback version is currently very, very cheap on Amazon, so it’s definitely worth preordering a little early.

Okay, so now that the haul is out of the way, it’s time to get to the wrap-up. This month, I read ten books (not including what I needed to read for my PhD). This is the first month in a while where I felt like reading a whole bunch of books, so it was nice to delve back into them.

• Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo. I’ve already posted my thoughts on this one, so I don’t want to spend too much time singing its praises, but it was one of my favourite books of this month. Rereading King of Scars in April definitely helped me get into the mood to read this one.
• Legendborn by Tracy Deonn. Okay, this one is possibly my favourite book of the year so far. I loved absolutely everything about it, and I can’t believe it’s been sitting on my shelf for several months. My review will be posted really soon!
• Loveless by Alice Oseman. This is such a great book, and some great Aro/Ace rep. I’m so grateful to my friend Kelly for sending me this for my birthday last year. It was one of the two contemporary novels I read this month.
• The Chosen by Taran Matharu. This one was a review copy sent by Hodder. It’s taken me a while to pick it up, due to uni work and the blog redesign, but it was a fun and quick read. Again, I’ve already uploaded a full apoiler-free review, so it’s worth looking into that if you were interested.
• Master of One by Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett. This has been on my shelf for quite some time now, but it fit a prompt for a readathon that I was trying to do in May, so it made a lot of sense to try and pick it up. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this one, so it will be nice to get to share my review of it later this month!
• The Wicked Fox by Kat Cho. I’ve wanted to try this book again for a while, after originally DNFing it because I wasn’t feeling it. I still had mixed feelings about this one, but it was nice to give it another chance. You’ll be able to find my review of it posted later this month.
• The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni. It was nice to get a chance to read a very recent release. My feelings about this book changed a lot over the course of the novel, and there were a few problematic things I picked up on in it, as well as some plot twists that felt unplanned, but I’m curious to see what book two will bring later this year. You can check out my spoiler-free review, which includes content warnings, on my blog now.
• Kingdom of Souls by Rena Barron. This was a fun and compelling read and I enjoyed getting around to picking it up. It wasn’t my favourite book of the month, but it was a solid read and I’m excited to read more of the series.
• The Beholder by Anna Bright. This is another book that has sat on my shelf for so long now. I was in the mood for some romance this month, so it was good to get round to a book that’s been waiting around for me for so long, even though it didn’t live up to my expectations.
• Of Princes and Promises by Sandhya Menon. This one isn’t included in the photos because it was an ebook arc, curtesy of Hodder and Netgalley. I was intrigued by the synopsis, and the author’s previous work. It was a bit of a cliched read, and it wasn’t as exciting as I thought it would be, but it was still a fun book.

My favourite book of May:

What were some of your favourite reads this month? Share your recommendations in the comments section below! <3