February Wrap-Up
Hey, everyone.
February is finally behind us [even if the snowy weather is not] and I thought it was high-time I talked about my month of bookishness. It’s been quite a busy month, packed more with social events than with lazy Sunday reads. but I did manage to turn a few pages this month.
The first novel I read this month was Libba Bray’s The Diviners, a historical fantasy YA about a girl with the ability to read objects, and who is entangled in a dangerous game of cat and mouse with a supernatural murderer. I started this book at the end of January, and it took a few days to get into, but the characters were very interesting and I got swept away by it eventually. Though the ending was something of a disappointment, I’m not so disheartened that I won’t pick up another book in this series somewhere down the line. I awarded it a 7/10 stars.
Next came, Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu. This was a contemporary YA set in a high school so obsessed with their talented football team, they were willing to let sexism go unchallenged. The main character, Viv, is the daughter of a former Riot Grrrrl, and when she decides to fight back against the sandwich jokes and the bump and grinds going on in the hallway, she prints an anonymous zine called Moxie which she leaves in the girls’ bathrooms to get people talking and uniting. It was a very interesting book to read, and although there were moments when I thought it was a little too idealized and perfect, Mathieu’s novel did a wonderful job of discussing the different layers of feminism and trying to address some of those ridiculous myths about man-haters and the like. I was so impressed, I gave Moxie 9.5/10 stars.
Also part of my February reads is Batman: Nightwalker by Marie Lu. It’s one of a number of DC origin stories released by big YA authors. This one is about a pre-Batman Bruce Wayne doing community service at Arkham Asylum, and getting worryingly close to a mysterious girl called Madeleine who has been imprisoned for working for the terrifying Nightwalkers group. They target rich, corrupt families like Bruce’s own, bringing death and chaos in their wake. It wasn’t a bad book, and it hooked me during key scenes, but overall I felt a bit…underwhelmed. It seemed to struggle to balance reader’s expectations, unsure if it should be more for the comic book fans, or for the YA community. And although the action scenes were intense, the characters just didn’t do it for me. Batman:Nightwalker received a 6/10 from me.
Next up is one of 2018’s most anticipated reads, Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi. It’s a gorgeous YA fantasy following the story of Zelie Adebola, a girl who has a chance to bring magic back to her world. To do so, Zelie and her allies must outrun the crown prince, who believes that magic has no place in the new world. Worse still, Zelie is struggling with her own Reaper powers, passed on by her deceased mother. Couple that with her conflicted feelings about the royals she meets, and you have a wonderful bestseller plot. Though the novel starts slow, there’s a delicious build-up, like a rollercoaster ascending, and you know at some point that all of it will pay off. The characters in Tomi’s debut are so well-written and complex, that I totally fell in love with the world and the writing, and already I’m jittering at the thought of book number two, despite this one not being released until March 8th. Children of Blood and Bone deserved its very high 9.5/10 stars, as well as a good spot on my shelves.
One of my personal most anticipated reads of February was Alwyn Hamilton’s final novel in the Rebel of the Sands trilogy. This one was titled Hero at the Fall and it centered around gunslinger and djemdi [am I spelling that correctly?] Amani’s reluctant decision to lead the cluster of rebels who survived the last novel, and rescue the imprisoned [and presumed dead] Rebel Prince. During this quest she’s torn between doing what is right and what is easy, and learning who to trust in a world of liars and traitors. She must do what she can to protect her own, including risking her own neck to seek a new dawn for the country she loves. For anyone who can’t remember much about books one and two, I’d definitely recommend a re-read, rather than launching yourself straight into this last book, as I did. The plot and characters were a blur at the start for me, but I eventually gripped on to the kick-ass characters and glorious story-telling that unfolded in Hero at the Fall. Personally, I felt as though the ending dragged on just a tad, but it was very satisfying to see the series conclude in this way, and I loved how the action kept me on the edge of my seat throughout. 8/10 stars for this one.
Also read in February [with a review still to write] is Shadowsong by S. Jae Jones. I have to admit that I had mixed feelings about this book even before it’s release, since I thought book one [Wintersong] was so amazing, and the ending, although it was sad, seemed to make enough sense as a standalone. In the end, I just couldn’t get into this book. I read the note before the first few pages, in which Jones talks about mental health issues which form such a big part of this book, and I found myself feeling quite hopeful [especially since Jones herself admits to dealing with some of these issues too] but what I found was a confusing book I couldn’t wrap my head around, and the struggle with bipolar IMO [remember, not everyone will feel this way] was dealt with in a rather stereotypical and romanticised way as something afflicting creative genii. I’ve heard a lot of arguments in this vein before, and it’s just not something I can get on board with. The characters were interesting, but the plot lagged almost to a standstill, and though the writing was lyrical and beautiful, I just felt that, between the new issues surrounding mental health and the almost-total lack of the Goblin King, I couldn’t rate this novel as highly as Wintersong. A mediocre 6/10 was the end result from me.
And then came along my last and favourite read of the month, To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo. I’d been very excited ever since Netgalley approved me for this ARC, especially since I learned it was going to be featured in several ocean-themed book subscription boxes in March, so I couldn’t wait to dive right into it [pun, unfortunately, intended.] To Kill a Kingdom is a glorious story about a siren called Lira, who is instructed to rip out the hearts of human princes she lures into the waters, so she can impress her mother, the Sea Queen. When she accidentally kills a mermaid trying to drown her next target, Lira is punished by her mother, turned into a weak human girl. The only way she can regain her status as heir and siren is to rip out the heart of Prince Elian, the famous siren-hunter. But Elian has his own goals; he’s looking for a weapon that could kill the Sea Queen and all her sirens, making the sea safe for humans again. I found the characters to be really strong and compelling, somehow navigating that very thin line between asshole antihero and just asshole. There were lots of humorous moments in the novel, and moments when I actually laughed out loud, and the decisions were so nail-biting that I struggled to put the book down. A very firm 10/10 for To Kill a Kingdom.
