January 2020 Reading Wrap Up
I read five books (2,255 pages!) in the month of January, completing my reading goal of reading one book of week (so far – eleven more months to go). I’ve already read a quarter of the amount of books I read last year, which feels great! It was a successful month, as I loved every book I read (and they were all at least 400 pages).
Spellbook of the Lost and Found synopsis:
If you’re not careful, you can spend your whole life looking for what you’ve lost.
One stormy summer in a small Irish town, things begin to disappear. It starts with trivial stuff—hair clips, house keys, socks—but soon it escalates to bigger things: a memory, a heart, a classmate.
Olive can tell that her best friend, Rose, is different all of a sudden. Rose isn’t talking, and Olive starts to worry she’s losing her. Then diary pages written by someone named Laurel begin to appear all over town. And Olive meets three mysterious strangers: Ivy, Hazel, and her twin brother, Rowan, secretly squatting in an abandoned housing development. The trio are wild and alluring, but they seem lost too—and like Rose, they’re holding tightly to painful secrets.
When a tattered handwritten spellbook falls into the lives of these six teenagers, it changes everything. The spellbook is full of charms to conjure back that which has been lost, and it lists a part for each of them to play in the calling. It might be their best chance to set everything back to rights, but only if they’re willing to pay the price.
Taken from Goodreads
My Thoughts:
Nothing like kicking off 2020 with a five star read. There are some books that have what other readers call “weird writing”, and I heard some people refer to this book as one of them. It doesn’t surprise me. Like wine, certain kind of written books attract certain kind of readers. Books like this are atmospheric, whimsical, lyrical, and are mostly character driven. The pace for some books like this can turn some readers off, but I love books like this. That slow build so you can really bond with the characters, and then that event you’ve been waiting for happens in the last few chapters of the book. A lot of these books are “predictable” plot wise, but luckily that’s not the point of stories like this.
Spellbook of the Lost and Found has three different perspectives that eventually come together at the end, and it is so satisfying. This story has magic, mystery, and female|female relationship representation. It takes place in a small Irish town, which was refreshing and even more enchanting. Even though it was 416 pages, it felt like a quick read.
Throne of Glass series – The Assassin’s Blade through Heir of Fire
In a land without magic, where the king rules with an iron hand, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She comes not to kill the king, but to win her freedom. If she defeats twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition, she is released from prison to serve as the king’s champion. Her name is Celaena Sardothien.
The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her. But something evil dwells in the castle of glass—and it’s there to kill. When her competitors start dying one by one, Celaena’s fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival, and a desperate quest to root out the evil before it destroys her world.
Taken from Goodreads
Thoughts:
Sarah J Maas is my favorite author. I can say that with confidence. I was first introduced to her writing when I read her A Court of Thorns and Roses series (which is still on going). Her worlds are enthralling, and she is a master at character development. Throne of Glass is a young adult high fantasy, and is very popular for a reason.
I started her Throne of Glass series early 2019 and only got as far as Heir of Fire, because I didn’t have the other books at that point. So now I have all of them, I took January as my month to re-read the books I had to prepare for Queen of Shadows. I loved re-reading these books. I see something new with every book I re-read, and with Sarah J Maas her worlds are always so detailed. So well built. There were a lot of details I had forgotten since the last time I read them. Now, with the ending of Heir of Fire I am very excited and nervous to start Queen of Shadows. Sarah J Maas is an author who has no loose ends, and really packs a punch. I recommend her work to anyone who likes fantasy, and fae centered books.