April Reading Wrap Up | 2020

I’ve been doing well with my reading challenge, and overall reading goal for 2020 (one book a week). I read four books in the month of April, and I loved all of them! Two of them are standalone novels, and two are part of a series. One of the books also was the finale to an eight book series, which will the first book I’ll talk about.

KINGDOM OF ASH by Sarah J Maas | 2018 | 984 pages
The final book in the THRONE OF GLASS series. This series was absolutely stunning, and one of the best series I have ever read (It is young adult high fantasy). I can confirm that KINGDOM OF ASH is the best finale to a series I have ever read. I have never cried so much while reading a book. Sarah J Maas’ storytelling abilities is otherworldly, and her character development has yet to be matched by any other author that I have read. She is my favorite author of all time, surpassing my nostalgic favorite J.K. Rowling (who is now publicly a turf)

Here is the summary for the first book in the series, since I can’t give one for KINGDOM OF ASH without giving away spoilers.

“Nothing is a coincidence. Everything has a purpose. You were meant to come to this castle, just as you were meant to be an assassin.”

When magic has gone from the world, and a vicious king rules from his throne of glass, an assassin comes to the castle. She does not come to kill, but to win her freedom. If she can defeat twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition to find the greatest assassin in the land, she will become the King’s Champion and be released from prison.

Her name is Celaena Sardothien.

The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her.

And a princess from a foreign land will become the one thing Celaena never thought she’d have again: a friend.

But something evil dwells in the castle—and it’s there to kill. When her competitors start dying, horribly, one by one, Celaena’s fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival—and a desperate quest to root out the source of the evil before it destroys her world

Summary of THRONE OF GLASS by Sarah J Maas (2012)

A HEART SO FIERCE AND BROKEN by Brigid Kemmerer | 2020 | 450 pages
This is the second book in the CURSEBREAKER young adult trilogy. I’m so glad this book didn’t fall prey to the “second book slump”. That is when the first and last book in a trilogy is great, but the second/middle book falls short. Both books so far have been outstanding, and I am dreading the year and half long wait to read the finale. This trilogy is a Beauty and the Beast retelling with it’s own unique twist. What I liked most about A HEART SO FIERCE AND BROKEN is, the POV changed completely away from the original two main characters from the first book. This is a story that makes it clear that BOTH sides of the conflict believe they are the good guys. That fact makes being a reader so emotionally conflicting because, you support both sides and both set characters for different reasons, and just want everyone to get along.

I will provide the summary for the first book, since providing the summary for this second book will have spoilers.

Fall in love, break the curse.
Cursed by a powerful enchantress to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year, Prince Rhen, the heir of Emberfall, thought he could be saved easily if a girl fell for him. But that was before he turned into a vicious beast hell-bent on destruction. Before he destroyed his castle, his family, and every last shred of hope.
Nothing has ever been easy for Harper. With her father long gone, her mother dying, and her brother constantly underestimating her because of her cerebral palsy, Harper learned to be tough enough to survive. When she tries to save a stranger on the streets of Washington, DC, she’s pulled into a magical world.
Break the curse, save the kingdom.
Harper doesn’t know where she is or what to believe. A prince? A curse? A monster? As she spends time with Rhen in this enchanted land, she begins to understand what’s at stake. And as Rhen realizes Harper is not just another girl to charm, his hope comes flooding back. But powerful forces are standing against Emberfall . . . and it will take more than a broken curse to save Harper, Rhen, and his people from utter ruin.

A CURSE SO DARK AND LONELY, Brigid Kemmerer (2019)

WINTERWOOD by Shea Ernshaw | 2019 | 323 pages
This is Ernshaw’s sophomore novel, and it was more amazing that I thought it was would be. Ernshaw is also the author of THE WICKED DEEP, which is currently being adapted into a Netflix film! Ernshaw writes atmospheric, character driven, mystery infused, witch themed stand alone novels. Her writing is stunning, and her characters are so relatable. I read WINTERWOOD in two sittings it was so captivating! I highly recommend both of her books if you’re wanting a spooky mystery stand alone fix.

Here is the summary for this spooky and witchy book!

Be careful of the dark, dark wood…
Especially the woods surrounding the town of Fir Haven. Some say these woods are magical. Haunted, even.

Rumored to be a witch, only Nora Walker knows the truth. She and the Walker women before her have always shared a special connection with the woods. And it’s this special connection that leads Nora to Oliver Huntsman—the same boy who disappeared from the Camp for Wayward Boys weeks ago—and in the middle of the worst snowstorm in years. He should be dead, but here he is alive, and left in the woods with no memory of the time he’d been missing.

But Nora can feel an uneasy shift in the woods at Oliver’s presence. And it’s not too long after that Nora realizes she has no choice but to unearth the truth behind how the boy she has come to care so deeply about survived his time in the forest, and what led him there in the first place. What Nora doesn’t know, though, is that Oliver has secrets of his own—secrets he’ll do anything to keep buried, because as it turns out, he wasn’t the only one to have gone missing on that fateful night all those weeks ago.

For as long as there have been fairy tales, we have been warned to fear what lies within the dark, dark woods and in Winterwood, New York Times bestselling author Shea Ernshaw, shows us why.

From New York Times bestselling author of The Wicked Deep comes a haunting romance perfect for fans of Practical Magic,where dark fairy tales and enchanted folklore collide after a boy, believed to be missing, emerges from the magical woods—and falls in love with the witch determined to unravel his secrets.

WINTERWOOD by Shea Ernshaw (2019)

WHEN WE WERE MAGIC by Sarah Gailey | 2020 | 352 pages
I read this book in 25 hours, it was so addicting. If you’re looking for a book that has a solid female friend group, a little bit of magic, girl love, and an exploding penis, this book is for you. It is my favorite stand alone novel of the year so far. The friendships are so realistic, and so are the family relationships.

Here is the summary for this outstanding book!

A moving, darkly funny novel about six teens whose magic goes wildly awry from Magic for Liars author Sarah Gailey, who Chuck Wendig calls an “author to watch.”

Keeping your magic a secret is hard. Being in love with your best friend is harder.

Alexis has always been able to rely on two things: her best friends, and the magic powers they all share. Their secret is what brought them together, and their love for each other is unshakeable—even when that love is complicated. Complicated by problems like jealousy, or insecurity, or lust. Or love.

That unshakeable, complicated love is one of the only things that doesn’t change on prom night.

When accidental magic goes sideways and a boy winds up dead, Alexis and her friends come together to try to right a terrible wrong. Their first attempt fails—and their second attempt fails even harder. Left with the remains of their failed spells and more consequences than anyone could have predicted, each of them must find a way to live with their part of the story.

WHEN WE WERE MAGIC, Sarah Gailey (2020)

Those were the books I read in April! I don’t have a set number of books to read in May, but have set the goal to at least read HOUSE OF EARTH AND BLOOD by Sarah J Maas. Thank you for reading!