Chased By My Imagination: September Wrap-Up.

Wednesday, 30 September 2015

September Wrap-Up.

Honestly? I'm a bit disappointed in my reading month. In the end I did manage 5 out of 7 of my reads which doesn't sound so bad upon reflection (especially as one or two of them were quite long) but I still feel like I could have done better. Still, I've had some great reads that I've thoroughly enjoyed!

'Spinning Starlight'; R.C. Lewis. My first read of the month and I was certainly excited about it because it was a Fairy Tale retelling (my favourite genre)! Despite knowing very little about Hans Christian Andersen's original, I was not disappointed in the slightest! The heroine was likeable, the world-building glorious and the plot extremely well thought out. It had quite a sizeable cast and it would have been nice to have connected a bit more with some of the lesser characters. Still, a great read and I hope to read 'Stitching Snow' at some point soon. 4/5 Stars.
'Life After Life'; Kate Atkinson. Yet another great read that continued what looked to be a promising month. I'd had this book on my shelf for a long time and wanted to read it for quite a while. Finally I got round to it and it was fantastic! I adored the plot concept, it felt so different to things I had read before. Atkinson's writing style was beautiful and captivating and hooked me from start to finish. The only thing that really stopped me from giving it full marks was the vague ending that didn't answer all of my questions. 4.5/5 Stars.
'Etta & Otto & Russell & James'; Emma Hooper. I liked this book but didn't love it. The plot concept was pretty good and it had a bizarre element that made it a really interesting read. I really liked the Magical Realism element in it too, and considering it's not my favourite genre, that's pretty impressive. Once again the ending disappointed me, even more so than 'Life After Life'. It was just far too ambiguous and confusing. 2.5/5 Stars.
'Witch Hunter'; Virginia Boecker. After a couple of deep reads, I felt like relaxing with something slightly less strenuous. I had pretty mixed thoughts on this one, but liked it enough to want to keep going. I was disappointed in the main character for not being nearly as badass as the blurb painted her, though her kind-heartedness won me over a little. The world-building was good but not as detailed as I wanted. The plot was the best part of the book by far and so in the end I liked it more, though the start didn't grab me as much a I'd have liked. 2.5/5 Stars.
'Station Eleven'; Emily Mandel. My latest read and quite possibly my favourite so far this year! Seriously, what a wonderful way to end the month! The plot was mesmerising, the characters fascinating to read about and the world-building absolutely divine. If you haven't already read this Adult Dystopian that I can see becoming a future classic, then I really recommend that you do! I'm so impressed by this book that I am totally desperate to read more of this lady's work. 5/5 Stars.