Chased By My Imagination: April Wrap-Up.

Just in the nick of time, I've done it again! I read all seven of this month's planned reads! I'm pretty overwhelmed at having managed such a feat, and it definitely makes me feel that I'm managing my time better this year. There were some really great reads this month too!

'The Selection'; Kiera Cass. I put off reading this one for a while, despite how much hype it received, because the plot sounded a little ridiculous to me and there were some pretty mixed, post-hype reviews. However, I ended up enjoying it quite a lot! Sure, Maxon's use of 'my dear' as an endearment creeped me out a little, but the story-line actually gripped me pretty well and I liked the characters. 3/5 Stars.
'The Passenger'; Alexandra Bracken. I really did want to enjoy this book, but it was just so slow and ended up being a real chore to get through. I liked Nicholas' character, and really thought others like Sophia had great potential. But the insta-love was eye-rolling and Etta ended up being irritating and unrealistic in her reactions to the situation she finds herself in. Plus no one seemed to be able to finish their sentences without stammering in this book, which made it a lot of hard work. 1.5/5 Stars.
'Reasons To Stay Alive'; Matt Haig. Upon recommendation from my sister, I made this my first ever non-fiction read for this blog, and I'm so pleased that I did! I related to Haig's story on a very personal level, due to my frequent anxiety attacks and it gave me a lot of comfort to know I wasn't alone. Haig made a book filled with facts, thoughts, lists and opinions very interesting and easy to read too, with very little in the way of repetition. 4.5/5 Stars.
'The Sign Of The Four'; Arthur Conan Doyle. As I'm trying really hard to read books that I probably should have read years ago, I thought I'd give the second in the Sherlock Holmes series a go. Just like 'A Study In Scarlet', I really enjoyed this one. Holmes struggled a lot more to solve the mystery, but he was still the same narcissistic, sarcastic man that I know and love. Meeting more of Doyle's famous characters such as Mary Morstan made things even better! 4.5/5 Stars.
'Thorn'; Intisar Khanani. This lovely lady is very quickly becoming a personal favourite of mine. Her books are just so well written. While waiting for the sequel to 'Sunbolt' to be released, I had a proper look at the synopsis for 'Thorn' and realised that it was a retelling of 'The Goose Girl'! It was a really good one too with a strong, clever female lead and an intriguing setting. I had a few unanswered questions at the end, so I really hope here'll be a sequel or companion series to this. 5/5 Stars.
'Beauty's Beast'; Amanda Ashley. Speaking of Fairy Tale retellings, I've been a busy bee this month! As you may guess from the title, this is a slightly darker, more erotic re-imagining of 'Beauty & The Beast' and includes hints of 'The Phantom Of The Opera' too. Although I found myself enjoying this book for the most part, Kristine was a pretty dull character and the last quarter of the book felt like pure nonsense to read in comparison to the rest of the book. 2/5 Stars.
'Truthwitch'; Susan Dennard. I had really high hopes for my second Illumicrate read, as this book has been on the Hype Train for a long time. While I thought that it was a decent Fantasy with a lot of potential, I came out feeling pretty disappointed that my mind was not blown. That combined with an irritating main character and very basic world-building lowered it's rating, though I'm still engaged enough to want to read Book Two. 3/5 Stars.

This month I have read five books for Pretty Deadly Review's Backlist Challenge, bringing my yearly total so far to fifteen. This month's reads were:

- 'The Selection' by Kiera Cass

- 'Reasons To Stay Alive' by Matt Haig

- 'The Sign Of The Four' by Arthur Conan Doyle

- 'Thorn' by Intisar Khanani

- 'Beauty's Beast' by Amanda Ashley

This month I have read two books for Falling For YA's Netgalley & Edelweiss Challenge bringing my yearly total so far to eight. This month's reads were:

- 'The Passenger' by Alexandra Bracken

- 'Beauty's Beast' by Amanda Ashley

This month I have gained two points for Novel Heartbeat and Writer Grrl Reads' Prequel & Sequel Challenge, bringing my yearly total so far to twenty four. This month's points were as thus:

- +2 for 'The Sign Of The Four' by Arthur Conan Doyle

This month I have read two books for [un]Conventional Reviews' New Releases Challenge, bringing my yearly total so far to six. This month's read was:

- 'The Passenger' by Alexandra Bracken

- 'Truthwitch' by Susan Dennard

This month I have read two books for Daily Prophecy's Retelling Challenge, bringing my yearly total to four.

- 'Thorn' by Intisar Khanani

- 'Beauty's Beast' by Amanda Ashley

Here are the current updates for my Bookish Bingo card and Story Sprites board! I'm totally chuffed with my progress!

Second Chance: The Invasion Of The Tearling; Erika Johansen.

March, April, May Release: The Selection; Kiera Cass.

Metallic Lettering: Truthwitch; Susan Dennard.
Book Towards Another Challenge: Golden Son; Pierce Brown.

Green Cover: Thorn; Intisar Khanani.
Freebie: Siege & Storm; Leigh Bardugo.

Retelling: Beauty's Beast; Amanda Ashley.

Set In More Than One Country: The Passenger; Alexandra Bracken.
MC Shares Your 1st Initial: Seven Ways We Lie; Riley Redgate.
Written Under A Pen Name: The Tropic Of Serpents; Marie Brennan.

Number In The Title: The Sign Of The Four; Arthur Conan Doyle.

Non-Fiction: Reasons To Stay Alive; Matt Haig.
Stand-Alone: Read Me Like A Book; Liz Kessler.