April Wrap-Up.

These next couple of months really are going to be light on the reading side of things guys. Wedding planning is taking up all of my time I'm afraid! But I did manage to squeeze in a few good books here and there. In fact, I managed four!

1. 'The Life-Changing Magic Of Tidying Up' by Marie Kondo. I started this as a reaction to watching Kondo's Netflix series and wanting to learn more about her KonMari method! This is a great book to get you started, full of some pretty harsh truths and helpful tools. 4.5/5 Stars.
2. 'A Myth To The Night' by Cora Choi. Sadly, this book wasn't for me. The premise sounded cool, but the execution was pretty poor - stilted dialogue, no character depth, bad plotting and terrible pacing. 1/5 Stars.
3. 'Fierce Fragile Hearts' by Sara Barnard. I liked this book a lot, and was glad to be reading it, seeing as it continues the story of characters from Barnard's debut, 'Beautiful Broken Things'! It was lovely to be back in Brighton and see Rosie again, though I did find myself a little too irritated with Caddy and Suzanne's behaviour in this one. 3.5/5 Stars.
4. 'And The Mountains Echoed' by Khaled Hosseini. My sister has been recommending Hosseini's books for as long as I can remember and other friends told me to read them too. This is my first of his and despite the fact that I don't particularly enjoy vague, sad or bittersweet endings, I liked the build-up a lot. 4/5 Stars.

This month I read three books for the Beat The Backlist Challenge, making my yearly total thirteen.

- The Life-Changing Magic Of Tidying

- A Myth To The Night

- And The Mountains Echoed

This month I read one books for the New Release Challenge, making my yearly total three.

- Fierce Fragile Hearts

This month I read two books for the Finishing The Series Challenge, making my yearly total three.

- A Myth To The Night

- Fierce Fragile Hearts

This month I read two books for the Diversity Reading Challenge, making my yearly total eleven.

- Fierce Fragile Hearts

- And the Mountains Echoed *Mini Challenge: (Middle Eastern OR South Asian)*

Here is the update for Pretty Deadly Blog's Bookish Bingo card.

Planned Reads for April.

The fact that I'm getting married in a couple of months is both super exciting and extremely stressful! We are already at April? What?! March went super quickly though. But I'm super ready for another month of amazing reads.

'Enchantée' by Gita Trelease has been on my radar for a while, and it's probably one of my most anticipated 2019 releases! It's a bit disappointing that I haven't got to it yet but I have high hopes for doing so in the next couple of months!

I also love Sara Barnard's books and was totally pumped to see her release a sequel for 'Beautiful Broken Things', 'Fierce Fragile Hearts'. I can't wait to see Suzanne, Caddy and Rosie again and be back in Brighton! I hope I love it as much as I loved the first.

I have been drooling over 'Reign Of The Fallen's' cover for quite some time. But I recently looked a little more into the synopsis of Sarah Glenn Marsh's necromancer-fantasy novel and I am so hyped to see bi rep in it that I must read it at once.

Speaking of LGBTQ+ rep, Samantha Shannon's stand-alone epic fantasy, 'The Priory Of The Orange Tree', also has plenty to spare! I'm a little nervous about the size of this book but I think that it will be well worth it!

I received 'And The Mountains Echoed' as a present last year and was super excited, because my sister has been recommending Khaled Hosseini's books to me for an age. I can't wait to give this book a go!

Mat and I have watched Marie Kondo's hit Netflix series, and now I want to read the book that started the hype, 'The Life-Changing Magic Of Tidying'. Anything that can help me to become a little bit better at life will be most welcome.

'Illuminae' by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff is a book that I feel like everyone has read but me. There's a whole series now! But I'm excited to read it at some point soon, and I've found a whole new appreciation and love for sci-fi recently.

I'm also really in the mood for a retelling of a fairy tale, and 'Cruel Beauty', which re-imagines Beauty & The Beast with some Greek Mythology thrown in for fun, looks amazing! I can't wait to read this!

April Wrap-Up.

I fee like I'm falling into a bit of a rut. Especially when it comes to sticking to planned reads! Maybe I'm being too harsh on myself... Anyway, I managed four reads, which I'm not all that happy about. I need to get back into a reading routine!

1. 'Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them' by Newt Scamander. I really wanted to fit this one in before reading anything else, and I'm glad I did! Anyone expecting the story from the films will be disappointed but I found that this fictional non-fiction really helped to expand the lore of the Harry Potter universe and I particularly enjoyed the essay on beast vs. being classification. I also felt that Scamander's personality shone through in his writing. 4/5 Stars.
2. 'Milk & Honey' by Rupi Kaur. Another dive away from the original planned reads, I was in the mood for some poetry and I borrowed this from a friend to read! I've seen some great reviews for this book and I can see why: the subject matter and presentation was very emotionally impactful. I loved the illustrations too! 3.5/5 Stars.
3. 'They Both Die At The End' by Adam Silvera. I was really excited by the prospect of this LGBT book, and I loved that it contained so much diversity and representation in it's pages. I also adored the world-building! I have to say though, I expected a much bigger emotional impact than I actually got. I also didn't really connect with the characters in the way I hoped I would.
4. 'The Magician's Nephew' by C.S. Lewis. I tried to read this as a child and remember putting it down then, but don't remember why. I decided to give it a second chance because I find the world of Narnia so fascinating, and while I liked elements of this story, I found everything too simplistic. The characters had no dimension which was a real shame, but it did answer some questions on the origins of Narnia!

This month I read four books for the Beat The Backlist Challenge, making my yearly total so far thirteen.

- Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them

- Milk & Honey

- They Both Die At The End

- The Magician's Nephew

This month I read zero books for the Finishing The Series Challenge, making my yearly total so far zero.

I read zero books for the New Release Challenge, making my yearly total so far four.

I read one book for the Netgalley & Edelweiss Challenge, making my yearly total so far ten.

- They Both Die At The End

Here is the end result for Pretty Deadly Blog's Bookish Bingo card.

Part Of A Series: The Novice; Taran Matharu

Spring Release: Children Of Blood & Bone; Tomi Adeyemi

New To Me Author: Milk & Honey; Rupi Kaur

Freebie: --

Intersectional Diversity: bone; Yrsa Daley-Ward

Animal On Cover: Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them; J.K. Rowling

Family: Spectacle; Megan Rose Gedris

LGBT+: They Both Die At The End; Adam Silvera

Second Chance: The Magician's Nephew; C.S. Lewis

Planned Reads for April.

So, a lot of these are going to be repeats from last month. I want to read those books so badly, and I'm a bit gutted that I couldn't get to them!

I am currently reading Adam Silvera's 'They Both Die At the End' and although the way this book finishes is somewhat inevitable, I am loving it so far! I should have read this book sooner.

I have been dying to read the last book in Danielle L. Jensen's fantasy series, 'Warrior Witch', and I will certainly do so this month. I so badly want to progress in a series, and here's my chance to finally get through one once and for all!

I'm pretty heavily invested in getting through some of these gorgeous-looking 2018 releases too. 'The Belles' by Dhonielle Clayton is one such release and looks to be a diverse read with great world-building and a fun plot. I'm looking forward to it!

Don't think I've forgotten my favourite female superhero of last year! I'm an even bigger fan of Leigh Bardugo now that I've started her 'Six Of Crows' series and so 'Wonder Woman: Warbringer' is top of the priority list. I'm excited to see what she does with such an iconic character!

'The Astonishing Colour Of After' by Emily X.R. Pan is one of my most anticipated reads of 2018 and when you look at that cover, you see why! Grief, loss and suicide are prevalent themes, and the book gives me a chance to read about a new culture!

Yet another month goes by and I still haven't read 'The Outliers' by Kimberly McCreight. It looks like a great thriller, a genre that doesn't normally appeal to me, and that cover is stunning. I hope I get to it this month without distractions!

While 'Orangeboy' was a book I liked, I'm hoping that Patrice Lawrence's 'Indigo Donut' will blow me away! I adore the covers for her books and it's another book set in London which I always appreciate. I'm hoping for more East London references because that's where I'm currently living!

I've been debating where to start in C.S. Lewis' classic series (hence why it's taken me so long to get to) hut I've finally decided on 'The Magician's Nephew'. It might not be the publishing order but the particular set I own places it first and I can't stand to read them out of order.

April Wrap-Up.

This month has been a total disaster for me because I've fallen into such a massive reading slump. I'm trying not to let it bother me too much, but I know I'm very behind right now and need to catch up if I wan to beat my Goodreads challenge! Plus there are so many great books waiting for me and I feel like I'm missing out! I only managed four reads this month and two of them were pretty last minute because I felt like I had to get my act together. Let's hope I snap out of this soon!

1. 'Fairy Tales For Modern Queers' by Emily Reed. This was a mixed first read of the month because it should have been everything I ever wanted in a book. Fairy tales, LGBT focus and short stories! It's a great idea and I could see some imagination went into it. I particularly loved LGBT characters in a Fantasy setting. But every story left me a little disappointed because none of them ended properly. The writing was nothing to shout bout either. 3/5 Stars.
2. 'Hidden Huntress' by Danielle L. Jensen. It has been way too long since I read the first book of this series. It's made me feel really guilty actually because I adored 'Stolen Songbird' so much! Having read this second installment, I was surprised at how much the characters and my love for them came flooding back. Jensen has not lost her ability to build a great fantasy story. This was very much a filler book though, and the fact that I'd already guessed the 'big' twist at the end of book one meant it lost it's charm. 4/5 Stars.
3. 'Three Dark Crowns' by Kendare Blake. At first I was a little worried about this book. It had a slow pace, jumped around between present and past tenses and didn't bowl me over as soon as I picked it up. But the more I read, the more I realised that I was actually really enjoying it. I loved getting to know the three potential queens and trying (but failing) not to rot for any of them. Political intrigue is something I love in stories and this had bucket loads, accompanied by great characters and a very original premise. 4.5/5 Stars.
4. 'The Loney' by Andrew Michael Hurley. I really hoped this would be the book that would snap me out of my book slump. After all, it has won the Costa Book Award (a prize that usually produces winning books I love), reminded me of my favourite horror 'The Woman In Black' and is not YA, which I've been reading a lot as of late. It had great atmosphere, and well-built characters with an intriguing mystery to boot. But there wasn't much of a story here and even fewer answers at the book's conclusion. Whatsmore the writing, while hauntingly beautiful, was a little dated considering it's time period.

Now it's time to see how I did with my challenges this month!

This month I have read one book for the Netgalley & Edelweiss Challenge, bringing my yearly total so far to eleven. My reads were:

- Fairy Tales For Modern Queers

This month I have read zero books for the 2017 New Releases Challenge, bringing my yearly total so far to two.

This month I have read one book for the LGBTQIA Challenge, bringing my yearly total to five. My reads were:

- Fairy Tales For Modern Queers

This month I have read one book for the Diverse Reads Challenge, bringing my yearly total to fifteen. My reads were:

- Fairy Tales For Modern Queers [Optional Mini Challenge]

Next up, here's how I'm getting on with the Bookish Bingo card.

Paranormal: The Rest Of Us Just Live Here; Patrick Ness

Just Words On Cover: Not If I See You First; Eric Lindstrom

Sisters: Three Dark Crowns; Kendare Blake

Magic: Hidden Huntress; Danielle L. Jensen

Series Finale: Homecoming; Claire Legrand

Thriller: Blood For Blood; Ryan Graudin

Freebie: --

PoC On Cover: Radio Silence; Alice Oseman

LGBT+ Main Character: Fairy Tales For Modern Queers; Emily Reed

Retelling: Ash; Malinda Lo

Scary: The Loney; Andrew Michael Hurley

Planned Reads For April.

I think I'm going to have my work cut out this month playing catch-up. Did you know, I'm three books behind schedule for meeting this year's 70 book target? In the end it's all about having fun with reading and I've definitely been having a book slump these past few weeks. Hoping to shake myself out of it with some great reads this month!

1. 'Fairy Tales For Modern Queers' by Emily Reed. I'm a little way into this and don't anticipate it taking me long to get through this book (famous last words). Short stories based on Fairy Tales? A focus on queer characters, mental health issues and all things diverse? Yes please! This should be the perfect book for me, providing the stories are enjoyable that is.
2. 'Hidden Huntress' by Danielle L. Jensen. I give everyone who sees me in the street permission to slap me in the face for not having read this yet. I loved 'Stolen Songbird, which I read an absolute age ago and have almost entirely forgotten at this point. I am determined however and have seen so many people enjoy and finish this series, so I'm looking forward to doing the same! I didn't get to it last month, so it's priority reading now!

1. 'Three Dark Crowns' by Kendare Blake. This was one of my most anticipated reads for last year and I wanted so badly to get to it then. Having received it as a Christmas present from good friends, I'm excited to finally be reading it now! I hope it's as good as everyone says it is!
2. 'The Loney' by Andrew Michael Hurley. This award-winning novel certainly caught everyone's attention last year and I bought it as a present for myself because I was so curious! Both cover and description are giving me huge 'The Woman In Black' vibes which everyone knows is one of my favourite horrors! I've heard great things about Hurley's prose too.
3. 'A List Of Cages' by Robin Roe. A new release for this year, this book was very much high on the anticipated reads list. Thank goodness Netgalley let me access a copy! I love the cover so much and I think it would be good to read a book from the POV of an MC who suffers from ADHD. I've never read one before and have very little knowledge of the condition!
4. 'Red Witch' by Anna McKerrow. I read 'Crow Moon' not too long ago, and actually had this sequel down for last month's reading. I thought I'd have another crack at it now. I had mixed feelings about book one, but was intrigued enough to want to continue the series and I think a glimpse into the Red World and the POV of one of my favourite characters will mean I'll actually prefer this book.
5. 'A Darker Shade Of Magic' by V.E. Schwab. Finally. Finally I'm reading this book. I've heard so much about it, and it certainly seems to be a firm favourite of Illumicrate owner Daphne, whose taste in books is exquisite if her choices every quarter are anything to go by. I have a lot of merchandise surrounding this series, so may as well actually read it!