5 Books I Want to Read Update

Back in January I posted about 5  books I really wanted to read in 2021 and now that we are at the end of the year I thought I would post a final  update and see how I did! At this stage I’ve completed 3 out of the 5 books and honestly I’m okay with that. This is has been my worst reading year in terms of quantity in a few years and I had a massive reading slump in the middle of it all so I’m quite proud with what I was able to complete. Obviously, I am going to be prioritising the other two books in 2022 and get this list completed! 

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

This was a wonderful introduction to this trilogy and I can see now why so many people love this book. The writing was descriptive and the world building was immaculate. All of the characters were distinctive and diverse and the way the storylines merged was masterful. I am kicking myself for putting off reading this book for so long and I am happy to have finally completed it. I have a feeling I am going to be continuing on very soon!

My Rating:  ⭐️4/5 stars

The 7 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

Multiple timelines and POVs can get a tad confusing for me and it’s hard to keep track of all the characters and who is a host and who isn’t. I have to say as he switches from each host and the days start ticking down the level of urgency felt throughout the plot kept rising. I had no idea at any point in time what was actually going to happen, I had my suspicions but at every twist I was definitely surprised!

My Rating:  ⭐️3/5 stars

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

I really enjoyed the format of the book with the countdown to the trivia night. Knowing that one of these characters is now dead and trying to figure out who did it and who died really built up the anticipation. The mystery behind who was the school bully was intriguing and it was entertaining to see these mothers going around gossiping about their lives. This was definitely better than what I was expecting and it was nice to read a book with the setting here in Australia, I don’t get many of those.

My Rating:  ⭐️4/5 stars

The other two books I still need to read are:

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The Storm of Echoes Review

*SOME SPOILERS AHEAD*

The distrust between them has been overcome and now Ophelia and Thorn love each other passionately. However, they must keep their love hidden. Only in this way can they continue their journeys toward an understanding of the indecipherable code of God and the truth behind the mysterious figure of the Other, whose devastating power continues to bring down entire pieces of arks, plunging thousands of innocents into the void.

Ophelia’s journey to the truth about who the other is was really dragged out throughout the course of this book. I just felt like not a lot happens throughout the course of the storyline even though the book was over 500 pages. We are mainly focused on Babel again and even though we discover more about the Ark and venture into the Observatory we are mainly in Ophelia’s head struggling to figure out how to get to the horn of plenty and who the other is.

We get a few chapters from Victoria’s perspective that I didn’t quite understand. What were the reasons for having them? Sure we get to see the infamous LandmArk and see the interactions between Archibald, Janus and God but I was left more confused than anything. Why was Victoria able to see these things, how did she come to be on the Other side and how did she end up at the bottom of the well for Thorn to find.

I struggled more than anything with a lot of the terminology in this book. I understand that its a translated book but a lot of the phrases of what was happening to Ophelia at the Observatory just didn’t register with me. The concept of the crystallisation creating the echoes and having these revelational moments just went over my head and I couldn’t comprehend what was happening.

I think what was the issue is that this book really veered so far away from where I was envisioning the story to go and I was disappointed with how it ended. The fact that Thorn gets stuck in the Other place and we don’t get to see him and Ophelia truly get to live in peace as husband and wife really irritates me after being kept apart or having to pretend they didn’t have feelings for each other this whole time.

This was definitely my least favourite book in this series. I wasn’t all that invested or interested in the direction the plot was going and it took me a while to get through it. If this wasn’t the last book in the series and me being a completionist I probably would of DNF’d it at 30%.

⭐️2/5 stars I’m just disappointed and underwhelmed.

🔔 Jingle Bell Tag 🔔

I was in the mood for a nice Christmassy tag and I did this one around this time last year so I figured why not redo it again! See the original post HERE!

1What book do you want to see under the Christmas tree?

Cytonic by Brandon Sanderson

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2What book that you have read this year have you enjoyed the most?

Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert

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3Which book has the most festive look to it?

A Christmas Date by Camilla Isley

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4What book unleashes your inner child?

I mean I have to go with Harry Potter

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5Your favourite villain…

The Elk Head Woman from The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

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6Name your favourite TWO couples…

Aeduan & Iseult and Eve & Jacob

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What book would you like to give as a present to your followers?

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig 

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☀️ Summer TBR ☀️

So this week’s Top 10 Tuesday is once again our seasonal TBR’s. So for this summer, I am not really buying many new books I am going to try and finish off the books from last years Summer TBR as well as a few books I have been putting off for one reason or another:

Heart of Flames by Nicki Pau Preto

Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare

Shorefall by Robert Jackson Bennett

The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter

These Witches Don’t Burn by Isabel Sterling

Queen of Volts by Amanda Foody

The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie

The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik

A Psalm of Storms and Silence by Roseanne A. Brown

Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo