February Wrap-Up

I’m starting to wonder if my reading goals for this year were just too lofty because I’m feeling like a failure at the end of every month so far. We’ll see if it picks up in March or if I need to re-adjust my 2021 reading expectations. There were about 12-13 books I was hoping to read this month, but I only made it to 8 of them. I read some really fun books though that I’m excited to talk about.

We’ll start with One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London - This is a contemporary romance novel that follows plus size fashion blogger Bea Schumacher. Bea writes a scathing post one night about how the Bachelor-style TV show “Main Squeeze” never has any non-skinny people represented and wakes up the next morning to find that it has gone viral. She is subsequently named the new star of the show and she is not convinced she’ll find love, but at the very least it’ll be a good career move. Then she meets the men she’s dating…

I really enjoyed this one. It was fun to read as a weekly viewer of the Bachelor and Love Island (UK) in the summer. However, it was a little predictable and nothing about it really wow’ed me. 3/5 stars

Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur - This book is another contemporary romance (definitely a theme for me this month) following Darcy, an actuary focused on her career and not fully healed from a previous relationship, and bright, bubbly, social media astrologist Elle. It’s a heartwarming Pride and Prejudice inspired story featuring fake dating and meddling family members. I liked this book, I particularly enjoyed the characters and I thought the storyline was well done, but I didn’t love the writing style. I felt like this book had the potential to be something I loved but it didn’t quite live up to that. Still a quick, lovely read though. 3/5 stars

The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin - This is the third book in Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy. This series is incredibly well acclaimed winning all the awards and such. The first book, The Fifth Season starts out following 3 women in a world that is regularly ravaged by seasons lasting for years that tear apart the earth making it practically uninhabitable. These women have the power of orogeny which is an ability that can be beneficial to the world, but also equally destructive. Orogenes are hated by society and we see how the women in the story navigate their powers and go through very different lives. The story starts when Essun, the primary character of the series comes home to find that her husband has murdered their son and kidnapped their daughter and everything really takes off from there with her quest to find them and get her daughter back as the world falls apart around them.

I had some difficulty getting attached to the characters and the storyline, but it is truly an incredibly crafted book/series and I’d recommend them to any fans of fantasy and science fiction. 4/5 stars.

Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers - This was my February Book of the Month pick it follows a recent Ph.D grad named Grace Porter. Grace is now 28 and has no idea what her next move in life is now that she’s done with school. So she takes a weekend trip to Vegas with her friends where after a night of drinking she wakes up to find that she’s married to a girl she barely remembers.

This book was more than I was expecting. There’s romance and cuteness, but also a really interesting look into life as someone in their mid/late twenties. It highlighted the struggles of finding your role in the world after school and living up to your parents expectations while also doing what brings you joy and fulfillment. The characters/friend groups in this book were great and I really loved my time reading it. 4/5 stars.

A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas - This is book four in the Court of Thorns and Roses series. It was pretty much your typical SJM book. Fae court politics, evil that needs fighting, lots of romance and brooding etc. This is like the 14th SJM book that I’ve read and I made through all 750+ pages in two days so clearly I find them interesting enough, but I did have slightly higher expectations for this one. I really enjoyed the first book in a new series she published last year House of Earth and Blood and I was hoping the feelings I had reading that book would carry over to the 4th installment in this series (the previous 3.5 books I enjoyed well enough but didn’t really love) but that wasn’t really the case. I’ll keep reading the series, but I’m most looking forward to more in the Crecent City world. 3/5 stars

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang - This is an adult romance novel about an econometrician, Stella Lane, who has found a lot of money and success in her career but not a lot of success with dating. She has Asperger’s and finds trouble with a lot of the things involved in romantic entanglements and she likes to work all day/through the weekends so she doesn’t give herself a lot of time for it either. In an effort to fix that she decides to hire an escort to help teach her how to date.

I was really entertained by this book. I appreciated the premise and the characters were likable, yet frustrating at times. This was a fun story, but also fairly predictable and nothing really out of the box. It met my expectations, but it didn’t exceed them. 3/5 stars

Jade City by Fonda Lee - This is the first book in an asian inspired fantasy series where some people on the island of Kekon have the ability to wear and use jade to give themselves supernatural powers, but all of the jade (and really the entire capital city of Janloon) is controlled and regulated by two rival clans. As tensions rise between the clans so does the desire for jade by both clan members and other nations who have worked to find ways for their people to use jade as well. This story is full of politics and interesting family dynamics. It absolutely lived up to the hype. I loved it and I’ll be reading the next book in the series very soon. 4.5/5 stars

Beach Read by Emily Henry - I’ve heard so so many positive things about this book that i felt I had to give it a try to see what was going on with all of the glowing reviews. This story follows two authors and previous college rivals who are living (for the summer at least) in neighboring beach houses and both majorly struggling with writers block. In an effort to get them both out of their ruts they make an agreement. Romance novelist January will take on Augustus’s genre of hard-hitting literary fiction and Gus will attempt to write a love story that will make even the harshest of critics swoon. Throughout their summer together they go on excursions to help the other learn to write their new style of book. This means fun, romantic dates planned by January and trips to the remains of burned down cult towns set up by Augustus. Naturally, their feelings toward one another grow as the months pass.

I really loved this one. I understand the glowing reviews and I think it’s a really great read for anyone who like contemporary romance or books about book lovers (a particular favorite for me!). 4.25/5 stars

Did you read anything great (or not so great) in February? Let me know!