March Wrap-Up
March had a lot of really enjoyable reads for me and a good mix of genres. I had lighthearted joy, tears of frustration and sadness, and gripping fast-paced entertainment throughout this month’s stack of books so hopefully there’s something here to intrigue any type of reader.
Well Met and Well Played by Jen DeLuca - I read both books (currently released) in this series last month. I love going to the Rennaissance Faire every year so a Renn Faire set romance sounded really fun. The first book follows Emily after she’s moved to the small town of Willow Creek Maryland to help her sister after she’s been in an accident. While there she’s roped into volunteering at the local Rennaissance Faire where she finds herself regularly clashing with Simon, the stuffy high school English teacher. However; Simon’s faire character the dashing pirate is a totally different person and Emily finds his brazen flirtatiousness very confusing.
The second book follows one of Emily friends and a relationship she forms online with one of the traveling faire performers, but when it comes time to meet up again the next Summer things are not at all as expected. These books were lovely contemporary romance novels, but nothing that blew me away. I did enjoyed my time reading them though and I plan to read future installments as well. 3/5 stars.
The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey - This book felt like it was a little bit outside of my reading comfort zone. I love thrillers and I love science-fiction, but I haven’t read a lot of books about clones specifically. Our main character, Evelyn, is a research scientist who finds out that her husband has been cheating on her with a cloned version of herself. When her now ex-husband ends up dead it’s up to Evelyn and Martine, her clone and his new fiancee, to handle the situation. This book was so different, and really cool. There were a few “ohhhh, oh no” moments where you learn something new and then the gravity of the situation just hits you way harder that it seems it would at first and I really loved those. This is also a really quick read and I finished it in a day. 4/5 stars
Chain of Iron by Cassandra Clare - This book broke me. 5/5 stars.
If you’re looking for a little more detail this is the second book in Cassandra Clare’s Last Hours series. It follows the descendants of the Infernal Devices trilogy and is set in Edwardian London. It’s full of all the angst and demon slaying you could ever want if that is your sort of book. I would recommend that, if you’re interested in this series, you start with the Infernal Devices trilogy (Clockwork Angel, Clockwork Prince, and Clockwork Princess), but you don’t necessarily have to read all of the Shadowhunters books in order to enjoy this particular trilogy.
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner - I’m intending to publish a full review for this book next week so look out for that for more detail, but spoiler alert: I absolutely loved it. It’s a dual timeline story set in London all about cool women giving themselves the power that society won’t and I thoroughly enjoyed it. 5/5 Stars
Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline - I liked Ready Player One when I read it a few years ago and I particularly enjoyed the audiobook narrated by Wil Wheaton. The sequel was on my radar, but I wasn’t necessarily dying to read it. My plan was to see what people thought of it and then decide if I really wanted to read it. The reviews were mostly fine, but not overwhelmingly great so it kept falling behind on my TBR. However; my father loves these books and he read this installment soon after its release and wanted someone to talk to about it so in the end I read it because he made me.
The first book in this series follows Wade Watts in the year 2044. Wade, and most of the rest of society, escape the despair of real life in the virtual reality universe of the OASIS. When the founder of the OASIS dies, he leaves his empire to the person whomever can first finish the scavenger hunt of clues he left behind. Wade, who grew up very impoverished, throws everything into making sure that he’s the winner of the competition which will leave him a billionaire with more power and abilities than he can ever imagine. Of course, a lot of other people also want this prize and not all of them are willing to play by the rules.
The sequel shares a number of aspects with the first book. Almost too many, actually and the whole first half really reads like a recap of the years we’ve missed between books. There was a lot of info-dumping and not a lot of the reader getting to experience firsthand the progression of the plot. That being said, things really did pick up in the second half once the conflict truly became the central focus. From there, it was a lot more 80s references and puzzles, but on a larger scale the reader was being asked to contemplate some really large questions regarding life, death, our responsibility to the universe and others, and what it could mean for humanity as a whole to be too trusting of (and reliant upon) technology. I appreciated that aspect of the book enough (and once again the audiobook narration!!) that if you’re a fan of the first book I would recommend giving this one a try. 3.5/5 stars.
A Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir - This is the fourth and final book in the Ember in the Ashes series which is a military-centered, Roman inspired world that also has some really cool and different magical aspects. This book was released in December of 2020 and the third one in the series was released in June of 2018 so there was a long time between installments. I didn’t have the time or energy to re-read the first three books before this one came out and I think that really affected my reading experience. I felt more disconnected from the characters than I think I would have if I had spent the time to re-read the series and refresh my memory.
I did still really like this book though. I felt like it had the appropriate mix of heartbreak and joy for a series finale. I don’t love when everyone dies or is miserable at the end of a series and I also don’t love when everything is happy and perfect (no matter how much my heart desires that). To me, it just always feels more realistic if things if things can work for some of the characters but not the others or if the good guys win the battle against evil but it comes at a price and, without giving too much away, I feel like Sabaa Tahir really nailed that with this book. I was devastated, but not completely ruined. 4/5 stars
Did you read anything fun last month? Let me know!
