Hey y’all!
Sorry I’ve been a bit absent this month. I had 2 weeks in a row of work travel (hello, Vermont and Maryland!) and I’ve been absolutely *wiped out*. Unfortunately, along with being completely exhausted, I totally lost the motivation to read – leading to my worst reading month of the year so far. I did manage to read 9 books though! While that’s a sharp drop from the 16 I read in March, it wasn’t a total loss of a month.
Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao (audiobook)
3 Stars
Lovely vibes and world-building but not enough meat. I didn’t care for the female lead very much and honestly, I probably should’ve DNF’d but it was a book club pick.
Boys With Sharp Teeth by Jenni Howell (ebook, ARC)
3 Stars
I struggled with where to rate this. There were parts of this story I really, really enjoyed, but I didn't feel very satisfied at the end. I think my biggest takeaway is that I prefer dark academia as an adult genre. YA often takes some of the teeth out of dark academia, stopping the narrative from digging as deep into the twistedness of it all as I want.
This comes out in Marin/Jamie's character. The tagline for this book is "they're wicked. she's worse" but I don't think she delivers on that. Jamie's mission is justified - I was firmly on her side as a reader, which doesn't make me think she's "worse" than the boys. I think we should have either gotten a much more morally complex heroine or just stayed committed to her anger being justified - instead, it muddied the waters and didn't hit either note.
I enjoyed the interplay of violence and desire, but felt that could've been taken to it's full potential with an older set of characters and non-YA genre. There was definitely more to explore there that just couldn't happen in a young adult book.
Overall, I did enjoy Boys with Sharp Teeth and would still recommend it for fans of YA dark academia with the caveat that if you prefer adult dark academia, it might not go as far as you want it to. Thank you to NetGalley and Roaring Brook Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Two Can Play by Ali Hazelwood (audiobook)
4 Stars
The video game theme?? Snowed in?? They’ve BOTH been pining like idiots?? FOR ME.
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (ebook)
3? Stars
Honestly, I’m rereading this for the nostalgia. I didn’t give it a star rating on Goodreads because I’m loving rereading it but wouldn’t recommend someone pick it up today unless it’s for a reread lol.
Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor (hardcover, library)
3.75 Stars
Felt more like lit-fic than sci-fi, so I think my expectations were a bit mismatched on the genre. I definitely enjoyed the exploration of disability, Nigerian culture, and the story within a story.
Sweet Obsession by Katee Robert (ebook)
3.75 Stars
Not my favorite of the series, mainly because I wanted a bit more development for Poseidon, but I loved seeing Icarus get his happy ending.
Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard (ebook)
4 Stars
Definitely felt like a middle book, but not in a bad way. It’s obviously setting up the next book but delivers a lot of needed plot and character development!
Hammajang Luck by Makana Yamamoto (paperback, library)
5 Stars
This was a BLAST. If you love heists, you have to pick this one up – big bonus points for Hawai’ian culture, sci-fi, and queerness!!
Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood (ebook)
5 Stars
My favorite Hazelwood yet!! I might need to buy a physical copy and annotate it to hell trying to pick apart exactly how she makes these so deeply addicting. Also, the way she includes queerness through side characters is not talked about enough!!
I’ve got a hefty list of priority reads this month, mostly to clear out some half-finished books and catch back up on my ARCs.
Faithbreaker by Hannah Kaner (in progress, ARC)
The Ashfire Kind by Chelsea Abdullah (in progress, ARC)
To Sway a Soul by Ireen Chau (ARC)
The Emelie Adventures by Martha Wells (ARC)
Black Salt Queen by Samantha Bansil (ARC)
Gifted & Talented by Olivie Blake (in progress)
What the River Knows by Isabel Ibanez (in progress)
The Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler (dystopian fiction class)
The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar (book club)
I’ve also been rewatching Stargate SG-1, a sci-fi show I grew up watching, and I think I might write an essay in defense of the filler episode! I miss long-running TV shows *so* bad.
What was your favorite read in April?
XOXO,
Rae
