Hi everybody, and welcome to my April wrap up!
I hope you are all doing well in these weird times? I got through a month and a half of lockdown relatively well. I’m still healthy, as are my friends and family, so that’s obviously most important. And I honestly didn’t have too many issues with being stuck at home as I kept myself busy. I worked in the garden, organized my Spotify playlists, cleaned out my inbox, sorted my administration, cleaned out every cupboard in the house and went on a lot of nice walks. If you don’t count the constant anxiety and crippling worries over mine and everyone I know’s health and financial status, everything’s been fine… Here’s hoping things will slowly get back to normal next month!
In the meantime, here’s what I’ve been up to in April:
A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St. Clair
This book was on my radar for a while because it’s a Hades and Persephone retelling. It takes place in today’s modern world, but a world where the Greek Gods still rule and even walk among the people. This was a nice story but I struggled a bit with the romance between Hades and Persephone, which to me seemed very based on lust, not love and that’s okay, but I wanted more.
Rating: 3 stars
If I Never Met You by Mhairi McFarlane
This was my second Mhairi McFarlane book and I’m starting to think I really enjoy her writing. If I Never Met You was an amazing rom-com read, but to call it a rom-com also does not quite feel adequate as it’s so much more. It’s the best execution of the fake romance trope I’ve read in a while, with amazing character journeys, characters you will become extremely invested in, swoonworthy chemistry and amazing friendships. I HIGHLY recommend If I Never Met You. It’s funny yet emotional, swoony yet realistic, insightful yet escapist, witty yet topical.
Rating: 4,5 stars | Full Review
Of Curses and Kisses by Sandhya Menon
I picked up Of Curses and Kisses because it promised a contemporary Beauty and the Beast retelling set at an elite boarding school. I was slightly disappointed by this one because I think my expectations were too high. It was a fun read, but also a bit forgettable.
Rating: 3,5 stars
Girls of Paper and FIre by Natasha Ngan
I finally read this sapphic fantasy and I’m happy to say it lived up to all my expectations! Set in a violent world, I loved the worldbuilding in this one and am eager to discover more of it in the sequels. The romance was a perfect slow-burn and so beautiful yet heartwrenching to watch unfold.
Rating: 4,5 stars
From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Even though I’ve never read any Jennifer L. Armentrout before, I heard she was well known for her YA fantasy romances and then she released an adult fantasy romance just when I was really craving a good adult fantasy romance so it was meant to be. This is a tough book to review because on the one hand I sped through this and am craving the sequel so badly, but on the other hand I had some issues:
- The worldbuilding is so confusing in the beginning as everything is pretty much thrown at you without too much of an explanation. Though it got clearer in the second half.
- There is a major plot twist in this book that I unfortunately saw coming from the first few chapters.
- I wan’t a fan of the romance as it felt like it was more based on lust and Poppy’ desire to connect to anyone, other than actual feelings.
But like I said, my overall enjoyment, the fact that I was thinking about this book days later, and my excitement for the sequel did make up for it!
Rating: 4 stars
Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson
I LOOOOOOOVE THIS BOOK! I don’t even think I can review this properly yet because I’m still in the hearteyes, CAPSLOCK, lovesick phase where all I want to do is rave about this book. This book, that is worth all the hype and I should have read ages ago. I listened to it on audio, but I want a hardcover for my shelves because I NEED IT OKAY? The libraries, the books, the sass, the characters, I love them all so, so much.
Rating: 5 stars
The Best Laid Plans by Cameron Lund
This book is a YA contemporary about a girl who doesn’t want to be the last virgin in her senior class. When she meets a hot college guy who flirts with her, she is terrified he will dump her when he hears she’s a virgin. So she asks her best friend since childhood, who is more experienced, for help. As in, can he teach her and get her first time over with? I sped through this in a day. It was a fun read and I loved the friends-to-lovers aspect and the fact that it seemed to handle sex and first times for teenagers in a realistic way. There is a lot of misogyny and slut-shaming in here though and yes, it’s challenged but something still doesn’t sit right with me… I think it’s the fact that virginity was handled as a bad thing, something to get rid of, and that was not really challenged. Also, though I LOVED the first half, the second half kind of fizzled out.
Rating: 3,5 stars
Top Ten Tuesday
QUOTE IT WEDNESDAY
Something Different Sunday
I actually discovered a lot of great new songs this month!
ONEWE and Hwa Sa – Q
I still need to discover so many ONEWE songs, but I already really love this one.
R3HAB, ZAYN & Jungleboi – Flames
Randomly listened to this on Spotify and fell in love.
GOT7 – Not By The Moon
Such a whimsical song, I love it.
Solar – Spit It Out
Such a catchy song. I love the choreo and Solar looks amazing!
PVRIS – Gimme a Minute
This is such a fun song!
YUNGBLUD – Weird!
Is there any song that’s more fitting for these weird times, yet also pretty uplifting?
Stray Kids – Voices
Stray Kids released a new choreo video for one of my favorite songs by them (new version without Woojin), so naturally I watched this over and over again.
I watched some kdramas again this month, which made me really happy because it’s been a while but they are the ultimate comfort watch for me.
Crash Landing On You
Crash Landing On You is the story of a South Korean heiress called Yun Se-ri (played by Son Ye-jin), who ends up in North Korea after a paragliding accident. She is found by captain Ri Jeong Hyeok (played by Hyun Bin) who decides to hide her and try to get her safely back to South Korea. I love this drama so much that I think it may be my second all-time favorite (sorry, nothing is beating Romance is a Bonus Book just yet). If you like kdramas, if you like doomed romances and lots of angst or if you like friendships and found families, I highly recommend Crash Landing On You!
Cinderella and the Four Knights
Cinderella and the Four Knights is a kdrama I’ve often seen described as one of the best guilty pleasure kdramas out there and after all the emotions I had from Crash Landing On You, I needed a simpler, funny guilty pleasure. The story’s about a poor girl who is taken advantage of by her stepmom and stepsister and has tons of part-time jobs to pay for her college education. But one day, through some circumstances, she gets a job for a wealthy billionaire and moves in with his three grandsons. Drama, hilarity and romance ensues. This drama reminded me a lot of Boys Over Flowers, and I highly enjoyed it. I suffered major third-lead-syndrome though, because the character of Seo Woo was just too good and deserved the world.
Other
I also caught up on some movies this month! I watched Frozen 2 (liked it, but not as much as the first one), Birds of Prey (loved it) and FINALLY watched Avengers: Endgame (cried, but not as much as I should have since I was basically spoiled on everything already).
Things that made me happy this month:
- Just like last month, this is a tricky one. But I’ve been happy for the health of my friends, family and me so far. I’ve been happy about all the little projects I got to do in the house and such now that I’ve had the time. And I’ve been happy about all the books I managed to read and kdramas I got to watch.
THINGS I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT MONTH:
- Hopefully, for life to be able to return back to normal.
HOW WAS YOUR April? How are you coping with the current situation? WHAT DID YOU READ? WHAT DID YOU LISTEN TO AND WHAT DID YOU WATCH? WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR May?
Your dog is adorable!!! My dogs like to sunbathe too!! They fight over who gets to lay in the sunny spot and usually end up laying in a ball together in it by the end.
You sound like you’re doing well during all of this. I feel like in the beginning I was in mourning for my regular life, but the longer it goes on, like most things, I’m getting used to it. Even homeschool for my kid was tough at first, but now we’re completely settled in and I like it. Also, he’s 12 so I don’t actually have to teach or help him much at all beyond staying organized and getting due dates sorted out.
Stay safe!!
Haha, your dogs sound so cute too 🙂 Luckily mine’s the only dog in the house so far, so she has all the sunbathing spots to herself!
I’m happy to hear you and your kid are getting used to the situation. For me as well, it was weird at first, but now it’s all kind of become a new routine 🙂 Hope you’ll stay safe and healthy!
I need a hardcover copy of Sorcery of Thorns too. It was one of my favorite books that I read in April. I wish it wasn’t a standalone!!
Sorcery of Thorns is definitely one of my favorite reads of the year, though it has some awesome competition 🙂 Yeah, I’m happy it was a standalone because that was refreshing, but now I wish I could go on more adventures with Elisabeth, Nathaniel and Silas <3
I’m glad you’re finding ways to keep busy! I find that the busier I am, the less time I have to think about how crazy the world is right now.
Yes, exactly! I’m better off keeping busy, luckily I managed to do that so far 🙂 Hope you’re doing well as well!
I’m glad that you and your loved ones are healthy! 🙂
I’ve also managed to keep myself busy. I was worried that I was going to get really bored, but I haven’t been hit by boredom too much. Now is definitely the perfect time for organising!
I really want to read Sorcery of Thorns – it sounds amazing.
I hope you have a good May!
Thanks, I hope you and your loved ones are also safe and healthy!
It’s good to keep busy these days, I’m glad I got some organising in 🙂
I hope you’ll love Sorcery of Thorns as much as I did! Have a great May!!