Hi everybody, and welcome to my May wrap up! Hope you all had an amazing May and will have an even better June.
May has been quite good to me readingwise – I read a few highly anticipated new releases (mostly romance, some fantasy with a dash of romance) and I enjoyed pretty much all of them, so that’s a definite win. Without further ado, let’s dive into my wrap up for May!
Happy Place by Emily Henry
Emily Henry can do no wrong. Every single book she writes has it all: a beautiful, swoony slow-burn romance, characters that feel real and above all, ALL THE EMOTIONS. And Happy Place was another hit in a list of hits. Overall, I highly enjoyed this story and definitely recommend to anyone who loves second-chance romances, wonderful character development, amazing banter and above all, friendships for life.
Rating: 4,5 stars | Read full review
The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren (Re-Read)
I’ve reread this book in preparation of the release of The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren, which features Fizzy who is a secondary character in this one. I rates this book 5 stars upon my first read, and that rating still stands – I love Jess, River and Juno (and Fizzy) so much and this remains one of my favorite Christina Lauren reads.
Rating: 5 stars
The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren
I LOVED this new release by Christina Lauren! I loved the reality dating show aspect and the fact that all contestant embodied a specific romance trope (for example hot nerd or cinnamon roll), I loved the fact that main character Fizzy is a romance writer who did not take any crap from people who look down on the romance genre and romance writers, I loved that main hero Connor Prince is a hot, British single dad who Fizzy can’t quite put one specific label on and I LOVED the exquisite chemistry between Fizzy and Connor. I know, a lot of love 🙂
Rating: 5 stars | Full review coming soon
Pestilence by Laura Thalassa (The Four Horsemen #1)
Pestilence by Laura Thalassa is one of those books that has been on my radar for a while and now that I finally read it, I’m wondering why I didn’t start it sooner. Though the plot was a bit repetitive, I recommend this book if you’re looking for a dark, post-apocalyptic paranormal romance series with a spunky, fierce heroine and a dark and powerful ‘villain’. The story can be quite bleak, but there is hope and love and humor in there too. And steaminess, let’s not forget the steaminess. I’m intrigued and will definitely continue the series.
Rating: 4 stars | Read full review
In The Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune
In The Lives of Puppets is another favorite by TJ Klune for me! It has everything I loved in previous TJ Klune faves: lots of humor and hilarious banter, wonderful characters with so much depth, an epic adventure in a unique and intriguing world, and above all, a found family that will tug at your heartstrings.
Rating: 5 stars
Top Ten Tuesday
Twelve Random Books From My Shelves (As Picked By My Husband)
Books I Recommend to Others the Most
5 Things Getting in the Way of Reading
Things That Make Me Instantly Want to Read a Book
Things That Make Me Instantly NOT Want to Read a Book
Can’t Wait Wednesday
Things We Left Behind by Lucy Score {Can’t Wait Wednesday}
WWW Wednesday
My playlist in May was pretty kpop heavy and I have no regrets.
ONEUS – Erase Me
I’m not sure whether I love Erase Me or Unforgettable more – they were both at the top of my playlist this month.
LE SSERAFIM – Unforgiven
(G)I-DLE – Queencard
My tv watching this month was apparently also pretty k-tinged 🙂
XO Kitty (Season 1)
XO Kitty is a spin-off series of the To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before movie trilogy. In this series, we follow Lara Jean’s younger sister Kitty as she enrolls into a boarding school in Seoul because of 2 reasons: 1) it’s the same boarding school her late mother went to so she feels it’s a chance to get to know her and 2) it’s coincidentally also the same school as her pen pal boyfriend Dae goes to so they can finally be together. This was quite a fun teen show – I loved that there was a lot of diversity and featured Kitty’s bi awakening (yes, there is a sapphic love interest). It was a fun friend group, I loved the drama and I enjoyed Kitty’s perky optimism. Also, as a kpop lover, the soundtrack is so much fun 🙂 There were some plot points I felt were a bit unnecessary and don’t always make a lot of sense and there were some cringey moments for sure, but I just went with it and still enjoyed watching and hope there will be a second season.
Legend of the Blue Sea (Rewatch)
I love kdramas but I have been feeling a little slumpy lately and haven’t been able to start any new ones in a while. So I thought, why not rewatch an old favorite? Legend of the Blue Sea is a fantasy romance between a mermaid and a conman and it is funny, quirky and swoony. Just what I like! I’m halfway through my rewatch, so I’ll definitely still continue in the next few weeks.
The months are really starting to fly by faster and faster each month, as May was quite a blur. We had 2 weeks off at the end of the month, so the weeks before that were super busy at work as I worked a lot of overtime to get ready for my vacation. And then there was our vacation, which was another type of blur 🙂
Things that made me happy this month:
- Two weeks off! We didn’t go anywhere but stayed at home to do some little renovation projects around the house and in the garden. It was productive yet chill as I also got to read and rest a lot, so a good balance 🙂
- Lots of moments to spend with family and friends
- Nicer weather is here! After quite a rainy period, the last few weeks have been dry and sunny and I feel like I’m reviving because of it!
THINGS I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT MONTH:
- Book releases: Business or Please by Rachel Lynn Solomon and The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston
- Music releases: Stray Kids comeback!
- TV: Never Have I Ever and The Witcher are returning with new seasons!
- Hopefully, a few quiet weekends and lots of nice weather.
How was your May? What did you read? What did you listen to and what did you watch? What are you looking forward to in June?
I can’t believe the month is over once against. June snuck up on me! 😮
The time does seem to fly so much lately!
It seems that you had a great month! And I loved Happy Place, Pestilence and In The Lives of Puppets!
I did, thanks Sophie!
Wow, what a great reading month! Glad your staycation was productive and restful!
Thanks so much!
It sounds like you had a great month with some great reads. Two weeks off sounds fabulous. I hope June treats you just as well.
Thanks! Two weeks off was amazing indeed. Hope you’ll have a great June too!
I’m reading my first Emily Henry book right now – Book Lovers! I still need to read a book by Christina Lauren.
Oh, Book Lovers is my favorite Emily Henry, hope you’ll love it!
Staycations are nice.
Happy Place looks very fun!!
Staycations are great indeed!
What a productive yet relaxing month May was for you. I’m looking forward to a more relaxed schedule this month.
Thanks! I hope you’ll have a relaxed June ahead of you!