Sunday, 4 October 2015

September Reading Wrap Up

September has come to an end already and the time has come for me to conclude on my month of reading!
This month, I got through 8 books, which isn't terrible but hasn't been a huge number either.
Here are the books...

In total, these 8 books combined to 3019 pages, which will average out to just over 100 pages per day, only a tiny bit higher than my target! In terms of pages read, this is actually the lowest number I have had all year, so I'd better step up a little higher to achieve my target of 36500 pages this year!
The only books I reread this month were the three books in The Maze Runner trilogy, in preparation for the film release of the Scorch Trials, which I must say, I wasn't too impressed with!
    *****

    I don't read fantasy books all that often since they tend to take me quite a while to get through and I don't seem to enjoy them as much as I enjoy books from other genres, but occasionally I'll pick one up and give it a try! The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen was one of the better fantasy books, I'm glad to say!

    Kelsea has always known that she's to be Queen, but unlike most heirs to the throne, she was raised away from her Kingdom, deep in the woods with foster parents, away from most civilisation, after her Mother was murdered. While Kelsea was growing up, her uncle was ruling her Kingdom, but he has been the 'puppet' for the Red Queen; ruler of the neighbouring lands. When Kelsea turns 19, the last few survivors from her mother's guard come to escort her away from all she's ever known and to the faraway land she must rule over. But it's not that easy; Kelsea already has many enemies- one's who won't hesitate to attempt to kill her and her guards...

    I really loved the world The Queen of the Tearling was set in, even if it did have a big lack of books! But I'm still slightly confused about what kind of time period the book was set in. The settings and the society made me think that it was set in a sort of medieval, old fashioned time period, but then there were references to books such as Harry Potter (I love Harry Potter references in other books!!) and The Lord of the Rings. If anyone has managed to figure out what kind of time this book is set in, please let me know!

    Before I read it, I had thought that The Queen of the Tearling was a YA book, but as it turns out it was actually more of a New Adult book so it would be unsuitable for a lot of younger readers. There were quite a few unexpected scenes that surprised me quite a bit when I came to them, and left me thinking, 'Wow. That escalated quickly!'
    But I feel that lovers of fantasy will really enjoy this book. I gave it 4 stars and am looking forward to continuing with the series.

    *****

    I feel like I'm late jumping on the bandwagon for P.S. I Love You. I read Where Rainbows End ( also known as Love, Rosie) and I fell in love with the book and Cecilia Ahern's writing so I was excited to read more of her books. 

    If you don't already know, P.S. I Love You is set around the lives of Holly and Gerry, childhood sweethearts who have had each other's backs in everything. Until, that is, Gerry suddenly dies of a brain tumour and Holly is left celebrating her 30th birthday without him. 
    Holly thinks her whole world is over without Gerry, but what she doesn't realise is that Gerry is not completely gone. A box of little envelopes is delivered to her with one for each month for a year. Inside each is a letter from Gerry, gently guiding Holly away from her grieving and towards a new life without him, each signed with 'P.S. I Love You'.
    As the year unfolds and each letter is gradually opened and the task inside is completed, Holly finds herself finding a new life without her favourite companion, but she still doesn't know what will wait around the corner after the last letter is opened...

    This was such a charming little book. I loved every single page, and while a few of the characters did irritate me slightly (Holly especially!), it wasn't a big deal and I really grew to love this book. It had me laughing and crying (some at the same time!) and I feel that it did have some lovely and important life lessons. There was something everyone could take away from this book.
    I also managed to watch the film just after reading the book, but I must say I wasn't too impressed! I did enjoy it but it didn't affect me nearly as much as the book did, and they changed so much it was nearly unrecognisable!!

    I think I enjoyed Cecelia Ahern's second novel, Where Rainbows End, a little more than I enjoyed this one, but nevertheless, it was a good book and I did like it. Perfect for fans of chick-lit and romance!

    *****

    Everyone who knows me also knows how much I love the Divergent series by Veronica Roth. It is one of my all-time favourite series, even if I wasn't a massive lover of the last book!
    I have been waiting so long to get my hands on Four: A Divergent Collection, which is a collection of mini prequels told from the perspective of Four / Tobias Eaton, however since I'm too set in my ways, I had to wait an extra year for this book to come out in paperback, since I couldn't bear to buy it in hardback and completely throw off the perfect look of my paperback shelves!

    I can't really give much of a synopsis of this book without majorly spoiling it for people who haven't read Divergent (people, what are you playing at?!), but I will say that this book made me rethink my whole opinion on Tobias, especially in Insurgent and regarding his relationships with Evelyn, and also with Zeke and Uriah.
    It was also quite interesting to read certain scenes from Divergent from his point of view. I know that Divergent was initially supposed to be told from Tobias' POV, so it was interesting to see how it would have been different if Veronica Roth had stuck with this.

    I think I actually preferred this book to Insurgent and Allegiant- it was very well done and really gave a lot of extra depth to the story. A lot of the time, prequels and extra stories just ruin a series, but I personally feel that these short stories made the Divergent series a lot better!

    Perfect for any fan of Divergent! If you haven't read the Divergent series and are planning on it, I would suggest that you make sure to read at least the first book before you pick up this one though, so that it makes sense!

    *****

    That's all I have for this post but I hope to be back soon for more reviews and fun stuff!
    See you then!


    Charlotte xxx



    Posted by at

    No comments:

    Post a Comment

    Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)