Hoohoo, guys!
Is this… is this an actual wrap up I’m writing? Wow, huge news. But I really, really want to be more disciplined and post about what I read and not only in the occasional review. And March was a really interesting reading month for me. Either I needed 2 weeks for a book or I read 700 pages in one day, there was no inbetween. Thanks uni. Thanks stress. Thanks procrastination. Anyways, I read a total of 6 books and I guess we shall have a closer look at them now.
But let’s check out some stats first.
- I read 6 books which made 2951 pages in total.
- I read following genres: historic fiction, historic fantasy, contemporary.
- I gave an average rating of 3,17 swords.
- My favourite March book was The Marvelous Mirza Girls by Sheba Karim.
- I also got 6 new books, which you can have a closer look at in my book haul.
The Inverts by Crystal Jeans
The Borough Press | 01.04.2021 | historic fiction | 400 pages | rep: wlw, gay, wlwl & mlm side characters | TW: alcohol, homophobia, internalized homophobia, fatphobia, vomit, drug use, domestic violence, suicide, racism, sexism | Rating: 1 sword
Synopsis: Bettina and Bart have grown up as best friends, so surely they will end up together? After all, Bettina is young, rich, headstrong…. and gay. Bart is young, rich, charismatic… and also, definitely, gay. Any doubts are dispelled by, in short order: that ghastly kiss; a torrid encounter for Bettina in the school boiler-rooms; and an eye-opening Parisian visit for Bart.
Society will never stand for it. What else can they do but enter into a ‘lavender marriage’ and carry on indulging their true natures in secret? As the ’20s and’ 30s whizz past in a haze of cigarettes, champagne and casual sex, Bart and Bettina have no idea that they are hurtling, via Hollywood and Egypt, Paris and London, towards tragedy and bloodshed… (goodreads)
Mini opinion: This book was a whole mess. Every single character was unlikeable, the fatphobia nearly drove me up a wall and it was more unnecessary dramatics and unwanted descriptions of genitals and sex noises than fun. I was very prepared to like this book but I expected something completely different. Read my full review for The Inverts here.
Das Mädchen und der Winterkönig (The Girl in the Tower) > German
Winternacht Trilogie #2 | Übersetzer: Michael Pfingstl | Heyne | 09.11.2020 | 480 Seiten | hisorische Fantasy | TW: Blut, Tod, Vergewaltigung (erwähnt), sexuelle Übergriffe | Rating: 4 Schwerter
Klappentext: Wasja hat es geschafft: Sie hat ihr Zuhause vor dem Untergang bewahrt, indem sie einen Pakt mit Väterchen Frost einging. Doch jeder Pakt hat seinen Preis, und nun muss Wasja bitter für die Hilfe des Winterdämons bezahlen. Als Hexe verschrien, wird sie aus dem Dorf gejagt und durchstreift fortan in Männerkleidung das riesige Zarenreich. Immer an ihrer Seite ist ihr geliebter Hengst Solowej, der schneller ist als der Wind. Als Wasja eines Tages eine berühmt-berüchtigte Räuberbande in die Flucht schlägt, ruft sie der Prinz an den Hof nach Moskau, wo sie als Held gefeiert wird. Schnell wird Wasja – dank der Ratschläge des Winterdämons – zur engsten Vertrauten des Prinzen. Doch niemand am Hof darf je erfahren, dass der tapfere Kämpfer aus dem klirrend kalten Norden eigentlich eine junge Frau ist … (goodreads)
Mini-Meinung: Ich fand das Buch super! Es hatte viel mehr Action als sein Vorgänger und Moskau als Setting war einfach spitze beschrieben und ich konnte mir alles sehr gut vorstellen. Wasja und ihr Bruder, aus deren Sicht die Geschichte hauptsächlich erzählt wird, ergänzen sich einwandfrei und ich mochte die beiden als Charaktere sehr gern. Meine gesamte Rezension zu Das Mädchen und der Winterkönig könnt ihr hier lesen.
The Marvelous Mirza Girls by Sheba Karim
Quill Tree Books | 18.05.2021 | YA contemporary | 400 pages | Rep: Pakistani-American, Indian, queer side characters | TW: death of loved one, grief, alcohol, drugs, sexual assault | Rating: 4 swords
Synopsis: To cure her post–senior year slump, made worse by the loss of her aunt Sonia, Noreen is ready to follow her mom on a gap year trip to New Delhi, hoping India can lessen her grief and bring her voice back.
In the world’s most polluted city, Noreen soon meets kind, handsome Kabir, who introduces her to the wonders of this magical, complicated place. With Kabir’s help—plus Bollywood celebrities, fourteenth-century ruins, karaoke parties, and Sufi saints—Noreen begins to rediscover her joyful voice.
But when a family scandal erupts, Noreen and Kabir must face complicated questions in their own relationship: What does it mean to truly stand by someone—and what are the boundaries of love? (goodreads)
Mini opinion: I liked this book so, so much. I adored the characters and how they harmonized and treated each other. Kabir is such a sweet guy, Noreen grows into herself and accepts things that have happened in the past. I loved Noreen’s relationship with her mother. I also really liked how sex positive this book was. Though I have to say that a lot of topics were mentioned but not really elaborated. I still think from Noreen’s PoV this story was well told and those other topics are probably for other characters to tell. A full review will come next month!
Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare
The Last Hours #1 | Walker Books | 03.03.2020 | 617 pages | historical urban fantasy | rep: British-Persian MC, bi, lesbian, gay | TW: death, blood, manipulation | Rating: 3 swords
Chain of Iron by Cassandra Clare
The Last Hours #2 | Walker Books | 02.03.2021 | 656 pages | historical urban fantasy | rep: British-Persian MC, bi, lesbian, gay | TW: death, blood, murder, manipulation | Rating: 3 swords
Synopsis: Welcome to Edwardian London, a time of electric lights and long shadows, the celebration of artistic beauty and the wild pursuit of pleasure, with demons waiting in the dark. For years there has been peace in the Shadowhunter world. James and Lucie Herondale, children of the famous Will and Tessa, have grown up in an idyll with their loving friends and family, listening to stories of good defeating evil and love conquering all. But everything changes when the Blackthorn and Carstairs families come to London…and so does a remorseless and inescapable plague.
James Herondale longs for a great love, and thinks he has found it in the beautiful, mysterious Grace Blackthorn. Cordelia Carstairs is desperate to become a hero, save her family from ruin, and keep her secret love for James hidden. When disaster strikes the Shadowhunters, James, Cordelia and their friends are plunged into a wild adventure which will reveal dark and incredible powers, and the true cruel price of being a hero…and falling in love. (goodreads)
Mini opinion: Ok, listen. I’m doing these two books together because I’ve read them right after another without break and have no idea what happened in which book, the lines are blurry. While I don’t love the two of them, I certainly did like them and enjoyed them so much! They are so dramatic! And they were exactly what I needed. I liked the characters but not every choice they make and I found a character I hate very much and just hearing their name makes me hella angry. A longer review will never come because I honestly don’t know what else to say besides: they were so, so dramatic but so much fun and I’m so glad that after years and years, I finally picked up a Cassandra Clare book again!
Elysium Girls by Kate Pentecost
Disney Hyperion | 14.04.2020 | 400 pages | paranormal historic fiction | rep: wlw, Black, Comanche, Latine | TW: blood, vomit, loss of loved ones, rape (mention) | rating: 3 swords
Synopsis: When Sal is named Successor to Mother Morevna, a powerful witch and leader of Elysium, she jumps at the chance to prove herself to the town. Ever since she was a kid, Sal has been plagued by false visions of rain, and though people think she’s a liar, she knows she’s a leader. Even the arrival of enigmatic outsider Asa-a human-obsessed demon in disguise-doesn’t shake her confidence in her ability. Until a terrible mistake results in both Sal and Asa’s exile into the Desert of Dust and Steel.
Face-to-face with a brutal, unforgiving landscape, Sal and Asa join a gang of girls headed by another Elysium exile-and young witch herself-Olivia Rosales. In order to atone for their mistake, they create a cavalry of magic powered, scrap metal horses to save Elysium from the coming apocalypse. But Sal, Asa, and Olivia must do more than simply tip the scales in Elysium’s favor-only by reinventing the rules can they beat the Life and Death at their own game. (goodreads)
Mini opinion: I absolutely loved the setting! Dust bowl! An enchanted town somewhere in Oklahoma with danger all around. Mysterious witches and magic! I also liked some of the characters, especially Sal, the protagonist. She was so fierce, much braver than I thought she’d be from the beginning. And dumb as I am, I didn’t know this was queer. And to be honest, the wlw relationships were well written. But everything happened too fast to my liking and this could have been a lot longer. Read my full review for Elysium Girls here.
And that’s my reading month! Have you read any of these books? What did you think? Do you plan to read any of them?
Until next time,
