January 2020 Wrap Up: New Favorites and Two Five Star Reads

Welcome to another reading wrap up! It’s exam season, and life is hectic and at this point, I will never NOT be busy with school stuff. But I had a great reading month, and had TWO five star reads, which is amazing, since I only had four in 2019. Maybe the curse of meh reading years is finally over. Stay tuned.

Let’s talk about books now!

I started the year off with a bang – Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson. Sanderson is my favorite writer so I was bound to love this and I did! I really enjoyed the characters so much, they are some of the best Sanderson has ever written. Moreover, I really adored the world and the magic system in this book, and I could not put it down. I highly recommend it, it’s definitely going to make my best of the year list.

Next, I was feeling a teensy bit anxious, so I reread one of my fave romance novels. Mariana Zapata’s books are so slow burn, there’s barely anything happening until 50 percent of the novel, but they work like a charm for me every time. Moreover, I really enjoy her characters, especially her heroines, which are always really well written. Plus, there’s football, and we all know I love that. Highly recommended if you are looking for a slow burn romance, although From Lukov, With Love is still my fave.

This book did not do much for me. I was excited to get to it, but I only enjoyed one of the main characters and I wish the whole book was from her perspective. I found the book’s messages were a bit heavy-handed, but I enjoyed the focus on local politics. And I really enjoyed Maya as a main character, but overall this just did not move me in any particular way, and I did not like it as much as I hoped I would. If you want to know more, you can find my review HERE.

The Girl in the Tower is a follow-up to The Bear and the Nightingale, and I am still really enjoying the series. Despite the fact that this had a very slow start and that it was way more historical than fantastical, I still adore Vasya, she is one of my favorite characters of all time. And I really enjoyed her dynamic with Morozko in this one. I am excited to finish off the series soon! You can read my review for The Bear and the Nightingale HERE, and for The Girl in the Tower HERE.

I ended the month with In the Dream House, which was absolutely brilliant. Machado’s writing is fantastic as always, but this book takes it to a whole new level. It’s personal and vulnerable and really self-aware. I loved that she was able to talk about her own experience of being in an abusive relationship with a woman, but also to layer on it this meta-narrative of abuse in queer female relationships. Cannot recommend this one more, and you can find my review for it HERE.

Here’s how I did this month:

This was one of the best reading months I’ve had in a while and fingers crossed that my whole year looks like this!

I’d love to hear from you – how was your reading month? What was your favorite read in January? I’d love to know!

                                                                                                                   

xxx

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