Hello!

I really thought I’d be able to slowly increase how much I’m reading this year, but so far it’s been downhill in terms of numbers of books!

In January I read 5 books, in February I managed 4 (though some of my wrap ups said 5 cos I was really optimistic) and in March I’ve only managed to read 3 books! Granted, when I look at the number of pages read, I’ve read nearly as much as I read in January but obviously longer books, but the main reason my number of finished books is lower is due to my own stubbornness and I’m wholly aware of it.

According to Storygraph I’m one book behind on my reading goal, so definitely going to not be as stubborn in April! Either way, here are the three books I finished in March:

Revolution – Jennifer Donnelly (paperback + audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was my February book club pick that I was desperate to try and finish before the end of the month, but I didn’t quite make it and it squeaked onto my March wrap up instead – I loved this book I really did. The narrative style felt like the kind of literary YA I loved in John Green when I was a teenager which made it feel really nostalgic. It was released in 2010 so I reckon it was a contemporary release at the time, and I don’t know if it’s because I was also a teenager in 2010 but it was a YA book I could really empathise with, which I haven’t felt like in a very long time (I’m definitely getting too old for YA).

The historical aspects of the book being told in diary entries was done really well and listening to this with the audiobook as well really enhanced the experience – so much of this story is set in Paris and the historical elements are about French characters, so to hear them read in a French accent was so much more immersive than the British accent my own internal voice would have given them!

The only reason it wasn’t a 5 star read for me is that the resolution just felt a little bit too far fetched – the ending wasn’t as satisfying as I wanted it to be and what I expected to happen didn’t happen at all. It was really close, if I did half and quarter ratings it would definitely be a high 4 star, but just not quite over the 5 star line for me unfortunately.

A Game of Retribution – Scarlett St Clair (ebook + the last 30% of the audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I didn’t want to use all my Spotify listening hours in one go at the beginning of the month, so I wanted to prove to myself that I can still read a book without co-reading with the audiobook and what followed was three weeks of stubbornly trying to rely on my own brain, falling asleep after 6 pages which only led to the story feeling disjointed and making me take three weeks to finish this book.

I meant it when I said I was being stubborn.

Otherwise, this book was just fine for me? It’s the second book in a partner trilogy which tells the story from the male main characters perspective and I really didn’t think that it added anything – Hades is a very open and honest character so all the scenes with him and Persephone felt very repetitive, as I’d already read them from Persephone’s perspective. The additional plot points of what Hades was doing when he wasn’t with Persephone were really intriguing, building towards a very engaging political Greek fantasy, but that could have been a novella or a short novel on it’s own – it didn’t need to be over 450 pages.

And the last thing that made this story very average was just the amount of smut – I’m not object to it, I love when it adds to the plot and it feels relevant and enhances the characters relationship, but that absolutely wasn’t happening in this book. They’d be mid conversation and suddenly it was happening again – it felt totally nonsensical and desensitised me to their relationship as characters; I think it made me care about the relationship less which is definitely not how I wanted to feel!

Honestly I was just glad to be finally done with it – one step closer to finishing the series!

A Game of Gods – Scarlett St Clair (ebook + audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

And finally, onto the last book in the Hades trilogy! Much of my opinions remained the same in regard to the repetitive nature of the scenes with Persephone, but this one definitely had more plot and political elements as the overarching plot of the series continued to grow and there were more and more references to Greek stories that I’m vaguely familiar with.

This book made me want to read the Odyssey, and I think that says plenty.

Even though I don’t think this book needed to be 568 pages, I did enjoy this one much more – there was still excessive smut scenes, but there was much more plot and it was a much more exciting read. It probably helped that I had gone away for the weekend piggybacking off my husband’s work trip and I read about 50% of this book in one day between different coffee shops in Canterbury and it was really lovely.

I’m currently reading A Touch of Chaos, the conclusion to the entire Hades x Persephone saga by Scarlett St Clair and I’m both excited to read it and to be done with this damn series. I’m also still reading The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss as an audiobook (it’s been nearly three months now), but I also managed to find a second hand physical copy of this book for £2 in a charity shop so I’m thinking I may coread the last 20% just to finally get it done!

I didn’t get round to reading either of my March book club books – The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkein or the third book in the Famous Five series, so I will be trying to read two book club books and two Famous Five books in April, alongside having three new release pre-orders coming in and my March Afterlight book to read too – maybe a few more reading days coffee shop hopping are required!

Other than the slog of finishing A Game of Retribution, I feel like I’ve found my stride with reading again and I’m looking forward to having a more productive reading month in April! I definitely need something a bit lighter after all these fantasies.

Please let me know what you’ve been reading this month and how you’re doing with your reading goals if you have any!

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx