February and March 2021 Wrap Up

Hi everyone! Today’s wrap up is actually for two months – February and March. I only read two books in February so it didn’t seem like it was enough to include in a wrap up by themselves, so I’ve added them to the beginning of this wrap up. How many times can I say wrap up in one intro? Clearly a lot. Anyway, in addition to the two books in February, I read 6 books in March! I think my reading slump is over, yay!

Before I get into the books, lets talk about the stats. Combining both months, I read 7 books released this year, and one from 2006. I only read one hardcover, while the rest were ebooks, and my ratings were pretty high for the most part: one 3.5 star, three 4 star, and four 5 star reads. Lastly, I read 3 fantasy, 3 romance, 1 horror, and 1 thriller.

February

The Duke and I by Julia Quinn – ★★★★☆

The first book that I finished in February was The Duke and I! Like a lot of other people, I’ve become OBSESSED with Bridgerton on Netflix. So much so that I knew as a bookworm that I needed to also start the series. I liked seeing the differences between the show and the book, but the one thing I think I liked the show more for was how effortlessly it added in diversity. I ended up giving the book a 4 star, however I think if I had read the book before the show I might’ve only given it a 3 star. I bumped my rating up one because I was picturing the characters from the show that I’ve come to love.

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A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J Maas – ★★★★★

The last book I managed to finish in February was A Court of Silver Flames! I would be lying if I didn’t say that this was one of my most anticipated releases of 2021, and for me it did not disappoint! I’ve always said that SJM just has this way of writing her characters that makes you fall in love with them, and this one was no different. The focus of this one is DEFINITELY more on the characters than the plot, so if you were expecting this to really continue the storyline of the first three books, you won’t really get much of that. What you will get is Nesta working through her grief and anger, and coming out stronger than before. A lot of people didn’t like that Feyre and Rhys seemed like completely different characters, but I thought it made a lot of sense seeing as this book is through Nesta’s eyes and she isn’t the biggest fan of theirs at the moment. It really helped bring them down off that pedestal that we’ve all put them on.

Related: A Court of Silver Flames Review

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March

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Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert – ★★★★★

I was so excited when I got approved for an e-ARC for this book, I don’t think I’ve ever been approved for a highly anticipated romance before! I loved the previous two books that followed Chloe and Dani Brown, so I had a good feeling that I would also love Eve’s book and I definitely did. I loved how this book showed how autism can manifest differently for each person. The romance was both sweet and very steamy, maybe more so than the other two books in the series. Some of those scenes were pretty intense! I do think that there was a bigger focus on the relationship and less plot in this one than the others because it felt like some of the plot points were pushed aside. I’m excited to read more books from Talia Hibbert, and I’ve seen her next series will be focusing on the Montrose family that we meet in this book which is exciting!

Related: Act Your Age, Eve Brown Review

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The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne – ★★★★★

This will most likely make my best of 2021 list, and I would definitely say is a new favorite read. I have pretty much nothing negative to say about this one, and I’m still thinking about that ending! I loved how fast-paced this was, and the way the chapters were written made you want to keep reading just to find out what happened next. The characters were all very interesting and well written. It was easy for me to keep all the characters straight in my mind, which is a big plus. The world-building was beautiful and deadly, and I really felt immersed in this Norse-inspired world. This is incredibly brutal and the battle scenes were amazing. I could practically s see this book playing out on the big screen, and I really hope that one day I can watch an adaptation of this. Finally, I don’t usually talk to my family about the books that I’m reading because fantasy isn’t always their thing, but I gushed about this book to my dad and even got him curious about it, which is a big deal since he doesn’t read books all that often.

Related: The Shadow of the Gods Review

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The Devil Wears Black by LJ Shen – ★★★★☆

I’m a big fan of enemies to lovers, and if I remember correctly, I saw someone on Twitter talking about how great of an enemies to lovers this book was. I was really feeling in the mood for a romance, so I decided that I needed to read this one ASAP. I ended up really enjoying this one, especially Chase and Maddie. I loved how Chase was this arrogant bad boy and Maddie was so sassy and fierce, and the way the two interacted was so much fun! This book does have a bit of a heavier topic included with Chase’s dad who is dying of cancer, which added weight to their relationship. This book also has the fake fiancee trope, which is one that I also really enjoy. This was my first book by this author, and I definitely think I’ll be trying out more of their books after loving this one!

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For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten – ★★★★★

I really hit it out of the park this month with my Orbit ARCS, because if you made me choose a favorite between this and Shadow of the Gods, I don’t know if I could choose! I loved the way this book used both Beauty and the Beast and Red Riding Hood as inspirations, and the characters and setting were all amazing! This was incredibly dark and atmospheric, and there was a bit of body horror that involved plants growing within you or destroying people in gruesome ways. I adored Red and Eammon, and I now need more monster boyfriend books because this was so great! I was so impressed by this debut, and I’m definitely excited for both the sequel and whatever Hannah Whitten decides to write next!

Related: For the Wolf Review

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Near the Bone by Christina Henry – ★★★☆☆ .5

This was enjoyable, but it didn’t do anything that was groundbreaking and I didn’t fall in love with this book. It’s also my first book by Christina Henry, and I liked her writing enough to make me think that maybe I would like one of her dark fairy tale retellings more than this one. Right from the beginning, I guessed exactly what had happened, so I saw most of the twists coming. It was also fairly predictable, but I did enjoy reading it. I mentioned in my review that this could be a good place to begin if you wanted to get into horror because it wasn’t really all that scary. I do wish that there had been a bit more of a solid, explained ending, but that’s more preference because I really don’t like open endings.

Related: Near the Bone Review

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Every Last Fear by Alex Finlay – ★★★★☆

I had my eye on this one for a while, and I was really wanting to read a good, twisty thriller, and this one helped to scratch that itch! There was so much going on with this book, I didn’t know where we would end up and who was the one who killed Matt’s family. This was a very fast read, and the stakes felt pretty high throughout the whole book. There are two different mysteries in this book, who killed Matt’s family, and did his brother actually kill his girlfriend. I read this one so quickly, and it was a lot of fun trying to figure everything out!

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What books have you read recently? Have you read any of these? I’d love to chat!