January Wrap-Up

January was a fantastic reading month for me. I'm way ahead on my Goodreads reading challenge, and have managed to read 11 books. Let's get onto what I thought of them!

Books

The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima
5/5 Stars
I did both a video review and a written review for The Demon King, if you'd like to check those out! The Demon King is the first book in the Seven Realms series, which has been highly recommended to me since I made my Booktube channel. I finally picked it up at a semi-inconvenient time (right before I was about to participate in a readathon, in which the goal is to read as many books as possible... and 500+ page fantasy books are not ideal for that) but absolutely loved it. Would recommend to YA readers looking to read more epic fantasy, or just any readers who enjoy reading fantasy. Or just anyone, in general. It's great.

V for Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd

4/5 Stars

V for Vendetta is one of my favorite films, and I finally got around to reading the graphic novel from which the film was based! The novel is much more focused on grey mortality, and less concerned with getting the reader onto anyone's side. In the film, V may be a bit sinister, but you're rooting for him. The novel makes everything much more ambiguous, and touches more on the lives of some of the characters that are more minor in the film adaptation. My favorite aspect of this novel were the monologues that the characters often had, where they essentially spew their beliefs in likely eloquent ways. Very different from the film. They're both fantastic in their own right.

The Giver by Lois Lowry
4/5 Stars
One of my goals for 2014 is to read more classics. The goal is rather ambiguous and unfocused, but it seems to be going well so far since one of my first reads of the year was a classic. The Giver is a really short novel, but it has a lot of heart. Unfortunately my reading of it was interuppted by my brother vomiting when I reached the climax of The Giver, and then I had to spend time mopping up grossness and tending to him rather than finding out what happened. The main reason that I gave this 4 stars rather than 5 was because it was so short and the ending felt so abrupt! 

The Exiled Queen by Cinda Williams Chima

4/5 Stars
The second book in the Seven Realms series, which I HAD to continue reading. This was my least favorite book of the series, but it was still amazing. My main frustrations with this were that one of the POV characters seemed to be getting more attention than the other, and I didn't like that. Again, I really recommend this series. 

The Gray Wolf Throne by Cinda Williams Chima

5/5 Stars
The third book in the Seven Realms series, and my FAVORITE of the four. I tend to measure how much I love a book by how many tears I shed over it, and I cried A LOT while reading The Gray Wolf Throne. So many feels.

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

5/5 Stars

I did a full video review and a written review on Steelheart, if you'd like to check those out! One of my goals this years was to read more "big" names in the fantasy genre, and Sanderson was the main person I was thinking about. Steelheart is one of his shorter novels, and is new and well-liked, so this was the first one I picked up. Sanderson did not disappoint. I'm looking forward to reading more of his work in the very near future, specifically his Mistborn trilogy. As I said in my review, Steelheart reads like an action film and is an absolute delight. Can't wait for the next installment in this trilogy, which will likely be coming out towards the end of this year.

Vicious by V.E. Schwab

4/5 Stars

I did a full written review on Vicious, if you'd like to check that out! Regan and Jesse were raving about Vicious, and because I've mentioned being interested in books with grey morality, I had to read this. I was not disappointed. I read this while I was feeling under the weather, so my enthusiasm for reading was not exactly peaked... but I still enjoyed it immensely. Recommended for people who like stories populated with delightfully evil characters. 

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

5/5 Stars
I'm pretty sure I've read Alice in Wonderland before... but I received an ARC for an Alice in Wonderland retelling, so I figured I'd pick this up. It's a short read, so it took no time at all to read and had me smiling through out. Wonderland is just such a ridiculous place, populated by nonsensical people, and it's hilarious to read about as long as you aren't taking it too seriously.

Queen of Hearts by Colleen Oakes

3/5 Stars

I'll have a full written review of this up on its release day (February 14th). This was the Alice in Wonderland retelling that I mentioned in my thoughts on Alice in Wonderland. It's a prequel, and shows the Queen of Hearts ascent into becoming the evil queen she is in the original story. I had some issues with the writing and the characters, but the world was really interesting. Again, I'll have a review of this up soon and thank you to Netgalley and BookSparks for sending this to me! 

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

4/5 Stars

I'll have a full written review of this up soon! I read Cruel Beauty in one sitting. I stayed up until 1am reading, crying like a baby throughout over the romance in this book. This has some of the most unusual and interesting world-building I've read in YA (or just books in general, honestly) and the romance was phenomenal. Again, my full review will be up very soon!

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