What I Read: January

Thank God January Is Over! What a long ass month in terms of life and kick starting 2020 but a quick month for readng. I had an okay reading last year and I wanted to improve on that in 2020 which is why I'm a little disappointed in the amount of books I actually read in January but some of these books were a little long and took me a while to finish.

The first book I read in January was Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman. This is the second installment in the Arc Of A Scythe Trilogy. If you haven't heard about this series, it follows Citra and Rowan who are thrust unexpectedly into the world of Scythes in a world where death, poverty, famine and disease have been vanquished. Picking straight up from where Scythe ended, Thunderhead is again another jam packed book that is filled with tons of twists and turns and an ending that had my mouth hanging open in shock and in desperate need of reading the third and final installment straight away.

And of course with how much I loved Thunderhead and how it ended, I just had to pick up The Toll straight away after finishing Thunderhead. Now I wanted to love this final installment as much as I loved the first two but this final wild ride didn't quite hit the spot. I understand that there was a long game being played throughout the book but at times it felt overly drawn out and hard to keep an interest in. And as for the ending. No I won't accept it. It wasn't what I was expecting and I didn't enjoy it one bit. I had thought there was going to be at least one final showdown with all the politics, twists, backstabbing and shocks but it didn't work that way. You may love the way this series ends but I didn't enjoy it, especially after the way that both books One and Two set it up.

And the last book I read in January was one of my most hyped books for the year and I'm already kicking myself for readng it so fast as I now have a year and a half wait for the next book. A Heart So Fierce And Broken is the second book in the Cursebreakers series. This book continues off where A Curse So Dark And Lonely finished but instead of focusing on Rhen and Harper, this sequel follows Grey and what's happened to him since his face off with Lilith in the first book. I can not put into words how much I loved this book. It was definitely my favourite read of the month. I adored Grey as a character in the first book so getting to extend and learn more about his character as well as introducing several new characters that added to Grey as a character made me love this book more than I thought possible. The twist near the end was one I didn't see coming and the final twist is going to make Book Three one of my most hyped books of next year, I just wish I didn't have to wait so long to get my hands on it.

What I Read: January

Last year I started a new monthly series where I shared with you what I'd read in the last month. I started off really well but then let it fall as I lost an interest in reading and for the last couple of months I didn't share this post at all. However 2019 is the year I get back into reading and January has already been a successful and productive reading month. I haven't set myself a target goal to read each month but I'm extremely happy to say that I managed to read four books this month, a fantastic way to kick off my GoodReads challenge.

The Seven Deaths Of Evelyn Hardcastle- Stuart Turton
Evelyn Hardcastle will die. Every day until Aiden Bishop can identify her killer and break the cycle. But everytime the day begins again, Aiden wakes up in the body of a different guest. He has eight days and eight witnesses to inhabit and can only escape once he's given the name of the killer. 
The Seven Deaths Of Evelyn Hardcastle was my first book of both January and of the year. I picked it up on a whim, unsure of whether I was going to like it or not. And I loved it. Sure it was slow to start off with but once it hit it's stride and found it's rhythm, it was an amazing, twisty, suspensful read that I binged I was that hooked. There's a brilliant plot twist towards the end that I certainly didn't see coming and each chapter not only gave you a different perspective but also kept you guessing and second guessing your aim to work out who the killer is. If you're looking for a good crime/thriller to read this year, I highly recommend you check this one out.

Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone- J.K. Rowling 
Harry Potter thinks he is an ordinary boy- until he is rescued by a beetle-eyed giant of a man, enrols at Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft and Wizardry, learns to play Quidditch and does battle in a deadly duel. The Reason: HARRY POTTER IS A WIZARD 
2019 was the year that I want to reread the entire Harry Potter series. It's not the only series I want to reread this year but it's the one I started first. I literally flew threw the Philosopher's Stone, finishing it in a day and I'm already hooked back on the amazing world of witchcraft and wizardry that J.K. Rowling has created. I did find myself comparing certain parts to their film scene counterparts but it didn't take away from the magic of reading it and in fact strengthened the image I had in my mind when I read it. I'm going to be reading one of the Harry Potter books a month to try and prolong the magic that little bit longer.

Stray- Rachel Vincent 
Faythe Sanders looks like an ordinary student, but she's hiding a dark secret; she's a werecat, a powerful supernatural predator. Yet headstrong, independent Faythe resents her power, heading to college to escape her family and her overprotective ex, Marc. That is until a stray catches her scent and with two werecat girls already missing, Faythe is summoned home for her own protection. However Faythe will do whatver it takes to find her kidnapped kin. 
Stray is the first of a series I started to read as a teenager but never finished. It's again one of a few series I want to reread and I am dying to read the next in this series. A little different to what people expect me to read, this supernatural fantasy novel had me up into the early hours as I devoured it, already remembering a link from the end of this book that connects to book two. Rogue (book two) is on my reading list for February and I can guarantee I'll fly through it as well.

The Haunting Of James Hastings- Christopher Ransom 
James Hastings' wife is dead- her life snubbed out in a horrific accident that leaves her husband shattered. Dizzy with grief and guilt, James withdraws into his sprawling mansion, losing himself in liquour and memories of Stacey. Until the day two women enter his life. One is Annette, a gorgeous stranger with a dark past. The other is not a stranger and her past is all too familiar. 
I found this when I was going through my books and decided to give it a read. It's not my usual kind of book, I'm not really a fan of the more ghost based supenatural stories but this one had me intrigued. And too a point I was obsessed, wanting to read more of what was unfolding before me, even though some parts gave me the heebie jeebies. However the ending was extremely hard to focus on and I lost track of where the story was going and what was going on between the characters. It is a good read though and if you can keep a track of the ending and how it plays out then I think you'll thoroughly enjoy this book. I am intrigued to see what Ransom's novels are like and if I like them, I'm sure they'll appear in a future What I Read post.