The Plaid Pladd

This month I read only 5 books from my list. A little less than usual, but that’s okay. I took a break and read some other great things that weren’t part of my goal. I’m about 29% of the way there so far.

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

Title: Grave Mercy
Author: Robin LaFevers
Amount Read: All
Rating: 5/5
Why was it on my list? That cover!

This book was awesome! I immediately looked to see if there was a sequel (and there is!! Though about different characters). It takes place in historical Brittany, where Ismae escapes from a terrible arranged marriage to an island abbey where the nuns serve Death. As assassins. There’s a little bit of magic, a lot of complex intrigue, and the perfect amount of ~romance~ with the added drama of whom can you really trust??. Love it.

More Than This by Patrick Ness

Title: More Than This
Author: Patrick Ness
Amount Read: All
Rating: 4/5
Why was it on my list? A list of good YA novels from last year

The novel opens with Seth drowning. He hits his head on a rock and dies. Then he wakes up, in the dusty remains of the house his family moved away from 8 years ago. Everything is abandoned and the entire town seems empty except for him. He must come to terms with the fact that he’s in some kind of hell…. or is he? I really liked the mystery involved, trying to figure out along with Seth what the hell is going on, and also the flashbacks to his life before drowning. There are multiple mysteries in this book, and I liked the way they twisted around each other. Only the ending was kind of unsatisfying, but maybe it’s a sequel set up. I’d be cool with seeing how this story continues.

Scorch by Gina Damico

Title: Scorch
Author: Gina Damico
Amount Read: All
Rating: 2/5
Why was it on my list? I enjoyed the first book in the series, Croak

True confession: I was not in the best state when I read this book, so maybe I would have liked it more at another time. The plot seemed unfocused, and the writing style and language kind of gimmicky. It ended on a cliffhanger, but I probably won’t read the third one.

Ash by Malinda Lo

Title: Ash
Author: Malinda Lo
Amount Read: All
Rating: 2/5
Why was it on my list? A list of fairy tale re-imaginings

This book was sold to me as “lesbian Cinderella” and I am all about that concept. Unfortunately, the execution wasn’t as exciting. Lo is very skilled at creating tone and mood, but all of her characters were somewhat two-dimensional and lacked personality. I didn’t really care about any of them, so of course none of them had any chemistry together and the romance portions seemed boring and awkward. I liked the world this lackluster story is built on top of, trembling between magic and modernity and full of myths and huntresses, and I wish the main characters had lived up to it.

Penpal by Dathan Auerbach

Title: Penpal
Author: Dathan Auerbach
Amount Read: All
Rating: 1/5
Why was it on my list? A list of horror books from around last Halloween

This book started as a series of Reddit posts, and that’s pretty much all you need to know. It didn’t even creep me out, and I am the world’s biggest wuss. Each lengthy chapter is its own short story, with a classic-style “THE CALL WAS COMING FROM INSIDE THE HOUSE!” urban legend gotcha line at the end. The writing style was overly pompous, especially when the main character is mostly a child. Most of the characters act or speak in ways that aren’t appropriate for their age or situation (Mom is totally cool with letting her 5-year-old wander around the woods by himself! 11-year-olds analyze their friendships and admit when they are being distant and at fault!). Also, I had to buy this one (e-book), the first book I’ve bought for this project, so perhaps I was even more disappointed than usual.

The Ones I Decided Not To Read

Title: The Night Climbers
Author: Ivo Stourton
Why was it on my list? I have no idea. It’s been more than 4 years
Why I’m not reading it: This book only has a 2.95 star rating on Goodreads. All the reviewers basically just said it was a rip-off of The Secret History and not to bother. Since I would have to ILL it, and I already have enough to keep my library’s ILL department busy, I’m going to take their advice.

Title: Glamour in Glass
Author: Mary Robinette Kowal
Why was it on my list? It’s the sequel to Shades of Milk and Honey
Why I’m not reading it: The reviews made it sound like, though I enjoyed the first one, I wouldn’t like this one. I am still all about regency romance/historical fiction+now there’s magic! though

Previously: February
Next: April