February Wrap Up

Hi!

February flew by for me, especially compared to January. What was also the opposite of January was the amount of books I got to read during February. Somehow I was flying through all the books I was reading. I ended up reading 9 books throughout the month. It was a mix of fiction and non-fiction, and all types of genres. Here are all the books I read in February:

Source: Goodreads

The Color Purple by Alice Walker: This was my bookclub pick for February. I had seen it on so many read-before-you-die-lists, that it just made me very curious about it. We read it in honour of Black History Month, and I basically went in blind. The book follows two African-American sisters seperated during their youth, and the people they found along the way. The book spans twenty years of their lives; following them through all the hardships and happiness live brings along the way. In the end I'm glad I ended up reading this, and went in blind. The first few pages really shocked me into the story, and after that I was insanely curious about where the main character would end up over the years. I could really appreciate how the book was formatted in letters, it totally made sense in this story. Besides, the character growth was perfect, it ended exactly how I wanted it to be. I was just genuinly so glad that most of the characters ended up where they deserved to be. (5 stars)

Source: Goodreads

Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender: This book has been waiting on my ereader for ages; for some reason I just never got to it. Agaim, I kind of went in with not too many expectations. Over the years I had sort of forgotten what the book was about. The book follows Felix, a Black, queer and transgender teenager, who is navigating life. He has never been in love, and is desperate to feel what it is like to be in love. At the same time he is being blackmailed by an anonymous person, who started the blackmailing by making Felix's deadname known to the public. Felix is out for revenge; what he doesn't know is that his plan for revenge will land him in a unlikely scenario.
I ended up having very mixed feelings about the book. I think that the message the author wants to bring into the world is very important. The parts about gender identiy were very interesting, and this can be very life-changing for people reading this who are questioning their identity as well. What put me off about the book was Felix's negativity. I have read a few reviews about the book, and a lot of those reviews blamed the negativity on being a teenager, but I honestly feel like it was too much for just being a teenager who is figuring out what he wants and thinks. Felix was negative about every person who was different, especially those who were richer. Ofcourse, being rich brings privilege along the way, but if this is also the person you deem your best friend, I feel like it is wrong to be constantly so negative about that. It was really a reaccuring theme throughout the book. This, and the fact that the last third of the book seemed very rushed, made me not really enjoy the book. (2.5 stars)

Source: Goodreads

The Silmarillion
by J.R.R. Tolkien: This book I previously started in 2019 (I think?). I remember that I was reading it on the train from university to my home. And I just could not get through it. I love Lord of the Rings, so I was disappointed that I could not finish it. At that time I already knew that it was probably my english not being good enough, but it felt like such a disappointment. I always intended to restart it, but I never got to it; but that all changed this year. I ended up finishing this time, and with much more enjoyment. It is a book that is not for everyone. It is typically Tolkien, with his endless descriptions. I think this is one of those books for everyone who is obsessed with anything Tolkien. I thought it was great, but it wasn't like an absolute favourite. It did make me very excited to reread the Lord of the Rings-trilogy this year, so I can't wait to get to that. (3.75 stars)

Source: Goodreads

The Murderous Type by Sue Minix: I'm going to be honest with you; I picked this up at the bookstore because of the cute cover. I was expecting a good cosy murder mystery, imagine my disappointment when it didn't live up to my expectations. It was a cosy murder mystery, but good it wasn't unfortunately... It was very lacking in it's character development and storytelling. A full review can be found on my Goodreads. Let's say I let myself rant there for a little bit. (1.5 star)

Source: Goodreads
The Match by Harlan Coben: Let's say that after the previous read I was in for a good thriller. If the cosy murder mystery doesn't deliver, the thriller will have to do the hard work. And thankfully it did! This is the second book in the Wilde-series. The first book I read years ago, which made me a little scared to start this one. Would I remember who all these people were? Well heck yes! Coben was amazing in how he reminded you who these people were, not to much repetition, just perfect. In the book Wilde is attempting to find family members on DNA websites. This attempt gets him tangled up in a murder investigation, and ties him up with a vigilante revenge squad. I flew through this book, and simply could not put it down. I want the next book already... (5 stars)

Source: Goodreads

The Book of Accidents by Chuck Wendig: It had been a little while since I read anything in the horror genre. A family is moving to a new town, the town in which the parents grew up, hoping that it will give their son some rest. Once they arrive weird things start happening, just like when the parents were kids. The weird things started happening very early in the book, and at first I thought that was a bit questionable. It made me scared that not everything would make sense at the end of the book. The writing was great; short chapters, multiple pov's, which all kept my full undivided attention. There was so much tension throughout the book, and I thought I was going crazy trying to figure out where it was going and what was happening. In the end everything was tied up perfectly, and I can't wish for a better ending. (4.25 stars)

Source: Storygraph

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare: This is an absolute classic, but I had only read little bits of it before. That had to change. A few years ago a bought quite some classics in a sale, but I haven't read the majority of them yet... We are changing that, starting with this one. I honestly don't have much to say about it. It was a quick, short read. I understood everything that was going on (this is something that scares me when reading classics, somehow). (4 stars)

Source: Goodreads

My Policeman by Bethan Roberts: The book follows Marion, her Husband Tom, and Tom's lover Patrick. You read how their relationships came to be, and how the developed over time. The book exists of a big letter written by Marion to recollect everything that happened; you could say a confession, and it contains letters written by Patrick at the time of the relationship. I was starting this book with pretty high expectations, but it took me quite a while to get into the story. Once we got to the first letters written by Patrick I started to get really interested in the story. Because of that it did not end up living up to my expectations but I still enjoyed the story anyway. I loved the characters, their individual histories, their growth. Simply beautiful. (3.5 stars)

Source: Goodreads

Love is a Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield: This is the first nonfiction I read this year, and honestly the first in a while. Like I have said before: I never felt attracted to nonfiction, but I want to get into it, so we are on a journey here. Rob Sheffield is a music critic, who in this book talks about the loss of his wive, how he met her, their life together, and his life after her death. He does this using mix tapes he made and listened to throughout this time. I thought the concept of this memoir was great, but while reading it my enthusiasm dimmed a little. There were times when the constant mentions of songs just didn't feel natural anymore. It felt to me like it was taking away from the emotions and feelings Sheffield could have been describing. The memoir ended up being just okay for me. (3 stars)

This was it for February! It was a great reading month, and I hope to read more diverse titles like these!

Love,

Kirsten

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