February 2019 Wrap-Up!

Somehow February was a very productive month for me! I read nine books, posted a fair amount on my blog and instagram, had a lot to do for school, and watched a lot of Netflix. I'm not quite sure how I managed to get as much done as I did, but I'm excited nonetheless! Without further ado, let's go ahead and dive in!

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BOOKS READ

1. 

Title: Till Death Do Us Part

Author: A.J. Lee

Rating: 3.5 // 5 stars

Review

2.
Title: Sightwitch
Author: Susan Dennard
Rating: 4 // 5 stars
Review

3.
Title: Guts
Author: Chuck Palahniuk
Rating: N/A

Honestly I don't know how to rate this. I'd read an article about how dozens of people passed out at live readings of this short story so I expected to be more shocked/queasy. I kind of expected to pass out. But I didn't. It was definitely disturbing and weird and super gross--not for the faint of heart/those who can't handle guts--but I wasn't as affected as I expected by it.

4.
Title: Astrophil and Stella
Author: Sir Philip Sidney
Rating: N/A--Read for class

Neutral rating because I read this for class. I can, however, say that Astrophil is the literal worst. He's a prick and I would happily punch him where the sun don't shine if he were an actual person and alive instead of an old fictional character. Also, knowing that this sonnet sequence was based off of Sir Philip Sidney's experience with loving a 13-year old girl made me very uncomfortable a lot of the time, especially in the back half of the sequence...especially at the second song

5.
Title: Bloodwitch
Author: Susan Dennard
Rating: 5 // 5 stars
Review

6.
Title: The City of Brass
Author: S.A. Chakraborty
Rating: 4.75 // 5 stars
Review

7.
Title: As You Like It
Author: William Shakespeare
Rating: N/A--read for class

8.
Title: The Kingdom of Copper
Author: S.A. Chakraborty
Rating: 5 // 5 stars
Review

9.
Title: Stalking Jack the Ripper
Author: Kerri Maniscalco
Rating: 5 // 5 stars

I had such a fun time rereading this book and I'm super excited to move onto the next one. I first read this book back when it came out and fell in love with the characters. When I started reading the second one, though, I got too caught up in college to finish. But I can't wait to continue on now that I'm all refreshed to the events of this book!

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BLOG POSTS

January 2019 Wrap-Up!
Let's Talk: "Till Death Do Us Part" by A.J. Lee
January 2019 Book Haul!
Top 5 Wednesday: Nostalgic Ships
Unboxing: Beacon Book Box's "Spellbound Stories"
Truthwitch Book Tag!
Let's Talk: "Bloodwitch" by Susan Dennard
Top 5 Wednesday: Independent Ladies
Let's Talk: "The City of Brass" by S.A. Chakraborty
Fantasy Book Recommendations!
Let's Talk: "The Kingdom of Copper" by S.A. Chakraborty
Recommending My Favorite TV Shows

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MOVIES/TV SHOWS WATCHED

I re-discovered Hawaii Five-0 last month just after returning from winter break and became obsessed. I ended up watching seasons 2 through 7 (a total of 150 episodes 😱). All I can say is that this show is addicting and I had to watch it that fast before my free trial ran out! I'm still currently catching up as I post this and I love the direction the show has taken.

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Thanks for reading!

xoxo

Lauren

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Let's Talk: "Bloodwitch" by Susan Dennard

Title: Bloodwitch
Author: Susan Dennard

Series: "Witchlands" #3

Genre: YA Fantasy

Page Length: 464 pages

Publication Date: February 12, 2019

Date Started: February 6, 2019

Date Finished: February 11, 2019
Rating: 5 // 5 stars

Goodreads

Book 1 Review

Book 2 Review

Book 2.5 Review
Truthwitch Book Tag

*I was sent a free advanced copy of this book from the publisher through Bookish First in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and comments are entirely my own*

This is by far my favorite book in the Witchlands series. I finished reading it and just kind of sat there trying to absorb all that happened. As much as I liked the previous books, this one raised the bar for this series.

Let me start off by saying that the characters were phenomenal. I loved the different POVs we got and I can't wait to see what happens to them in future books. Just looking back at the character growth from the first book to this one is such an insane journey.

This book seemed even more emotional than previous books, in my opinion. I felt a greater connection to all of the characters, not just Aeduan. My heart hurts at times and I definitely shed a few tears here and there. I can just see how brilliantly Susan has crafted these characters and it makes me so excited to see what she'll do next.

Seeing how all the different plot lines wove together in the end almost made me scream and throw the book across the room. In fact, there were moments where I as just sitting in my bed making incoherent noises and clutching the book. That ending!

Also, Susan is the queen of teasing. I don't want to discuss too in depth but there would be moments we'd been building up to and I'd been anticipating, and then something would interfere to where that moment ended up being pushed back. It was pure torture but another reason why I enjoyed this book so much.

Honestly, I'm not quite sure how to further discuss this without spoiling things accidentally, so I'll leave you with this: I absolutely adored this book. It's my favorite book I've read this year and my personal favorite of the series so far. I cannot wait to see how things play out. Overall, this was just a brilliant book!

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Thanks for reading!

xoxo

Lauren

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You can follow my bookstagram here. A brand new giveaway will be posted soon!

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Truthwitch Book Tag

In honor of Bloodwitch, the third book in the Witchlands, releasing today, I thought I would do something special! I stumbled across this tag a while ago and decided to save it for the release day. This tag was created by Inside My Library Mind and I wasn't tagged by anyone, but I decided I wanted to do it anyway! I'm going to try to pick answers outside of the Witchlands series but I can't promise they won't slip in here or there. 

1. Safiya: A Character That Grew on You

Elide or Lorcan from the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas. Let's be real, when we started getting their POVs I was mostly bored. I didn't want to read new POVs from characters I'd never met or didn't particularly like. I will say that they both grew on me but I'm still not as obsessed with them as some people are. Art by Taratjah

2. Iseult: A Character You Relate to the Most

Willa Knight from the Curse of the Gods series by Jaymin Eve and Jane Washington. Since the day I finished the first book in this series, I knew that if I was a book character, I would be her. She's clumsy, she's got my brand of humor, she's everything. 

3. Nubrevna: Favorite Setting

Honestly, I'm not quite sure for this one. If I'm being honest, I don't really picture vivid settings in my head when I'm reading. But I think I'm going to go with Velaris from the ACOTAR series by Sarah J. Maas just because I've seen so much fanart for it and it's so beautiful. Art by GrinningArtist. 

4. Aeduan: Favorite Anti-Hero

I'm going to go with Kaz Brekker for this one. He's not necessarily a bad guy, but he uses his wits and skills to do heists and run a gang, so he's definitely not a stereotypical good guy. I've only read Six of Crows so I haven't yet moved onto Crooked Kingdom, but I have a feeling I'm going to enjoy reading more of his character. Art by Whimsical Illustration

5. Merik Nihar: A Loyal Character

Ron Weasley from Harry Potter definitely fits this category. Even when things aren't necessarily the best for him, he always sticks by Harry's side or comes back in the end. He's truly the definition of a loyal Gryffindor. 

6. Safi and Iseult: Favorite Female Friendship

I'm going to have to go with Safi and Iseult from Truthwitch by Susan Dennard. I tried thinking of some other friendship that I liked more than theirs but I just couldn't. Everything about these two is amazing. Their loyalty, their selflessness for each other, etc. Their relationship is just the best. Art by alexisc_art

7. Threads that Bind: Favorite Book Relationship

I'm not going to go with a romantic relationship, but rather, another book friendship. (Small spoiler for Lord of Shadows). I just love seeing Kit and Ty's budding friendship. It's such an interesting relationship being formed and I can't wait to see where it goes next. Art by Unknown--please let me know if you know who made it!

8. The Puppeteer: Favorite Villain

The Volturi from the Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer. They're definitely not good people, erm...vampires, but they are such interesting characters to read about. The roles they've played in this series have been quite good and I think that they definitely help raise this series up. 

9. The Mountain Bat: Favorite Animal/Creature

I'm going to have to go with Buckbeak for this one from the Harry Potter series. I can't really explain why, but he was the first that popped into my head. 

10. Vaness: An Intimidating Character

Can I just say literally any high fantasy character? I feel like most of the characters I read would intimidate the hell out of me if I ever met them in real life. It would be the part-scared, part-awed feeling of intimidation.

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Truthwitch Review
Windwitch Review
Sightwitch Review
Bloodwitch Review

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Thanks for reading!

xoxo

Lauren

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You can follow my bookstagram here. A brand new giveaway will be posted soon!

To get more awesome content like this post, click the follow button to the right!

Beacon Book Box: use the code BOOKSHELF5 for a discount on your order or subscription! 

I am a "BookishTextDesign" Influencer! Use my code LAUREN10 for a discount off your bookmark purchases! Check out the shop here

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January 2019 Book Haul!

Well, I have to say that I did a lot better this month in terms of acquiring books. I'm trying out a book buying restriction and it's working somewhat. I think this month was just a lot and I could only slowly get into it. I'm hoping that February is an even smaller haul! This month I got 9 books (outside of school textbooks) and I'm excited about all of them. Additionally, 6 of them were either gifts or sent to me for free. When it comes down to it, I only purchased 3 books this month and that's a very good number compared to other months!

The first book that I got this month was a signed copy of Gray Wolf Mate by Dianna Love. I participated in the Indiegram tour for this book and was provided with a copy from the author to take pictures of. It came with a swag pack, too, which was exciting. I don't know much about it except it's about shifters and paranormal romance, which is my long-term guilty pleasure. You can find my Indiegram tour stop here :) 

Then I received a copy of Till Death Do Us Part by A.J. Lee from the author herself in exchange for an honest review. This is a zombie survival reverse harem story that I've already read and reviewed. You can find that review here, but just briefly I did enjoy this book and recommend it to RH lovers.

The next two books I got were signed copies of Briobands and The Things I Never Said by Olivia Esther. One of my friends got me these two for Christmas and I'm super excited to read them this year! One is fiction and the other is poetry and I'm pumped for both of them.

Then I received an arc of The Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons from Tor in exchange for participation in the blog tour hosted by Jean the Book Nerd. You can find my blog tour post here and my full, non-spoiler review of this book here. Overall, this book was enjoyable and I'm pretty excited for the sequel to come out next year.

Then my preorder for The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi came in and I'm beyond excited to have this book in my hands. I've heard nothing but good things about this book and hyping up this book as part of the street team has gotten me super excited to read it. You can find more information about the book here!

Then I decided to go ahead and get a copy of Sightwitch by Susan Dennard. This is an illustrated novella told from Ryber's perspective that is set before Truthwitch but was released after the second book in the series. After reading it, I fully believe that readers should read this novella after the second and before the third books in the series. You can find my review here.

I was then graciously sent an arc copy of The Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty from Harper Voyager US in order to promote it on my Instagram. I've heard nothing but good things about these books and I can't wait to dive into the first book very soon! Definitely stay tuned for reviews for both of the books in this series!

Lastly, I got Circle of Shadows by Evelyn Skye in my January Fairyloot. This was such a fun box and I liked almost all of the items in it. I especially loved this edition of Circle of Shadows which came signed and with light purple sprayed edges!

Well, those are all of the books that I got in the month of January! I'm hoping that my February haul is even smaller, but I've already gotten a couple so far. Here's to a good month ahead!

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Thanks for reading!

xoxo

Lauren

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You can follow my bookstagram here. A brand new giveaway will be posted soon!

To get more awesome content like this post, click the follow button to the right!

Beacon Book Box: use the code BOOKSHELF5 for a discount on your order or subscription! 

I am a "BookishTextDesign" Influencer! Use my code LAUREN10 for a discount off your bookmark purchases! Check out the shop here

Get free worldwide shipping with Book Depository using my affiliate link

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Let's Talk: "Windwitch" by Susan Dennard

Title: Windwitch

Author: Susan Dennard

Series: "Witchlands" #2

Genre: YA Fantasy

Page Length: 384 pages

Publication Date: January 3, 2017

Date Started: January 4, 2019

Date Finished: January 9, 2019

Rating: 4.5 // 5 stars

Goodreads

Y'all...this book was amazing! I was so excited for this book after finishing Truthwitch. I had no idea what was going to happen but definitely not what actually did! I was blown away. So much happened and I'm still trying to process everything we discovered!

So, for starters, the plot development and actual storyline was amazing. The different perspectives we had were all interesting in their own way and I loved how the author wove them together. I was originally a tad hesitant at the beginning about one of the perspectives, but by the end I was hooked and couldn't decide which I wanted to read the most.

The character development you guys! It was so good. I can look at not only the beginning of this book but also at the beginning of the series and see how these characters have changed. And I love that. The characters were all amazing and so real. I'm both super scared and nervous to see what happens to them next. I wish I'd gotten more of Safi and Iseult together but I can only hope we'll get that in the next book.

Overall, I loved this book. I wish I'd been able to sit and binge-read it in a day but, unfortunately, life got in the way. Still, I cannot wait to see what happens next!

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Thanks for reading!

xoxo

Lauren

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You can follow my bookstagram here. A brand new giveaway will be posted soon!

To get more awesome content like this post, click the follow button to the right! 

I am a "BookishTextDesign" Influencer! Use my code LAUREN10 for a discount off your bookmark purchases! Check out the shop here

Get free worldwide shipping with Book Depository using my affiliate link

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