Long time no see my friends – I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy! Quarantine has been kind of weird honestly and even though I’m working during the day I try to read what I can in between cleaning, cooking, and baking! I’ve been in a reading rut but I’m hoping to pull myself out very soon.
Last year I read a total of 20 books. Which isn’t that bad for a year. I’d like to read more stories this year so I brought my total up to 25 for the year 2020. Oh and what a year it has been!
So far over the winter of early 2020, I’ve read 3 books. Each one being a different adventure from one another. With quarantine in full swing I’ve slowed down a bit and honestly, I haven’t read much of anything. The reading slump has really gotten me down. But to motivate myself I decided to write a little blog post about all the titles I’ve read thus far, what I’m currently reading, and what I want to read next.
This is a book I shelved when I heard about it being written from booktuber Jessie The Reader and OH MY GOD. I couldn’t have been more excited when I opened it Christmas Morning! When I was younger I was obsessed with the Anastasia movie. Anastasia’s romance with Demetri was absolutely dreamy and I still sing songs from movie to this day as I clean around the house or in the shower.
We all know the history of this family because of this movie and it breaks my heart thinking about the history of this once royal family. We follow Anastasia (Nastya) in the book as she lives in exile hostage by her own country and how she and her family try to escape. This story is told with an interesting twist and though some details pretty historically accurate there are things obviously that Brandes had to take creative liberty on.
Let me just say, this book kept me on the edge of my seat constantly. Despite knowing the story – reading the optimism of the family killed me from the very beginning. The part that shattered my heart the MOST was Nastya’s relationship with her father. I won’t give away anything else that history can’t tell you but this was a fun, heart-shattering, crazy adventure and this is definitely going to be a book that I will read again and again. I urge you to pick this one up and if you’re like me some tissues too.
In February I picked this book up at Blue Plate Books in Winchester when we went down for a date night. Where ever my husband and I go we have to visit a book shop and that’s honestly where a lot of my money goes. I buy way too many books. Anyway, the cover piqued my interest immensely as I love ghosts, hauntings, and paranormal.
We follow Paige a teen who just moves to Idaho with her mom and brother renting an old victorian home in the suburbs. And wham bam surprise! It’s haunted. I really liked the writing style of this book being a first-person diary style. Paige writes on her personal blog much like I am now documenting her weird experiences in her new home. While I loved the descriptions of the haunting the weird twist ending wasn’t really it for me.
I felt a bit sad for Paige’s character and while I did enjoy the weird hints at a cult – this book was just okay. Although it was pretty fun to try and figure out what was happening. If you’re looking for an easy read and you like hauntings you can give it a try! Sadly, though I won’t be finishing the series nor will this book stay on my shelf.
THIS WAS MY MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2020!! And I must say – Laura you beautiful bean you delivered! This book does have one or two moments of predictability but it left me wanting more in more ways than one.
There is so much I can say about this book and I give it a solid 4.5 I want to give this book a full five but there are just a few things that i would want to change or a few things i really really hoped for that i just didn’t see. Regardless that doesn’t diminish my love for this series at all.
SPOILERS AHEAD BECAUSE I NEED TO TALK ABOUT IT! Long story short i loved it but was upset i got a different ending than what my heart wanted and theres some predictable moments but its fine. Skip to the next one now.
We follow Theo two weeks after her battle at the fire mine. Weak from her time in the mines we follow her as she fights to take back Astrea. We meet some new characters along the way and discover new things about Theo along the way. I really loved this story and I was fairly satisfied with the ending. I have a few issues with it though.
Predicability and the ending.
In the last book Cress leaves me seething and the entire time waiting for this book I couldn’t wait for the epic battle between Theo and Cress. Two fire queens dueling it out for Astrea. I wanted Theo to crush her and triumph and take the throne back and the bad ass Queen that Theo is. That is not at all what i got which leaves me a bit disappointed.
Instead, we got an ending where Cress runs away and Theo coldly throws a knife at her saying just kill yourself. Maybe it’s me wanting an Azula style ‘I’m crazy goddammit why can’t I win?” moment. Basically, i found the ending to be a bit anticlimactic. But it’s an ending im still kind of satisfied with. Theo won.
Another issue i had is just HOW predictable certain moments can be. Like Art saving Theo in the battle with the sisters or when Heron was hurt he’s fine in the end. I didn’t have a true sense of major loss besides Blaise but even with him I could see it coming. Dangit I just wanted my heart ripped out Stephen King style!
SPOILERS END
BUT regardless of the few knit picky points i have I still ADORE this series and I will read it over and over again. I can’t wait to read more of what Laura has in store I see she’s creating a new series and THAT I cannot wait for!
Current Reads:
So, not listed here is the first book of this series Stalking Jack the Ripper. Recently thanks to my loving and dear husband I have become a true crime nerd. I never really enjoyed horror too much nor was I really into true crime until one day the switch just flipped after introducing me to his favorite podcast: Morbid I adore those girls and I highly recommend checking them out if you loooove spoopy things. That being said my newfound love for true crime and my old love for historical fiction came together and i snagged the first book. Long story short I LOOOOVED it. Maniscalco has just a unique writing style and as I read it is just so elegant. I can’t get over her writing truly – her new novel should be out soon and bloody hell i MUST get my hands on it.
That being said. Hunting Prince Dracula so far is no exception to this. Maniscalco’s writing is as wonderful as ever and the banter between Wadsworth and Cresswell is utterly delightful. The romantic tension between these two characters is just amazing but what i love is that the romance is just a cute little sidestep. This doesn’t take over the novel by any means. Audrey Rose is beautiful and wildly smart and strong-willed and I love that about her. I love that after events in the previous novel she battles her newfound fears of the dead whilst studying to be a forensic scientist in 1889. Thomas is just infuriatingly charming and I can’t get enough.
I’m only 100 pages in but this is going to be just delicious and I can’t wait to sink my teeth in more. Eh? EH? See what i did there. Hunting Dracula?
What I Want to Read Next:
I KNOW I KNOW BEFORE YOU CHOP MY HEAD OFF HEAR ME OUT.
I recently joined Tik Tok and one day as I was scrolling about and I saw a video of a girl visiting Forks,WA. Now, i in general ADORE Washington and Oregan and I am dying to visit one day for their gorgeous mountains, beaches, and TREES. You heard me TREES. And of course, she had Bella’s Lullaby playing in the background and dammit it trigged the 14-year-old in me and I wanted to visit Forks again.
I have not read this book since 2010. EXACTLY TEN YEARS AGO. I was wild for this book series. I finished Twilight and begged my dad to get the next book that day and you know what? We hopped in the car, went to Waldenbooks and he got me the second one. i read it in 3 days. For Easter, he bought me Eclipse and when Breaking Dawn came out he came with me to the midnight book release with my best friend.
I was obsessed. Also I was Team Edward back in the day. Dont @ me.
But I am feeling so nostalgic for this that I want to see what my adult brain thinks about this novel. Will I love it still? Will I hate it? My original review for this series is 5 stars. My adult self marked this book as read and gave it a 3 star but i have not read the books since 2010. So is it really a 3 star for me? I don’t know.
But regardless. If you love this series? Thats totally okay! If you hate it? That’s fine too! Don’t ever feel bad for enjoying something because at the end of the day, what brings you the most joy in life MATTERS. So I will read this and return with my thoughts soon!
This was a long post but when you get me talking about books i will go on forever. I hope everyone doing well in their quarantine! It can be lonely and boring but i feel like if we can escape with a little portable magic it will go by faster!
Stay Inspired + Keep On Dreaming.
-S
Sandie Narvaez Photography 