Gaston Library discussion

With April over it’s time another Monthly Reading Wrap Up!

I read…

The Quarantine Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot- I wanted to enjoy this but I really didn’t all that much. A lot of the problem was definitely that Mia seemed to revert to her whiner teenage self that she had seemingly grown out of in the last book. It also read very much like the author was venting her own quarantine frustrations through Mia and it just didn’t work. I mean we all needed to find some outlet through the craziness that was COVID so I can’t blame her, just not sure this one worked as a published book. Also, it’s very possible that it is still just too soon for me to read about COVID, haha.

The Vacationers by Emma Straub- This one was a 50/50 for me. It wanted to be a possibly heartwarming tale of a broken family fully cracking and then coming back together on a vacation, but it just wasn’t. The writing was good and I stayed fairly invested in the plot but the characters were just ughh. I didn’t want to root for any of them at all and that’s where this book lost a lot of points for me.

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas- Well, I have deep dived into another YA fantasy series and this one has for sure been a long time coming. Maas did some pretty good world building and created interesting, fairly multifaceted characters. The side/supporting characters especially, there are some awesome ones! It took me to about 50% into the book to get fully invested in the plot, but once I did the plot kept me turning pages like crazy. I’m looking forward to keeping going with this series soon!

First Love, Take Two by Sajni Patel- I listened to this book on Audio. This was an adorable little romance between two very likable leads. After breaking things off (badly at that) shortly after Grad School, Daniel and Preeti end up in an apartment together for a fun and heartwarming forced proximity trope filled romance. The characters' journeys back to each other as well as them learning to tune out the expectations of everyone else was a fun one to read.

Book Lovers by Emily Henry- This was one of my favorites I’ve read in a while! It took a lot of the common romance novel/hallmark movie tropes and poked fun at them, but still used them in an adorable way too. I really liked how this book explored the relationship between Nora and her sister Libby. It was wonderful to see another non-romantic relationship get just as much attention as the romance. Nora and Charlie were a pretty good couple, not the best I’ve ever read but good. I enjoyed how they bonded over work and editing together. My favorite though was how they decided what was best for them wasn’t each other (at that moment) near the end. They do get a happy ending after circumstances change, but having both of them be able to let each other go until it was the right time for them to be together was nice to see.

What did you read this month? Be sure to share down below!

Happy Reading!

Book Lovers was so great. it's not usually my favorite genre, but this was such a fun read!! I also really enjoyed how they poked fun at the tropes! very cute!

My favorite that I read during April was Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano. Such a lovely story of family; what breaks us and what brings us back together!

I'm looking forward to some great reads in May!!

Jessica wrote: "With April over it’s time another Monthly Reading Wrap Up!

I read…

The Quarantine Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot- I wanted to enjoy this but I really didn’t all that much. A lot ..."

Glad you enjoyed Book Lovers as well. I haven't heard about Hello Beautiful before, it looks interesting!