I’m Back & February 2018 Wrap Up

Hey you guys

That’s right, me! Did you guys miss me oh so much already? I’m sure you did! 😉

But yes, I’m back again! And I hope it’s for good now too. I am definitely motivated and I have an entire month worth of posts planned out? Which is freaking awesome and I can’t wait to get to writing them all in the next couple of days!

The same day that I announced my blogging hiatus I actually ended up having so much motivation that I ended up planning all of March in just a couple of hours? And the entire time I was doing it I kept asking myself where on earth that motivation had been before. I mean, wouldn’t it have been nice to be able to figure all of that out sooner? I wouldn’t have to have gone on this hiatus! But oh well!

As you might be able to tell, I am also going with a new schedule from now on! I’ll be posting reviews on Mondays, discussions on Wednesdays and another fun post on Saturday. Saturdays are going to be the day of the week where I’ll just post whatever is currently interesting me or fun lists, etc! I’ll also be continuing my Bullet Journaling 101 series on Saturdays, but don’t worry! It won’t all just be about Bullet Journaling, I plan on switching things up regularly so everyone can look forward to something – hopefully! 🙂

Another thing that happened during this quick hiatus is that I actually finished reading some books? I mean, I finished two on the 27th, technically, but who is keeping track, right? February ended up being a really weird reading month compared to January but at least I finally finished some books again and I am hoping this is going to give me the push to read more again too!

What exactly did I read, you’re asking? I’m glad you’re curious!

The first book I finished reading this month (and also the book I read the quickest this month) was Sabaa Tahir’s An Ember In The Ashes! And you guys!!! I can’t even tell you how excited I am that I’ve gone back to this world because I loved every second of reading this book!

An Ember In The Ashes features a really, really dark and brutal world with interesting characters which makes the reading experience so amazing! But I want to let you guys know that there is violence in this book and rape is mentioned more than once and attempted once. This is a dark and brutal world and some characters are so, so horrible. I don’t often get such a strong urge to punch a fictional character as I had with Marcus for the majority of this book. Honestly, the guy is a dick.

And while some characters are just downright nasty you also get to see how other characters deal with the brutality of their world in different ways and how their experiences shape the way they interact with the world around them.

When I first read this book, I seem to remember that I couldn’t stand Helene very much at all which I absolutely don’t understand now? Helene is freaking awesome. She is a badass, she is allowed to be one of the greatest Masks in their class but she also has feelings and is allowed to show them. She has her own agenda and does everything in her power to keep the people she loves save. Honestly, if this reread has made me realize how awesome Helene is, I am so glad I went back into this story!

Lia and I will be reading A Torch Against The Night soon and I can’t wait to dive back into that particular story!

The next book I finished (and the first one I finished on said February 27th) was Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close which I buddy read (or, was supposed to) with Lia!

Ever since I mentioned this book in a book haul months ago, Lia and I had agreed that we’d read it together as this is one of her favorite books and I figured that would give me the motivation to finally read it too.

As you can probably see, I didn’t give this book a rating in my little graphic up there and that’s because I have no idea how to rate this book. It took me much longer than usual to finish it and I ended up being confused for a good chunk of the book which is never good.

I couldn’t really connect with the characters and the writing wasn’t really my cup of tea. I often find myself enjoying books that are straightforward and don’t use metaphors and things like that. It always makes me feel like I’m back in school and reading a book for class. Which I’ve always hated. A lot. So that definitely influenced my enjoyment of this book quite a bit.

I’ll probably hold off on rating this book for a little while longer until I can really make up my mind – I don’t want to give it a gut-reaction rating.

And the last book I finished this month was To Kill A Kingdom which I had gotten an eARC for via NetGalley!

I feel like it’s no secret that I can read a book in a single sitting or maybe two days and this book took me forever to finish – or at least that’s what it felt like. I would have to actively make myself read this book and eliminate any sort of distraction because I would often find myself wandering off and doing something else whenever I was reading.

Don’t get me wrong, I did like the story and the characters but it just never really pulled me into it the way other books can where I just don’t want to stop reading until I turn that final page. But I don’t want to give too much of my thoughts away just yet as I will be posting a full review of this book on Monday! Guess you’ll have to stay tuned for more! 😉

I know I included fun infographics in last month’s wrap up but I honestly don’t feel like doing it at the moment, so we’ll have to postpone that until another day. Hopefully, I’ll feel more like it by the time I write my March wrap up – I’ll just include it in there then!

How did you guys do reading wise in February? What kind of books did you read and what did you think of them? Have you read any of the books I’ve mentioned today? If so, how did you feel about them? Let me know in the comments down below!

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