It’s April now, and spring is in full swing! But that also means that March is over. So I’m gonna go over March’s statistics on The StoryGraph!
I read waaayy more books last month than I could’ve hoped for. Especially compared to how much I was able to read in the first two months of the year. Six books! That’s two whole books more than February (and January too, now that I think about it).
Now, on with the stars…
March 2023 Reading Stats
😐 MOODS:Adventurous was once again a huge chunk of my Moods graph, but Emotional and Hopeful were the other two big ones. Which is waaayy different from February’s, which has Mysterious as one of its big chunks. (Dark is on both graphs.)
👢 PACE: Over 80% of this chart is medium-paced, so I’d say that’s still my favorite type of book to read.
🔢 PAGE NUMBER: The ACOTAR series mostly consists of long books, and seeing as I read over half of them in March, it’s no surprise seeing that a third of the graph is given to 500+ books. Once again, my preferred length seems to be between 300 and 500 page books.
📖 FICTION/NONFICTION: 100% fiction once again. I swear I have a couple of nonfiction books on my TBR. I swear.
🎭 GENRES: Fantasy was once again the frontrunner of the Genre bar graph, being featured as a genre in all of the books that I read in March. Not as much YA this past month either, but definitely more Romance than usual.
📄 FORMAT: The StoryGraph Format graph is once again wrong (I need to try to fix that… Maybe). 50% of the books that I read were digital, and the other 50% of the books I read were print.
⭐ RATING: I had two average ratings in March: 2.75 stars and 4.0 stars. I was a bit all over the map last month with how much I enjoyed the books that I read.
📉 PAGES READ DAILY: I was a little more consistent with my reading this past month, as opposed to February. I didn’t read nearly as much as I’d have liked during the first half of March, but I was reading a lot during the second half.
I read a lot more in March compared to the first two months of the year, so I’m pretty satisfied. Of course, I’d like to read another six books this month (April), or maybe even more! We’ll see what happens.
What books did you read in March? What did you think of them? Did we read any of the same books?
Thank you, as always, for reading, and have a marvelous day/night!
Gosh, it’s a new week already. Time sure flies when you read a bunch of books, haha.
I got a ton of stuff done last week that I’m happy with, but at the same time, I didn’t quite get to everything that I wanted to get finished (or posted). But I’m reading a lot more and posting a lot more than I was in December and January, so I’m really happy with what I’ve gotten done (and read) in the past couple of months.
Without further ado, let’s go over last week.
Monday 3/20: Spring 2023 Equinox
Last Monday, I forwent a Majestic Monday post, and instead did special spring post. It was basically about whether or not I’m a seasonal reader, what I generally read, and some of the stuff on my immediate TBR.
Wednesday I was able to double post! Yay! I did a WWW Wednesday (hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words), and a Shelf Control (hosted by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies).
Last Thursday, I finally posted my review for A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas. It was a big book, so it took me a couple days (and then I like to spend a day ruminating on what I read and getting my thoughts together). But I finally finished it and posted the review!
On Friday I participated in First Line Fridays (formerly hosted by Wandering Words). I had a lot of fun with the post. The eighth time I joined in, and it hasn’t gotten old yet!
I just want to keep doing what I’m doing. Aside from this weekend, I did fantastically last week. (I usually take Saturday off from blogging, and I was feeling under the weather yesterday.)
I was gonna post my A Court of Frost and Starlight review yesterday but… yeah, didn’t feel good. So you can expect that review later today! And I finished A Court of Silver Flames this morning, so I’m gonna try to post that review tomorrow!
Thank you for reading, and have an excellent day/night!
She has left the Night Court – and her High Lord – and is playing a deadly game of deceit. In the Spring Court, Tamlin is making deals with the invading king threatening to bring Prythian to its knees, and Feyre is determined to uncover his plans. But to do so she must weave a web of lies, and one slip may spell doom not only for Feyre, but for her world as well.
As mighty armies grapple for power, Feyre must decide who to trust amongst the dazzling and lethal High Lords – and hunt for allies in unexpected places.
BUT WHILE WAR RAGES, IT IS HER HEART THAT WILL FACE THE GREATEST BATTLE.
I have such mixed feelings about A Court of Wings and Ruin. And this series in general. On one hand, it’s my favorite kind of trash (when I’m in the mood for romance and trash). On the other hand, I really hate a lot of things about this book, as well as quite a few things about this series in general.
But it’s been bothering me for years that I left the initial ACOTAR trilogy unfinished, and after getting my mom into reading as a motivation to finish it (my trash is her treasure), I’m gonna finish the other two ACOTAR books that have been released.
I Have Some Things To Say about this book, so without further hesitation I’m gonna start ranting.
The World
Once again, the most fascinating aspect of ACOTAR’s story is its setting. I really do like the world that Maas built, even if the Prythian landmass is just a fantasy UK.
I like a lot of the creatures that she created (but underutilized greatly). Also, I think the Court system itself is interesting, though Maas didn’t really take it in a direction that I liked. I thought that the High Lords themselves had a lot of potential as well, but Maas didn’t really make them interesting or unique aside from their powers. (And even that isn’t unique since Feyre has all of their powers combined.)
I also would’ve liked to know more about the other countries, but they only get name dropped and that’s it. We don’t even learn really anything about Hybern – the invading force – except that they were speciesist 500 years ago, and they’re still speciesist now. I felt like Maas could’ve done more with that.
The Characters
Oh boy, do I have Thoughts about the characters in this book. I hate most of them. Viscerally. But I will admit that I do like a few of them.
Let’s start with the ones that I like, since there are so little of them. First off, Nesta is still the best character in the series (so far), and I hated how much some of the other characters started to rag on her closer to the ending. She’s also one of the few characters in this novel with an actual, distinct personality and character. And it was very enjoyable to read her being bitchy.
The only other characters that I really liked were Amren and Lucien. Amren was fun to read about, and also unapologetically a bitch. And we stan Amren/Varian on this blog. My favorite couple in the series.
Amren and Varian didn’t even bother to join us.
No, she’d just wrapped her legs around his waist, right there in front of us, and he’d stood, lifting her in one swift movement. I wasn’t entirely sure how Varian managed to walk them out of the tent while still kissing her, Amren’s hands dragging through his hair, letting out noises that were unnervingly like purring as they vanished into the camp.
Rhys had let out a low laugh as we all gawked in their wake. “I supposed that’s how Varian decided he’d tell Amren he was feeling rather grateful she’d ordered us to go to Adriata.”
Tarquin cringed. “We’ll alternate who has to deal with them on holidays.”
Lucien was probably the most interesting male character in this book, and I hate that no one likes him (not even the author really seems to, lol). And he doesn’t really even deserve any of it. The only character that gets more hate is Tamlin, and Lucien doesn’t deserve to be that high on our group of MCs (s)hitlist.
Oh, and before I forget, I really loved the Suriel and the Bone Carver. But then SJM decided to do away with them (and the Weaver) (also SPOILERS), which really irritated me. They were the most interesting characters in the series, and definitely still had a ton of potential, but since Maas chose to get rid of them, I guess we’ll never see what could have been.
Annnd I didn’t much care for anyone else. Feyre was even more annoying than ever, and I hated reading about how spiteful and pissed off at everything. She wasn’t a character that I really enjoyed following, like, at all. And she was ridiculously overpowered and I hated it (and her) because she wasn’t even close to being a likable enough character to be fun to read being overpowered.
Also, it bugged me that she kept bragging about solving Amarantha’s riddle from the first book. 1) That was like the easiest riddle ever and 2) it took her months to figure it out.
My goal was bigger than revenge. My purpose greater than personal retribution.
Uhhhh, no it’s not Feyre… You’re lying to yourself.
Speaking of being overpowered, Rhysand also started to get super annoying here too. The author made him too secretly perfect under a veneer of bad-boyishness. And I both of those aspects about him. I also didn’t like how he was the most powerful of all the High Lords. Like, power couples can be fun, but that only works for me when both characters are very likeable, of which neither individual person in this couple is.
I also don’t like Mor anymore, as (SPOILERS) she’s apparently been stringing Azriel along for 500 years. And that’s just irredeemable to me, regardless of the reasons. Stringing someone along for 500 years is just morally reprehensible.
And Azriel and Cassian (and Mor) all just kept acting like college frat boys and a sorority girl, and it just got insufferable to me after a while. They’re all supposed to be over 500 years old and I can’t take them seriously because none of them act like it. Rhysand doesn’t either – he’s a frat boy too!
The Romance
Night Triumphant – and the Stars Eternal.
If he was the sweet, terrifying darkness, I was the glittering light that only his shadows could make clear.
The romance in A Court of Wings and Ruin was… meh. Most of it was average at best. And I hated the smut. Not because it was bad (though I’ve heard it’s not very good), but because I don’t care enough about it to make that call.
I just don’t like smut in general. I skip all the sex scenes in every book I see it in. And yes, I’m aware that the majority of A Court of Silver Flames is smut, but I’m still gonna read it so I can say I read this whole series.
The only relationship that I liked in this book was Amren and Varian, and that’s mostly because I just like Amren’s character.
The Plot
“Leave this world… a better place than how you found it.”
I didn’t much care about the plot until the last third, and even then it wasn’t that engaging, for the most part. SJM used a bunch of plot and character conveniences, which I despised, and when they’d had their use (in her eyes) she just dumped them for good. Ugh.
The plot also didn’t really start to move until close to the halfway point. Sure, a couple of things happened closer to the beginning, but not all that much occurred until about 40% of the way in. And Feyre was just so angry for the first 20% – it was just really annoying to read.
Also, Nesta’s powers. Maas built them up so freaking much and then, in the end, she hardly did anything with them. Literally all Nesta did with them was throw the King of Hybern into some trees really heard (which didn’t even kill him, let alone slow him down!), and nothing else. It’s like SJM couldn’t figure out what to do with her or something.
And before I forget, Feyre running off in the middle of battle without telling anyone was about the stupidest decision I’ve ever seen her make. And just to go find the Suriel who she didn’t even get any useful information from. Ughhhh!
Also, Lucien did a ton of stuff off screen, and it was the most interesting plot stuff in the book. I wanted to read that!
Final Thoughts
Even as an immortal, there was not enough time in life to waste it on hatred.
So yeah, I had a lot of thoughts about this book. And this series (so far) in general. I’m feeling pretty bland about the last two novels in this series, but I have to finish it now since I’m buddy reading it with my mom and she’s enjoying it a lot.
If you like the other ACOTAR books, you’ll like A Court of Wings and Ruin. Also, probably if you like fantasy with romance (and smut) too.
Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day/night!
It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve taken part in this, but last week I just happened to be in between books and I didn’t know which one I’d read next. But this week I’m locked and loaded with a plethora of options!
WWW Wednesday is a meme that used to be hosted at A Daily Rhythm, but has been taken over by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words. Now, without further ado, let’s get into the 3 Ws!
Current Feels: 🤔 (unsure, but definitely willing to read and finish!)
I’m currently buddy reading this series with my mom in a bid to get her into reading (and to give me some motivation to finish the ACOTAR books). I know what shows she likes, so I knew what kinds of books she’d like. (I was right. Lol.)
Depending on how I feel after I finish ACOFAS, I’ll either read this next and finish off the series, or take a break and read it next month. (My mom’s barely started ACOWAR, and it’ll probably take her a month to finish a big book like that, so… yeah.)
This series is what I’ll read next if I choose not to go for ACOSF right away. It’s a series that I originally read over a decade ago and never finished. (Inheritance wasn’t even out yet!)
I’ve always had a desire to finish The Inheritance Cycle, though, and it has a special place in my heart. So it’s getting read no matter what – whether before or after ACOSF, not withstanding.
What books have you been reading lately? What have you thought of them? Do we have any overlap?
Shelf Control is an original feature created and hosted by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies.
Shelf Control is a weekly celebration of the unread books on our shelves. Pick a book you own but haven’t read, write a post about it (suggestions: include what it’s about, why you want to read it, and when you got it), and link up! For more info on what Shelf Control is all about, check out this post from BookshelfFantasies.com.
This is my first week participating in it, and I’m very excited! I’ve got a ton of books that I’ve bought, but are still sitting unread on my shelves, months or even years later. And the book that I, Marin Gier, have decided to start off with is… 🥁🥁🥁
She has left the Night Court – and her High Lord – and is playing a deadly game of deceit. In the Spring Court, Tamlin is making deals with the invading king threatening to bring Prythian to its knees, and Feyre is determined to uncover his plans. But to do so she must weave a web of lies, and one slip may spell doom not only for Feyre, but for her world as well.
As mighty armies grapple for power, Feyre must decide who to trust among the dazzling and lethal High Lords – and hunt for allies in unexpected places.
But while war races, it is her heart that will face the greatest battle.
When I Got It:
November 2017
Why I Wanted to Read It:
I had read the first two – ACOWAR and ACOMAF – each after they had come out and enjoyed them, so I thought I’d do the same with this one.
Why I Haven’t Read It:
I read the first two in November of the years that they were released – despite them both coming out in May, just like this one – and I wanted to recreate the same feeling and atmosphere as when I had read the others.
I ended up getting both busy and distracted, and by the time I finally had time to read it, I just… didn’t. I didn’t feel like reading it at that time for whatever reason, and not just because it’s ginormous. And I guess I still haven’t gotten around to reading it because I kind of fell out of the ACOTAR series after that. I’d still kind of like to read it eventually, though.
Have you read this book? Or any of Sarah J. Maas’ series’? Did you like them or dislike them?
