Monthly Wrap-Up: February 2023

It’s March now, and spring is imminent, but it also means that February is over. So I’m gonna go over February’s statistics on The StoryGraph!

I didn’t read nearly as many books as I’d hoped, but I also didn’t read any less than I did in January, so I’m going to count that as a win.

Also, post #100 let’s gooo!!

So, uh anyway, now, on to the stats…

February 2023 Reading Stats

😐 Moods: Lots of moods in the books in February, Adventure of course being the biggest one, as per usual. My other moods were Mysterious, Emotional, and Dark, which also checks as every one of those except Emotional usually appears on my little pie chart.

👢 Pace: Most of the books I read are medium-paced, and that still shows here, but there dud read a book that I felt was fast-paced this month.

🔢 Page Number: I read a lot of longer books than I usually do in February, as 3/4 of them were 500+ page books. My preferred length of books is between 300 and 499 pages, and you can still see that a little bit here.

📖 Fiction/Nonfiction: 100% fiction once again. I swear I have a couple of nonfiction books on my TBR. I swear.

🎭 Genres: I upped the genres I read from last month. All of the books I read were Fantasy, which is my favorite genre so it’s absolutely no surprise. Most of them were also YA, which also isn’t a surprise as most fantasy that I read tends to be YA. Oh and Science Fiction! Hi there, second favorite genre! I read a lot less Romance than I expected to, even though all of the books I read technically featured it, to some degree.

📄 Format: All of the books I read last month were paperbacks.

Rating: My average rating for the month of February was 4.0 stars exactly. Not surprising – I gave all of the novels I read 4 stars, lol.

📉 Pages Read Daily: Once again, I was kind of all all over the place with the amount I read. I read more pages closer to the beginning of February, which makes sense, as I was able to read about three books in the first half of the month.

The Books I Read in February

Cress by Marissa Meyer
Cress by Marissa Meyer
Winter by Marissa Meyer
Winter by Marissa Meyer
The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber
The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber
A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab
A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab

Wrapping Up the Wrap-Up

So I didn’t read and review as many books in February that I’d wanted, but hey, I got sick in the last week and a half, and when I’m really not feeling well I just don’t want to read. But I finally finished A Conjuring of Light, and I finally finally finished Cress, which I’m really happy about.

What books did you read in February? 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!

See ya ~Mar

Weekly Wrap-Up: 2/6 – 2/12

Weekly Wrap-Up 2/6 - 2/12

It’s Monday again, so, as the start of a new week, it’s time to go over that last one. A weekly wrap-up, you could say.

Without further ado, let’s get into it.

Tuesday 2/7: Cress Review

Last Tuesday, I finally finished Cress!! And I did a review for it. I was so proud of myself – this is something that I’ve been trying to do for literally years. And I finally did it!

If you’re interested and you missed it, you can read my review for it here.

Wednesday 2/8: WWW Wednesday

WWW Wednesday
WWW Wednesday

On Wednesday, I had intended to do both a Shelf Control and a WWW Wednesday, but because of life, I was only able to do the latter.

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. If you wanna know what the 3 Ws are and what I’ve been reading lately, you can read my post here.

Saturday 2/11: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children Review

Saturday I did another retrospective book review. This one was on a book that I really enjoyed when I first read it. It was Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs.

You can check out my full review here, if you missed it.

Sunday 2/12: Winter Review

On Sunday (yesterday), I actually finished The Lunar Chronicles. I finished up Winter and then proceeded to write up and post a review for it. A fantastic ending to a great series.

If you’re interested in my opinion of the finale to The Lunar Chronicles, you can read it here.

Goals for This Week: 2/13 – 2/19

Unfortunately, last week I didn’t post as much as I wanted. I had intended to do a Shelf Control (as I mentioned briefly above), but I had wanted to post at least one other time. But, you know, sometimes life just happens.

So this week, my goals are:

  • Shelf Control
  • WWW Wednesday
  • First Lines Friday
  • a few book reviews
  • … maaayybe a Majestic Monday

Annnd that’s all for this Weekly Wrap-Up! As I said, I did a lot, and read some books. Had a lot of fun doing it too.

Thanks so much for reading, and have an excellent day/night!

See ya ~Mar

“Winter” by Marissa Meyer: Book Review

“She’s our lost princess. And she’s coming home.”

Cinderella vs. The Evil Queen – The Final Showdown | Winter by Marissa Meyer [Book Review]

★★★★☆ • 4 / 5 stars

The #1 New York Times Bestselling Series

Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar her face, her beauty is said to be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana.

Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won’t approve of her feelings for her childhood friend–the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn’t as weak as Levana believes her to be and she’s been undermining her stepmother’s wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that’s been raging for far too long.

Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afters? Fans will not want to miss this thrilling conclusion to Marissa Meyer’s national bestselling Lunar Chronicles series.

Note: I’ve read and reviewed the first three books in The Lunar Chronicles. You can read them here: Cinder Review | Scarlet Review | Cress Review

What an incredible end to an incredible series. It wasn’t my favorite book in The Lunar Chronicles, but I still really enjoyed it.

Winter is a 2015 novel by Marissa Meyer, published by Feiwel & Friends. It’s 827 pages in length, and is the conclusion to The Lunar Chronicles. And the genres, as per usual with this series, are YA fantasy and science fiction.

Stuff I Liked

I really loved how all the characters finally came together, and were reunited with one another. The Rampion crew has been separated into different duos and trio since Scarlet, and I was honestly getting a little tired of it.

Another thing I really enjoyed about the book was, as usual with TLC, the characters themselves. Thorne and Iko are always joys to follow, even when not in their POVs, and I really liked the “new” characters as well.

“I fear tomorrow will be even more difficult for you, Sir Clay. Do try to think of me when you can.”

“Try, Princess?” He smirked, meeting her gaze again. “I can’t seem to think of much else.”

I really liked Winter. She’s my favorite protagonist after Scarlet, and I wish that she would’ve had more screentime. She was an extremely interesting person, and her relationship with Jacin was adorable. (I would’ve also liked to see a little more of that, but it’s not something that really irritated me either.) I understand that this was the grand finale and that it was time to wrap the story up – not to mention the book was 800+ freaking pages already – so I completely get why there wasn’t more time for some character moments with these two.

Speaking of Scarlet, it was also really awesome to see her kicking ass and taking names again. She didn’t really do much in Cress, which kind of gave me a little whiplash after how important she was in her debut novel. It mostly felt like Meyer was setting the stage with her for Winter.

But the stage had been set, and she was back in an active role here, which I loved. Her reunion with Wolf was also everything I had hoped for.

I also loved seeing Cinder’s character arc finally complete itself. It was amazing to watch her grow and change as a character, and it made me glad that I finally finished this series.

“I can’t believe this is happening. I can’t fight like this, or start a revolution, or be a queen. I can’t do anything like this. I’m broken. I’m literally broken.”

Iko settled a hand on Cinder’s shoulder. “Yeah, but broken isn’t the same as unfixable.”

And before I forget and move on to the cons, I really should mention the plot. And the writing in general.

The plot was fast-paced and engaging as all of the other books were (though there were a few things I didn’t care for – we’ll get to that). And there were some nods to Snow White this time because… Winter was essentially sci-fi Snow White. I also really liked the theme that the book focused on: how beauty is what is inside and has nothing to do with one’s appearance.

Meyer’s writing was wonderful as always. I love her lush, but not overly detailed, descriptions. I adore her dialogue between her characters – it just reads as so natural. Just. She’s a fantastic author.

And Now, For the Stuff I Didn’t Like

As I mentioned above, I would’ve liked Winter to have more screentime. But that isn’t what I wanted to complain about. The thing that I wanted to complain about was how the Snow White retelling was pretty much glossed over here.

And I get it, Meyer had a whole plot to resolve. But after three books that heavily referenced and borrowed from the fairytales they were based on, it felt like there was just so much less of that in Winter.

I also didn’t like all of the fridging going on here. I won’t mention any names or scenes, so as not to spoil anything, but there was fridging here and I didn’t appreciate how it was handled.

And, last but not least, I think that the main cast has gotten a little bit too bloated. Don’t get me wrong – I love the characters that Marissa Meyer has created, but there were just a few too many.

But yeah, I think that’s it for my criticisms. There wasn’t really much that I didn’t like about it.

Final Thoughts

And they all lived happily to the end of their days.

I really enjoyed my time with Winter, despite some of the stuff that bugged me, and I really liked The Lunar Chronicles as a whole. The beginning was good, the middle was even better, and the end of the series was satisfying.

I recommend this to fans of other books of Meyer’s, fairytale retellings (and retellings in general), fantasy, sci-fi, and YA. It has a lot to offer a lot of different people, and is very well written.

Thanks for reading and have an amazing day/night!

See ya ~Mar

WWW Wednesday #4

I’ve really made a habit of this, haven’t I? It’s a good thing, I hope. WWW Wednesday post number four, here we go!

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!

The 3 Ws of WWW Wednesday are…

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?


The Thing(s) I’m Currently Reading:

Winter (WWW Wednesday)

Winter (The Lunar Chronicles #4) by Marissa Meyer

Current Status: 60% complete!

Current Feels: 😀 (excited)

The #1 New York Times Bestselling Series

Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar her face, her beauty is said to be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana.

Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won’t approve of her feelings for her childhood friend–the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn’t as weak as Levana believes her to be and she’s been undermining her stepmother’s wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that’s been raging for far too long.

Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afters? Fans will not want to miss this thrilling conclusion to Marissa Meyer’s national bestselling Lunar Chronicles series.

A Conjuring of Light

A Conjuring of Light (Shades of Magic #3) by V.E. Schwab

Current Status: 44% complete

Current Feels: 🫤 (so-so, apathetic, burned-out) (Taking a break – I will finish this though!)

Witness the fate of beloved heroes – and enemies.

THE BALANCE OF POWER HAS FINALLY TIPPED…

The precarious equilibrium among four Londons has reached its breaking point. Once brimming with the red vivacity of magic, darkness casts a shadow over the Maresh Empire, leaving a space for another London to rise.

WHO WILL CRUMBLE?
Kell – once assumed to be the last surviving Antari – begins to waver under the pressure of competing loyalties. And in the wake of tragedy, can Arnes survive?

WHO WILL RISE?
Lila Bard, once a commonplace – but never common – thief, has survived and flourished through a series of magical trials. But now she must learn to control the magic, before it bleeds her dry. Meanwhile, the disgraced Captain Alucard Emery of the Night Spire collects his crew, attempting a race against time to acquire the impossible.

WHO WILL TAKE CONTROL?
And an ancient enemy returns to claim a crown while a fallen hero tries to save a world in decay.


The Thing I (Most) Recently Finished Reading:

Cress

Cress (The Lunar Chronicles #3) by Marissa Meyer

Star Rating: ★★★★☆ • 4 / 5

Read My Review

The #1 New York Times Bestselling Series

In this third book in Marissa Meyer’s bestselling Lunar Chronicles series, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, now with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and prevent her army from invading Earth.

Their best hope lies with Cress, a girl trapped on a satellite since childhood who’s only ever had her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker. Unfortunately, she’s being forced to work for Queen Levana, and she’s just received orders to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.

When a daring rescue of Cress goes awry, the group is splintered. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a higher price than she’d ever expected. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai, especially the cyborg mechanic. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has.


The Thing I Most Want to Read Next:

The Ballad of Never After

The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart #2) by Stephanie Garber

Now that she’s discovered her own magic, Evangeline believes she can use it to restore the chance at happily ever after that Jacks stole away.

But when a new terrifying curse is revealed, Evangeline finds herself entering into a tenuous partnership with the Prince of Hearts again. Only this time, the rules have changed. Jacks isn’t the only force Evangeline needs to be wary of. In fact, he might be the only one she can trust, despite her desire to despise him.

Instead of a love spell wreaking havoc on Evangeline’s life, a murderous spell has been cast. To break it, Evangeline and Jacks will have to do battle with old friends, new foes, and a magic that plays with heads and hearts. Evangeline has always trusted her heart, but this time she’s not sure she can…


What books have you been reading recently? How’ve you been liking your reads? Any correlation between our lists?

Thank you for reading, and have a great day/night!

See ya ~Mar


LINKS: Goodreads | Instagram

WWW Wednesday #3

No Shelf Control from me this week, unfortunately, but I’m beginning to run out of books on my bookshelf/Kindle that have been languishing. (Which is probably a good thing.) (No it isn’t.) Anyway, I’m still up for WWW Wednesday, do let’s get started! I’ve really enjoyed it since I started participating in it a couple weeks ago.

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!

The 3 Ws of WWW Wednesday are…

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?


What I’m Currently Reading:

Cress - WWW Wednesday

Cress by Marissa Meyer

Series: The Lunar Chronicles (Book #3)

Length: 552 pages

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, YA, Fiction

Release Date: February 4, 2014

Book Description:

The #1 New York Times Bestselling Series

In this third book in Marissa Meyer’s bestselling Lunar Chronicles series, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, now with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and prevent her army from invading Earth.

Their best hope lies with Cress, a girl trapped on a satellite since childhood who’s only ever had her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker. Unfortunately, she’s being forced to work for Queen Levana, and she’s just received orders to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.

When a daring rescue of Cress goes awry, the group is splintered. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a higher price than she’d ever expected. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai, especially the cyborg mechanic. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has.


What I Recently Finished Reading:

What Moves the Dead - WWW Wednesday

What Moves The Dead by T. Kingfisher

Length: 165 pages

Genres: Horror, LGBTQIA+, Fiction

Release Date: July 12, 2022

Book Description:

When Alex Easton, a retired soldier, receives word that their childhood friend Madeline Usher is dying, they race to the ancestral home of the Ushers in the remote countryside of Ruritania.

What they find there is a nightmare of fungal growths and possessed wildlife, surrounding a dark, pulsing lake. Madeline sleepwalks and speaks in strange voices at night, and her brother Roderick is consumed with a mysterious malady of the nerves.

Aided by a redoubtable British mycologist and a baffled American doctor, Alex must unravel the secret of the House of Usher before it consumes them all.


What I Might Read Next:

Winter - WWW Wednesday

Winter by Marissa Meyer

Series: The Lunar Chronicles (Book #4)

Length: 827 pages

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, YA, Fiction

Release Date: November 10, 2015

Book Description:

The #1 New York Times Bestselling Series

Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar her face, her beauty is said to be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana.

Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won’t approve of her feelings for her childhood friend–the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn’t as weak as Levana believes her to be and she’s been undermining her stepmother’s wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that’s been raging for far too long.

Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afters? Fans will not want to miss this thrilling conclusion to Marissa Meyer’s national bestselling Lunar Chronicles series.


What are your 3 Ws for this week? How’ve you been enjoying them lately? Have you read any of the books above? What did you think of them, if you have?

Thanks for reading! Tune in next post for more bookish things! (This time, specifically a review of What Moves the Dead.)

See ya ~Mar


LINKS: Goodreads | Instagram

Weekly Wrap-Up: 12/5 – 12/11

It’s the end of the week again, so it’s time for a reading wrap-up. I didn’t blog as much as I had wanted to, but sometimes that’s (unfortunately) just how life goes.

Fortunately, I did have the opportunity to post a few times this week, so let’s look back on the good times like those.

Tuesday 12/6: Majestic Monday

This Tuesday, I posted the thing where I talk about pretty book covers. This week I highlighted City of Lost Chances by Adrian Tchaikovsky, Ash & Embers by Jenna Wolfhart, and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab. You can check out the full post here if you missed it.

Thursday 12/8: Winter Book Recommendations

This Thursday, I thought that it was time I give out a few of my (only) winter-themed book recommendations. I’m not gonna spoil it here – cuz I don’t want to ruin the point of the post itself – so you can read the whole thing here, if you’re curious.

Friday 12/9: The Will and the Wilds Review

On Friday, I finally posted another book review. This one was Charlie N. Holmberg’s The Will and the Wilds, a somewhat surreal, high fantasy, romance novel. It was a quick and interesting read, I totally recommend it for that reason alone, even if it wasn’t one of my favorites. (I’m also planning on reading more of this author’s books.) If you missed it, you can read my review here.

Sunday 12/11: Weekly Wrap-Up and General Goals for Next Week

Annnd, that’s it for this week. Like I said at the top, I didn’t post as much as I wanted to, but stuff happens. I also didn’t really meet any of my blogging goals the way that I wanted to, which is also unfortunate.

So, I’m not going to overtly state any goals like I have been, because life happens, and it also prevents me from being spontaneous if I get an idea to blog about something bookish in the middle of the week, or something.

So for this week, I’m not committing to anything, but I’d like to do a Shelf Control, post a couple book reviews, maaayybe a reading retrospective, and probably at least something else. So join me next time for more bookish things!

Some Wintery Reads for the Snowy Season | December Book Recommendations

It’s that time of the year again! Time for some seasonal book recommendations, that is. But, unlike the fall, here I’ll be highlighting some cozy reads with winter vibes.

I don’t have as many as in October, unfortunately, but I haven’t really read as many books with a frosty atmosphere. But I’ve still got a few that I can talk about, so let’s get started!

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

Series: The Winternight Trilogy [Book #1]

Length: 336 pages

Genre: Fantasy, Literary Fiction

Release Date: January 10, 2017

Book Description

Winter lasts most of the year at the edge of the Russian wilderness, and in the long nights, Vasilisa and her siblings love to gather by the fire to listen to their nurse’s fairy tales. Above all, Vasya loves the story of Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon. Wise Russians fear him, for he claims unwary souls, and they honor the spirits that protect their homes from evil.

Then Vasya’s widowed father brings home a new wife from Moscow. Fiercely devout, Vasya’s stepmother forbids her family from honoring their household spirits, but Vasya fears what this may bring. And indeed, misfortune begins to stalk the village.

But Vasya’s stepmother only grows harsher, determined to remake the village to her liking and to groom her rebellious stepdaughter for marriage or a convent. As the village’s defenses weaken and evil from the forest creeps nearer, Vasilisa must call upon dangerous gifts she has long concealed—to protect her family from a threat sprung to life from her nurse’s most frightening tales.

Brief Review

Ah yes, the winter-themed book on everyone’s winter-themed lists. It’s been a bit since I’ve read this, but I still remember quite vividly how I felt about it. It had such an eye-catching premise, and I started reading this immediately after I obtained a copy. But… I dunno, something about the writing style just didn’t gel with my tastes.

Don’t get me wrong – I think it’s a pretty well-written novel! I just think it was too slow for my tastes. I also didn’t like following the MC’s entire life. It felt too expository, and like an almost book long prologue to the real story.

I do, however, admire that it’s inspired by the tale of Vasilisa: the famous heroine who defeated the witch Baba Yaga in Russian folklore. It just wasn’t for me, unfortunately. But it might be for you, so definitely check it out!

Winterspell by Claire Legrand

Length: 464 pages

Genre: Fantasy, Romance

Release Date: September 30, 2014

Book Description

After her mother is brutally murdered, seventeen-year-old Clara Stole is determined to find out what happened to her. Her father, a powerful man with little integrity, is a notorious New York City gang lord in the syndicate-turned-empire called Concordia. And he isn’t much help.

But there is something even darker than Concordia’s corruption brewing under the surface of the city, something full of vengeance and magic, like the stories Clara’s godfather used to tell her when she was a little girl. Then her father is abducted and her little sister’s life is threatened, and Clara accidentally frees Nicholas from a statue that has been his prison for years. Nicholas is the rightful prince of Cane, a wintry kingdom that exists beyond the city Clara has known her whole life.

When Nicholas and Clara journey together to Cane to retrieve her father, Clara encounters Anise, the queen of the faeries, who has ousted the royal family in favor of her own totalitarian, anti-human regime. Clara finds that this new world is not as foreign as she feared, but time is running out for her family, and there is only so much magic can do…

Brief Review

I know that nowadays Claire Legrand’s most known for Sawkill Girls and the like, but this book came looonng before that. It’s also, incidentally, the only book of hers I’ve read, and it was years ago at that. This book got me out of a big reading slump way back in November 2015. A Nutcracker retelling? Yes, please!

And it actually lived up to the hype that the premise generated inside of me. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I’ve even gone back to it a couple of times since. So yeah, I definitely recommend it.

Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber

Series: Once Upon a Broken Heart [Book #1]

Length: 408 pages

Genre: Fantasy

Release Date: September 28, 2021

Book Description

For as long as she can remember, Evangeline Fox has believed in true love and happy endings…until she learns that the love of her life will marry another.

Desperate to stop the wedding and to heal her wounded heart, Evangeline strikes a deal with the charismatic, but wicked, Prince of Hearts. In exchange for his help, he asks for three kisses, to be given at the time and place of his choosing.

But after Evangeline’s first promised kiss, she learns that bargaining with an immortal is a dangerous game — and that the Prince of Hearts wants far more from her than she’d pledged. He has plans for Evangeline, plans that will either end in the greatest happily ever after, or the most exquisite tragedy…

Brief Review

Look, I was struggling to figure out at least one more book to put on here with winter vibes (that I’ve read), okay? Believe, I know that there’s been too many posts on this blog involving this book in the time frame it’s been active.

But yeah, this book’s setting is basically a winter wonderland for a huge portion of the novel. And winter wonderland = very wintery vibes. The winteriest. So if you want that, then definitely give this a whirl.


And that is, very unfortunately, all I have for you today. Have you read any of these books? Do you think they have the vibes for snowy season?

Thanks, as always, and join me next time for more bookish things!