Weirdly enough, I’m sort of excited that February’s over. Not only am I getting ridiculously excited to go on my Europe trip (in July) I’m keen to get back to uni! I’m a strange person, I know. February was an AWESOME reading month for me and I’m so excited to share with you all what I accomplished. I read so many fantastic books and I bought quite a lot of them too. I’m well on my way to achieving my goals for my 2016 challenges so let’s hope I can keep up the pace into March. I doubt it, because of uni, but a girl can dream.
This month I’ve decided to do things differently for my updates for each of my challenges (much obliged, dear mother, for pointing out the obvious solution to my dilemma of having to update so many things). I’m going to do it all here – each of these books (probably) counted for one challenge of another so you keep up with how I’m doing that way. HOWEVER, if you wish to see my overall progress then follow the links below to see my start up pages for them where I’m also tallying the progress (that might also be useful if you’re not familiar with how the challenges work):
- Progress for RMTBR challenge
- Progress for Fairy-Tale Retelling challenge
- Progress for the 2016 Pop Sugar Challenge
Now, you must all promise to go ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ because GUESS WHO FINALLY MANAGED TO READ TEN BOOKS IN ONE MONTH? That’s right, ME. Although, in all fairness one was a short story and another a novella but shhhhhh – let me feel amazed by my magical reading skills. Ahem. Onto the books:
Die for Me by Amy Plum
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy (paranormal)
Author: Amy Plum
Published: May 2011
Publisher: ATOM
Pages: 341 {paperback}
Will I continue the series? YES
This book was amazing. I loved everything about it and I cannot wait to continue the series. It follows a girl who gets involved with these paranormal creatures called ‘Revenants’ – they’re basically the undead in that their purpose is to save people from dying (as they can predict when an accident/suicide is going to happen). It was fabulous with a wonderful romance. Amy Plum is one of my new favourite authors now.
The Challenge Count:
RMTBR challenge points award: 1
Fairy-Tale Retelling: No
Pop Sugar: A Book with a Protagonist Who Has Your Occupation (student)
Nirvana by J. R. Stewart
Genre: Young Adult, Sci-Fi, Dystopia
Author: J. R. Stewart
Published: November 2015
Publisher: Blue Moon
Pages: 135 {kindle}
Will I continue the series? MAYBE
This book was an interesting one. It was really interesting and had me hooked but I was disappointed with the ending. It was an ARC I received via NetGalley and I still would recommend it to people but I just wish it had ended slightly different. It’s set in a dystopian world where everyone has to go into ‘Nirvana’, a virtual reality, for a certain amount of time each day. I’d be interested to continue the series to see if it redeems itself.
The Challenge Count:
RMTBR challenge points award: 0
Fairy-Tale Retelling: No
Pop Sugar: A Romance Set in the Future
Half-Blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy (paranormal)
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Published: August 2014
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Pages: 383 {paperback}
Will I continue the series? YES
I enjoyed this ten times more than I thought I would. This is was my first time venturing into the world of Armentrout and I was pleasantly surprised. Whilst my main complaint for this book was the lack of plot development, there was enough other stuff going on that I found myself completely and utterly loving this story and I can’t wait to read book two (which yes, I have already ordered). THE ROMANCE. Unf.
The Challenge Count:
RMTBR challenge points award: 1
Fairy-Tale Retelling: No
Pop Sugar: A Book and Its Prequel
Daimon by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy (paranormal)
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Published: May 2011
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press
Pages: 62 {e-book}
Will I continue the series? YES
This is a novella, #0.5, in the Covenant series that Half-Blood belongs too. It acts as a sort of prequel to the story filling you in with everything that you want to know. It was a great way to explore a handful of the others in further depth and see what they were like before the events of Half-Blood – so if you enjoyed book one this is definitely worth reading.
The Challenge Count:
RMTBR challenge points award: 1
Fairy-Tale Retelling: No
Pop Sugar: A Book and Its Prequel
The Wrath and the Dawn by Renée Ahdieh
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Retelling (1001 Nights)
Author: Renée Ahdieh
Published: May 2015
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Pages: 395 {hardback}
Will I continue the series? YES
This was my favourite book that I read this month, hands down. A retelling of 1001 Nights, it was a brilliant mix of YA and angsty romance in a beautiful setting. Shahrzad was a wonderful character and I think I might die waiting for book two to come out!! Everything about this was wonderful and I cannot recommend this book enough to you!
The Challenge Count:
RMTBR challenge points award: 0
Fairy-Tale Retelling: Yes (1001 Nights)
Pop Sugar: N/A
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
Genre: Classics, Horror
Author: Robert Louis Stevenson
Published: November 2012 {1st pub. 1886}
Publisher: Penguin Books
Pages: 111 {pages}
Will I read more of Stevenson’s works? YES
This was a nice quick classic that I’d received as a gift at Christmas so I was eager to see what it was all about. It was a very fast story that brought up some interesting points about society and human nature. I definitely think to get the complete reading experience from this book you’ve got to do a little be of research afterwards – whether just Wikipedia, an essay, or a film adaptation – it helps to broaden your understanding of what Stevenson was aiming at.
The Challenge Count:
RMTBR challenge points award: 1
Fairy-Tale Retelling: No
Pop Sugar: A Book That’s Under 150 Pages
A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray
Genre: Young Adult, Sci-Fi (dimensional travel)
Author: Claudia Gray
Published: October 2014
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 360 {paperback}
Will I continue the series? YES
I really enjoyed this book. It was full of so many things that I wasn’t expecting from it and I’m quite encouraged to check out some of Gray’s other books. This one was all about a girl whose parents have discovered/invented dimensional travel – a device that means you can travel to a parallel universe, but only the ones in which an alternate version of yourself actually exists. To travel, your conscious jumps over to the new universe where you take over control of the alternate you. It was so much fun and filled with startling plot twists and I’m super keen to see where book two will go. There a quick novella, or vignette, that’s available on Wattpad between book one and two that you can read for free: First Impressions.
The Challenge Count:
RMTBR challenge points award: 1
Fairy-Tale Retelling: No
Pop Sugar: A Science-Fiction Novel
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Author: Victoria Aveyard
Published: July 2015 {1st pub. February 2015}
Publisher: Orion
Pages: 383 {mass market paperback}
Will I continue the series? YES
This was so much fun. There’s a lot of mixed reviews out there about it and I can see why, reading this did feel A LOT like some other books I’ve read. But it was also very different. There are some super evil characters and some wicked powers – speaking of which, I loved the variety of powers that the Silver bloods had. I also quite liked Mare as a character, I thought she was wonderfully feisty and I’m excited to see where so goes next. I am so confused about the love interests though, there seemed to be quite a few but then the book is all like BAM plot twist, BAM BAM, another plot twists. And you’re left neeeeeeding to read the sequel.
The Challenge Count:
RMTBR challenge points award: 1
Fairy-Tale Retelling: No
Pop Sugar: A New York Times Bestseller
The Shadow Queen by C. J. Redwine
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Retellings (Snow White)
Author: C. J. Redwine
Published: February 2016
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Pages: 390 {paperback}
Will I continue the series? YES
This was one of my most anticipated releases for 2016 and IT DELIVERED. I was so worried that this wasn’t going to live up to my expectations, but it did and I’m so pleased. I’m a big fan of Redwine’s other series so as soon as I heard she was writing another I was all over it. This is a Snow White retellings that involves DRAGONS – you literally could not offer me a book that I would love the idea of more than that. I have not idea whether the next book is a continuation of this story or whether is a new story in the same world. The wait will kill me.
The Challenge Count:
RMTBR challenge points award: 0
Fairy-Tale Retelling: Yes (Snow White)
Pop Sugar: A Book Based on a Fairy-Tale
The Bottle Imp by Robert Louis Stevenson
Genre: Classics, Fantasy, Short Story, Horror (although, it’s really not scary)
Author: Robert Louis Stevenson
Published: July 2008 {1st pub. 1891}
Publisher: Walking Lion Press
Pages: 56 {paperback}
Will I read more of Stevenson’s works? YES
This is a little story also written by Stevenson that came at the back of my edition of Dr Jekyll, and it was really quite good. It’s all about a man from Hawaii who gets caught up in some business with a genie, basically. The thing with this bottle imp is that you must pass it on before you die otherwise you’ll go to hell and you can only sell it for less than you bought – otherwise it just comes back to you anyway. But the catch, of course, is that eventually the price will get so low that you won’t be able to sell it on. This reaffirmed that Stevenson is an awesome storyteller and that I want to read more of his books. Unfortunately, this is suffering from one of the most hideous art covers I’ve ever seen.
The Challenge Count:
RMTBR challenge points award: 1
Fairy-Tale Retelling: No
Pop Sugar: A Book At Least 100 Years Older Than You
What else did I blog about this month?
- I completed the Emoji book tag: see my answers.
- I participated in the Rainbowthon: see my wrap-up.
- I am coming to the end of the Underhyped Reads read-a-thon: see my challenge.
- I reviewed several books:
- The Sage, the Swordsman, and the Scholars (Pierre Dimaculangan)
- Daimon (Jennifer L. Armentrout)
- Half-Blood (Jennifer L. Armentrout)
- Nirvana (J. R. Stewart)
- The Wrath and the Dawn (by Renée Ahdieh)
- Falling Kingdoms (Morgan Rhodes)
- Wolf by Wolf (Ryan Graudin)
- Die for Me (Amy Plum)
- The Butterfly and the Violin (Kristy Cambron)
- I did my final January book haul: see the book!
- I did my February book haul: see the books!
- I hauled volume six of the YA Chronicles subscription box: see what was in the box.
- I discussed the value of FreE-books: see my opinion.
- I talked about what I’m doing at university: venture into my study life.
- I received the Liebster award: give me a round of applause.
The Statistics
Genres Read:
Pages Read:
Total: 2,616
Progress Towards Goodreads’ Challenge:
32%, or, 19/60 books
I am 10 books ahead of schedule . . . time to up the goal?
Overall progress of RMTBR challenge:
Points accrued in February: 7
Number of books read in February that counted: 7
Total points: 15
Mini challenges completed: 1/10
The Fairy-Tale Retelling Challenge:
Retellings Read: 2
Level Achieved: Enchanted Moura [level 1]
Overall progress for Pop Sugar Reading Challenge:
15/40
What about me?
February was my last month of summer holidays so I’m now back at uni and studying, which is exciting. This year is my third and final year before I graduate so who knows what the future will hold!
I bought a new laptop (Macbook Air) which is super exciting and I’m loving it. I’ve much better than the old clunky thing I used to have which well and truly kicked the bucket in terms of usefulness.
I’ve done a bit more planning for my trip to England and Ireland coming up in July but don’t have too many details set in stone at the moment. My planning mostly consists of which wand I’m going to buy when I go the Harry Potter studio tour in London.
I hit 100 followers on Twitter! Which was very exciting.
I’ve watched an unhealthy amount of the TV series Galavant, some Call the Midwife, a touch of Miranda and I’m hoping to get into Once Upon a Time soon.
I also watched some goods movies:
- Brooklyn, 2016 (8/10)
- How to Be Single, 2016 (7/10)
- Contact, 1997 (7/10)
- Suffragette (8/10)
- The Danish Girl, 2016 (8/10)
- Lucy, 2014 (6/10)
- The Good Dinosaur, 2015 (7/10)
- Sleepless in Seattle, 1993 (7/10)
Tick! February done! I hope that I can keep this up throughout March – that’d be awesome!
What was your favourite book that you read in February?
Upside-Down Books 
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