January Wrap-Up + a Rant | 2019

This one's a little extra long because I just needed to rant about one of the book I read...

“Books are the quietest and most constant of friends” - Charles William Eliot
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[WildeBookGarden]

YOUR TBATN RANT IS MY NEW FAVORITE THING. YES to everything you said! Vasya is just such a cardboard cut-out of a character, the motivations of all these characters were SO SHALLOW, and the themes were handled so badly. I feel like so many aspects of the book could be summed up with what you said as "too much yet not enough".
Aw Dog Songs sounds so beautiful and bittersweet! poetry/stories about pets are just so emotional.

[karenkoutsoumbaris]

Thankyou Huck, I have uprooted so now I want to start it today, great reviews!

[PunkyDory]

I couldn't get into The Bear and the Nightingale, so I DNF'd it. I thought it was just my mood at the time. I was going to try it again, but I just took it off my TBR. Thanks for the rant, lol!

[MinaReads]

I despise that magical age gap trope! I’m glad to see I’m not alone it just bugs me so much 😂. Great wrap up, it definitely has me second guessing my plans to read the bear and the nightingale

[kathleenlovito]

Listening to this to help lull my jet lagged self to sleep (because your voice is soothing, not boring 😁). PS your makeup’s looking bomb af!

[ivymuse]

Great wrap-up, you explain your feelings about these books so well, I love listening to you :D Uprooted has been on and off my radar over the past few years but this kind of really made me intrigued. Especially since you do mention there are problems but you still enjoyed it, I'd love to read it myself now! :)

[jacob]

i did enjoy the bear in the nightingale, but i thought of it more as a historical fiction with fantasy elements rather than a fantasy book set in the past, I was much more intrigued by the politics and history of it, so the lack of folklore didn't really bother me, i do agree that there was barely any plot in the first book, i really had to push myself to get through it, the next two books have much more going on, but they're again more political than fantastical so i see why if you're hoping for a fantasy book you'd be disappointed

[karenkoutsoumbaris]

Great review, Thankyou ! I read alll the hunger games and they were amazing!

[laralikesmascara]

Ugh and here I am being proud of myself for reading FOUR books in January. teach me plz. I also just did a January wrap-up video and I'm considering doing it every month, I think it'll motivate me to read more haha. Ps I love your hair!

[PositiveWriterr]

11 books wow! I aspire to read that much in one month phes

[CourtneyReads]

I read the Bear and the Nightingale as an ARC and was not a big fan. I remember having the same thought that nothing happened during the first 2/3 or so. I do want to give it another try, I think. And continue the series. I think I'm going to do the audio books for them.

Artemis Fowl has been a favorite of mine since I was really young. I've probably been reading them for fifteen years or so and I adore them. I've been rereading the series (on audio) and just love them. Glad you enjoyed the first two!

[aseaoftomes]

That's such a great way to start off the year. I like it.
I haven't read any Naomi Novik yet, but she's been on my list for forever, so hopefully I can get to some of her work soon.
I also really want to read the Wayward Children series, but haven't gotten there yet (you might be starting to see this is a theme haha)
I liked the Bear and the Nightingale a lot, the second book has a very different feel to it. I know several people who didn't like it. And maybe it's because I like Russian history and I grew up with the tales, etc. but I agree that Vasya is a bit annoying. The religious aspect was a big deal in the book because it was a big deal in medieval Russia, and it gets expanded on in the later books. I'll be interested to hear your thoughts on the next book.
Ah! Artemis Fowl! I only read the first three and enjoyed them, but I never continued for some reason, but I'm not really inclined to pick them up again right now, but I agree they're lots of fun.
The Hunger Games was a good time too.
It looks like you read a lot of interesting books in January, Huck and I hope February goes just as well for you.

[ofbooksandtrees]

Finally someone else who didn't like The Bear and the Nightingale!
Really didn't get the hype for that one..

[danichiong]

I cannot believe Call Down the Hawk is being released this year!

[rose_and_thorns]

Thank God someone else disliked The Bear and the Nightingale. I thought I'd love it based on the synopsis and on how everyone RAVES about it, and I was bored as hell and could barely even finish it, and it's not that long! It was snow bread snow seeing shit snow bread blah blah blah. I felt no connection to the characters, and there was no real plot, so like....a book can be character-driven or plot-driven, I can get into either. But this was neither. I remain so baffled as to why so many people think this was so amazing.