The Terror of Knowing

Welcome one, welcome all, to my February Wrap Up. February has been a bit of an odd month. It felt like the month where not much happened, all in all. January is always a bit of a struggle with the winter blues and post-Christmas come down, but February is meant to feel a little bit more hopeful and cheerful. I’m still torn on how I actually felt about the month, looking back on it now, but it was the month where I tried to get my arse back in gear with a bunch of lifestyles and admin stuff, mainly: culling my room (finally clearing some clothes and books), properly cataloguing my books (FINALLY), getting back into a semi-regular schedule of gym-class attending, and feeling more motivation to get better at my blogging and social media game. The highlights of the month were a visit from the girls from university (we mostly just low-key hung out and also went to see Rhod Gilbert’s comedy gig which was very good) and the new/recent releases I got to coo over, namely King of Scars, The Kingdom of Copper, and The Priory of the Orange Tree.

In terms of my reading, after last month’s participation in many a readathon (ok, three, but that’s a lot for one month!), February was a month which was relatively low-key. I didn’t participate in any readathons or readalongs and instead I just read what I wanted to and that, unsurprisingly enough, consisted of fantasy. I didn’t read nearly as many books as I did in January but that’s more than ok because I’m still slowing chipping away at the prompts for the Around the Year in 52 Books reading challenge, and well on my way to completing my 52 books read in 2019 Goodreads goal.

In February, I read a total of 4 books – 4 fiction and 0 non-fiction – and 2 were re-reads (marked by *). This amounted to 1734 pages in total.

In terms of format: 3 were hardback and 1 was an audiobook.

As for genre, 3 were YA fantasy and 1 was a fantasy.

Onto the books themselves…

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo

Rating: 4.5/5
Genre: YA fantasy
Format: hardback
Pages: 511
Read: 29th January – 5th February
Challenge: Around the Year in 52 Books (Week 16: A book told from multiple perspectives)
Review: “Anyone hoping for a loud, busy, pulse-racing, action-packed book may very well find themselves disappointed by King of Scars; rather, what this book offers is an honest exploration of the different ways people cope with trauma and how it affects the way they interact with the world.” (Full review)

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan

Rating: 3/5
Genre: YA fantasy
Format: hardback
Pages: 383
Read: 4th – 8th February
Challenge: Around the Year in 52 Books (Week 25: 4 books inspired by the wedding rhyme: Book #3 Something Borrowed)
Review: “Girls of Paper and Fire is a brutal story told of an equally brutal world. The book doesn’t shy away from the topic or, even for a second, show the world through rose tinted glasses: this is a book, plain and simple, about girls becoming sex slaves for a tyrannical ruler.” (Full review)

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo *

Rating: 4/5
Genre: YA fantasy
Format: audiobook
Pages: 308
Read: 7th – 12th February
Challenge: Around the Year in 52 Books (Week 17: A speculative fiction, i.e. fantasy, scifi, horror, dystopia)
Review: This post-King of Scars re-read left me enjoying this book more than I ever have before. I love all the Grisha, including Zoya now. Also how have I not noticed before now that the Darkling isn’t outwardly villainous until like pg. 200?? I still (mostly) stand by my 2015 review.

The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty *

Rating: 5/5
Genre: fantasy
Format: hardback
Pages: 532
Read: 8th – 20th February
Challenge: Around the Year in 52 Books (Week 39: A book with a strong sense of place or where the author brings the location/setting to life)
Review: “The City of Brass marks the first outing in what is bound to be an enthralling and enchanting trilogy of books, richly plotted and masterfully told by S.A. Chakraborty. The complex world which readers are plunged into is never easy, but if you’re willing to put the time and effort into immersing yourself in a story whose cultural touchstones may very well not be immediately familiar to you, then you will find your reward in City of Brass and its cast of morally questionable characters.” (Full review)

How did your February reading go?
What was your favourite book you read this month?
Please do share in the comments below and let’s chat books!

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