January Wrap-up

Well, the first month of the year is officially over! I spent a lot of January wrapped up in the warmth indoors with a mug of hot chocolate and my newest read. In total, I completed 3 books and was about halfway through my 4th when the month came to an end. I dived into a Christmas novel I've had for about 8 years, read the next book in my beautiful new hardback Bridgerton series and finished up the month with an ebook. These reads were all enjoyable but lacked that extra sparkle that makes a novel truly special. Nevertheless, as the nights get shorter and the days get ever-so-slightly warmer, let's take a (figurative) walk together and discuss what I read in January.

Let it Snow

John Green, Maureen Johnson, Lauren Myracle

⭐️⭐️⭐️

"It's Christmas Eve and the worst blizzard for fifty years has blanketed Gracetown. But as well as snowflakes, love is in the air - and appearing in the most unexpected ways..."

This book is a collection of three short holiday romances, each by a different author. Coming into the New Year I wanted a quick fluffy festive romance that was easy to read - and whilst it delivered on that, I had wildly different opinions on each story.

The first, by Maureen Johnson, was by far the best of the three. The central romance was really cute, and this was the only story in which I was rooting for the characters. To be honest, I wish the whole book had just been about them! The side characters were also interesting (Stuart's mum was just adorable), and I think it mixed fun plot and great relationship development really well.

The third story, by Lauren Myracle, didn't really give me much of anything. It was readable and the plot was sort of interesting, but I wasn't invested in any of the characters at all, in fact the main character was pretty self-obsessed and mean to her best friends. Overall: okay, if slightly forgettable.

It was John Green's story that really disappointed me. (Let me preface this by saying I have never read a John Green book in my life, but I had the highest hopes for this story out of the three seeing as he's such a famous author. Boy, was I wrong.) I might have enjoyed the plot of this one if I wasn't so annoyed by the constant sexist comments and narratives of the main characters. The boys were constantly spouting anti-female remarks, all whilst objectifying a group of cheerleaders. And the main female character was giving 'not-like-other-girls' energy. Granted, this was written in 2008, but it was really uncomfortable to read, and definitely brought down my overall rating of the book.

One positive of the whole novel was how it threaded together the three stories. I genuinely really enjoyed the clever details linking everything together. I didn't actively dislike the book (I did actually enjoy it whilst I was reading it), I just thought most of the characters lacked substance, and as a result I didn't care about them or their relationships. A good idea, but not executed well enough. If you want a cosy wintery romance with characters you're actually invested in, I'd probably look elsewhere.

The Viscount Who Loved Me

Julia Quinn

⭐️⭐️⭐️

"1814 promises to be another eventful season, but not, This Author believes, for Anthony Bridgerton, London's most elusive Bachelor, who has shown no indication that he plans to marry. And in all truth, why should he? When it comes to playing the consummate rake, nobody does it better..."

Book 2 of the Bridgerton series! As a fan of the show, I know well by now that the books aren't nearly as good as Netflix's screen adaptation, however I think the difference showed itself more in this book than the first.

The plot differences between the source material and adaptation are actually pretty significant, especially towards the second half of the book. On one hand, this kept things interesting because I didn't know what was coming. On the other hand, the way that Kate and Anthony get together is literally a carbon copy of the first book and therefore lacks originality...

I will say that I loved the tension between our leads in the beginning of the book! The enemies part of enemies-to-lovers was going really well - it just died far too quickly.

My overall thoughts are that the Bridgerton books are a good bit of fun. They're your basic regency romances, and if that's what you want then they will deliver. Just don't expect the kind of character, relationship and side-plot development you get from the TV show.

The Butterfly Assassin

Finn Longman

⭐️⭐️⭐️.75

"Innocent by day, killer by night: a dark, twisting thriller about a teen assassin's attempt to live a normal life."

This was by far the best book I read this month, and probably the only one I would recommend to people!

This Y/A thriller is about Isabel, a trained assassin on the run from the guilds that rule the city of Espera. Firstly, this book has great world-building. The city and its rules and norms were super interesting to learn about - a sort of dystopian world, but not in the same way you'd usually think of the genre. In this world, assassinations and crimes are normal. Two all-powerful guilds (who train the assassins) rule all, completing the requests of the corrupt wealthy. No one is safe.

I thought the setting descriptions were really beautifully done and I felt like I could see this world before me. The descriptions were filled with imagery and I could picture every single scene inside my head. The book was also action-packed and very fast-paced and plot-driven, which I really enjoyed. If you want something to breeze through, I'd definitely recommend this. Furthermore, the main characters were loveable (and, in some cases, hateable). Isabel is an interesting protagonist: a young girl trained to be a killer who simply wants to lead a normal life. She's marked with past traumas and has never really experienced love, friendship or kindness of any kind, making the developing relationships in this book all that more meaningful. The story had a great cast of side characters - Emma, Daragh and Mortimer being my personal favourites.

Final thoughts: I really enjoyed this book. It's not a masterpiece and did lack that extra ✨sparkle✨, but it was entertaining and I will definitely be reading the sequel at some point!

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So that's January! I hope to read more next month and I can't wait to tell you about it (expect dark-academia, beloved 2010s dystopian, graphic novels and so much more)! Let me know in the comments what you read in January, and if you've read any of these books, what did you think of them?