Popping by today to wish everyone around here a wonderful Easter Sunday. I realize that it's probably too late to post anything related to March, but since we haven't reached the middle of April yet, let me take you on a short walk down my wrap-up lane. Overall, I'm pretty proud of the number of books I managed to read last month, which was six in total. Considering how harsh March had been to me, I initially assumed that I would only finish one book or luckily two. That's not the case though, thankfully. I managed to finish two poetry books, two middle-grades, and two contemporaries in between all the chaos, much to my surprise.
1. A Thousand Words for You by Raissa Almira
A beautiful local poetry book about love and heartbreaks.
2. Voyage of the Frostheart by Jamie Littler
Voyage of the Frostheart follows the story of the little, stubborn Ash who has the ability to song weave in the world where singing is forbidden; or at least, the Fira Stronghold think so. They claim that singing is the only way to communicate with the Leviathan monsters, but everyone knows you risk everything when you sing. However, upon discovering his parents’ secret, Ash is rudely exiled from the Stronghold with his yeti guardian named Tobu and is left with no choice but to join the Frostheart voyage and be a Pathfinder.
All in all, I considered this book quite great and enjoyable. If you love middle-grade or you feel like magic is your day-to-day thing, consider this book a winter-related refreshment you should pick up. Voyage of The Frostheart was quite a page-turner that I didn't realize it was almost the middle of the night when I reached the last page.
3. Keep Going by Raissa Almira
If by any chance you’re currently feeling down (which I hope you're not) or in need of something powerful and uplifting, I encourage you to give this book a try. Keep Going is actually a great reminder about the necessity of self-love which I myself appreciate with a smile on my face. It emphasizes the true beauty and importance of self-love quite well, and I'm very grateful for its existence.
4. Distance Between Us by Kasie West
Distance Between Us follows the story of Caymen Meyers whose mother despises the rich so much due to her bitter experience in the past. Caymen doesn't exactly share the same hatred with her mother but she certainly has a certain thought about the rich. The story itself starts in the small porcelain doll store Caymen and her mother run for a living when one day a very rich boy named Xander Spencers comes by to buy a doll for his grandmother. To Caymen, Xander is just another spoiled rich kid who treats the poor differently, though things eventually start to change when she gets to know him more little by little. The thing is, Caymen now sees Xander very differently that a warning flag starts to fly inside her head and it scares her so much to not be able to say no to him.
This book was overall an enjoyable read for me. Even though someone as good as Xander in real life is probably rare, I'm thankful for the lesson Caymen taught me about the importance of being ourselves no matter how hard our struggle might be. For the cute and unexpected ending that greeted me in the last few chapters, I want to kiss all the character goodbye and give them a note with a big see-you-later written on it. A reread is certainly gonna happen in the near future.
5. The Lost Girl by Anne Ursu
The Lost Girl follows the story of Iris and Lark, the twin sisters who always do everything together, though the actual conflict starts at the beginning of fifth grade when the inseparable Iris and Lark find out that they’re not gonna be in the same class this year. Iris gets Ms. Shonubi as her homeroom while Lark gets the new teacher, Mr. Hunt. The hopeless Lark and the mad Iris try to negotiate this error with their parents but they get nothing other than the statement that the decision to split them up is already final as they think it’s good for Iris and Lark to do something they like on their own for once. They even go as far as to suggest that Lark should attend an art class after school while Iris follows her passion elsewhere. That's why Iris often finds herself ended up in the new antique store across the library by herself.
Overall, this book was good, especially when the pace became agreeably faster in the last few chapters. And the ending was super badass while warming my heart at the same time too. Meanwhile, the way Iris cared about Lark more than she cared about herself was very admirable. I wish there would be more books about sisters teaming up like this.
6. Love, Life, and the List by Kasie West
Love, Life, and The List follows the story of a teenage girl named Abby Turner who loves art and sarcasm. Following her passion, Abby has a goal this summer: she plans to turn in her paintings for an upcoming exhibition at the museum she’s currently working in. If she can maybe sell some of her artworks, Abby will be more confident to apply for an art institute which is where her main goal lays. Sadly, things don’t go very smoothly for her. The museum curator who is also her boss, Mr. Wallace, rejects all of her paintings for their lack of feelings. He even goes as far as to say that the paintings hold no emotion whatsoever.
Overall, Love, Life and The List was a cute enjoyable read. Despite the fact that I wasn’t a big fan of Cooper, I have to admit that his friendship with Abby was very precious that in the end I didn't see why I shouldn't root for them even after the unforgivable thing he had done. If you consider friends-to-lovers trope as your cup of tea, you should totally go give it a try.
