April Wrap-Up | 2016

I read a pretty good amount of books this month! It didn't even come close to how many I read last month, and the enjoyment level for me unfortunately dropped slightly, but that's alright.

 

In the end, I read 7 books. Here are the titles, a short overview of my thoughts, a link to my longer Goodreads reviews, and a rating out of 5 stars for each!

 

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The Alchemyst by Michael Scott : A childhood favorite of mine that I was so happy to read again! I see this getting so many bad reviews, but I still really liked it. Yes, it does have its flaws, and I may be a bit biased due to the part it played in my growing up and my love for books, but I still love the world-building and the action-packed plot! Such a fun adventure.
3.5*'s / Goodreads Review

Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman : This book follows a teenager who has a mental illness called Schizophrenia. I didn't know too much about this topic going into it, but as a teenager who has to deal with mental illness, I was really interested to read this book and really grateful that it exists. It was very eye-opening. But it just made me feel weird and uncomfortable when I read it, and I know that was partly the point, but I never really looked forward to reading it and it took me awhile to read despite the shortness. I still really appreciate it though. It's also becoming a movie!
3*'s / Goodreads Review

Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson : After finishing one emotionally heavy book, I just head straight into another one because that's a good idea. Eep. This book wasn't quite as high on emotions as I was expecting it to be, especially since I have been through a similar situation to the protagonist. It still was very emotional though, and I liked the main character and the small town setting. The themes of family and friendship within this book were amazing as well!
4*'s / Goodreads Review

The Brothers K by David James Duncan : This was a family saga set in the 1960's to around the Vietnam War. I had to read this book for school, so I don't think it's much of a surprise that I found it quite tedious at points. The character development was so interesting and I definitely felt sorry for the characters. Sometimes I forgot they weren't real!
3*'s / Goodreads Review

Ingenue by Jillian Larkin : I loved the first book, so I was pretty excited to pick this one up. It's set in the 1920's (which is my FAVORITE time period. More YA needs to be set in the 1920's, please!) and has flapper girls and speakeasies and jazz music and drama and it's just so much fun. Is it the most well-written book ever? No. And I probably enjoyed this more than I logically should have. But I personally really liked it.
4*'s / Goodreads Review

The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury : This is an Aladdin retelling following the point of view of the Jinni, who in this interpretation is a girl named Zahra. And oh gosh, I did adore this book. It was so fabulous, and Zahra was such a great main character. ALSO it had a band of lady assassins/protectors. The setting was super cool and the world-building done really well. I just loved it!
5*'s / Goodreads Review

The Magician by Michael Scott : The second book in "The Alchemyst" series. We get introduced to a new villain, whom I like much more than the other villain (s). He's just great. Also, I love how morally gray every single character is in this book (I don't even trust one of the main characters at this point). I can't wait to finish up my reread of this six-book series.
3.75*'s / Goodreads Review

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My favorite book this month was clearly the Forbidden Wish! Though I also had a lot of fun rereading The Alchemyst and The Magician. I would love to know your favorite book from April, if you had one.

Until next time, happy reading!