February was a weird reading month for me. I had several things on my TBR that I really wanted to get to, but I didn’t get to most of it. Without officially saying it, I kind of threw my TBR out the window. I finished some things I started in January, but anything physical that I started in February that wasn’t a graphic novel was pretty much a no go. I was definitely feeling slumpy, despite the fact that I read 19 things. Most of what I read were audiobooks and graphic novels. That’s not a bad thing, but it’s not really a great thing either. I need to work on my physical TBR some more, but that’s probably a next month kind of thing. However, without further ado, you’ll find everything I read below the cut.
1. 99 Days by Katie Cotugno
Rating: 3 stars
Format: Audiobook
Review: Coming back to write this review, it took me a minute to remember what this story was about. I was open to the idea of something fun and fluffy, but this wasn’t really that. I did my best to not hold that against it, but in the end this just wasn’t the story for me. I didn’t like all the secret keeping and the love triangle that was included. I just wanted the main character to talk it out with all these people. However, I did also sympathise with her, and felt so sad that her mom sold her out and all the people in her town sucked. It just evened out to me.
2. Geekerella by Ashley Poston
Rating: 4 stars
Format: Audiobook
Review: I wasn’t blown away by this story, but I had a fun time listening to this book. Cinderella is such a well known story, and I always enjoy seeing how people can add their own original takes to it. I enjoyed the addition of fandom into this one, and had a lot of fun listening to the two different points of view. I wanted them to get together because they were both adorable. Again, it’s not the best thing I’ve ever read, but it was a fun read and that made it worthwhile for me.
3. Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman
Rating: 4 stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: This book was recommended to me by my school librarian because it is set in the middle ages. The story is the diary of a young noble woman in England. It’s got a little bit of humour and a little bit of romance. It has a good depiction of life during the time period, and it was a fun, quick read. It’s totally worth picking up.
4. Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me by Mariko Tamaki
Rating: 4 stars
Format: Graphic Novel
Review: I have heard a lot of good things about this graphic novel, so I was excited to read it. It met my expectations. The art is beautiful, and the story is really intriguing. I liked how so much emotion was conveyed in so few words. I do wish that I had a little bit more depth in the story, but overall I really enjoyed it. I liked the main character, and watching as she dealt with the turmoil of her relationship while also trying to be a good friend. It’s an important story to tell.
5. Everything is Perfect When You’re a Liar by Kelly Oxford
Rating: 2 stars
Format: Audiobook
Review: This book was interesting, but I didn’t really enjoy it. It wasn’t badly written, but I didn’t really like author as a person which made it hard to enjoy the stories about her life. I know that’s probably terrible to say, but something about it just rubbed me a wrong way and I had a hard time getting into it.
6. The Handmaid’s Tale: Graphic Novel by Renee Nault
Rating: 4 stars
Format: Graphic Novel
Review: I have been wanting to pick up the graphic novel version of The Handmaid’s Tale since I first heard about it, and I’m really glad that I did. It was a really good adaptation, and I felt like it got the message and the themes across in an easily accessible way. I didn’t love it as much as I loved the novel, but it was very well done and beautifully drawn.
7. Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson
Rating: 3 stars
Format: Audiobook
Review: I have to say that this wasn’t my favourite thing that Laurie Halse Anderson has written. It made an interesting statement about masculinity, which was totally worth exploring. However, I just didn’t like the main character and that made it hard to get into.
8. Now I Rise by Kiersten White
Rating: 4 stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: This was a very interesting sequel. It was cool to see Lada and Radu and Mehmed again. I wanted everyone to do well except for Mehmed because he’s the worst. I had all the feels for Lada and Radu. I still love how tough Lada is, and how gruesome she is. I am really interested in how the story is going to end in the next book. I genuinely have no idea what will happen, but based on the ending of this one, I think there will be a lot of blood and gore.
9. The Here and Now by Ann Brashares
Rating: 4 stars
Format: Audiobook
Review: I picked this book up on a whim, and was pleasantly surprised by it. I had absolutely no idea what to expect but the story was really cool. I don’t read a lot of stories about time travel, but it was an interesting take. I liked the development of the romance and the ending made me super sad. It was a fun roller coaster, and something very different from what I expect from Ann Brashares.
10. The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
Rating: 4 stars
Format: Audiobook
Review: I was excited to pick this one up because of all the hype. However, I will admit that I had watched a spoiler filled review so I knew about the twist. I’m kind of glad that I knew the twist though, because it allowed me to play around with my knowledge of the story and try to figure out how things were supposed to work. I think that if I hadn’t known the twist, I wouldn’t have liked the book as much. That’s a totally weird take to have, but it’s definitely what I was thinking as I read the story. I can’t advise that for everyone though. The basic premise of this story was intriguing, and I wanted to know more about it. Knowing the twist didn’t mean I knew all of the events, and so I was really curious to see how things played out.
11. Matilda Bone by Karen Cushman
Rating: 3 stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: This a book recommended to me by the librarian at my school. It’s set during the Middle Ages, which is cool because I’m teaching that period to my Social Studies 8 class. I like the basic idea behind this story, and the character development was really good. However, mostly I was annoyed by the character of Matilda. I just wanted her to figure things out quicker. The story was interesting, and it provided a different perspective on the medieval world.
12. Archenemies by Marissa Meyer
Rating: 4 stars
Format: Audiobook
Review: This was a pretty good sequel to Renegades. I really enjoyed the further exploration of this world, and the deeper insight into the characters. Personally, I’m not super into the romance in this series, but I do really like the dual POV. I think the way that the character get their powers and the variety of powers included are really interesting and creative. I don’t know if I could come up with that many unique powers. This wasn’t the most exciting book, but the world building included was totally necessary. I’m looking forward to the conclusion, and have a hold out at the library.
Rating: 3 stars
Format: Audiobook
Review: This was an interesting historical fiction piece. I had never heard of the plane crashes and I can’t imagine how horrifying that would have been for people who lived in the town. I was intrigued by the concept and that was ultimately what got me through this book. I liked it, but it was hard to get into because there were so many different characters that it was hard to keep track of. I thought the way that we got all the different perspectives was interesting, but it did make it hard to get into. I wasn’t super interested in the romance which became somewhat of a primary focus, but I liked the relationship between the main character and her mother. That was interesting to explore.
14. Go With the Flow by Lily Williams
Rating: 5 stars
Format: Graphic Novel
Review: This was such an amazing graphic novel. It’s all about periods which is a topic that isn’t discussed enough. I felt the topic was handled quite well. I loved the art style, and the strong focus on female friendships. The kids were so sweet together, and I liked watching them grow and learn about each other. I can’t recommend this enough. It is beautifully done.
15. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi
Rating: 4 stars
Format: Graphic Novel
Review: I have been meaning to pick up this graphic novel for a really long time. It was a really interesting read, as I have to admit that it wasn’t a period that I didn’t know a lot about. I liked learning about Marjane’s life, and it was intriguing to learn about what she had to deal with. I also really liked the art style.
16. Good Masters! Sweet Ladies: Voices from the Middle Ages by Laura Amy Schlitz
Rating: 4 stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: This was a really cool book. It is a collection of monologues from youth perspectives in the Middle Ages, and I found it intriguing. It was also super well researched. I liked hearing from perspectives that I didn’t usually get to hear from.
17. You Are Not Alone by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
Rating: 4 stars
Format: eBook
Review: I have a full review of this book here. As a quick sneak peak, I enjoyed it and liked the twists. It didn’t completely blow me away as a thriller but it was definitely interesting.
18. The Heart of Betrayal by Mary E. Pearson
Rating: 4 stars
Format: Audiobook
Review: This was an interesting sequel. I liked that it picked up right where the last one left off. I was really interested in what would happen to the main characters, and to learn more about the world. I enjoyed the development of Lia and Rafe’s relationship despite the fact that they weren’t able to actually be together too much. The addition of Pauline’s point of view was really interesting to me as well. I really felt for her especially. I can’t wait to read the next one because it was one hell of a cliffhanger at the end.
19. Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return by Marjane Satrapi
Rating: 4 stars
Format: Audiobook
Review: I have to admit, that while I gave both of the first editions of this book the same rating, that I didn’t really like this one as much as the first. It was still an interesting storyline, and I liked learning about the world that the author grew up in, but I think I just enjoyed the first one a little bit more. I really empathised with the struggles that she faced.
So that’s everything I read in February. What did you read? Let me know in the comments down below.
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