Queen of Books: 01/10/20

Friday, 10 January 2020

December '19 Wrap-Up

Time for another wrap up!

December was a pretty good blogging and reading month. I managed to read five books and I enjoyed most of them and I won my Goodreads 2019 Challenge!

Here's to 2020 being an amazing reading year!

Anyways...

Time to talk about the books I read this month.

PHYSICAL BOOKS

The first book I read was The Lady and the Highwayman by Sarah M. Eden. This is about a woman named Elizabeth who is the headmistress of a girls' school and a well-respected author of novels written for an about the upper-class ladies of Victorian society. However, at night she writes Penny Dreadfuls (under a pseudonym known as Mr. King) that are all the rage among the working class. Meanwhile, the other protagonist, Fletcher, is a successful author in the Penny Dreadful market, until Mr. King starts taking all of his readers and thus his profits. No one knows who King is and so, Fletcher sets out to find out and enlists Elizabeth to help him with his inquiries. I thought this was a cute and a really interesting book which was different from many of the historical books that I've read. I ended up rating it 4 Crowns.

The second book I read was A River of Royal Blood by Amanda Joy. This is about a princess named Eva, who must fight her sister, Isa, to the death in order to rule their kingdom. Eva is the first person in a century who has had the magick of blood and marrow, and she has to learn to control it in order to win. I really liked this one and I was surprised that it wasn't as dark as I'd originally thought. I ended up rating it 4 Crowns.

The third book I read was Songs from the Deep by Kelly Powell. This was a book that I had pretty high expectations for because of the fact that it includes sirens. However, I ended up not enjoying it as much as I'd hoped. This is about an island town whose waters hide deadly sirens. Moira (the main character) loves to play her violin on the edge of the sea, despite the threat of the sirens. Then, when a young boy is found dead on the beach, the islanders assume that he's a victim of the sirens', but Moira doesn't believe it. She is sure that someone has framed the boy's death and she convinces her childhood friend, Jude, to help her find the real killer which rekindles their friendship. I liked the relationship between Jude and Moira and I liked them as characters, however, I really didn't like the plot as I had hoped that there would be more sirens. I ended up rating it 3 Crowns.

The fourth book I read was House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A Craig. This is another sea type book which is also a retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses. I actually really enjoyed this book and I did a full review of it. This is about Annaleigh, who lives at Highmoor with her father, stepmother and sisters. They were originally a household of twelve happy sisters, but have now been reduced to eight sisters. Each death has been more tragic than the last and Annaleigh begins to suspect her sisters didn't die of natural causes and that there's something else going on. When she finds out her sisters are sneaking out and attending beautiful, glitzy balls, she's not sure whether to join them or tell them off as she's not sure who or what they are really dancing with. I loved this book and ended up rating it 4 Crowns.

AUDIOBOOKS READ

The first and only audiobook I read was Kill the Queen by Jennifer Estep. I have been trying to finish this audiobook for awhile but audiobooks are not the easiest for me to finish. This is about Lady Everleigh who is seventeenth in line for the throne, with seemingly useless abilities, and overlooked by the other royals. However, when her cousin Vasilia, the crown princess, assassinates her mother the queen and takes the throne by force, Evie and the rest of the royal family are also attatched. Luckily for Evie, she has a secret immunity to magic which helps her escape the massacre. Evie falls in with a gladiator troupe and begins training until she can decide her next move. I really enjoyed this book and I loved all the characters and how character driven it was. I rated it 4 Crowns.

ARC'S READ

NONE

REVIEWS IN DECEMBER:

NONE

WEEKLY WRAP-UP:

NONE

DISCUSSIONS/OTHER:

November '19 Wrap-Up

Wintery Themed Books

Winter 2020 Books I'm Excited For

2020 Goals and 2019 Wrap-Up

FAVORITE COVER OF THE MONTH:

NEW FICTIONAL BAE'S:

Sullivan from Kill the Queen by Jennifer Estep

Fletcher by The Lady and the Highwayman from Sarah M. Eden

Aketo from A River of Royal Blood by Amanda Joy

Falun from A River of Royal Blood by Amanda Joy

Cassius from House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig

NEW FAVORITE FEMALES:

Lady Everleigh from Kill the Queen by Jennifer Estep

Elizabeth from The Lady and the Highwayman from Sarah M. Eden

Eva from A River of Royal Blood by Amanda Joy

Annaleigh from House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig

NEW FAVORITE BOOK RELATIONSHIPS:

Fletcher and Elizabeth from The Lady and the Highwayman from Sarah M. Eden

Annaleigh and Cassius from House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig

TV SHOWS I WATCHED THIS MONTH: