March Wrap Up!

Hey there!

So in March I had a pretty good reading month, despite being super busy getting back into uni and being involved in loads of extracurricular college things. I managed to fit in time to read six books!

Without further ado, here are the books that I read in March, and my thoughts on them:

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J Maas

I finally got to the second Throne of Glass book!! I have a full review here, but I absolutely adored Crown of Midnight! I love Sarah J Maas' writing style, and her characters and world is so well fleshed out and intriguing. I cannot wait to keep going with the series.

Rating: 5/5

Passenger by Alexandra Bracken

If you've read some of my recent posts you will know that I am totally obsessed with this book. It is AMAZING. As a lover of history, I adore time travel novels, and I really enjoy Alexandra Bracken's super descriptive writing style.It was interesting how different it is from her Darkest Minds series, but they both have characters who I am totally in love with. Definitely recommend!! For more in depth thoughts, see my full review here.

Rating: 5/5

Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

I received an ARC of this novel through NetGally and holy cow I am so glad; it is incredible! The combination of western themes, a desert setting, and dystopia were so so interesting. The characters and relationships are super intriguing, and I can't wait to find out more about this world! Non-spoiler review here.

Rating: 4.75/5

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas

I was super excited to check out Sarah J Maas' other series, and while I really enjoyed it, I did have some mixed feeling in regards to characters and relationships. As usual, I adore the writing style, and the world building is so complex and interesting. I love the political intrigue in the storyline, and can't wait to see how it's built on later on in the series. For some of my more critical thoughts, I did a full review here. But overall, would definitely recommend this!!

Rating: 3.75/5

Sophie by Jennie Sargam

This was another ARC that I received through NetGalley, and while I appreciated the characters, I found it quite hard to get into and didn't end up completing it. I'm not sure if it's just because it's not really a genre that I'm interested in, but I found the writing style a bit difficult to engage in and wasn't invested in the storyline.

Rating: 2.5/5

Deviations by Anma Natsu

I was sent an ARC copy of Deviations from XPressoReads, and found it extremely interesting. It definitely is something that I have never read anything like before, and there were a lot of themes throughout that I don't know much about and so found it quite eye-opening. I wouldn't recommend this for anyone under around 17 due to the adult themes, but if you are interested in a book which considers sexuality, mental illness, and domestic violence, then this is very well done. Full review here!

Rating: 3.75/5

Let me know in the comments what books you read in March, and if you enjoyed them!

Love always,

Ari

The Chocolate Book Tag!

Hi!

As a lover of both chocolate and books, I thought what better way to celebrate this than to do a tag combining the two! I saw this tag over at Jack Croxall's blog, enjoy!!

Dark chocolate: a book that covers a dark topic.
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. World War II and the Holocaust are such horrific times in our history, and this is reflected in the beautiful literature that has been based on them. The Book Thief is one of my favourite examples of this. Zusak's incredibly poetic writing style captures the mindset, pain, and endless hope present in such an awful time.

White chocolate: your favourite light-hearted/humorous read.
The Tallulah Casey series by Louise Rennison. This is the series that I turn to when I'm feeling super down, or home-sick when I'm at college as I absolutely cannot read it without laughing like crazy. It is such a light-hearted, heart-warming series, probably aimed more at a middle grade audience, but I believe could be appreciated by readers of any age! Such a cute series.

Milk chocolate: a book with a lot of hype that you're dying to read.
Cinder by Marissa Meyer. Of course this series is absolutely adored by everyone in the book blogging and booktube community and I've heard so many wonderful things about it! I cannot wait to read it!!

Chocolate with caramel centre: a book that makes you feel all gooey in the middle when you read it.
City of Masks by Mary Hoffman. I loooove this book. Filled with romance, pain, and adventure, all the perfect ingredients for a novel, I read this book dozens of times during my schooling and it never fails to make me feel at home and all gooey inside.

Wafer-free Kit Kat: a book that has surprised you lately.
Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton. I was lucky enough to receive a review copy of this through NetGalley (see my review here!) and I absolutely adored it! I wasn't sure if the desert setting and western elements would really be for me, but I found them a fantastic combination and really hope it continues in a series as the world Hamilton has built is so so wonderful!!

Snickers: a book that you're going nuts about.
Passenger by Alexandra Bracken. I've been raving about this non-stop lately, so why not continue! I cannot even comprehend how much I adore Alexandra Bracken's new series, and am ridiculously excited for the second book to be released (even though it's barely been a month since the first one came out!).

Hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows: a book that you would turn to for a comfort read.
The Harry Potter series, obviously, but also the Mortal Instruments series. As the characters in both of these series are so close to my heart, and I have read about them so so many times, it is always comforting to pick them up and return to the worlds that I adore. I feel so at home at Hogwarts, and at the Institute; there is nothing better than snuggling up with a cup of tea and cuddling my dogs while I read them again and again.

I hope you enjoyed this super fun tag! Let me know in the comments if you've done it yourself, and if not, I tag YOU.

Love always,

Ari

Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton - non-spoiler ARC review

Hey there!

I was recently lucky enough to receive an ARC from Faber and Faber Ltd. through Netgalley of Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton. And boy was it fantastic!

Rebel of the Sands follows Amani as she finally escapes from her prison-like hometown in the search of a better life, only to get caught up in a rebellion so much larger than she could have dreamed of. Alongside a foreigner she crosses paths with, Jin, she must decide if she wants to continue in her search for the ideal life she has dreamed of for so long or take a new path that she had never expected.

Amani and Jin are both extremely intriguing characters, with so many layers that continue to be pulled back throughout the course of the novel. Amani's strength, skill, and determination are so exciting to read about. Her wonder at the world around her is truly refreshing and places a whole new light on the adventure taking place. Jin's mysterious past continues to develop, leaving the reader with no idea of what he could do next.

Alwyn Hamilton's writing style is at the same time fast paced and descriptive. You are never left bored, despite the potentially dreary desert surrounding Amani for much of the story. The interweaving of western themes and a middle-eastern setting is something that I have never read before, particularly in a young-adult novel, and an aspect that I feel made the novel so exciting. Whilst there are undoubtedly dystopian elements, this is by no means a sterotypical young-adult dystopian and I absolutely adored this unique aspect.

Overall, I highly recommend this novel, particularly to lovers of adventure and dystopia, with a dash of romance added in there!

Rating - 4.75/5

Love always,

Ari