 Hello, hello, everyone. My name is Laura. This is my channel Laura's Little Library and welcome to my February wrap up Pretty good. It's a little more closer to the average of the amount of books I read and especially with February being like short a month. Everyone's always like, oh, February's a shorter month I don't read as much and I'm like it's only like cool three days shorter It's really make that much of a difference, but you know what? It can. It really can make that much of a difference Anyway, let's get right into those 13 books The first book is a book that I initially had an arc of but just earlier this morning I brought it to the free little library Should have kept it in order to Hold it up, but it is verified by Joel Something I think this I give us a 2.5 out of five stars. It's your classic dystopian Like the government is taking away certain words in the vocabulary to shape society how they want it There's an underground rebellious group that knows of these words and is trying to spread them around in order to fight for free will and being able to use Anything and everything wants in the language that they speak cool concept not super unique and The care the chemistry between the characters. I didn't feel it was kind of weird and just kind of I mean to be fair though When I read the summary, it was very vague and it was the idea of you have your main character whose mother Pats and she looks into the passing of her mom. She uncovers something big Literally the only thing that the summary said I thought it was gonna be much more threlery But actually it's classic dystopian and she actually discovers this underground like society rebelling thing So and I mean it was really cool because I have like the Mary Webster Dictionaries and that's kind of their source of their used to be words that we now don't find anymore because the government's XYMV So I mean it was a cool concept I just wish it had been a little more thought-out a little more like strong in its ideals and everything like that There's a second book. I don't know if I'm gonna read the second book Like I said, I donated the first one to a free little library partly because it was an arc and partly because I It was 2.5 out of five stars. It's not really something I want to keep on my shelves So I probably won't read the second one, but if you like the classic dystopians like you know Fahrenheit 451 or 1984 you know Things like that the big brother You might like this. You might like this better than I did. I like those But they're not something I would choose over like A mythology fantasy or a historical fiction Or a dark romance fantasy I don't want to keep reading. Moving on Then I read Mercury Boys and this is by Chandra Prasad This Surprised me because it was exactly what I was hoping it would be And it was pretty good. So I gave this 3.5 out of five stars. You have your main character who Has a friend who's volunteering at this library with a whole bunch of really old photos I'm daguerreotype Like she works in a library that has some of the oldest daguerreotypes and some of the first ones And they use a chemical called mercury to do something with them. I don't particularly remember This was at the beginning of the month and our main character figures out that if she like touches the mercury and then Like has a daguerreotype of this man Then when she goes to sleep she visits him Like they meet she goes back in time And she accidentally lets this leak. It was initially for a class project And she lets this information leak a little bit to some other girls in her class And they decide to form a club where they all go in they choose a daguerreotype of a man, which is like And they visit them and they are their Boyfriends they're they're forever boyfriends and they're gonna live with them and that like they're not allowed to date anyone else They just only Do daguerreotype boyfriends and it's really Fascinating because they don't know Virtually anything about the men they're choosing them. They're choosing them based off their looks, which again But just to see like where they end up going because you get the different point of views from each girl of Like okay, she choose this guy. She does the mercury thing. She goes to sleep Oh crap. She just became a nurse in the middle of the war. Like that was one of them and I was like Oh, I want to keep reading this. I want it to be like its own story And I will also say There is a queer rep girl in here She has a hard time telling me other girls about her boyfriend Which made me of course extremely happy. So Yeah, it was a really cool really unique concept. The writing was fine And I liked it. So, you know, I'm gonna keep it. I don't I initially thought this was gonna be a little more like good for spooky season, but I don't know because it's not romance It's not romance. Like don't don't have that idea in your head. I don't know what this is. It was unique It was interesting But I would recommend it then I read briar heart and this was by Mercedes lackey I gave this three out of five stars. It's the idea that sleeping beauty has like a half older sister And when the whole thing with Maleficent happens her older sister Starts training and it's meant to be the protector of her little sister or rora And she puts together this task group to protect her sister I really liked the beginning of this and the middle of it was good It was the ending that I was like, okay, is this sleeping beauty or is this not like It just kind of strayed a little too far from the fairy tale to make Sense like it started off as one thing and then ended as another and I I didn't like that I thought it just lost its way partway through but like the writing was good and the concept was interesting So it was a solid three out of five stars. I don't I think it really depends on What how much you like fairy tales because if you love reading fairy tales give this a try I would love to know your thoughts But if you're like if you're like me or it's like I like fairy tales. I like fairy tale retellings But you know, I read other things too I don't know if you'd like it as much then I finally finished Daisy darker by Alice Feeney This is the other Alice Feeney thriller that I had I started this way back in spooky season Put it down read a bunch of other things picked it back up again I got the audiobook which really helped me get through this But this was a four out of five stars. I definitely like this a lot more than rock, paper, scissors Very different plot line. It's you know Grandma's 80th birthday. All the family comes back together. Each family member has their own secrets and Whatever and then grandma ends up dead on her 80th birthday and then slowly more and more people kind of start to die off in all in ways that relate to They're watching these vhs tapes of like these family home home video tapes of growing up and you can see how kind of like Huh, their family was and like those kids as children were little menaces. How do they grow up to be adults? like So It was good like four out of five stars the ending. I won't I won't spoil it. But the the who done it I was like I kind of saw it coming but kind of didn't I was like, there's no way it could be this and then it was and I was like Duff I I I liked it. You know, I was I was pleasantly surprised by it I was very intrigued by this family. The characters were so good. All the characters were really good. It just Yeah, it was pretty good. It was I mean the ending could have been better in my opinion But overall, I was still a really good thriller Then I read one of my most anticipated books that came out this year in 2023 The bandit queen and this is by Perini Shroff and this Did not disappoint. It was a four out of five stars I I loved what happened I think I wanted a little bit more from it and I wanted it to be a little faster But overall it was still really fun to read because you are following a main character Whose husband disappeared five years ago and she's part of like this loan group where it's a bunch of women who have their own businesses And they're paying back the loan and it's meant to promote female entrepreneurship and small villages in india and That was really cool to read about and then like other women are like your husband disappeared and you totally did it We all know that you did it. Did you help me? Get rid of my husband and it was just like It was so much fun to read. If you like Finley Donovan You would like this seriously if you if you like Finley Donovan or anything like that were or like even um Dial a for aunties is another one where it's kind of like, oh accidentally mixed up in crime question mark This is the next book that you need to read right here real good Then I read the book club pick for a book club that I am part of Virtually just with other people at a local bookstore and it is the lesbians guide to catholic school So this follows our main character and she is queer She is a lesbian and her mom does not know and her father actually got deported back to mexico a little bit before that and so You know things are really hard at home. They're really short in cash Her brother keeps getting into a lot of trouble So her mom sends them both to catholic school to try Really to straighten out the brother But then sends the sister to like keep an eye on him and like Help him have company. So there are these two latino kids who Don't really fit in at this catholic school because everyone else is like white and catholic and Whatever she also kind of balances that her family struggles with the fact that she doesn't want anyone to know that she's gay because she had a really bad experience at her old school of being outed so trigger warning there Of being outed and like friends and family members not accepting queerness I don't want to spoil the book, but I do think it needs to be said that You know not everybody accepts her for it. And so if that can be triggering for you Don't read it But overall I did give the book 3.5 out of 5 stars I didn't really understand some of the decisions that the main character made and the way that she View and did things didn't really make sense for the overall book And I just didn't feel a lot of chemistry. It was I don't know if it was okay, you know, and it's like sure Fine next up. I had another 4 out of 5 star read This was a book that I saw the author and was like, oh, I like this author and then looked at the cover and was like Please let this be Norse mythology And it kind of was and that is sky in the deep by adrian young So it's not like Norse mythology, but it's like viking inspired. It's it's viking. It's a viking story Basically, you have these two clans that are warring against each other and every five years They come to this very specific area and they have a battle And so, you know, it's very noble for the warriors to train and they get ready for this battle And our main character she is Bad ass and she is so excited to continue to participate in this five every five year battle thing One year she loses her brother sad Then the next time and five years later There he is fighting on the other side like wait a minute. What happened there? Excuse me So she ends up going over and she finds out that he is actually alive and is like Dude, why did you betray your family your clan your life? Like dude, what is going on here? She gets to the bottom of The feud between these two clans Oh my goodness. It was so Beautiful. I loved the writing like the way that she described everything I had such vivid imagery of what was happening in this book What everything looked like what everyone looked like and it just it made me happy It really did. I am proud to have this book and to have read it I read it so quickly. It just This is a good one. If you like biking Then I really started to get into some spring raids and one book that I wanted to read this spring And it is on my spring tbr which that video has not yet gone up, but Just so you know Gallant by V. E. Schwab. This is a very kind of like I don't know if it's a secret garden retelling or it just had like secret garden vibes, but basically you have this girl who is an orphan and then she The person the orphanage basically that's taking care of her Receives a letter that she actually has family and they want to take her in so she goes to this big beautiful house with these gardens and Not everything is what it seems You know, she uncut uncovers the mysteries because the uncle that had reached out Is actually dead. So who reached out for her? Why is she there? What's going on with the house with their family? What's going on with that garden there? Like it's the heavy. There's a heavy dark nature presence and a little bit of magic to it Which is why I thought it would be perfect for spring because anything with nature magic I think is meant for the spring season Um, I gave this when I I gave this 4.5 out of five stars. It was so close to being just perfect I just didn't quite get that last emotional feeling spark and understanding and full like rounded story element that I had wanted But it was still really good read and I very much enjoyed this Then these next two books I'm not going to talk a lot about and you'll and I'll explain why But I read the assassins blade and throne of glass by sarah j mass I am doing a reading vlog where I'm reading the entirety of the throne of glass series So I'm not going to say too much on them here, but I would encourage you to check out that vlog I am currently on crown of midnight. So it's still kind of in the beginning stages of it, but Subscribe so that when the video goes up, you can be notified and you can watch it I will say this was five out of five stars. I absolutely loved it This was three out of five stars Could have been better a little bit over hyped It was still good and if you think that is a controversial Opinion wait until I tell you about these next books that I read and what I thought of them I read these violent delights Our violent ends and foul lady fortune basically foul lady fortune was a book club pick for January Yes, January and I wanted to read these violent delights and our violent ends before I read foul lady fortune You don't need to but it follows characters from the original duology After the original duology and there's a little bit of a mention And so anytime that there's like it might be nice to read the duology first I'm going to read the duology first I rated both these violent delights and our violent ends 2.5 out of five stars and foul lady fortune was 3.5 out of five stars I was not a big fan of this duology Which I know so many people loved it and thought it was amazing and are super excited and like there are more books coming out And everybody's all pumped for those I still plan on reading the other books that are coming out because I did like foul lady fortune More and I think that has more potential So I will continue to read Chloe Gong's books in this universe But basically our violent ends is Romeo and Julia in 1920s Shanghai between rivaling gangs You have the chinese gang and you have the russian gang so much of it was just gang politics I was bored. I was confused. There were too many names I didn't like I just didn't quite get what I wanted out of it And I did not feel the chemistry between Juliet and Roma I did not think that I didn't feel that they were in love. I didn't feel that they were enemies Like because for them it's a second chance romance They they were together when they were like 15, but this is after that after betrayal had happened and so they broke up And it's just like I can understand hatred there, but It just went from hate hate hate to like Oh, they're together again and then instantly back to hate and I was like I I don't like this. I don't feel the chemistry. I was very let down for the amount of hype That was happening for this geology and like the fact that it was supposed to be Romeo and Juliet And then there was like no love there I didn't like it. I expected more from the romance I honestly did and then because so much of it was more about gang politics, which bored me I just did not Care to keep going really, but it was a duology. So I kept going foul lady fortune. I like more. I I think There's still some gang politics there obviously because the kind of the point But it was more entertaining. It was more of a story that had structure and This happens and this happens and less theoretical more things actually happening and I liked it I like it a lot more. So I will keep going with that. But yeah, those are my controversial opinions on the Chloe gong Books you you can murder me in the comments now. That's fine. It's totally fine But those are those are all 13 books that I ran in February. I'm pretty happy with it. It was kind of a like lower Star reading month. It wasn't the best reading month, but Whatever I have high hopes for March. So we'll just move on with that Thank you all very much for watching. If you liked this video, give it a thumbs up Let me know in the comments below what you thought of some of the books that I read because I'm sure Just like I have opinions. I'm sure you do as well If you are interested in this bookish content Consider hitting the subscribe button and hit the bell to be notified. I try to post on Sundays and Wednesdays and if you are interested in Keeping up with what I'm reading and what my thoughts are on it. I do have social media linked down below I am fairly active on Instagram now. So you can definitely check it out there But yeah, that's everything. So until I see you all in the next video. I wish you happy reading You