 Welcome back to my channel. I hope you're good. Today we are going to be chatting about all the books I read in February I know this is going up on the last day of February, but I've just kind of like admit a defeat for February. Oh So I'm not gonna be reading anything else we can just call it a day Say we're done and talk about what I read I feel like the reading slump that I was talking about in January has kind of progressed to being a life slump in February So I have only read seven books in February again. That's all that bad Like seven books is pretty good in the grand scheme of things But I read eight in January and I was out here talking about how I was in a reading slump. So yeah I'm like basically on track or maybe one book behind to read a hundred books this year So this is what I expected at least in the first half of the year where I knew I was gonna be really busy with University work so like it's nothing. It's nothing. It's nothing. I didn't expect at the same time It doesn't feel good to be like ten books behind where I was at this point last year Doesn't feel good in my soul. So anyway, we're gonna talk about the seven books that I've read But first we are gonna do my reading statistics for the month So I read seven books this month which equated to a total of two thousand one hundred and fifty nine pages Which definitely isn't a lot the kind of minimum I usually aim for is a hundred pages a day and that works out to be seventy seven pages a day I can't remember what January was but I think it was like 98 or something like I think I was super close to a hundred but 77 Yeah, it's a lot lower. So I think that demonstrates how even the books I read were pretty short this month. My average rating is a three point seven one four Okay, so in terms of star rating I read two five stars But one was a reread I read two four stars two three stars and one two star So I am still yet to find like a Super five star this year last month. I read the sinister mystery of the mesmerizing girl But that is the last book in a series I have yet to find any other books that could be in my favorites of the year that I would think do you know I mean so I haven't had that feeling from a book yet this year In terms of genre, I read one contemporary one fantasy one nonfiction one thriller and three Romances so that was all because I did a video one video reading romance for a week before that I'd only have read three romance books. So that is very much not typical for me Usually something like fantasy would be my number one genre I read four adult books two YA and one middle grade usually my YA and adult like 50 50 But I definitely read more much more adult. I think I read a lot of YA in January So I just wanted to read more adult books this month I guess you guys four that I read as own voices and three as not own voices Two books were gifts that I read two were books I had previously bought myself two were from publishers and one was on script If you know if you've been following my kind of reading goals and my wrap up so far You know that my goal for the year is to read at least 50% non-white authors And I read from four black authors and three white authors this month two books I read were part of a series and five were stand-alone again I think that's because of January I read predominantly books from series And so I was like I just want to read stand alone this month one author was a debut Three were authors I've read before and three authors were new to me But it wasn't their debut book So I think that is all the statistics that we want to know I keep hair keeps going into my eye Oh my god The first book that I read this month was the Winter of the Witch by Catherine Arden This is the last book in the winter night trilogy and this was a reread for me This is probably one of my favorite fantasy series ever and I hosted a read-along for it I will link the live show for this down below if you didn't manage to catch it I loved this again so much like even on reread it was still so magical and wonderful This is about Vassia who grows up in old Russia and can communicate with the house spirits and Old magic in Russia by this book. She is a completely different girl than the girl We meet from birth in the first book and she's having to take on a lot of Responsibility in this book and I just love the way it merges Historical with fantasy it definitely is I say this book is the most fantastical out of all of the series But the historical context plays a massive role in this whole series I say this every time I talk about this book But it genuinely reads like a fairy tale like it is so magical It pulls in different influences from different old Russian folklore and folk tales And so it does it reads like it's someone's telling you this old story and it's just so whimsical and perfect Like I just love it so so much if you haven't picked this series up yet. I really recommend it None of the characters in this are like straight up perfect I don't like that in fantasy when your hero or like the like likeable characters are Always right or like you never disagree with them I like that, you know some of Vasya's siblings and even like the kind of love interest They sometimes do things I don't agree with Vasya sometimes does things I don't agree with and I really like that because it's not simple It's not easy and it's like oh my god It's like literally just a warm hug But in the snow as a book if I was just to describe it then next I Started my romance reading vlog and I read love is a revolution by Renee Watson Now this was one of my most anticipated 2021 releases. This was the first like 2021 release that I read this year and it was a bit disappointing I gave it three stars, which isn't bad, but I was definitely hoping for more This is about Nala who great basically falls for this guy But she spins a very elaborate set of lies in her belief that that will make him like her You know, like she lies that she's a vegetarian because he is he's very much involved in social activism And so she's trying to impress him But obviously that doesn't go very well in the long term, which is what the whole book is about I like the sections of this that were about self-love and self-acceptance. I thought they were the best parts of it I didn't really buy into the romance at all. Like I didn't feel the lights. I didn't feel the connection That's all but I really like the parts about self-love and that really is what the book is about It really is about her learning to love herself and accept herself for who she is However, the plot was more about the romance the relationship And so I felt like it was just a bit confused like the romance was the way we got to learning about self-love But then as soon as we got there it was kind of brushed over, you know It was kind of like I didn't feel the lights at all, but I really love Renee Watson's writing I think her characters are amazing She always has some like a great cast of characters and it was still an enjoyable read So I'd still recommend it because I really like Renee Watson's work But it was by no means a new favorite. Next I read a book I actually haven't spoken about yet because I didn't read it in a vlog and I read King and the Dragonflies by Kasein calendar. This is a middle grade and it's very much like a super hyped up middle grade Like it's super popular and so I thought I was gonna love it. I ended up giving it three stars Hold on a second I'm like trying hard not to cry. Don't cry. And it wasn't because there was anything wrong with it I just didn't feel particularly drawn in. I didn't love it I just thought it was okay, and I think Perhaps I listened to the audiobook and I I think obviously you don't know before you go into books Whether it should be an audiobook book or that should be a book you'd physically But I think this should have been a book that I just read physically because they kept being points The narrator didn't do anything wrong, but they kept being points where I was like I think that would have sounded more magical and better to me inside my head So basically in this King's brother has recently passed away and he believes that his brother is now a dragonfly Like reincarnated as dragonfly and so that's part of the story And then the other part of the story is about his friend who told him like recently that he was gay Running away. It is very much about as a child coming like learning about your sexuality and having to like Be brave as a child and go against society's Homophobia particularly in like kind of smaller towns where this is set and it was beautiful and it was a lovely read But I never felt immersed like I was constantly like I'm reading a book Do you know what I mean? Like I'm reading a middle grade like I'm reading a kid's book I never fully got into it I do own Felix ever after by case and calendar, which is a YA and I'm still super excited to get that I think maybe I'll love that more and I have it physically so I'll read it physically I still think that could maybe even be a five-star But this just didn't like grab me. Maybe it was a wrong place wrong time kind of thing, but I didn't love it The next Another book from that romance vlog. I read his Beauty by Jack Harbin Which is a smutty Beauty and the Beast retelling and I gave it two stars You've been very very harsh. Nice to meet you Kelly Previously's reading vlog another book meet cute club by Jack Harbin was my highest rated romance book I've ever read and what like taught me that I could love romance and then this just wasn't for me Like the books almost can't be compared because they're very different for a very different audience is meet cute club Is of course cute his beauty is like very just smutty and like dark in this the beast is mean The beast is mean the beast is so mean and I just couldn't get on board with it Like he was not nice. I didn't he didn't pass the Vive check He kept being so mean and doing just such horrible things to our protagonist And she kept like falling for him and like just accepting these horrible things that he was doing and I just couldn't stand for it I don't think I like a romance where he's the the guy is mean and horrible like in this Bell's father the bell equivalent Bell's father is dying He keeps her locked away like in this most important time where you can spend the last few weeks with your father before he dies And you're locked in his castle and she just like forgives him and I just don't Vibe with it. I'm sorry. I didn't This is not for me No, and I think the thing with meet cute club that work was it they're both short books and meet cute Club was just a couple like scenes almost and so you were kind of the pace felt really good But in this the author was trying to touch on all the the main points from Beauty and the Beast as well as doing a retelling and I didn't think that worked because it was so short It just felt like we were just racing through it and passing through stuff and never really getting into the grit of anything And so I think almost if you were gonna do a short Beauty and the Beast retelling It just needs to be like the basic premise of the Beauty and the Beast To like together I don't think the story needs to be the same and follow the same plot points This just wasn't for me But I think it like it is a me problem in a way like some romance readers like that whole nasty guy Spill I just don't think I can get on board with that and then next I read get a life Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbet And I gave this four stars. Yeah, I gave this four stars I really enjoyed this so in this Chloe Brown is this chronically ill woman Who has because of her pain has kind of lived almost a sheltered life and she decides that she wants to get a life And so she makes this list of things she wants to accomplish and in the course that she moved house and the kind of Superintendent guy at the apartment complex. She meets him and they fall for each other This was hot like this was so hot. It was so good some of the scenes in this was so good I love the communication that the characters had I love how the characters talk to one another I Love the British wit and humor in this Such an easy read to get through I read it in a day. I would read more books about this partnership I really loved their dynamic like red is kind of like this almost grumpy man kind of vibe I don't know if that's because of the vibe that the narrator gave of the audiobook But he's very like sarcastic and like almost has this hard shell But I really loved the way that he treated Chloe and like took care of her and I don't know I just really loved their vibe and it is enemies to lovers if you enjoy that But it's not really I feel like most time when people say enemies to lovers It's like two people who don't really know each other and vaguely just like each other And then as soon as they get to know each other they like each other like that's that's not really enemies to lovers But that's all people say it is but I don't I don't read class is that I really enjoyed this I think if you want to get into romance if you're just starting out like I was I think this is a good place to start because it's just so much fun and Talia Hibbit is a great writer and then next for my wrapped-up series video of the month, which I will link I read the senatorium by Sarah Pierce This was an arc sent to me by the publisher and I gave this four stars as well I really like this so this is about a woman who goes to say at this hotel that is out of an old sanatorium So tuberculosis patients were treated there in the past and her brother's girlfriend who she's there to visit them She goes missing and it turns out that another woman who works at the hotel has also recently gone missing It's very much an isolated story. They get stuck at the hotel Our main character is trying to figure out what went on because she is an ex well not ex detective She's like kind of like a detective who is on leave at the moment And so she starts trying to put together what is going on and trying to Work it out. But in the process of that definitely puts herself in danger You in danger girl I really really enjoyed this I thought like right up until the end it had the possibility to be a 4.5 or a 5 It was so claustrophobic so tense the character relationships with one another was really interesting There was also a lot of different mysteries going on simultaneously that you knew were kind of going to merge and Go away from each other and intersect in lots of really interesting ways And I thought there was constantly something moving the situation forward There was constantly something being revealed but also something you were still wondering about and I thought that worked really well together Just the ending like the reveal of the bad person was a bit obvious not obvious. That's the wrong word That's what I meant. I didn't mean to say that I don't know what the fuck she's saying but girl. I am living it was a bit on the nose It was a bit easy and the explanation like the messaging of the book and like why everything was done Was not set up well throughout the book to me. It was just kind of like plonked It just felt a bit out of nowhere. I was like, okay Great like I feel like if the ending was there I needed to be set up better So I really enjoyed the process of reading this. I think it was a fun really well written thriller But the ending was a bit like, okay, great. Like I agreed with the messaging. I said this in the video I agree with what the ending says But it just wasn't set up and then the last book I read this month I haven't actually spoken about yet because I read it in a vlog that hasn't come out yet So I won't say too much because I don't want to give the whole game away Well, I'm gonna say what I rated it. So you'll find out. Anyway, I read the five by Halle Rubenhold This is all about telling the lies of the women who were killed by Jack the Ripper. I gave it five stars. It's like not It's like a 4.75 4.9 even by I'm giving it a five stars This was just so incredibly Fascinating and made me angry that these women had been forgotten in the way that they have and their murder are the one who we Remember they all lived such interesting lives such sad lives in many cases Which is what comes from being a woman in this in this time. I guess it really made these women real Finally, of course, they're real women but like Hearing about their lives like one of them broke ballads one of them owned a coffee house They were mothers, you know, they had children like the the variety of stuff that went on in their lives And then they're reduced to this murder, you know, it's terrible I think this is a great place to start with non-fiction if you don't typically read non-fiction, you know, you have that victorian Era setting to the book and it just reads like fiction because you were just learning about their lives So I really recommend it. It's sad. It makes you angry, but it was fascinating and Maybe want to read more non-fiction like what I want to read now is non-fiction. So there we have it That is my February wrap up. I hope you enjoyed watching it. Hopefully March may be better, but it's not gonna be better I know it's not March is already a write-off in terms of reading like I'm not gonna get loads done March is gonna be one of my busiest months to university work and so Yeah, that's gonna take up so much of my time Many of you probably already know this but I'm not uploading on Thursdays the next couple weeks And I'm gonna be doing live shows every Wednesday night instead so that we still have some kind of contact with one another But a live show is much less time consuming for me than doing a video actually it took me so long to edit So that's how I've kind of cut back But um, yeah, I'm trying not to put too much pressure on myself to read I know the six books I have to read this month to get the videos out that I have to read Get out if you got to this video leave a snowflake emoji because of this snowy snowy book And I will see you on Wednesday for a live show where we're going to do some gohut bookish quizzes Check out my twitter for the form if you want to submit a quiz question I will see you then and I'll see you next sunday for another reading vlog. Okay. Bye