 Hello hello everyone, my name is Laura and this is my channel Laura's Little Library and welcome to today's video Which is my April wrap-up To my April TBR video you will not see a lot of those books in this wrap-up because I So I am a mood reader I read whatever I want to because if I force myself to read something I will go into a slump. I feel like this past month I went into a bit of a physical reading slump But I read a lot of audiobooks and when I get audiobooks Those aren't generally the books that I put on my TBR because I tried to borrow my TBR based on my Physical books that I haven't read yet So it's almost always a physical TBR but this past month like I said I just didn't pick up a lot of physical books But I kept reading audiobooks and so that's why I still have like nine Audiobooks that I finished but not a lot of them were on my TBR Anyway enough of that now let's get into the actual books that I read this April so first off starting with the manga I did read volume 4 and 5 of Silver Spoon. This continues to be an adorable Manga that I really like it slice of life about a boy who doesn't really know what he wants to do This life so he moves from the city to the country for an agricultural school And he's just kind of figuring out how to fit in there as well as what he wants to do with his life It's it's very slow in terms of him figuring that out I know what happens because my husband read these and he really liked it. It's a little slow But each book kind of has its own You know plot to it. It's an individual volume and so I've been I've been enjoying them It's I think they picked up quite a bit So really like the first one and the second one the third one kind of dips a little bit for me But they're starting to pick up again as there are more interesting events Happening that I'm excited for then I also read volumes four five and six of spy X family This manga I am in love with it went through a little bit of a dip again for me in the third one But it's picked up quite a bit. I am very much loving it There is a little bit of a triangle introduced, but I am I'm okay with it because It's it's less of a one person is debating between two and more of like two people expressing interest But it's it's become very funny. It's very intriguing action packed So I'm very much continuing to enjoy this manga and I'm really excited for the anime for the first couple of episodes might already be out and we just haven't watched them yet, but Those are all the manga that I've read this month and they have been pretty good I don't own any more of spy X family So I don't think I'll read too much more of it next month, but I do have a bunch of silver spoon yet So I will be reading through those Then I read the school for evil book three, which is the last ever actor This is the end of the first trilogy However, there is a second trilogy that is also following the same characters, but a very different pop point So it's book three of a six book series, but the last in the first trilogy This is a bit of a chonker, but I I like to this book more than the second book I think reading this book made me realize that I didn't like the second book as much as I thought I did because I liked this one Better I like this one so much better So if you are unaware I do talk about this series quite a bit on my channel recently as I've been making my way Because the movie adaptation is coming out sometime this summer. I still haven't been able to find a date, but I read this one I liked a lot more. I think it's for a very thick book. It's pretty fast-paced There was a bit of the miscommunication drop in here, but I also got to remember that they're like Kids ish like there's still teenagers and figuring things out plus the miscommunication was resolved very quickly Within the book like it was done before I was even halfway through which I appreciated I found myself empathizing with all of the female characters, but the male main character I had a very hard time with he just seemed so back and forth. I was not pleased with his actions I felt like his character was just a little weak and it could have used a little more development Which happened a little bit at the end of the book But still I kind of wish we had seen more from him in terms of growth and making good decisions But yeah, this also gives me like descendants three vibes I don't want to say anything more because I don't want to spoil it especially if you haven't read the second book, but like Little bit of descendants three vibes here. Yeah, this just had Such an ending like if again if you didn't like the second book I would say just try and power through so that you can get to this one because it was a lot better But also that ending just whoa then after reading this one I also had the fourth book which I do not own but that is quest for glory and it starts off the Camelot years trilogy and So I'm just gonna keep holding up this one even though I'm now talking about the fourth book Maybe I'll set this down because it is kind of heavy and I am weak, but I really liked the fourth one I think the characters are pulling the story a little bit more than the plot like it is still a very plot heavy book But I enjoyed the characters just a little bit more I felt like the plot was kind of slow, but the characters are what made it Exciting for me to read and intriguing I I kind of called the twist a little bit But I think you were supposed to or maybe it's just cuz I'm probably a little older than the intended audience But you know, I wasn't mad that I was able to call the twist Because there were so many points in here that just made me attached to the characters and kind of wished that I was wrong Or wish that there was something more to it and they're still very well It could be because I haven't read the fifth book yet Although I do have it as an audiobook, so I will be getting to it soon, but again pretty big So it might take me a little bit, but I really liked that He started to throw in some less popular fairy tales and some new characters as well It just it's exciting and you still kind of get a little bit of the school for good and evil in the books But like we've moved on so it's fun. It's a good transition. I really love the romance between our main characters I think it has it has had it had like one scene to really shine through through this book And I really appreciated that scene and I wish there are more like it because it's come from like this fantasy Series and it's becoming much more of a romance Even though it's still middle grade There's there's much more of a romance element to it and I'm excited to see that getting more attention However, I do think the fourth book could have been a little shorter because while it is fast paced There were still definitely scenes and moments. I was like this wasn't necessary or this could have been condensed a little bit better um just to make it I don't I don't even know if I want to make it less daunting, but just It didn't need to Have all that and be as long. Yeah, and especially because like I said the plot was so slow moving I felt like there were just a lot of questions and it took way too long for them to be answered But that was just because of the slow plot. I still very much liked it. I haven't given you a rating Uh, the last one was five out of five stars and the fourth one is 3.5 out of five stars for me. I would say I look forward to it getting better in the next couple books Then I read the cobalt dossier by eric van lustabader I think I'm saying that right. Uh, so this is the second book out of two books Of I think they're more companions, but they do happen sequentially the ebb and writer series There are only two books and I don't think more are coming out And like I said, they happen sequentially, but I hesitate to call them a series Um, but this one I liked more than the nemesis manifesto I still gave it three out of five stars It still wasn't quite my cup of tea Um, I didn't rate the nemesis manifesto because it was my first spy novel Uh, I don't think I'm writing officially the cobalt dossier But I'm saying that it was like a three out of five star book now that I have a better handle on the genre And the characters and the writing style and everything like that There were there were a lot of really cool parallels between povs in this book I really appreciate the two kind of Storylines happening But how they cross over not cross over but how they come to the same realization at the same time But in very different ways. I thought that was really cool I still think there was just a lot of stuff just kind of thrown in there But I think that's just the nature of spy novels and espionage novels So I don't think they're really my thing and I don't think I'm going to continue reading them Um, but it was still very fun to experiment with them Then the next thing that I read was a light by scott sigler The first one in the series is a lot of by scott sigler a light is the second book And a lot of these are series because of the continuous on that I hosted at the beginning of april But yeah, so a light was the second book in the generations trilogy And I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue with the trilogy, which is why I Read the second one during the readathon so that I could see if I really wanted to continue with it I I rated it three out of five stars I thought it was like a solid book like it was fine There was a lot of kind of growth happening with the characters and figuring things out. It was still kind of slow pace. It was You know, I was kind of waiting for something big to happen because it seemed like a bunch of little things were happening Um, I was not a fan of the writing which I had issues with in the first book So I was kind of bummed to see that it didn't get better within the trilogy There were some inconsistencies in the book and I just I wasn't as attached to the characters as I was in the first one And the ending was pretty good. However, I did start the third one And I just The ending was what I wanted from the second one I pretty much said if this doesn't happen at the end of the second one I'm not continuing and it happened So I said, okay. Well what I wanted happened So I should continue because you know if anything else had happened I wouldn't have liked it like it just wouldn't have felt right or natural And so I started the third one and I'm just really I put it down and I'm not super impressed by it So I think I'm gonna dnf the trilogy. I think I'm gonna just Call it good. Um, so I'll probably end up unhauling alive at some point Because if I'm not gonna finish reading the trilogy, I don't want to own any of it. Um So, yeah, that was kind of a bummer I I didn't get very far into the third one just because I was not enjoying the second one years much Which is why I'm allowing myself to dnf the third one so early It will put me into a slump. It kind of put me into a slump In fact, even the second one put me into a bit of a slump at some point But I kind of forced myself through it. So I don't want to do that again. So dnf kind of See the wall and that's not very fun Um, so now we're going to move on to the next one the next two books that I read Are part of a series and they're technically library books when I listen to them over audio and that is the three dark crowns and One dark throne by kandari blake. This is a four book series I'm currently reading the third one and I'm almost done. I'm kind of hoping to finish it today Or at least very soon. I am Very much enjoying these books like I The premise of them was very intriguing. It's the idea that You're on this um Like island and everyone not everyone is born with a gift But a lot of people are and you can be a naturalist and talk with like animals You have familiars and do like nature magic or you can be an elemental And you do like elemental magic or you can be a poisoner And you have a very high tolerance against poisons and you're also very knowledgeable Um about poisoning but also healing and then those are kind of the main three But there are also war gifts and there are uh like sight gifts It's always ruled by a queen and that queen always gives birth to triplets And when the triplets turn 16 there is a year where they have to kill their two sisters and whoever is left standing ascends to the throne How awesome is that premise though, right? Like Yeah, I've been very much enjoying it. I believe I give the first one a 4.5 out of 5 stars Uh because I felt so much of it was such a strong Book except for a few major few things the biggest thing being one of the characters just Being a bad character. It was poorly written and wasn't excited about it and the plotline that they kind of went down I felt was unnecessary. Um, and so it kind of was a big hindrance to the book I think the book could have done without and it would have been so much better the time that passes in this book Is kind of tricky and seemingly inconsistent It's really hard to understand the passage of time and then sometimes it's like A lot of time would buy in a little bit of time would buy and you just don't really know So that was another issue I had with it and that's continuing throughout the series But I'm minding it less and less There are a lot of povs in this book and it kind of just changes without much warning And that has also been really hard to like each chapter. It'll tell the place That you're at So then you can kind of figure out which character But if you have two pov characters in one place, it can be kind of difficult at first to understand who you are Uh reading from and then even within the middle of a chapter It'll just be like a little bit of a break and then all of a sudden it'll start from a new pov And that was just really difficult. I think there are way too many povs that we're reading from I mean all the storylines pretty much are interesting, especially in like the second book But it's still just a lot to consume But that's why I'm really glad that I'm reading them one after another like I'm reading this entire series one two I'm in the middle of three. I have four and I think that's the only way that I am going to Uh get through them without forgetting major things or like the only way I'm gonna understand how The books connect although there was a very good cliffhanger at the end of the first book into the second book And again a pretty good cliffhanger from the second to the third not quite as good But you know, I'm a sucker for a good cliffhanger. This was a 4.5 out of five stars And then the second one the second one. I don't know it was just good Then I read the Spanish love deception by Elena Armas and I gave this 3.5 out of five stars. I think I very much enjoyed this book But I think it's because I knew going into it that it was going to be way too long and way too drawn out I think if you if you go into this book and you like faster paced books, especially when it comes to like contemporary romance You're used to them being around 300 pages 350 maybe so to come into this book Not knowing that it's super slow I think will make the entire book just horrible for you But if you go into it knowing that it's going to be long and drawn out and you're like prepared for that I think it's a lot more enjoyable because it didn't seem That slow for me. I think what it was is if you can read the first scene the very first scene of the book and not Be annoyed at how slow it is Then you'll be fine for the rest of the book because that first scene I felt like just drew on forever Like our main character just sat there and was like, I'm just going to process everything very slowly While the other characters are just sitting there waiting in silence And so if you can get through that like there are a couple more scenes like that where I'm like, come on, sweetie Move forward. Let's keep going here. Um, but if you can like get through that a little bit Maybe even like skip the scene. I listened to an audiobook. So I listened to every single word. I was not skipping But I think if you're physically reading it, there are probably parts that you can just kind of skip through And then it'll go much faster and it's much more enjoyable not expecting to like it as much as I did Especially because yes, it did take them a while to get to spain, but I didn't mind That build up because I felt like there was enough happening before they went to spain That was interesting enough for me So it wasn't that big of a deal for me But I would agree that this really isn't much of an enemies to lovers book Like I love enemies to lovers. So I was really disappointed when it was He's trying to be nice from the very beginning And she is mad at him for something that happened a while ago And then they become lovers like That's it was not enemies to lovers. It wasn't friends to lovers I think the only like trope it did it did really well the fake dating trope And I think that's what you it should be marketed as it should not be marketed as enemies to lovers not even hate to love But just workplace fake dating I think that's good enough and I mean like the steamy scenes were kind of weird Not not like not like Physically weird, but just there was such a shift in character for the male main character That it was really weird and I felt like it was kind of inconsistent But it also got very repetitive like it bothers me So much and this happens in real life too Like not just in books, but when a partner calls their other partner babe Every single time they talk to them like every sentence or every other word is babe It irks me it irks me so much like you do not need to say babe that many times So and that happened a lot in this book and it kind of annoyed me and just kind of the sexy talk That he did was just really Weird and I don't understand Why she was into it. It didn't seem like something It didn't seem like something either character would go for but it just kind of happened So that was also very weird for me But I didn't really like the beginning of the relationship and I kind of liked how it ended up It was just that middle part where I was like This doesn't feel like what would naturally come next for these characters and in this story So I think going into it with low expectations helped me enjoy it more But there was still quite a bit that I was like Oh, you're almost there. This could have been so much better Oh and also the amount of description Of just him Like she describes him so Much like I get it. He has blue eyes. I get it. He's tall. He's buff like You only need to say that Twice maybe once as a beginning description and once when it's relevant to the event happening But the amount of times we were told that he has blue eyes I was like ready to start making it tally halfway through the book because I was just done with it I was like, this is this is crazy. And again, if you had cut a lot of that out It would have been a shorter book and it would have been more enjoyable But that all being said, I did still very much enjoy the plot and like the tropes that I say were done Not the enemies still lovers but the um the fake dating I think that was done really well and there was good communication between the characters in terms of the steam scenes Which was greatly appreciated. So I think at 3.5 like I'd still would Well, I don't know if I'd recommend it I would recommend it if I think you can handle it if you would actually enjoy like summer books like that But I probably won't recommend it a lot. And then the last book that I read in April was Finlay Donovan is Killing It by Elle Cosimano. I gave this 4.5 out of 5 stars I loved this. I kept putting off reading it because I thought I liked the premise of it But I wasn't I didn't really enjoy Elle Cosimano's other books that I've read by her And I don't know it just seemed like such a different premise from what I normally read And I wasn't sure if I would like the execution even though I liked the premise However, I loved it. I really did love it It was so crazy and it boggled my mind like and I completely understand Where the character was coming from and why they were doing what they were doing I know some people had a hard time thinking like Finlay just kind of rolled herself into it But I honestly didn't feel like that was the case. I very much enjoyed The events playing out and the character reacting to them. I thought that was done really well There was only one big Like let down from me and I and I don't completely know if it's my fault or the book's fault But I don't want to say too much about it because I don't want to ruin it. So Finlay Donovan is killing it is about a Mother of two who is just getting divorced from her cheating husband Who has had writer's block for a very long time and is struggling financially because of it So she meets with her agent at Panera and they're talking she's a Romance suspense novelist. So she does a lot of like Thriller mystery but with heavy romance in it And so she was talking to her agent and they were overheard and mistaken as her she's a hitman So then someone hires her for a hitman job And that's all I'm gonna say about it because that's all I needed to hear for it, but I don't want to Get too much into the plot of the book. I thought The the romance interests were good. I thought it was very interesting. It seems a little young Like the the romance plotline specifically seems young For our main character who is a mother of two um, but everything else was like really good and funny and like The interaction the relationship between Finlay and her house Uh made not house made but like her nanny her helper is just So interesting Like I like their relationship But I don't know what exactly to call it because it's not just like an employer an employee thing But it's not like a friend thing, but it's not like I don't know how to refer to it as but I really I really enjoyed it and at first I thought That her being introduced so early. I wasn't going to like it But then I ended up really liking it. So it's one I would highly recommend Uh for a hilarious cozy mystery kind of I don't know if it really qualifies as cozy mystery, but like It was funny. It was good. I recommend it I read it for spring fling a ween and that was the only book I read for spring fling a ween I did not get to my back listed book, which is a bummer, but oh well Those are all the books that I read in the month of april Which 13 is still A lot even though I've been reading a lot of books every month this year so far I honestly don't know how But it's probably because of the amount of audiobooks like I just feel like I haven't physically read minus manga and so long Because I can just fly through manga in like two hours, but like Sitting down and having a long reading session. I've just been Wanting that and I haven't been getting it much. So hopefully that will change in may That's such a this is such a long video. This is such a long Wrap up But I don't want it I like doing monthly wrap ups though because if I come across a month Like I think this summer I'm gonna be reading less because I'll be home So I'll like doing monthly wrap ups in the summer when I have less to talk about but for right now It's kind of a lot Anyway Thank you all so much for watching Let me know in the comments below if you've read any of these books What your thoughts and opinions are if you agree with me if you completely disagree I would love to chat with you about it or if you have any book recommendations Give this video a thumbs up if you liked it. Otherwise feel free to subscribe I make videos on sundays and wednesdays and hit the bell to be notified when I post on those days Uh, I have a bunch of bookish social media Links down below that you can follow me on where I post all kinds of bookish content To keep you occupied until the next video, but until then I wish you happy reading