March Reading Wrap-Up

Posted bySarahPosted inMonthly Wrap-UpTags:, , , , ,

Fashionably late really is the name of the monthly wrap-up game… 💁‍♀️

My March reading consisted almost entirely of female authors, several of them WOC. A River of Royal Blood by Amanda Joy was my favorite read of the month and I started making aesthetic boards for some of my reads. Check those out on my Pinterest, tumblr or on the reviews themselves, of course! ❤

Image Description: a flat lay featuring the book Wicked Fox by Kat Cho. On the cover of the book a Korean teen girl in a school uniform faces us. At her back a Korean teen boy looks at us over his shoulder. The moon rises above trees behind them. The book rests on a sheet of emerald crushed velvet. To the left of the book is a string of light-bulbs. Glittery strands poke into the frame at the bottom right. The entire image is dotted with small, pearl-like beads reminiscent of Miyoung’s gumiho bead in Wicked Fox.

Wicked Fox (Wicked Fox #1) by Kat Cho

🛵🛵🛵🛵(four stars as rated in Jihoon’s motor scooter)

The following review is copied from my previous post about this book.

Wicked Fox may very well be one of the MOST realistic depictions of teenage emotions that I have read in my lifetime. Also, there is so much dang cuteness between our protagonists that it easily outweighs any and all possible faults. I am already working Vicious Spirits into my summer reading list!

✨ Rep in this book: Korean cast of characters, own voices

✨ Content warnings for this book: violence, murder, blood, medical stuff, hospitalization, estrangement from a parent, death of a family member, violence toward an animal

Image Description: a flat lay featuring a hardback copy of the book A River of Royal Blood by Amanda Joy. On the cover two Black young women face one another. The one on the left has long white hair and wears a blue dress. Above her hand a ball of magical light hovers. The girl on the right has natural hair braided tightly toward the top of her head. She is wearing an orange and brown dress and wields a dagger at the other woman. The book rests at the intersection of two fabrics. A blue velvet on the left with scattered black feathers about it. On the right is a swath of crimson silk and the antlers of an antelope.

A River of Royal Blood (A River of Royal Blood #1) by Amanda Joy

👑👑👑👑👑 (5 stars as rated in crowns worth killing your sister for)

The following review is copied from my previous post featuring this book.

I’m calling it now, this is the kind of book you’re going to wish you’d picked up sooner. I absolutely adored the concept and the characters were really dynamic without ever bogging me down in supporting info. The story itself moves very quickly while also managing never to ask great suspensions of disbelief from the reader. A big thumbs up to that alone!

✨ Rep in this book: Black protagonist, diverse characters, gay supporting character, own voices

✨ Content warnings for this book: violence, themes of war and battle, death of an animal, mind control with magic, murder, racism, estrangement from family members

Image Description: a flat lay featuring an e-book version of The Roommate by Rosie Danan as seen on the screen of an iPad. The cover features a young white man and a young white girl sitting on a green couch. He is looking at her. The iPad is laying on a pair of jeans with an iPhone and some white headphones to the left. A pair of red-rimmed converse peek into the frame at the top left and bottom right. There is a pink sweatshirt at the top right that says “female equals future” with a bottle of beige nail polish resting just below the words.

The Roommate (The Roommate #1) by Rosie Danan

💼💼💼 (3 stars as rated in briefcases because it is a business doing pleasure with you)

The following is copied from a longer review in my previous post about this book.

What a steamy little experience this story was! I genuinely liked all the characters and found their respective arcs to be intriguing and believable. I’m looking forward to getting to know a few of them better in The Intimacy Experiment which comes out on April 6, 2021. This book reaches into a lot of topics that I really enjoyed. It is sex work positive (thumbs up for days) and also emphasizes consent, female safety, and the existence of aromantic sex.

✨ Rep in this book: sex work

✨ Content warnings for this book: sexual content, mentions of sexism and misogyny, car accident, estrangement from a family member

Image Description: a flat lay featuring the e-book version of Milk Fed by Melissa Broder as seen on the screen of a black e-reader. The cover of the book is orange with a pink and red circle design in the middle that resembles a breast. To the right of the tablet is a coffee cup on a saucer with a spoon resting next to it. A creamer pot is just above it. Headphones snake around the tablet at the top of the frame. They all sit on a worn wooden table.

Milk Fed by Melissa Broder

🥠🥠🥠 (3 stars as rated in Miriam and Rachel’s fortune cookies at the Golden Dragon)

I was given a free review copy of this book by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The following is copied from a longer review in my previous post about this book.

The thing about Melissa Broder, is that every sentence she writes feels like it’s being pulled out of my own brain. Except, of course, I never thought to put these words together in any way at all similar to what I just read. The dream sequences in and of themselves were so deliciously bizarre that I am not sure anyone but the genius of Broder herself could have ever conceived of them. I think that’s what makes her writing – to me, at least – so particularly remarkable.

✨ Rep in this book: Jewish protagonist, queer romance

✨ Content warnings for this book: body dysmorphia, fatphobia, toxic relationship with a parent, eating disorder, homophobia, abuse

Image Description: A flat-lay featuring the book Band Sinister by K.J. Charles at the center. To the left a bunch of lavender rests on a lace tablecloth the a cup of tea on a saucer just above it. A ring of three antique skeleton keys enters the frame at the top right. There is an unlit candle and a string of pearls at the bottom right and more lavender bits strewn about.

Band Sinister by K.J. Charles

🌳🌳🌳🌳(four stars as rated in trees that are better climbed with someone you care about)

The following review is copied from my previous post about this book.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that K.J. Charles absolutely slays at writing quality relationships and sex. The key to this all being that she nails the concept of consent. Every. Single. Time. Asking permission is sexy AF and don’t let anyone ever tell you otherwise. Everything Charles’ characters do to one another is done with trust and explicit assurances of pleasure. It’s honestly incredible. It also completely tramples the notion that such things did not exist in the past. Because, believe it or not, there was consensual sex happening during the Regency Period. 🤯

✨ Rep in this book: Queer characters, Black supporting character

✨ Content warnings for this book: homophobia, sexism, abandonment by a parent, infidelity, death of a parent, death of a sibling, life threatening injury, medical stuff, slavery, racism

Image Description: a flat lay featuring the book Quiet in Her Bones by Nalini Singh. The cover depicts a rusted car partly concealed by ferns and tropical foliage. The book is resting on a sheet of green crushed velvet with a few shadows cast over it.

Quiet in her Bones by Nalini Singh

🍬🍬🍬🍬 (four stars as rated in Aarav’s exceptionally addictive stash of sweets)

The following review is copied from my previous post about this book.

This book spoke to me the minute I saw that deliciously sinister looking cover. I’m adding Quiet In Her Bones to my list of rainy day recommendations because this is exactly the type of book with which one really ought to cozy up on the couch with a cuppa. I loved that the neighborhood in which the Rai family lives is so thoroughly multi-cultural and diverse; and not in a way that feels forced or “for show.” Nalini Singh really raises the bar when it comes to writing about a variety of races, sexual orientations and life experiences without leaning on tropes or stereotypes.

✨ Rep in this book: Indian family, diverse community of characters

✨ Content warnings for this book: domestic violence, blood, car accident, murder, adultery, assault, blackmail, medical stuff, drug use, addiction, suicide, memory loss, sex work

Image Description: flat lay featuring the book The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey. My hand is reaching into the frame of the photo and holding a tumbler of clear liquid (presumably alcohol) and ice to the left of the book. A string of pearls lingers near the top. The image has been shattered like a mirror so that the shards of the photo do not align quite right.

The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey

💍💍💍💍(four stars as rated in wedding rings worn until death do us part, do us part, do us part, do us part…)

The following review is copied from my previous post about this book.

You know that feeling when you’re reading a book and you think, “oh this is going to get made into a movie without question.” I felt that so many times while reading The Echo Wife that I may just go ahead and start my own studio and make the thing myself! It’s just such a gloriously original thriller that the idea of it not getting optioned feels a bit preposterous. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys dark themes, LOTS of internal reflection on the part of the protagonist and morally ambiguous characters. To me, though, none of that felt tiring to get through, which is actually rather shocking considering that this book is far more character based than it is plot based. Especially for a thriller. From a literary standpoint, The Echo Wife is edited just beautifully and the flow of the thing itself is outstanding.

✨ Rep in this book: NB author

✨ Content warnings for this book: death of a spouse, death of a parent, murder, blood, medical stuff, adultery, domestic violence, confinement

Image Description: a flat lay featuring an e-book copy of A Peculiar Combination by Ashley Weaver as seen on the screen of an Android device white a black case. The cover depicts a woman’s profile looking left. The skyline of London is seen at the bottom. To the right of the book, a ring of three skeleton keys rests on a lace tablecloth. Just above it a cup of tea sits on a saucer beside sprigs of lavender, a string of pearls, and a magnifying glass.

A Peculiar Combination by Ashley Weaver

🔓🔓🔓 (three stars as rated in locks picked by deft hands and finely honed skills)

I was given a free review copy of this book by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The following review is copied from my previous post about this book.

Ashley Weaver is a real favorite of mine. I love her Amory Ames series. This one fell a bit flat for me, however. I was invested in Electra herself, but the story was rather convoluted. Also, there was so very little relationship development. The interactions between romantic partners is what I so loved about her Amory Ames books. I realize that this is a different series but… I guess I was just missing that bit. Hopefully we shall see things progress in book two? All in all, this was a quick and easy cozy mystery and if that’s what you’re looking for then you’d probably be keen on the twists and turns Weaver maps out in A Peculiar Combination.

✨ Rep in this book: n/a

✨ Content warnings for this book: themes of war and battle, kidnapping, murder, blood, death of a family member

Image Description: a photo of Sarah in a white t-shirt with fruit on it. She is standing before a backdrop of green drawn palm leaves and is holding five hardback books in front of her face. Their spines are turned toward her and hidden from the viewer so that only the edges of their pages are visible.

Stats:

  • Books Finished: 8
  • Female Authors: 7
  • NB Authors: 1
  • WOC Authors: 3
  • Own Voices: 3
  • Queer Rep: 2

Thanks for reading, friends, and I hope you all enjoy the rest of April!

Sarah

Published by Sarah

My name is Sarah and I can't imagine my life without books. Actually, I can and it's terrible. I'm also into climbing, video games and bothering the nearest cat.

12 thoughts on “March Reading Wrap-Up”

  3. Oooh your making me want to read Wicked Fox now…. also I heard the sequel to The Roomates is even better than book one! You’ll have to lmk your thoughts if you ever decide to pick it up! Great wrap up 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Ahh! Jamie you should! It is SO good. And I am really glad to hear that about the next book. I think it’s called the Intimacy Experiment!? I was denied the ARC but will hopefully get it from my library sometime this summer!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  5. Pingback: The Aesthete Blogger Award – Gemini Book Nook

  7. Your reading wrap-up looks amazing! Don’t worry you’re don’t the only one who is late with wrap-ups. I still haven’t written my 1st Quarter wrap-up 😂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

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