Hello!

I am here with May 2018 Wrap Up … and only a touch delayed. In May read a total of 5 books and 1,378 pages.

The genres I read this month were poetry, short stories and fantasy. I read 2 standalone books, 1 first book in the series and 2 sequels.

Onto the ratings!

 

 

★★★★★

A Court of Frost and Starlight (A Court of Thorns and Roses #3.1) by Sarah J. Maas 

 

No surprises here that I gave this book 5 stars. I adore this world and these characters so it was such a treat to be back in their world. This was exactly what I needed this month after stress at work. It was wonderful to explore more about these characters and also more of the Night Court. Cannot say much about the plot since if you haven’t read the previous three books but I will say if you love the pervious books I think you’ll adore this one too.

 

Vailisa the Wise and Other Tales of Brave Young Women written by Kate Forsyth and illustrated by Lorena Carrington

This was a stunning collection of fairy tales that showed smart, talented badass women at the forefront. Kate Forsyth highlights some of the lessor know folk tales such as Russian classic Vailisa the Wise all of which go against the whole damsel in distress trope we’re used to in our fairy tales. I loved that she mimicked the familiar form the classic Grimm’s and Anderson tales. Lorena Carrington’s illustrations are stunning and give extra life to these women’s stories. There was just the right amount of dark and whimsy that makes this collection perfect for fairytale fans of all ages.

 

★★★★

Sun Warrior (Tales of a New World #2) by P.C Cast

I really liked the first book and I am have massive fan of P.C. Cast herself. This second book picked up right after the last sentence of the first book, Moon Chosen and we are thrown right into the action. The battle lines have been drawn and Mari, an Earth Walker and Nik, a Companion, who were once from rival clans now find themselves fighting to save each other and their people from destruction.

I adore the world in this series it’s a fantastic blend of old and new. We get this sense that it’s a post-apocalyptic world as there are crumbling building and bridges but these are relics of an ancient time and the have moved back to the old ways of living off the land. Like with most of Cast’s work, the magic system is bedded with a spiritualist nature similar to that of tribal nations. I cannot wait for the third books, which is coming out this August!

★★★

Forest of Thousand Lanterns (Rise of the Empress #1) by Julie C. Dao 

This is isn’t really want I expected. Forest of a Thousand Lanterns follows Xifeng a young peasant girl who’s grown up in a forgotten village. The stars say she is destined for greatness, that she is meant to be Empress of Feng Lu. But only if she embraces the darkness within her. The premise of this story is a reimagining of the Evil Queen with an East Asian inspired fantasy setting. I’m not sure what didn’t work for me, maybe that I was expecting a faster pace story. The narrative it’s self is rather slow paced as Xifeng plots her way into the palace. But once she’s there and in a position of relative power the pace picks up and skips quite a few years to feed the narrative back into the familiarity of Snow White. 

What I did love was the setting. It was rich and easy to lose yourself in. The Chinese inspiration for the palace is so opulent and Julie C. Dao descriptions were amazing. I think Dao handled Xifeng as a character really well. We really do get to see that struggle between being herself and feeding into the darkness, loosing herself but achieving her destiny. Overall I enjoyed the book and am interested to see what happens in the sequel.

 

Poems by Sappho, translated by John Maxwell Edmonds 

I was lucky enough to received an ARC of this book and I do have a full review coming up so I’ll keep this short. Thank you so much to Dover Publications for sending a copy my way!

This was my first taste of Sappho’s poetry and I throughly enjoyed it. Her rhythmic and melody feel quite modern and at times it’s hard to imagine that these poems are thousands of years old. I found her more relatable and accessible than some of the other ancient literature I’ve read. So sad that all that remains are fragments but so glad we have these to cherish. I enjoyed John Maxwell Edmonds’ translation I was never drawn out of the reading experience which I’m thankful for that.

If you haven’t read any of Sappho’s poetry, I highly recommend you do! She’s all kinds of wonderful.

That’s it for me. Comment down below and let me know what you’re favourite read of May was.

Until next time, happy reading!
Dearna