January Book Wrap Up
Haul And Reviews
January — the first month. The time of the year when everything is new. New year, new resolutions, new goals, and not to forget, new yearly reading challenges.
With the second semester of college beginning and all the coming chaos and breakdowns, I didn’t really put myself out there when it came to setting my yearly reading goal. 28. Yep, that’s an unusually specific and extremely low number of books. I know. I’m pretty disappointed in myself, too, but if I’m being honest, I know I’m gonna end up reading more than 28 books this year. Fingers crossed. I just didn’t want to feel that ‘I wasn’t able to complete my reading challenge this year’ feeling so, just in case, I decided on a relatively low count. Don’t worry, though because even amid my finals, I know for sure, you’ll find me snuggled up in my blanket somewhere, reading a book instead of preparing for my finals.
‘You’ve read 2 out of 28 books’ is what my Goodreads is telling me right now. I know two isn’t the highest number of reads you can have in a month, but c’mon, I had to study for my finals. I had to, y’all. I had to.
1. Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi was my first read of the year. The book is exceptionally liked among the dystopian romance genre lovers. For me though? I’m not so sure.
Shatter Me consists of a suspenseful beginning, increasing the heart rate of the readers as they move on from one line to the next. “I’ve been locked up for 264 days” is the first line of the novel and to be honest, that line holds a lot of potential. So much seems to be happening in the first chapter and making it all so eventful that makes the breaths of the readers stop is something not every other author can do. Being a writer and a reader, I know how essential it is for a book to be gripping from the first page. Well, Shatter Me is all about that.
The book tells the story of 17-year-old Juliette. The girl with a lethal touch, who has been locked up for 9 months because her hands hold the power to kill whoever she touches. No one has the exceptions or at least that’s what the world thinks. That’s what she thinks until Adam touches her, and doesn’t die.
The story proceeds when after months of being kept in isolation, she gets permission to be released but is what’s going to happen to her after being released really what being released entails?
Shatter Me was published back in 2011 and is the first book of the series. Particularly known for its unique writing style, Shatter Me is one of the most read books these days and that’s exactly why I started reading it but since we’re being honest here, I didn’t find it the most outstanding book of the year. As I said, it’s written amazingly and may be loved by someone who likes this kind of romance, but as much as I hate to admit it, I only gave it 2 out of 5 stars.
2. Stay With Me by Nicole Fiorina
Having boys in her closet was a normal thing for the nineteen-year-old Mia. She was spoiled, rebellious, and whatnot but the last straw was when she stole the keys of her stepmother’s BMW and drove it straight through the garage door because after that, she was left with no option but to go to Dolor University.
Stay With Me is a contemporary romance novel including the story of Mia Jett and Ollie Masters. Even after being sent to the reformatory college for slightly mentally ill and dangerous young adults, Mia doesn’t care. About nothing and no one. She never has but that is until her eyes land on the long, curly-haired guy in the cafeteria. That’s when she finds out her built-up walls aren’t really as strong as she thought they were because Mia, and feeling something? For a specific someone? But you know, at the end of the day, love never happens when it’s supposed to. It has a mind, a heart of its own, and as much as she denies it, Ollie makes her believe that she can and she does feel for him.
The story is engaging throughout the book but something that I felt missing was the character description. I couldn’t decide what the characters really looked like even after finishing the book because the very brief portrayal was neither descriptive nor strong enough for a reader to imagine the characters in their head, and being a reader, that’s something that matters a lot. Other than that, the plot is acceptable if you like dark romances which sadly, I don’t so even though I know the story was good and the ending made me jump with suspense and bewilderment, it was a 1 star book for me.
While January was my Final Exams month, I made sure to read as much as I could after I was finished with them in the mid of Jan. Yes, two books aren’t a lot but I think, as long as what you’re reading makes you happy, it’s more than enough.
