Welcome back to another round up of all of the books I’ve read over the previous month. This month I read four books, which seems to be the absolute most I can read of any month if you’ve read any of my previous round-ups.
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November was the month of Rebecca Yarros. With Iron Flame coming out, I wanted to get Fourth Wing read before it came out so I could read and review that before reading and reviewing Iron Flame too.
Both of them feel very similar and I don’t think they deserve quite the high level of hype people were giving them, but then I don’t think any book ever truly does.
You can read my full reviews of all of the four books below as well as quick links to jump and buy them from Amazon if you want to do that.
So here are the four books I read throughout November…
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
“Fourth Wing was billed to me as one of the biggest YA fantasy books of our generation. There is a big band of great characters, there is an established and interesting fantasy setting and it has a plot that will keep you reading. The book is completely ruined by the “smut” Yarros has put in as it doesn’t add to the story or the characters at all and there is absolutely no “romance” here, simply very shallow lust.
I am a huge fantasy fan and this isn’t adult fantasy, it’s very much young adult but with crude moments. If you enjoy high fantasy such Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings or The Stormlight Archive, this may not be the sort of fantasy you’re looking for, but if you’re a fan of Sarah J Maas’ similar work then you could well find yourself enjoying this book a lot.
It’s a good book, at times a great book, it just doesn’t quite deserve the enormous praise and hype it’s received.”
Read my review | Buy from Amazon
Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros
“A week ago I hadn’t heard of Nora Roberts and definitely not Year One. However, I now find myself very interested to not only carry on this series but explore much more of Roberts’ books. Year One is a post-apocalyptic book that focuses brilliantly on the lives and stories of human beings and their attempts to remain human when it seems humanity may be lost. Did I like the random fantasy elements? I’m not sure and I’ll let book two decide that but I mostly certainly liked almost everything else about Year One!”
Read my review | Buy from Amazon
Year One by Nora Roberts
“A week ago I hadn’t heard of Nora Roberts and definitely not Year One. However, I now find myself very interested to not only carry on this series but explore much more of Roberts’ books. Year One is a post-apocalyptic book that focuses brilliantly on the lives and stories of human beings and their attempts to remain human when it seems humanity may be lost. Did I like the random fantasy elements? I’m not sure and I’ll let book two decide that but I mostly certainly liked almost everything else about Year One!”
Read my review | Buy from Amazon
The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallett
The Christmas Appeal isn’t the best of Hallett’s books but it’s another fantastic read with some truly loveable characters during a festive time of year. If you read The Appeal, you’ll find a comfort in reading about the Fairway Players again. It’s not quite as sweeping and complex due to its length and there isn’t some clever twist like in The Appeal but The Christmas Appeal is another success from Hallett with a great cast of characters, a fun murder mystery and her now well-established technique of writing that I find wholly captivating.
Read my review | Buy from Amazon
In summary…
This was another great month for reading. Rebecca Yarros’ books are two solid books that have slight Harry Potter-vibes. And then Year One and The Christmas Appeal were a fantastic end to the month. Year One was bought for me and I’d not heard of before but was pleasantly impressed with and The Christmas Appeal is by Janice Hallett and so I knew I would absolutely adore it as I’ve loved everything else by her.
I’d have to say by favourite book of the month ws probably Fourth Wing though I must really express how it isn’t the greatest thing since sliced bread like a lot of the social world is suggesting. I think it just opened a lot of reader’s eyes to how great fantasy is and so it rocked their reading worlds!
What did you read this month? Have you read any of the books above, did you enjoy them? Let me know in the comments boxes below or by finding me on social media @lukesblog1.
