Every month, I read books. As a book blogger, that would only seem natural. Some months I read a lot of books. Other months I read very few books. In April 2024, I read an average number of books (for me anyway). This number was 6. But, the more important comment to make is whether any of them were that good!
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Welcome back to another monthly round-up of all of the books I’ve read over the previous month. If you’ve read one of these before (or anywhere else on the inter-webs) you’ll know the formula by now: I list our every book I read in the previous month with a link to the review, a link to buy the book and my review summary.
It’s a fairly simple process but one that I’ve been doing now for years and one that I intend to keep doing until AI takes over and no longer needs to exert any physical output to earn money (not that physical output is earning me any at the moment!).
This month was a great reading month for me. I became obsessed with thrillers and also decided to read a couple of books solely for the reason that a couple of authors I really like told me to!
So what are the six books I read throughout April?
High Rise by Vanessa Lee
“I really wanted to like High Rise as it covers an interesting topic of climate change but some uninteresting characters, a very basic love interest and a story that never really got going until the last 30 pages and even then peters out to become something very underwhelming made for a big disappointment.
High Rise covers a very important topic of climate change but I don’t feel like it makes a powerful enough of a message or suggest anything new for it to have the impact that I’m sure the author hoped. If this is a topic you’re interested in, High Rise could be a good read. But as a general novel, I’d give it a miss.”
Read my full review | Buy a copy
In Memoriam by Alice Winn
“In Memoriam is a resounding success of a book if you’re looking for a real honest, human story. Gaunt and Ellwood are utterly brilliant characters and Winn’s ability to write believable, deep human beings is real talent. The plot will take you on an emotional journey that you may or may not come out the otherwise safely of. In Memoriam isn’t for the light-hearted – there’s death, heartbreak and constant reminders of the darkness of humanity. If you’ve got the resolve or are just emotionless like me though, I couldn’t recommend In Memoriam more, it’s utterly fantastic.”
Read my full review | Buy a copy
Weyward by Emilia Hart
“Putting three stories into about 400 pages will always be a struggle but Emilia Hart does do just enough of a job rounding them off the make them interesting enough. However, I was hoping for a lot more from Weyward. I was hoping for slightly more interesting stories, maybe some clever intertwining or plot twists and some better-defined characters. However, these elements all left me slightly underwhelmed and I got the end wishing the book was a couple of hundred pages longer so more depth could have been added.”
Read my full review | Buy a copy
The Drift by C.J. Tudor
“The Drift was my first C.J. Tudor book after a lot of hype and I must say I was very impressed. To write three stories in tandem, have them all interesting, have them all be interlinked and include some amazing characters all at the same time is a real talent. As well as this, Tudor really piqued my interest when I realised there were some light fantasy elements to the story too. The Drift is a brilliant thriller with some horror/post-apocalyptic elements that has made me really want to read more from Tudor!”
Read my full review | Buy a copy
Lie With Me by Sabine Durrant
“The more and more I think about it, the more and more I’m convinced that Lie With Me by Sabine Durrant is actually a really well-thought-out thriller. It’s purposefully slow at the start. Paul, our main character, is purposefully unlikeable. It’s all leading up to a finale that makes the previous 200 or so pages make complete sense and seem like a well-crafted run-up to a well thoughtout resolution to the book. I had my doubts about Lie With Me right up until the finale convinced me this is a great thriller you should definitely stick with.”
Read my full review | Buy a copy
None Of This Is True by Lisa Jewell
“Reading None Of This Is True felt like when you watch one of those Netflix documentaries where you can’t quite believe there are people out there that would do such a thing. As a thriller, None Of This Is True is one of the best I’ve ever read – it’s Lisa Jewell’s best book to date. It’s full of suspense, full of the constant want to know what’s coming next and had me constantly pulling literal shock emojis whilst I was reading and listening to it. If you can, listen to the audiobook because it’s immense, but either way, this is, for me, at the very peak of the mountain of best thrillers I’ve ever read.”
Read my full review | Buy a copy
Final thoughts…
This was a great reading month with a whole load of thrillers. You can tell I had a thriller hype throughout the month with The Drift, Lie With Me and None Of This Is True.
None Of This Is True is one of the best thrillers I’ve ever read. It was tense and kept me hooked throughout and had twists and turns for days at the end. Loved it!
I was also a huge fan of The Drift which has cast my eye to The Gathering by C.J. Tudor. The Drift managed to incorporate three interesting stories and a little bit of science fiction too which really impressed me. I’ve heard The Gathering is great too.
What did you read this month? Have you read any of the books above?
