The Four Books I Read in February 2023

Last month I stated that it clearly wasn’t a particularly good reading month for me and then I’ve gone and read the same amount of books in February. I set my reading goal to 60, at this rate, of four books a month, I’m only going to hit 48. I need to have a couple of really productive months if I’m going to reach it!

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So yeah, in February I managed to finish four books. However, I do kind of have another excuse again. In February picked up a physical proof read which I never manage to read as quickly as I can pick up an audiobook and get finished.

On top of this, I’ve decided to pick up two absolutely massive fantasy books – both 700 pages plus. So yeah, they’re my excuses for why I’ve only managed to read four in February.

However, I do plan to read some shorter books in March so hopefully, I can get more than four read. In fact, as I write this on the 2 March, I have already finished one.

But anyway, you’re here to see what the actual books I’ve read are, not to hear my excuses and reasons as to why I’ve so little. As always, I’ve listed the books and given you my summary of the book from my full review. There’s a link to read the full review if you want to know what I thought of the plot and characters as separate elements too.

You can keep scrolling right to the bottom to find out which of the books from the month was my favourite too.

So the four books I read in February 2023 were:

In Bloom by C.J. Skuse

“I think In Bloom falls into the same issues that Sweetpea did before it: the plot never really gets going, not a twisty, exciting tale and you’re constantly waiting for “the big event” to happen but it never really does.

However, it also brings over the massive positives: the down-to-earth writing style and the fascinating character that is Rhiannon. If you enjoyed Sweetpea, you’ll love In Bloom, if you were partial to Sweetpea then I wouldn’t expect In Bloom to blow you away.”

Read my full review here | Pick up a copy of the book here

Dead Head by C.J. Skuse

“Dead Head gets rid of a lot of the monotony and murder of the previous books in the series for a far broader story with more interesting characters. The story has more action and doesn’t just take us through the monotonous actions of an everyday person who’s a serial killer. 

Rhiannon is still an opinionated comic but one who is now starting to really question who she is and whether the path she’s taken is the path she wants to continue going forward.

With all of these elements added up, Dead Head is by far the best in the Sweetpea series so far. So if you enjoyed the previous two books, you’ll love this even more but if you struggled with the previous two, it may be worth sticking it out for this one!”

Read my full review here | Pick up a copy of the book here

Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith

“Child 44 is one of those books that, despite my low score, has been praised by almost everybody else who’s read it. I found that the story wasn’t particularly engaging because it was written as mostly narrative with not a lot of dialogue and I can immerse myself far more in dialogue. I also found that, despite the great potential of the story, even if I had enjoyed it, none of the characters were particularly loveable so even then, it wouldn’t have been the most enjoyable book for me.

Don’t let my thoughts put you off as I know many have enjoyed Child 44, but do take note of my comments if you know you enjoy a book with more character interaction and more likeable characters too.”

Read my full review here | Pick up a copy of the book here

Before I Go To Sleep by SJ Watson

“Before I Go To Sleep has a very exciting premise. A woman loses her memory every day and wakes up every day forgetting who many people in her life are. However, when some things beg7in to not add up and she’s really not sure who she can trust anymore, she’s determined to find out more answers to the questions that keep popping up. However, a cast of unloveable characters and a very dry middle section of the story stops this from being an absolute banger of a book. 

I’d probably still recommend it to a lot of people but I wouldn’t class it as anything special.”

Read my full review here | Pick up a copy of the book here

Summary…

Based on ratings I ended up giving, I wouldn’t say February was my most favourite reading month in recent memory. The best book of the month had to be Dead Head it took everything from the first two books that was good and improved upon the elements that had the previous two books falling short for me.

Before I Go To Sleep was a great book too but one really struggled with a very squishy middle that lacked any real depth and slowed the pace down just too much for me. The start and the end were brilliant though and, despite knowing it was coming so trying to guess throughout, I still didn’t manage to work out the twist so that was a nice change.

What did you read this month? Have you read any of the books I’ve read this month? Did you like them?

Have a look at some of the books I’ve read in previous months:

• January 2023 books
• December 2023 books
• November 2023 books
• October 2023 books
• September 2023 books
• August 2023 books
• July 2023 books
• June 2023 books