The second half of March was sadly not as good (both reading-wise and otherwise) as I expected but I still managed to bring the total number of books read this month to 15!
Magyk by Angie Sage (3 stars)
Magyk is the first book on the Septimus Heap series, it starts with the birth of Septimus Heap and a mysterious baby and then continues 10 years later when the baby is revealed to be the missing princess who was hidden away after the queen was murdered and a dark wizard is plotting both her murder and his return to power. I remember loving the series when I was younger and I wanted an easy and light hearted read because I tend to get put off from reading books in the same genre after a few in a row that I didn’t love. Unlike most YA/middle grade fantasy series that I’ve read lately I think this book was definitely the kind of book that is great for the target audience and not so great for everyone else. The plot was very predictable, the characters were very one dimensional and it was very long (had it been half the length I would have been able to look beyond the predictable plot and simple characters). I didn’t dislike it but I don’t see myself going back to the series (especially seeing as how all the books seem to be 500+ pages) any time soon.
A Quick & Easy Guide to They/Them Pronouns* by Archie Bongiovanni and Tristan Jimerson (5 stars)
This book is exactly what it sounds like, a super short and informative comic explaining they/them pronouns, how to use them, what to do when you make mistakes, asking for people’s pronouns and why it matters from the perspective of a nonbinary person and a cisgender man. I personally loved it, I think the comic was quick to read, easy to understand, and fun without glossing over important topics such as how trans people feel when they’re misgendered. I can’t wait until it’s out and I can push it into the hands of all my friends, nonbinary or not.
Surely You’re Joking Mr. Feynman! By Richard Feynman (3 stars)
This is a book I loved when I was younger and I was really excited to re-read but I was disappointed. The book is basically a collection of anecdotes from Feynman’s life, ranging from his childhood all the way to after winning the Nobel price. Some anecdotes were more enjoyable to read than others, but the entire book seems to focus on Feynman showing off various skills and what I’m perhaps mis-interpreting as fake humility. If you’re looking for something focusing on physics skip this book and read 6 easy pieces, 6 not so easy pieces or the Feynman lectures; if you’re interested in Feynman himself you might find this book enjoyable but I personally would not recommend it.
The Women in the Castle* by Jessica Shattuck (4 stars)
The Women in the Castle is a book that I’ve been wanting to read for about a year so I requested it the second I saw it on netgalley. The book follows 3 main characters: Marianne, Ania, and Benita; covering their lives immediately after WWII as well as how the war impacted each of their pasts and beliefs. The book kicks off with Marianne promising Connie to take care of his wife and son and then skips forward to Marianne (who is now a widow) looking for fellow widows of the resistance. She manages to locate Benita, who is Connie’s wife, and Ania, a Polish woman with an unknown past. I really enjoyed that unlike most WWII stories, this book focused on the effect of WWII beyond concentration camps, such as Nazi re-education homes and the Hitler Youth. Additionally, the characters were both admirable and flawed at once, making them more interesting, relatable and believable.
To Kill a Kingdom* by Alexandra Christo (3 stars)
I won’t lie, seeing this book’s awesome cover on bookstagram was the sole reason I decided to read it. The book follows Lira, a siren princess, and Elian, the midassian prince. I loved the world building, having other fantasy and folk-tales cropping up all over the book’s universe and dart fairytale re-tellings are something I quite enjoy so about 20% into the book I had really high hopes for it despite not being very fond of books with a romance at the centre. I’m not sure when exactly my opinion of the book shifted, but somewhere along the middle the pacing started feeling off and I started skimming the pages a bit to get to the ending faster. The plot was quite predictable, which doesn’t generally bother me, but together with the pacing made this book go down from a potential 5 star read to a 3 star read. Overall this is a book that I wanted to love, and was loving, so while I didn’t end up loving it after all I will definitely keep an eye out for more books by this author.
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli (4 stars)
This book has been on my TBR for ages and I’ve been hearing about lately so I decided to ignore the fact that I knew nothing about it other than it having a gay boy as a main character and make it my companion while I was anxiously waiting for news from a friend stuck at A&E in the middle of the night. Given my lack of knowledge about it and everything going on while I was reading it I wasn’t expecting it to be an enjoyable read, and that was the case at the start. However, over time both Simon and Blue grew on me, I enjoyed reading their email threads, trying to figure out who Blue was (and I guessed right!) and see where things were going, plus it reminded me of the start on my last relationship (except we used IRC instead of email). In addition to the Simon/Blue component I thought the handling of Simon’s and Blue’s coming out (including their discussions about it before and after the fact) was really good, and I also enjoyed the fact that there were several non-white characters, the discussion about how white and straight shouldn’t be the default as well as an interracial relationship.
Seed by Lisa Heathfield (4 stars)
I decided to read Seed because despite not being interested on the premise I loved Paper Butterflies and was looking forward to reading the rest of the author’s books. Seed is a cult, whose head (Papa S) claims to be able to communicate with nature and tells the rest of the family what nature wants from them. They are completely unaware of anything going on in the outside world and have been fed countless lies about their world and everyone else’s (for example, honey can’t be eaten without drops that kill the eggs on it, if you eat it without the drops bees will hatch inside you and sting your throat). However, things change when a family from the outside is let into Seed, suddenly the main characters (who’ve never been anywhere other than Seed) start questioning the things they believed to be true. The book was incredibly creepy (as is to be expected), and despite the pacing being relatively slow I couldn’t put it down because I had to know what would happen to the characters and their beliefs.
*I received a copy of the book through netgalley in exchange for an honest review
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