I went into this a bit hesitant, I really really wanted to love this and was very afraid my expectations might be crushed. Well, I'm very happy to say, this was a delightful read!

The concept was very interesting, we are talking about a world where you can bind your memories and make them into books, which that in turn, makes books all the more valuable and forbidden.

The magical elements are very subtle and intricate, this story in its core it's a love story and I loved that. It warmed my heart in the best way possible, the relationships in this book were all so we'll written.

It gives off an air of Victorian England with slight alterations and the whole atmosphere is truly spellbinding. It's a fairly slow paced book, but if you don't mind that, you are definitely in for a treat, because it's a beautiful story.

I would definitely recommend it to everyone that loves magical realism and if you are new to this genre, then this one of the best books to start with!

A book that was maybe one of my most anticipated releases of 2020, because it's a retelling of "The Count of Monte Cristo", a classic I really love.

Unfortunately, I didn't like it as much I hoped. It felt more like a prequel than an actual story, the action progressed a bit slowly and the alternating chapters between Amaya and Cayo weren't really helping me either.

I have to say, I really loved the little snippets we got in the beginning of each chapter, but I wanted so much more. The world building was very intriguing, but I needed more! Imagine if the book was 100 pages longer, so we could get a better glimpse at the world and all the countries! For me, the world building is of utmost importance, I need to clearly know the culture and the ethos behind each imaginary world.

I found the relationship a bit predictable, I would much prefer Amaya with Roach, but there's also a hint of a love triangle in the second book, one I'm not too keen on, since I have a feeling that Roach will end up with Cayo's sister, so that Cayo and Amaya can be free to be together.

Even though it's an adventure with many intriguing aspects, I'm not too sure if I'd reread it or if I'd read the final book when it comes out.

I'm sure that you not only know what this book is about but you also know how hyped it is. This was the main reason it took me so long to pick it up, because even though the plot seemed right up my alley, I was afraid I would be disappointed!

Well, to say that I enjoyed it to the fullest is an understatement, this book was a bloody delight! What I really liked and appreciated was how much time was spent on world building. I loved the world, the different religions, the fact that it loosely resembled the Roman empire, everything! I've said it before and I'll say it again, in a fantasy novel, world building is everything!

As for the characters, it was amazing how much depth there was to each and everyone of them. Everyone had a unique voice and personality and I found it very easy to sympathize with them and to understand the reasons behind their actions. Mia, our main lady, is a very intriguing character, I didn't find myself attached to her, but that didn't hinder my enjoyment at all!

Many people have said that the writing style is a bit hard to get used to and I can totally see that point, but thankfully it wasn't a problem for me, I really enjoyed it! This book put me in a book hangover, I finished it and I didn't want to pick up anything else!

The twist was deliciously good, especially because I wasn't expecting it! Perfectly placed, definitely made the remaining of the book flow so fast!

Two things I didn't really like, the one more important than the other. The less important is that we never found out what kind of secret Ash told Aalea. And the second, and most important one, the one for which I didn't give this book 5 stars, is the fact that mere moments before initiation many people told Mia that she's too good for the Red Church and that maybe she doesn't belong there. It came out of the blue for me, we've been preparing to see Mia anointed for almost 300 pages, why say something like that? I think it was an effort to make Mia's character a bit less ruthless, but it didn't seem realistic and valid to me.

Anyway, I absolutely adored this and I'm definitely continuing with the trilogy!

I had to read this for a class and I devoured it in one sitting! I have to say, I really enjoyed it and it's a play I would read a second and maybe a third time, to fully grasp all the characters' emotions and motives.

It's a fast read, a wild ride exploring human nature and personal relationships, exploring almost every kind there is; brothers, mother & sons, friends, lovers, etc.

After finishing it, it really reminded my of Sally Rooney's work. I've only read "Conversations with Friends" from her, but the writing style really reminded me of her.

It's raw, it's real, it's a play about real people with flaws and emotions and in the end, it's a play about how to deal with yourself and your own emotions when you feel like the world is crumbling to pieces.

Kept asking myself while reading: "why didn't I read this sooner???" It's safe to say I really loved this book. It brought back the whole dystopian vibes I used to dig back in 2011!

It's separated in two different POVs, which for some could be the books strongest feature, but for me it was the weakest and the reason I gave the book only four stars, while it could have easily been a five star read.

Elias' POV was by far my favourite, it was so well written and the atmosphere of a Roman Empire-esque country was amazing! He is easily one of my favourite characters, I could see so much depth in him and such character development and I simply devoured his chapters!

The same cannot be said for Laia's chapters unfortunately. My biggest problem was that I had to constantly remind myself that she's not 12 but actually 17. The way she was written made her seem so much younger than her age and when the romance started creeping up on me, I was really struggling to see them as a couple, since Laia's voice and whole demeanor felt that of a small child.

All in all, the writing style was good, it was a fast paced book with an interesting premise that set the setting for the next installment very well! It's a book that can be read quite fast, with a well developed plot and good reasoning behind every action, I really liked the fact that I found no plot holes.

I will definitely be continuing with the series and hopefully Laia's chapters will be more to my liking in the second book!

Another fast read for the month of May, a book that even though I loved, made me feel so sad at the same time.

Four girls with colliding stories transported me to present day Korea and it was so refreshing reading a book about a place and a culture I nee nothing about.

The writing style was fast, effective, not overly flowery, but to the point. The author was able to convey all the different stories in a very intriguing way.

Overall, it's an amazing book, one I'd definitely read again, but if I'm honest, sometimes I couldn't believe that what I was reading was real. That this book might convey a true reality of Korea in 2020. It all felt so sad, all those girls in the salon rooms and the boyfriends who cheat and the impossible beauty standards that force a girl to practically beg a plastic surgeon to break her jaw in order to make her more appealing.

A book with no clear purpose in what it's actual message is, I think everyone takes whatever from it whatever they need. What it really prompted me to do though, is research to see if actually the aspect of Korea presented in this book is true. Not that I do not trust the author in presenting a truthful portrayal, it's just that I'm so intrigued by everything, that I need to know more!

Would definitely recommend it, hope you'll like it as much as I did!

One of the most hyped books of previous years and now that I've read it myself, I can definitely say that it was an amazing, wild ride from start to finish.

Thrillers/mysteries aren't my fave genre, that's why I usually read them as e-books, since I don't necessarily want to display them in my bookshelves. This one though, intrigued me so much that I really thought deserved to be read as a physical book! We follow the story of a man who wakes up everyday in a different body, reliving the same day again and again, trying to solve Evelyn's murder.

If I had to describe this book with one word, that would be: clever. This book is the epitome of cleverness, the plot is so intricately woven that the last few chapters -where everything is revealed- will have your brain scrambling to follow through with the revelations.

It takes a bit to take off, I would say that the first 80 pages are the slowest, in order to get the reader into the mood, but as soon as the action picks up, it doesn't let you rest one bit!

One thing I wanted to note though and sadly that's a negative thing. This book suffers from a severe case of fat phobia. One of the hosts is an overweight man and even though the author tried to make an antithesis, a slow-moving body, with a lightning-fast mind, I found it quite revolting that it went to such detailed descriptions of the character's aversion to the body he inhabited. It could be way more delicate, if you ask me.

Overall, it's a book I thoroughly enjoyed, a book I will be reading again and maybe this time I'll try my hand at annotating it, since the first time around I didn't have the time to do so!

A book I was very excited to read, especially because I knew it handled difficult topics, like racism and growing up in the midst of it. Overall, I flew through it, it was a very quick read and I will amount that to the writing style, which was beautiful, but not overly flowery. Personally, I think it was the perfect balance between lyrical and simple, to the point writing.

We follow Shirin, a Muslim teen, as she navigates high school and her first relationship in post Twin Towers incident America. What I loved most about this book is how eye opening it was reading from Shirin's POV. You can never educate yourself too much about racism and I think this book does a fine job talking about such interesting and important topics.

But here comes the reason why I gave this book a 2-star rating. I believe that after a certain point, the romance overshadowed everything else. Also, after the relationship became more established, the book felt like it was more about Ocean, than Shirin. Even the title of the book is about Ocean and even though Ocean is a very well written character and I liked him, I needed more from Shirin. I needed to learn more about her family, about Persian culture, their origins, the food they love to eat, etc.

It quickly became an almost typical high school romance where drama overshadowed everything. Something else that didn't really sit well with me is the fact that it is mentioned that Shirin and her family move every year, because her dad is looking for better work opportunities. Because of these moves, Shirin has never been able to form long lasting friendships. It wasn't adequately explained though why the move, what's her dad's job, etc and it mostly felt like a plot point to have Shirin be more lonely and explain her difficulty to form relationships. Tbh, I needed a bit more validation for the yearly moves, because every parent must understand that moving houses every single year does more damage to your kid than a medium paid job.

All in all, it's an interesting book, one I would recommend since it deals with important topics and you can never have enough voices talking about racism!

And here, ladies and gents, we see that book that reignited my love for the Hunger Games! I'll be truthful, I wasn't expecting to like this as much as I did, I mostly read it to see what it's all about, but it swept me off my feet!

My favourite aspect of the book is the while character exploration Collins did. We follow Snow so closely, we see him become who we know he is and the hints of his despicable and manipulative and egotistic behavior are all there, slowly but surely building up his character. It's a book that has a bit of a philosophical aspect, it's an open discussion on morality at times, but I think it's one of the reasons I loved it, it didn't faze me at all!

Seeing how cruel and savage the Games were and how "civilized" they became under President Snow's watch, was truly a revelation. The Games we know didn't exist until Snow decided to make them more of a spectacle, operating in ways that would benefit him and only him.

It was very interesting seeing how he twisted every event, every situation to suit him, how his thoughts and demeanor changed to adapt to the current situation in order to gain as much as he could.

The weakest part was the romance in my opinion, I didn't really need it, even though I understand the role it played. Loved all the foreshadowing though and I have my own theory on what Lucy Gray ended up doing in her life!

The last few chapters were my absolute favourite, the tension was palpable, Snow was changing faces every 2 seconds and the climax had me at the edge of my seat!

Overall, it's a book I really liked! Even though it wasn't full on action, as the original trilogy is, I found it very clever, very engaging and will definitely read it again, as the character development was amazing!

My first ever memoir and it was an unbelievable book, but you might have noticed that I haven't rated it and as soon as I finished it, I decided I'm not going to. I don't know how you are supposed to rate someone's life and experiences, like how am I supposed to say I enjoyed/not enjoyed it when it's someone's life story?

Apart from that, this book broke my heart in so many different ways, it frustrated me, it filled me hope and joy and in the end all that was left was undeniable admiration for this woman's journey. This memoir made me feel so many different things at once, it was an emotional rollercoaster, a wild ride of a book, that I recommend to everyone.

The way her family behaved, especially her parents, was very strange and bewildering to me. And no, I don't mean that it was strange, because of a difference of cultures, I mean that it was strange because basic human and parental instincts were missing. Putting your child's life in continuous danger, barely educating them and keeping them isolating in a questionably clean space seems very outlandish to me.

It was deeply saddening seeing how her parents, through their blind following of their religion, hindered so much their children's lives. Being religious is supposed to be a freeing thing, something that makes your strive to be better, not something that shackles you to ignorance. Being religious is about believing in something bigger, not something that hinders you from going to the hospital when your brain is literally oozing out of your head or going to the police when your brother is physically and emotionally abusing you and your siblings. Still I cannot fanthom how they chose him over Tara, how they decided that protecting an abuser is more important than protecting the one suffering from abuse. I just cannot wrap my mind around it.

Overall, I wholeheartedly admire Tara Westover. What she did was in no means easy, but her courage and thirst for knowledge are only two of the many admirable qualities she has. She's an inspiration to me from now on and I will definitely read anything else she writes!