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Monthly Wrap Up: March

March, to put it mildly, wasn't a great month for me. I found myself in a personal slump which did have a significant impact on how this month went for me. It also meant that I found myself in a bit of a reading slump, so I wasn't able to read as much and wasn't loving the majority of what I was reading. I read a total of 10 books but 2 of those were novella's (which I though were good) and one was a DNF. I was still able to get through all the reading challenge's I was participating in, but I attribute that to making sure I'm reading a “challenge” book all the time. It wasn't all bad though. There were a few books that I really enjoyed, and I got my second 5 star book in the year, and I think I also had a pretty good variety of books.

The Singing by Alison Croggon: To anyone that isn't familiar with the Books of Pellinor series, this is a 4 book series and I read the first 2 books at the end of last month and read this one, the 4th one, at the beginning of this month. Meaning I skipped the 3rd book. Let my start by briefly explaining why I did this. I don't normally skip books in a series, but this is a reread that I wasn't enjoying and the 3rd book, The Crow, I knew was going to be my least favorite book in the series, so I already wasn't motivated to read it. Before calling it quits I wanted to see if there were any new characters or major plot points that I had forgotten that impacted the finale. There were no major new characters introduced and only 3 or 4 relevant plot points. So my desperation to get the series done with quickly mixed with the fact that I saw no real reason to force myself through a filler book, I made the decision to skip The Crow and jump right to The Singing. Onto my actual review of The Singing, my opinion of this book was about the same as the rest of the series. Through the entire series I don't think Maerad changed. She definitely became more powerful, but she still felt pretty flat and boring as a character. Despite Hem having a POV for about half this book, he didn't come across as having any distinct personality. In fact, none of the side character felt developed, except for Sylvia and her husband (whose name I'm forgetting). Granted this entire series is more plot driven than character driven, but that's not really an excuse for a lack character growth or identity, and there was almost never a sense of urgency or action. In each book there was 3,4 maybe 5 major plot points and the rest is basically filler. It's only 7 days after I finished The Singing and already I'm forgetting most of the details. The world itself is pretty generic, but it at least feels like there was effort in the development. The ending is also one of those endings where everything just turns out fine and there aren't any life altering consequences, despite this whole narrative being an epic battle of good versus evil. The only interesting and nuanced part was whenever the Elidhu or Treesong were brought up. What is the nature of good and evil? Are the Elidhu wholly one or the other? Even if they label themselves as good, are they good by human standards? What will happen to both Bards and the Elidhu if the Treesong is sung? I liked these parts, and it made the story feel like more than a basic, boring journey. Unfortunately none of it was fully developed, and to an extent I get why. Bards have distanced themselves from Elidhu and the Elementals, so they are fairly ignorant of everything surrounding them. Overall I just wanted more from this series. When I first read it I was obsessed with stories that involved long journeys (courtesy of my obsession with the Oregon Trail) but now if there's going to be lots of traveling, it has to have multiple instances of character or plot development (I do feel like it's easier to get away with this in TV or movies cause I can think of several examples of long journeys that I actually enjoy). I do recommend this for younger readers, or even people trying to ease themselves in epic fantasy since it's just 4 books that aren't even 500 pages, but as for myself I really was disappointed by this series and think it's just an average 3 star series. The Singing itself received 2.5 out of 5 stars.

Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente: Catherynne M. Valente is an author that has been on my radar for a little while. She seems to write fanciful, eclectic novels, like Radiance and Space Opera (which I'm still interested in reading), but this was the one I was most intrigued by. It's heavily influenced by Russian folklore and history, which admittedly I knew only a little about before reading this but I don't think that left me at any disadvantage. I was aware going into this that the romance was going to kind of twisted and it's a borderline villain story, but I figured I would be able to overlook. The relationship between Marya and Koschei is very twisted and they seem to want to please the other as much as they want to make them suffer, and I really prefer healthy relationships. The romance was definitely twisted and wasn't my cup of tea, but it wasn't the biggest issue I had with this book. Marya was one of those characters where we're told she's smart and observant, but as some as she's whisked away to Koeschi's region she does a lot of stupid things and is just downright pathetic at times. In fact I hated her time with Koeschi for several reasons, but the can all by summed up by saying it felt like I was reading 2 completely different stories. I really liked the beginning, with glimpse of magical realism and folk lore, but it's still very much set in a recently communist Russia. You do question what's real or not, but the story is never confusing and Marya does seem like a well read, sympathetic character. Then there was the whole courtship between Kosechi and Marya, as he willful makes her sick and says he's going to basically control, but then implies that this is love and Marya believes him. Then this devolved into a book with no plot. There's supposed to be this constant war between Life and Death, and that one could have been interesting, but it ended up being a minor sub plot. Then she somehow ends up back in her old home, and things get even more confusing from there, with the end making me wonder if all those magical things that happened to Maya were real or if they were all in her head. Ultimately I couldn't tell you what this book was about, it's just one of those stories where things happen. This could have been much more tolerable if I liked at least one character, but I didn't like any characters. Majority of the characters were treated as disposable and were given very little identity, while the more main ones I found to be all unlikable. While there was plenty that I disliked about this book, I just couldn't hate it. The writing was very interesting (and I have read a short story by Valente so I know I like her writing style), it was interesting seeing Old World Russia with it's folklore mesh with the blossoming Soviet Russia, and like I stated earlier I genuinely enjoyed the beginning. If you're looking to read more retellings (in this case of Koeschi the Deathless) or books with a Russian setting I could recommend this one, but be warned, it's weird, there's no sense of direction, and the characters are definitely unlikable and it's debatable if they're sympathetic or not. Deathless received 2.5 out 5 stars and was my pick for the PopSugar prompt “a book inspired by myth, legend, folklore.”

Starless by Jacqueline Carey: This was a book that I delayed in picking up because I was just losing interest in it and was worried to would be a romance disguised as fantasy. I'm pleased to say that this book exceeded my expectations for it. It's a coming of age, epic fantasy story about Khai, a young warrior monk as he trains and eventually takes up his position as the destined protector (called a Shadow in this world) of a princess. This book feels like it's broken into 3 sections that are tied into each other. The first starts with Khai as a young child, training in the desert. I think this part was a very good introduction to the world and some of the characters. There isn't too much going on in terms of plot or conflict, but it's clear that Carey is building up to this. The second part was probably my favorite bit because it contained more of what I like to see in stories as well as tying into the first and third parts of the book. Khai finally meets the princess Zhari, and the two immediately form a close bond. There's some political intrigue, looming threats of an apocalypse, and a shortage of seeds that makes the royals immortal. This shortage results in the fire deity promising more seeds if the princess is married to a foreigner (with a large dowry of said seeds). There's some time spent whittling down which suitor she will marry, and that's where things were really building up. I was eager to read the next chapter and I could see an epic conflict really up and ready to burst. When Zhari finally picks her fiance, Khai and Zhari depart with the lord to his homeland and that's where the final part of the book begins and where things start to go downhill. The plot became entirely driven by prophecy, and I was just losing investment in the story, even though the stakes were really high because now it's very obvious that the world will end if the heroes fail in their quest. I also started having issues with the characters. Through the whole book, there has been a revolving door of characters but they all felt fully fleshed out and there was chance that they could emerge again or become relevant to the rest of the story. The crew that Khai and Zhari become a part of are hastily introduced and never become fully realized characters. This is most evident when some of these characters are killed off and I just didn't care (and there's even one that turned out to be part of the prophecy and I may have rolled my eyes at that). Most of the fantasy stand alones that I read have trouble with pacing, but I don't think that was the case here. While I wasn't as invested in the plot in the final part, I do think it moved forward at a decent pace. The romance was cute, with 2 opposite personality characters and it slowly building up until the end with a love confession and the two adventuring and spending the rest of their lives together, but I didn't love it for similar reasons of why I wasn't invested in the plot in the third part. It was all fated. I think I've just found something else I really don't like in seeing in books. Had the narrative stayed on the path that it was going on in the middle of the book, I would have given this book 5 stars, but I was more than a little disappointed with how the just of the book went, the rating definitely dropped. Starless received 4 out 5 stars from me and was my pick for the PopSugar prompt “a book you meant to read in 2018.”

In An Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire: Going into this book I was worried that it wouldn't hold up to the rest of the series. I wasn't super intrigued by the premise and the character we are following is in an earlier book and I didn't find her compelling. But it is a Seanan McGuire book and it's in a series I think is really good, so when I saw they had a copy at a bookstore, I purchased it without hesitation. At the beginning I really wasn't feeling the book at all. I didn't think there was anything stand out or unique, the characters and world wasn't interesting, and there wasn't really anything happening in terms of the plot. So there was nothing motivating me to continue, but it's a short book and super easy to get through. I'm glad I did because the ending was what really made this book resonate with me. I'm about to state an unpopular opinion, but Down Among the Sticks and Bones was my least favorite book in the series (and after reading this book I think it still is) because while I did like the two protagonists and the world of the Moors was kind of interesting, I don't think it told a very good story, there was an awkward time gap in the center of the book, and the overall theme of this book was presented in a way that made it come off as a bit preachy. This book was a complete inverse of Down Among the Sticks and Bones. I still don't find Lundy to be that compelling of a character, though she is sympathetic and almost tragic at the end, and there was so little of the Goblin Market that I don't really have an opinion an it, but everything else was done right. The beginning starts out feeling a little disjointed, with a lot being outright explained or not very nuanced, but it pays off in the end when those things the beginning become relevant to Lundy. The whole concept of “fair value” was something that really struck a cord with me because it's very relevant to just to the story but to this world too. I also liked seeing the various relationships, like Lundy and Moon's friendship, Lundy and Diana's sisterhood (which did happen a bit abruptly but still felt genuine), and even Lundy and her fathers (which was, I think, a better done example of showing the consequences of bad parenting), and seeing how the Goblin Market and “fair value” affected each one. So while In An Absent Dream still had it's slumps in the beginning, I would say it's a good story and a great addition to the Wayward Children series. In An Absent Dream received 4 out 5 stars and was my pick for the PopSugar prompt “book published in 2019.”

The Tiger's Daughter by K. Arsenault Rivera: Similar to In An Absent Dream, I was wary about this book. When I first purchased it I was hearing a lot of good things but just never got around to reading it, and the it just sat on my shelf for over a year, maybe 2. Unlike In An Absent Dream, the problem wasn't my lack of interest in the story, it was that I was worried it was being over hyped. I've been introduced to lots of wonderful new books through the book community, but I've also been severely disappointed by books that are just raved about and sound amazing. That's why I put this one off for so long. At first I was just not in the mood for it, but then I started avoiding it because I was being consistently let down by books that were over hyped. This month I had to start it because it was my book my partner selected for me in the monthly “Pick-It-For-Me” reading challenge (which is part of why I like this challenge, it forces me to read books I wouldn't initially choose for myself). Once I started reading it I was pretty quickly immersed to the story and attached to the characters. This is a book that I honestly loved every aspect of it, and only have a few minor complaints. The entire story was so beautifully written, mostly told in the format of love letters between the 2 protagonists, Shefali and Shizuka. I will say that the chapters are enormous (like 2 chapters together was about 250 pages) and while they are broken up those sections within the chapter are still fairly large. This definitely helps pull you into the story more, but it can be a turn off to some people (and was part of the reason I got into a reading slump). I loved the protagonists, I loved how they were wonderfully complex characters with their own issues to overcome and more than just warrior women archetypes. I loved their relationship, how it felt natural (despite being fated) and watching it evolve from their first meeting as children to their eventual reuniting after Shefali's banishment. Much like Shefali and Shizuka, while their relationship is beautiful and good, it's not without it's problems, and both characters are aware of that and try to work through it. I was surprised by how good the side characters were, even minor ones that only show up a few times. Each one plays a role in Shefali and Shuizka's lives, for better or worse, and while some are awful and some were good, I thought all were fleshed out. The world itself was astounding, influenced I think by Ancient China and the Mongol Empire, and I loved the level of detail that was put into not just the human aspect of the world with the politics and various cultures, but also with the supernatural part of the world, with the black bloods and demons. As for the overall narrative, it was a bit slow, especially if you think this is going to be an epic war between humans and demons, but I don't think the story suffered from, in fact I think it flourished because of it. Instead of focusing on the supernatural conflict, we only get glimpses of it through the few times it directly or indirectly affects the characters lives. Instead the book focuses on building up the characters and world and the conflicts created by people, like corruption in the nobility and racism, and book that builds up both compelling characters, and detailed world, and nuanced themes makes for a book I'm going to love. The Tiger's Daughter received 5 out 5 stars.

Dune by Frank Herbert: Dune was I pick I read because my Dad kept suggesting that I read it. I didn't have high expectations going into this one, and it both surprised and disappointed me. Most of the plot revolves around two things, control of a spice only native to the planet of Arrakis, aka Dune, and bringing forth this fated chosen one. I didn't like the chosen one trope in this story, at all, because it only served to emphasize just how amazing and unstoppable the protagonist Paul is. I did not like Paul, and I blame that as much on the narrative as the character himself. If you asked me to describe Paul, I honestly couldn't, there was just no defining feature about him other than being “the chosen one.” He has “the Voice” like his mother, which I think is a method of controlling people, but I honestly don't know. He comes from a noble background, everyone admires him, he's always right and always succeeds in everything. Literally everything goes right in his life, except for when he and his mother have to go into hiding and his father is killed, but in the long run it makes his life that much better because he ends up having some control over this spice that everyone wants and also marries the Emperors daughter which puts in line for succession. I didn't like him, or even get attached to him, because I knew from the beginning that everything is going to be fine for him and mostly gets things just handed to him, never failing and never having to make any significant sacrifices. The only interesting that came out of the whole “chosen one” narrative was a background element regarding the school his mother, Lady Jessica, hails from. The Bene Gesserit is an organization consisting of just women, that practice meditation to hone their superhuman abilities, and are key figures in influencing the politics and arranging marriages to continue certain bloodlines. I liked seeing women have that much power in a classic science fiction story, because I was fully expecting the opposite. That actually ties into one of the other things I liked about Dune, which was the whole political intrigue (which is something I personally love seeing in books, at least when it's well done). This book can essentially be described as Game of Thrones in space, with all these different Houses and organizations vying for power, and in this book in particular, control of the spice. There's Houses trying to undermine or alley with each other, there's the inner workings of the Fremen and how the deal with foreigners, and the Bene Gesserit wielding a silent power, and the only thing preventing a rebellion is it not being revealed that the Emperor is more willing to eliminate Houses at will. While I do love seeing political intrigue in books, I just don;t think this one went far enough with it. A Song of Ice and Fire, for all it's faults, establishes in the first book a complicated political network surrounding the Iron Throne and the severe consequences that wrong actions can have. I just didn't get that sense of depth from Dune, which is a shame because there was a lot of potential with that series. Before I break down what I didn't like about this book, I will discuss the one other thing about this book that I liked, and that was the role that the environment had. Dune is a desert planet, so water is very scarce and a huge status symbol. The environment plays a role not just in the societal structure to the people who are native there but also to the rest of the empire, which again tied into the political intrigue aspect. I told my Dad that those bits of the book made it feel like it was set in the real world (especially when taking into consideration America's push for oil in the Middle East), which was something I both liked and disliked (I'll get to why I disliked it in a minute). As much as there were things I liked about Dune, there were also some things I really disliked. I didn't really like any of the characters, except for maybe Jessica. I've already ranted about why I disliked Paul, but my issues with the other characters was that I didn't feel attached to them in any way. They were all pretty flat and empty, acting more like props instead of people, except for the Baron, who I disliked almost as much as Paul. Yes, he's the villain, but he's not a compelling villain. He's a foopish, over the top, disgusting character that I honestly question why he got a POV for 2 reasons. One is again, that he's just a disgusting character and a waste of paper, but the other is that reading from his POV took away all the suspense of the entire first half of the book because he states exactly how he's going to reclaim power and then does exactly that, which leads into one of my other major issues with this book. The writing isn't good. There was no suspense because the author choose to have the characters very blatantly tell you what's going to happen and then has it happen exactly how they said it would. It's why I generally hate prophecy driven narratives. The dialogue was also very awkward and almost uncomfortable to read at times, and the pacing of this book was all over the place, I honestly have no idea how much time passed in this book. The one other thing I want to discuss is why I didn't like the real world feel of this book. It wasn't that the themes and conflicts and characters felt grounded in reality, it's that if the names were different this honestly could have been set in the real world. There was tech present, like spaceships obviously, and the worms were kind of cool feature, but they didn't feel very tied into the story or the world itself. They were just kind of there. I went into this book identifying it as a classic science fiction, and I guess I was hoping to see more advanced tech be more relevant to this world, or spend some time on an actual spaceship, but that wasn't there, so it was a little disappointing. That isn't actually a bad feature of the book, but it's one I just wish had been done differently. The last thing I'm going to talk about is the romance. It's a minor feature of this book, but I would still like to discuss it because there's a good, bad, and terrible example. If any of you are slightly familiar with Dune, you can probably guess that the terrible one is the Baron. Everything surrounding this guy is awful, but did really have to go the extent of him being the only person on the LGBTQ+ spectrum and having him be the villain, but also he's lusting after young boys, namely Paul and his own f**king nephew. I will repeat what I said earlier, the Baron was just a waste of paper. The romance that is actually a romance but I didn't think was done that well was Paul and Chani. They meet when he becomes a part of the Fremen, and while part of my disinterest may be due to my dislike of Paul, I honestly didn't feel any chemistry between the 2 and all of their romance seemed to happen off screen, despite Paul being the most central character. The well done romance is Paul's parents, Lady Jessica and Duke Leto. They aren't officially together, due to them mutually agreeing it would be better for potential allies if they didn't, but they way they act to and regard each other makes it clear they're married in all but name. During the entire book, Duke Leto never takes another wife, and Jessica (even though she also had her own ambitious reasons) gave the Duke a son when it was made clear to her that she needed to have a daughter, because she knows it will make him happy. They seem to regard each other as equals. I didn't love the miscommunication but after the Duke is killed Paul gives Jessica a message from him which basically states his undying love and trust in her, and Jessica seems genuinely mournful of his loss. It isn't a relationship we see much of (none are honestly, except maybe Paul and Jessica's) but the glimpses that are shown, I really liked. Considering this was a book written in the 1960s, I think it still works well (mostly) with a modern audience, which is what makes it a classic. Is it one of my favorite science fiction novels? No. Is it without it's faults? In my opinion, no. Is it still a worthwhile book that I would recommend giving it a try? Absolutely. I know there are several squeals, some written by Herbert some not, but I feel fine leaving Dune as it's own self contained story. Dune received a 3 out of 5 stars from me and was my pick for the PopSugar prompt “book set in space.”

Eragon by Christopher Paolini: Since I've been doing a lot of rereading, and haven't read this series since junior high, I wanted to get to this series sooner rather than later. When I first read this series I absolutely loved it. It wasn't Harry Potter, or the Warriors series, but I found it to be an engrossing series that spawned my love of dragons. After finishing it, and as time passed, I heard more and more critical things about the series and wanted to see where I stood on the whole thing. Now having completed the first book at least I give a brief breakdown on how this review is going to go: it has plenty of flaws in it and I would say it's mediocre at best but damn if I'm not going to defend it. The basic plot is a farm boy finds a dragon egg, the dragon hatches, and the two work together to overthrow an evil emperor. It's a very generic plot, but I still found it entertaining to read. It does have a fast pacing, but because so much of this book was long journeying I think that worked in the book's favor because it didn't have a ton of filler. Most of the world building is given through long exposition, and while I didn't like that, it was something I just rolled my eyes at and moved on with. I didn't like Eragon as a protagonist, he reeks of wonder boy, chosen one, and he frequently came off as very immature and ignorant. The supporting cast, however makes up for it, especially the females because I think they all stood out as fell fleshed characters. The one specific criticism I want to tackle in this post, and the one I hear the most often, is that this is basically Lord of the Rings fanfiction. Are there similarities, yes, but many, many, many traditional epic fantasy series are inspired by Tolkeins work. Heck, I just finished a series where the first book seemed copy and pasted from the Fellowship of the Ring. The big differences is that the book is set in a world where the bad guy has already won and is maintaining power, and dragons are an important feature. The king has a dragon, and is the only one which makes him very dangerous and the reason Eragon is so important is because he's the only one with a dragon and could potentially challenge the king. The big thing about this book is Paolini was 15 when he wrote this book. 15! I have seen experienced writers produce material that is the same level as what Paolini produced as a kid. It's not an original story and I can see why people reading it for the first time as adults would definitely get frustrated with it but I think it's a good place to start for younger readers looking into epic fantasy (be warned the last 2 books get big). Eragon received 3 out 5 stars.

All Systems Red by Martha Wells: So over the past year I started hearing more and more people rave about this first book in a series of novella's. I'm trying to read more science fiction, and I heard that this one was also humorous. That being combined with the fact that it's short made it seem like a good pick. This first book introduced us to the self named Murderbot, a rouge security droid who hacked it's own module and spends most of the time consuming entertainment. It's on a mission with an exploratory team when things get increasingly suspicious, and suddenly the neighboring exploratory team goes quiet. It's feels a bit like Long Way to a Small Angry Planet (one of my favorite books), if the story was told from the POV of a very anti social robot. I liked what the story built up to and I did find the character of Murderbot to be amusing and relateable at times, but I didn't love the story. Part of it may be due to the fact that it is both a novella and first book in a series, so the story itself comes off as very rushed and almost incomplete. The major theme of this book is Murderbot discovering what it really wants out of life, and how the humans that it interacts with and the entertainment it consumes affects this. You see it slowly go from this very passive, borderline apathetic character, to someone who actively takes charge of their own life but still retains their core characteristics, that being it's anti social nature and love of entertainment. It's a great idea, one that I think a lot of people can relate with and one that I think has the potential for a good character arc, but doesn't really get emphasized until the end. There's a couple moment's throughout the story that indicate this is what we're building up to, but it's not the what the story focuses on. The big story is why are all these malfunctions occurring and what happened to the other exploratory team. Overall I would say that it was still a decent story, but there were 2 major failures that I think ultimately cost the quality of the overall narrative. The first is that Murderbot is the only POV and she's very lazy and keeps human interaction to an absolute minimal. While this is part of what Murderbot a good character, it means that the readers don't get much of a sense of the world, or the people around them, or even what's going on. You're just left in a haze and being told to keep walking. The second, and bigger failure, comes at the climax. As far as I understand there's a secret third team that is killing off the other 2 exploratory teams, though the reasoning I'm not clear on. When the team we've been following, PreservationAux, and the third team make contact, it's very unclear what happened or even why it happened. The only clear thing was that Murderbot was shot, and PreservationAux worked not only to ensure it's survival but also permanently bought it's contract so that it could stay with them. This leads to the emotional climax, with Murderbot leaving, and was actually a touching moment. I did ultimately like this novella, and would like to read the rest, but going through probably a third of the story with blinders on left me a little frustrated, especially due to the hype. Speaking of which I also didn't think this book was as humorous as a lot of people made it seem, there were funny moments and one of the best intros I've read this year, but after the introduction it kind of went downhill. It's a good novella, I just wish that there had been more to work with. All Systems Red received 4 out 5 stars.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick: After finishing Dune, I moved onto another book my Dad liked (he has every single book written by Philip K. Dick). He did warn me going into this one that the story itself isn't great, but the ideas behind the story are generally compelling. So going into this, I expected to be decent, but not great, and that was basically what this ended up being. It's a short book, that can easily be read in just a few days, and I definitely think this worked in the books favor. The plot is very simple, being set in a bleak future America, after nuclear war has ravaged the landscape, and Rick Deckard has been assigned to “retire,” aka kill, 6 advanced androids. He takes the job because he wants to buy a real animal, the ultimate status symbol in their society. What transpires is him retiring each of the androids but there's a growing moral conflict centered around empathy and what makes something human. The plot does get a bit convoluted at times, but the story is straightforward enough so that you can still get through those parts with relative ease. I was surprised to learn that there's a second POV that focuses on a minor character. While not really relevant to the plot, it does contribute a little to the overall moral conflict. To be honest this is a hard book review without giving spoilers, and also it's one I think I need more time to really analyze all aspects of it. I will say that if you are a fan of science fiction and looking for more recommendations, especially classics, I would give this one a try. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep received 3 out 5 stars and is my pick for the PopSugar prompt “book with a question in the title.”

When She Woke by Hilary Jordan: This is a book that I was really looking forward to reading. It's supposed to be a retelling of The Scarlet Letter, which is one of my favorite classics, but set in a future society, where people are dyed different colors based on the crimes they commit. The protagonist, Hannah Pyrne, gets an abortion and is dyed, called Chroming, red to signify her as a murderer. I thought it was going to be a thought provoking retelling, but it wasn't. There were some very obvious nods to The Scarlet Letter, but the underlying tone and world makes When She Woke actually feel like a retelling of The Handmaids Tale, which is not the narrative I wanted to read about. AT ALL. At this point I really try and steer away from overly depressing narratives (it's why I'm delaying rereading The Handmaid's Tale and the Queen of the Tearling series for as long as possible). Since there was an abortion in this book, I knew it was going to go to some dark places, but I still expected there to be bright, even hopeful moments. There wasn't any in the first half, it was all just sad and depressing with several instances of oppression and abuse. In fact not only is depressing, it's kind of generic too, and stuffed full of things I really dislike seeing in books like Insta Love, forbidden romance, and girl hate. I ended up reading a summary of the second half to see if I was going to miss out on anything, and there ultimately didn't seem to be. I really hoped that it would be one of those books with a utopian setting but focuses on the best and worst aspects of society. This was definitely not one of those books, and it's such a disappointment that it turned out the way it did. When She Woke received 1 out 5 stars, since any book I DNF I give a one star to, and was my pick for the PopSugar prompt “retelling of a classic.”

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Monthly Wrap Up: March

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