A Mixed Bag of Books: A Review of the Reads for April

As I finished reading six books this month, I couldn't help but feel that my expectations were constantly being met and then shattered. It's like my taste buds are on a rollercoaster ride, and I'm not sure if I'll ever find solid ground.

First up was Carry On by Rainbow Rowell. This book is everything that I want in a Harry Potter-esque story without being too close to the original. The author has done an amazing job of creating a magical world that's full of wonder and excitement. What really stands out, however, is the male-male relationship between the two main characters. It's one of my favorites in young adult literature, and I found myself completely invested in their story.

I was also excited to re-read Carry On after hearing about some of JK Rowling's recent tweets about her problematic views on LGBTQ+ issues. As someone who has always believed that representation matters, it's refreshing to see an author who gets it right. If you're looking for a Harry Potter-esque story with a dash of diversity and inclusivity, this is definitely the book for you.

Moving on to Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead, I was blown away by how well-written and engaging this book turned out to be. What really impressed me was the author's ability to avoid common pitfalls like girl-hating and slut-shaming. Instead, she created a strong female protagonist with actual friends and relationships that were meaningful and nuanced.

One of the things that struck me most about Vampire Academy was how well it aged. Despite being written in 2008, this book still holds up today, and I found myself completely swept up in the world of Vasilisa Dragomir and her struggles against the forces of evil. If you're looking for a throwback to the early 2000s with a twist, this is definitely worth checking out.

Next up was Lumberjanes, a graphic novel that was part of one of my reading challenges. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. The author's take on the traditional fantasy genre was fresh and exciting, and I loved watching the characters develop over the course of the story.

One thing that did bug me about Lumberjanes was the lack of representation in terms of physical appearance. One character had "bubbly eyes" while others were depicted with dots instead. It felt like a missed opportunity to subvert expectations and challenge societal norms, but overall, I was happy with the way the story turned out.

Finally, there was Jamie by Britney Cavallaro, which rounded out my reading list for the month. This book is the third installment in The Charlotte Holmes series, and it follows our beloved protagonist as she's separated from her partner Jamie Watson and must navigate the world on her own. I have to say, I was hooked from page one, and the plot twist at the end really made up for any lack of exposition.

What really stood out about this book, however, was the character development. The epilogue scene with a certain character had me completely invested in their emotional journey, even though they were woefully lacking in emotional capacity. It was like watching a train wreck that you couldn't look away from – I knew it wasn't good for them, but I just wanted to see what would happen next.

Overall, my reading experience this month has been a mixed bag of emotions. Some books have left me feeling elated and excited, while others have made me feel frustrated and disappointed. But that's what makes reading so great – it's never predictable, and you can't help but be invested in the story, no matter how well or poorly it turns out.

In conclusion, if you're looking for a Harry Potter-esque story with a dash of diversity and inclusivity, Carry On is definitely worth checking out. If you want to explore the world of vampires and boarding school drama, Vampire Academy is also an excellent choice. And finally, if you're in the mood for something fresh and exciting, Lumberjanes might just be the book for you.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey guys welcome back today we're going to be talking about all of the books or I guess not so many books that I read in September okay September was an interesting reading month in that I read very few books I don't really know what's wrong with me I feel like ever since July I've had a really hard time finding books they really piqued my interest and then I want to continue to read and I also started my first big girl job this week if life's different that's for sure so I haven't really been reading as much as I would like but I'm hoping to turn that around for October because I've got a lot of spooky up my sleeve that I want to read I read two to star reads two five star weeds and two four star weeds overall like wasn't the worst reading month but there were quite a few rereads in here so I feel like that's the red flag it's like if you've been reading rereading too many things something's wrong so the first book I read this month was a male melodrama it's called a little bit like desire I read the first book which I think was called a little bit like heaven or something like that there by Brooke Blaine she's a really good author and I usually really like her but this book was so boring to me and I should have known from like the prologue that it wasn't gonna be great it follows a tattoo artist named Shaw and a former rock star named Trent and the prologue they hook up in a dark room they don't know who they're and like that's not relationship building and that's not people with a history I don't know what that is except for on exciting to me the relationship that develops to wasn't exciting and it just kind of left a bad taste to my mouth I don't want to go so far as to say that the relationship was like fetishizing gay men but it definitely like there was really no reason for these two to be together besides them finding each other hot and that's not how real life relationships work usually I don't know didn't like this give it two stars and especially after how great the first book was like this was just not it okay this book I don't think is out yet comes out in October it's you have an Hansen by Val enok or image I don't know how to say it and some other authors I don't know if I'm missing something and I want you to comment down below if you absolutely love the musical and can tell me more about it but this book was depressing and like not in a good way it reminded me a lot of perks of being a wallflower which I talked about in my popular books I hated video it's making mental illness very dramatized and it's also not allowing for mental illness to be a part of someone's personality it just made this guy's mental illness his entire personality liking video games it's a personality characteristic having anxiety that's not really your personality pal I didn't really say it was the plot in essence it's about this boring-ass white guy named Evan who through some shitty circumstances ends up having to lie to a bereaved family about his friendship with the dead kid you know that's a great way to start and at the end of the book the grieving family figures out that Evan actually wasn't friends with their son and that's pretty much the end of the book and then Evan goes on to just be sad and anxious and depressed and still have no friends or prospects or personality it really irritated me that Evan never made breakthroughs he was just a boring white dude that I was supposed to sympathize with but I simply did not sympathize with him he wasn't he wasn't very sympathetic so I don't know if this is anything like the musical I'm assuming it's pretty similar maybe a musical makes like light of the situation but reading it is a book it was just really depressing there were no redeeming characteristics I didn't find it funny at all and I just really didn't give a what happened to Evan and at the epilogue where he has a shitty life like I didn't care you know like he kind of deserved it so not a fan gave that one two stars honestly probably deserved one star I absolutely could not see on that book and I would not recommend it first five star read the next two we're gonna be five stars it went - two stars - five stars - four stars and we see a video coming up on this but I reread carry on by Rainbow Rowell I absolutely loved this book this is everything that I want a Harry Potter to be that Harry Potter isn't and especially in the light of JK Rowling and her problematic that she keeps tweeting find a new fave and carry on bear morale it's very similar to Harry Potter I mean there are some key differences that I think really make this one stand apart from Harry Potter in the best ways I would say that this is my favorite male male relationship in young adult it is not good so yes I reread this I loved it I have a video coming on it it might be a comparison between this and Harry Potter who knows but if you wanted Harry Potter to be gay maybe pick it up if you just wanted Harry Potter to be more diverse also pick this up the next book that I read this month I'm sure you guys also like riveting review of this book was awarded the coveted golden dumpster award and that is Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead I love this book I don't feel like I have to say it again but it really is deserving of five stars while the plot kind of wasn't everything that I wanted it to be and more it still astounds me that this book in particular is one that has stood the test of time there's no girl hate there's no slut-shaming there's none of that it is actually genuinely good and this female has female friends too unlike every other white written in 2008 so love this would highly recommend it if you're kind of looking for some kind of shitty throwback 2000s book that will actually surprise you like this this is it this is amazing you know just it's amazing okay and then the next two books I kind of already talked about them in my contemporary Athan vlog slash wrap-up video these are the only other two books that I finished which is kind of tragic but I gave both of these four stars not gonna spend too much time talking about them lumberjanes was a graphic novel for one of the challenges of contemporary thought I really enjoyed this it kind of pissed me off that the eyes on one of these characters was different let me see if I can find it for you this character right here has like bubbly eyes and all of these ones have like dots for eyes like what's that about I don't understand like if she spent she different species I don't think so I think she's humid that irritated me but I was surprised how much I enjoyed the plot and the characters given that this was very short and it was a given that was also kind of cutesy I'm not really into cutesy I liked it and I also liked the traffic relationship but I think's developing which we need more sapphic relationships and I don't know I just I like this this was good gave it four stars I'm gonna continue on but not with the physical book anymore I'm gonna put the moment kindle this last book I had asked dead-ass haikyuu Loki enjoyed and that is the case for Jamie by Britney Cavallaro this was good I mean I don't think it really deserved four stars but I enjoyed the out of it what's the plot good no was it fun to read also no but again the characters they more than made up for it and I'm Homer characters this is the third book in the Charlotte home series it follows Charlotte Holmes and Jamie Watson in this book they are separated for about a year Charlotte kind of goes missing and is kind of solving a crime on her own and Jamie is kind of living his life back at sharing four Academy by himself once they finally link back up and fight crime together gets interesting there's a plot twist in this that I personally think kind of makes up for the lack lesser plot and the epilogue man the epilogue I am such a sucker for stone-cold characters that have no emotional capacity getting emotional I loved it I thought it was amazing those are the those are the six books that I read this month I wish that I could say that I read more but unfortunately that just was not the case and anyway thank you for watching I love you guys so much and I don't know comment down below if you've read any of these books also comment down below like your tips for getting out of a reading slump sure you can tell I'm something real hard but anyway until next weekhey guys welcome back today we're going to be talking about all of the books or I guess not so many books that I read in September okay September was an interesting reading month in that I read very few books I don't really know what's wrong with me I feel like ever since July I've had a really hard time finding books they really piqued my interest and then I want to continue to read and I also started my first big girl job this week if life's different that's for sure so I haven't really been reading as much as I would like but I'm hoping to turn that around for October because I've got a lot of spooky up my sleeve that I want to read I read two to star reads two five star weeds and two four star weeds overall like wasn't the worst reading month but there were quite a few rereads in here so I feel like that's the red flag it's like if you've been reading rereading too many things something's wrong so the first book I read this month was a male melodrama it's called a little bit like desire I read the first book which I think was called a little bit like heaven or something like that there by Brooke Blaine she's a really good author and I usually really like her but this book was so boring to me and I should have known from like the prologue that it wasn't gonna be great it follows a tattoo artist named Shaw and a former rock star named Trent and the prologue they hook up in a dark room they don't know who they're and like that's not relationship building and that's not people with a history I don't know what that is except for on exciting to me the relationship that develops to wasn't exciting and it just kind of left a bad taste to my mouth I don't want to go so far as to say that the relationship was like fetishizing gay men but it definitely like there was really no reason for these two to be together besides them finding each other hot and that's not how real life relationships work usually I don't know didn't like this give it two stars and especially after how great the first book was like this was just not it okay this book I don't think is out yet comes out in October it's you have an Hansen by Val enok or image I don't know how to say it and some other authors I don't know if I'm missing something and I want you to comment down below if you absolutely love the musical and can tell me more about it but this book was depressing and like not in a good way it reminded me a lot of perks of being a wallflower which I talked about in my popular books I hated video it's making mental illness very dramatized and it's also not allowing for mental illness to be a part of someone's personality it just made this guy's mental illness his entire personality liking video games it's a personality characteristic having anxiety that's not really your personality pal I didn't really say it was the plot in essence it's about this boring-ass white guy named Evan who through some shitty circumstances ends up having to lie to a bereaved family about his friendship with the dead kid you know that's a great way to start and at the end of the book the grieving family figures out that Evan actually wasn't friends with their son and that's pretty much the end of the book and then Evan goes on to just be sad and anxious and depressed and still have no friends or prospects or personality it really irritated me that Evan never made breakthroughs he was just a boring white dude that I was supposed to sympathize with but I simply did not sympathize with him he wasn't he wasn't very sympathetic so I don't know if this is anything like the musical I'm assuming it's pretty similar maybe a musical makes like light of the situation but reading it is a book it was just really depressing there were no redeeming characteristics I didn't find it funny at all and I just really didn't give a what happened to Evan and at the epilogue where he has a shitty life like I didn't care you know like he kind of deserved it so not a fan gave that one two stars honestly probably deserved one star I absolutely could not see on that book and I would not recommend it first five star read the next two we're gonna be five stars it went - two stars - five stars - four stars and we see a video coming up on this but I reread carry on by Rainbow Rowell I absolutely loved this book this is everything that I want a Harry Potter to be that Harry Potter isn't and especially in the light of JK Rowling and her problematic that she keeps tweeting find a new fave and carry on bear morale it's very similar to Harry Potter I mean there are some key differences that I think really make this one stand apart from Harry Potter in the best ways I would say that this is my favorite male male relationship in young adult it is not good so yes I reread this I loved it I have a video coming on it it might be a comparison between this and Harry Potter who knows but if you wanted Harry Potter to be gay maybe pick it up if you just wanted Harry Potter to be more diverse also pick this up the next book that I read this month I'm sure you guys also like riveting review of this book was awarded the coveted golden dumpster award and that is Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead I love this book I don't feel like I have to say it again but it really is deserving of five stars while the plot kind of wasn't everything that I wanted it to be and more it still astounds me that this book in particular is one that has stood the test of time there's no girl hate there's no slut-shaming there's none of that it is actually genuinely good and this female has female friends too unlike every other white written in 2008 so love this would highly recommend it if you're kind of looking for some kind of shitty throwback 2000s book that will actually surprise you like this this is it this is amazing you know just it's amazing okay and then the next two books I kind of already talked about them in my contemporary Athan vlog slash wrap-up video these are the only other two books that I finished which is kind of tragic but I gave both of these four stars not gonna spend too much time talking about them lumberjanes was a graphic novel for one of the challenges of contemporary thought I really enjoyed this it kind of pissed me off that the eyes on one of these characters was different let me see if I can find it for you this character right here has like bubbly eyes and all of these ones have like dots for eyes like what's that about I don't understand like if she spent she different species I don't think so I think she's humid that irritated me but I was surprised how much I enjoyed the plot and the characters given that this was very short and it was a given that was also kind of cutesy I'm not really into cutesy I liked it and I also liked the traffic relationship but I think's developing which we need more sapphic relationships and I don't know I just I like this this was good gave it four stars I'm gonna continue on but not with the physical book anymore I'm gonna put the moment kindle this last book I had asked dead-ass haikyuu Loki enjoyed and that is the case for Jamie by Britney Cavallaro this was good I mean I don't think it really deserved four stars but I enjoyed the out of it what's the plot good no was it fun to read also no but again the characters they more than made up for it and I'm Homer characters this is the third book in the Charlotte home series it follows Charlotte Holmes and Jamie Watson in this book they are separated for about a year Charlotte kind of goes missing and is kind of solving a crime on her own and Jamie is kind of living his life back at sharing four Academy by himself once they finally link back up and fight crime together gets interesting there's a plot twist in this that I personally think kind of makes up for the lack lesser plot and the epilogue man the epilogue I am such a sucker for stone-cold characters that have no emotional capacity getting emotional I loved it I thought it was amazing those are the those are the six books that I read this month I wish that I could say that I read more but unfortunately that just was not the case and anyway thank you for watching I love you guys so much and I don't know comment down below if you've read any of these books also comment down below like your tips for getting out of a reading slump sure you can tell I'm something real hard but anyway until next week\n"