Everything I Read In April 2021

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This year just keeps going really well for me as far as reading goes. No, I didn’t read 60 books again like in March, but I did read 14 which is still pretty good.

I’ve been on a thriller kick and that got started in March. I read a couple more graphic novels, a couple dystopians since that was my April book club theme. It was a little all over the place.

There were quite a few this month that just did not do it for me (but thankfully May is making up for that.)

• If you want to listen to some of these, consider trying Audible! You can get your first month free (one free book) plus tons of others they have for free.  Get that Audible deal here.
• If you’re on more of a budget, try Scribd!  You can get your first month free there. You can read books and listen to audiobooks. It is unlimited (especially the reading) but if you listen to tons of new audiobooks you may be restricted after a few. I don’t listen to enough to confirm this, but I do use Scribd myself and like it a lot. Sign up for Scribd here!
• Shop my collection of bookish goodies on Etsy! These aren’t my shop items, but other shops I’ve curated into a book-themed collection. Shop my Etsy bookish goodies here!
• If you want to read more on your Kindle but don’t want to buy books, Kindle Unlimited is a wonderful option. It’s $9.99 a month but if you read a lot and like to read more than just new releases, it could be worth it. Get Kindle Unlimited here!
• Get $5 off of $25 from BookOutlet! This is a great place to find new books for pretty cheap. They also have sales quite a bit, so keep an eye out for those. I tend to check here for books I want if they’re more expensive other places. They don’t have everything but they do have a lot. Shop BookOutlet here!
• Thrift Books has become my go-to when I’m looking for a book and want it cheap. It’s great if you like buying used books. With this you can get a free book after spending $30!
• Shop my book lists here! You can find every book list I have on Bookshop.org (except my monthly round-ups) and I add everything I can but they occasionally won’t have some. I do occasionally add extras though. If any lists are empty, they’ll be filled in shortly! Shop my bookshop.org book lists here.
• Shopping internationally? Check out Book Depository!

The Rules

Final thoughts: From Good Reads: I didn’t love this, I didn’t hate it. It was enjoyable enough for what it is (a YA slasher). The number of characters was pretty confusing at some points and I kept forgetting who was dead and who wasn’t but it kept me entertained and I read it fast.

The Memory Police

Final thoughts: I have A LOT of thoughts on this one.

From Good Reads: ** spoiler alert ** I really like the idea of this but I just.. don’t get it? There’s a lot of weird little stuff in here that just doesn’t make sense to me. I was sooo excited for this one and had such high hopes for it but this just did not do anything for me and I have a lot of thoughts. A lot.

First, the weird secret room between the first and second floor that is six feet tall? That’s like, almost another floor. How is that secret at all? That’s a lot a space even if it’s narrow but a bed and toilet fit in it?

Next, how does stuff disappear? It’s explained that perfume was all dumped in the river for some reason, then roses were all floating down the river when they were disappeared, but then calendars just get burned? How is it decided what goes in the river?

And with the calendar, if her editor remembers things and has a calendar in his secret room, why does he need to get rid of it at all? Can he not have secret forbidden stuff anymore? Can the memory police just, I don’t know, scan for forbidden things? If they came to search the house and didn’t find the secret room, it wouldn’t matter if it was there. If they find the room, the calendar is the least of their problems.

Turns out he does keep stuff that’s “disappeared” so why can’t he keep the calendar!? Also, the old man still knows what a calendar is after they’re gone? I thought they forget? Does that take time?

This just doesn’t make sense! Now books are disappeared and R offers to hide them in his secret room. WHY COULDNT HE KEEP THE CALENDAR? Novels liter Just disappeared and she’s already forgetting them and struggling to pronounce the word but why did the old man remember calendar for so long!?

How does it even work with forgetting things that have disappeared? What makes them forget if it’s just random decisions on what disappears?

So she can’t remember what a hat is but she knows her neighbor used to be a hat maker. Why does she remember hat maker but not hats?

The old man says eventually you won’t even remember you wrote novels but they both constantly mention and talk about how he used to drive the ferry. Why do they remember that and that her dad studied birds but she’ll forget she wrote books?

Now she’s offered a job as a typist and she says she doesn’t have much experience!? How!? She wrote books. Books are gone but how did she write the books? By hand? Wouldn’t she type them? Why would she forget typist if jobs as a typist and typewriters are still around? I DONT GET IT.

How does the old man know what a tsunami is but she doesn’t? If she’s lived on this island that gets earthquakes why doesn’t she know but he does?

Why doesn’t she know how to write anymore? Not write novels but just wrote anything. Handwriting isn’t gone. Novels are gone. She just never writes anything other than manuscripts down?

They lost a leg? How is Rs leg not disappeared? Why wouldn’t it be? I don’t understand this body part disappearing thing at all

And that ending. Didn’t care for that at all either. I’m glad I’m done with this but I’m bummed I didn’t like it.

There are so many little things that just don’t make sense. It’s a good idea, I love the idea, but it feels like it’s missing a lot of detail about how things actually work and there are so many holes and things that contradict each other. I wanted to like this so bad but it just didn’t work for me.

The Infinite Sea

Final thoughts: Here’s one I didn’t think I would like but I did! I don’t really like post-apocalyptic stuff, but I usually relate that to zombies which is actually what I don’t like.

And sequels can usually go downhill but I still liked this and will finish the series once I get my hands on a physical copy of the last book (the series has to all match!)

The 5th Wave

Final thoughts: I really liked this one! This is another one I got in that mystery book box I always talk about and finally read it. I wasn’t sure I would like it since I’m not usually a fan of this genre but I was pleasantly surprised and read the second one right away.

The Wilder Girls

Final thoughts: I wanted to like this one more than I did. The first 3/4 kind of dragged but then the end wasn’t that satisfying either. I mean, they get out but they just leave everyone else behind at school? What?

Hush

Final thoughts: Here’s another one I have A LOT of thoughts on. And they’re not good ones. Imagine how many more I would have if I finished this. Yikes.

From Good Reads: DNF’d at 188 pages and I have a lot of thoughts. I was SO excited to read this and now I’m SO excited to be DNFing it and I hate not finishing books.

Is her brother the only person in her village that died from the blot? It’s made to sound like a much more serious issue like, you know, a plague? But only her family is affected by it? So everyone just hates her?

Also, it’s hard for me to take a plague caused by ink called The Blot seriously.

You don’t just forget you have an embroidery hoop in your pocket. And how big are your pockets?

Embroidery needles are tiny and would not make a good weapon at all.

You didn’t face difficulty leaving home and traveling! You ran into bandits and got away super fast then got in a wagon and we’re taken right to the high house, into it even! It took like, a day?

Do you think embroidery needles are like knitting needles? Because they’re not. She just carries these needles around for comfort? What?

Am I the only one so bothered by all this embroidery stuff being so weird?

Her first test is to jump across a small chasm with.. heavy handcuffs on her ankles? And she can run with them to get ready to jump? What?

Is this some kind of made up magic embroidery? She just..made gloves? Did she have fabric and cut them to be gloves? Did she weave the gloves? You don’t just embroider gloves into existence. And Exactly kennans, who she’s known for like a day, size? I can’t.

And why did she think kennan would even like these gloves? YOU DONT EVEN KNOW HER!

I don’t care about shae at all. She just doesn’t make sense. I don’t get her. She’s a naive Mary Sue that doesn’t think about anything before doing it and is shocked when things go wrong after she acts impulsively.

I rolled my eyes so much in the 190 pages I read, I’m surprised they didn’t roll out of my head. Also, what does anyone in this even look like!?

Hotel For The Lost

Final thoughts: I really liked the idea of this and in the beginning, the atmosphere felt like it would be really creepy but once I got to the end I was like that’s it?

Everyone in this was just awful and I didn’t care about any of them which made it hard to care about the story. It just fell flat for me. And Audrey was just kind of the worst.

The Only Living Girl on Earth

Final thoughts: This didn’t make sense to me. There was one chapter that just didn’t make sense in here at all and I can’t even remember what happened in it. It would have been better without that chapter but it was still just not great.

Unwind

Final thoughts: This is another one from the mystery box and I loved it! I thought it was a really interesting premise and I liked the characters. Could it have been better? Sure, but I really liked this and will continue with the series eventually.

Fable

Final thoughts: This took me a while to get into but once I did I really liked it! I think I just haven’t been in a fantasy mood and that’s why they’ve all taken me forever to get into. I also wasn’t sure I’d like it because it’s pirate-y (this was a major cover/bookstagram buy) but I’m glad I read it!

Two Can Keep A Secret

Final thoughts: I loved this but this kind of book is my jam. I liked it a lot more than The Cousins and look forward to reading her other duology.

Mooncakes

Final thoughts: This was so cute and I loved the art style in this. I don’t have much to say about it, I just loved it!

Lumberjanes, Vol. 10: Parents’ Day

Final thoughts: Another cute installment in the Lumberjanes series.

Snapdragon

Final thoughts: SO CUTE. I loved this and I want more of them.

What did you read in April? Have you read any of these? Which ones?