April 2019 Wrap-Up

Hey hi hello friends, and welcome back to my blog!

April came and went, and now I only have eight days left of the semester and I'm mildly freaking out that I won't pass my classes but it's fine I'm fine everything's fine.

Again there won't be any videos this week because I'm studying pretty much 24/7 nowadays, so I don't have time to film let alone edit and upload. Videos will be back next Friday however! By then I'll be back home with my beautiful books and in my own bed and have access to actual filming equipment and not just my crappy cybershot camera.

Okay, let's get into the books shall we? This April I read a grand total of six books, I DNF'd one, and am currently still reading two. I started my new reviewing regime about half-way through the month, so this month's wrap up is going to be a little odd. Bear with me, okay?
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1. A Question of Holmes by Brittany Cavallaro - 4 stars
Page count - 304 pages
Read from - Apr. 1 to Apr. 3
Goodreads Review -AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

AH. AH. AAAAAHHHHHH. 

Okay, okay. 

That was a RIDE. I’m laughing, I’m crying, I’m SCREAMING?!

I guess I should explain why this isn’t a five star read. SPOILERS AHEAD. 

I thought that the conclusion to the case was rather underwhelming. Something I had come to expect from these books was that the actual culprit was someone who was never even suspected, but I was suspicious of Anwen right away. Her backstory was a surprise but her motives were underwhelming. However I didn’t expect Rupert to be in on it with her, so I do have to give credit for that.

The other reason is COMPLETELY selfish. I wanted closure with August! I mean, okay I get the whole “he needed to disappear for good” crap that Milo pulled, but I feel like Charlotte and Jamie really needed one last conversation with him. He was their friend and they thought they saw him gunned down right in front of them, they deserved to at least say a proper goodbye. 

So, that it was this was docked to a four star. I did really like the epilogue, though. So mundane and normal, at least as normal as it can get for Charlotte and Jamie. I like that they took their time apart from one another that wasn’t forced, and I really like that Charlotte was able to step away from everything her life had been bred for. 

I can’t believe that this series is over. Most likely I’m going to revisit in soon. At least the first book, since I read the last three in quick succession but read the first one months and months ago.Final thoughts - A well thought out conclusion to a beautiful series. I really want to reread and annotate these books, just to see if I can.

2. The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson - 5 stars
Page count - 784 pages
Read from - Apr. 4 to Apr. 9
Goodreads Review - 

Okay I just read the last four hundred pages nonstop for six hours and I am TIRED.  Holy heck that was a lot! I don’t know how I feel about the DOZEN twists and turns that were thrown at me in the last couple hundred pages. And especially the END?!?! With Elend????? And VIN?!?!?!??!!!! HOW!!!!  I am so MAD that I didn’t bring the third book up with me. Heck. Final thoughts - I still stand by my initial thoughts from book one that Elend is the most precious bean to have ever lived, except now he's a BADASS PRECIOUS BEAN WHICH IS EVEN BETTER. 3. The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker - 3.5 stars Page count - 291 pages Read from - Apr. 11 to Apr. 18 Review - Silence of the Girls Review Final thoughts - I feel like if this was written by someone else I would have enjoyed it a lot more. Not saying that Barker's writing was bad, it just wasn't a writing style that I personally mesh well with. 4. Radio Silence by Alice Oseman - 5 stars (ONE DAY READ) Page count - 461 pages Read - Apr. 23 Review - Radio Silence Review Final thoughts - I'm still debating on taking a star away, but it's been so long since I've read a whole book in a single day, so I really appreciate this book for getting me back into that groove. 5. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling - 5 stars (REREAD) Page count - 320 pages Read from - Apr. 25 to Apr. 27 No review available Final thoughts - I always enjoy reading these books. I picked it up again because my roommate and I watched the movie and I was feeling the nostalgia creep back into my heart, so I needed to satiate it. 6. Once a Witch by Carolyn MacCollough - 3 stars (ONE DAY READ) Page count - 292 pages Read - Apr. 27 No review available - I'm working on writing the review, once it's up on my blog I'll come back and link it here Final thoughts - It certainly wasn't an accurate witchy book, but I've resigned to the fact that any books published in the 2000s about witches aren't going to reflect actual witchcraft. Also my friend and I are planning on buddy-reading the sequel, so look forward to that in the future. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Final page count - 2,452 pages Favorite book of April - The Well of Ascension Least favorite book of April - Once a Witch DNF'd books this month - The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares Unfinished books this month - Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones Ghostland: An American History of Haunted Places by Colin Dickey ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Okay, there you have it! Those are the books that I picked up this month. Now, I hope y'all are ready, because...