Kira Jeanette

Hello!

It is time for another wrap up! Although February is the shortest month of the year, it felt like the longest month for me – so much happened in the short month.

House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J Maas was released right at the end of January, however I couldn’t start it until February. I booked off the first few days of the month so that I could read the third instalment in the Crescent City series. So, from the 1^st – 6^th, I was off work and dedicated to reading! I love booking time off purely to read and reset. It gives me such a break and forces me to relax.

I attended my first book club in February! There was just a few of us from my friendship group who have decided to create a book club to attend monthly. We have officially chosen our first book: A Very English Murder by Verity Bright and I have started it and enjoying it so far.

Soon after book club though, my February turned bad, as I fell ill and ended up needing minor surgery. Everything is okay, but it meant I was in a lot of pain for a week and did not touch a single book. However, as I’m still off work, and feeling much better post-op, I’ve been reading quite a lot, and craving lots and lots of comfort reads. So that might explain why the books at the end of the month seem a little odd…

Despite the highs and lows of February, I read quite a few books! A total of nine books! Bringing my total already for 2024 to sixteen books!! This is incredible to me, considering I have been in such a bad reading slump for years now. I’m so happy to officially be out of it, and I am wondering if I will ever be shocked at the amount of books I am reading again. Enough rambling through, and let’s get into the books.

Books Read: 9

Pages Read: 4,270

Format:

• Audiobook: 8
• Physical: 1

Genre:

• Fantasy: 7    
  • High Fantasy: 3
  • Historical Fantasy: 1
  • Romance Fantasy: 1
  • Urban Fantasy: 2
• Non-Fiction: 2 

House of Sky and Breath and House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J Maas

Last month, I reread House of Earth and Blood in preparation for the third instalment in the series to come out, so I continued with the series in February. When I read House of Sky and Breath the first time, I read it over the course of a few months and it was quite a disjointed read. I didn’t realise how much that impacted my reading experience until I reread it. I missed so much last time, and I got so emotionally involved too. I loved it so much, and I was blown away (once again) by the ending, and I was so thankful that this time around I could dive straight into House of Flame and Shadow.

Any Sarah J Maas release is amazing, and this new book completely blew me out of the water. There was not much time to breath at all with this one as everything moved at such a fast pace. I’ve seen some criticism about the book and there format, as it was a lot of jumping around different perspectives, but I really liked that. The more we jumped around, the more it intrigued me and kept the plot moving quickly. Whenever I thought the story was about to go in one direction, I was thrown in a different way. It was incredible and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

Vital Organs by Suzie Edge

Whenever Sarah J Maas releases a book, it often sends me into a reading slump straight after. It was something I was quite conscious about – especially because I have only just got out of my reading slump. So to try and prevent the reading slump, I decided to do a complete shift in genres to what I have been reading this year so far and go for something non-fiction. I gravitated to Vital Organs by Suzie Edge. I read her first book Mortal Monarchs in October 2022 and fell in love with her writing style. I had always followed her on TikTok, so I knew I was a fan, but I’m not exaggerating when I say I haven’t stopped thinking about Mortal Monarchs since I read it. I was nervous about Vital Organs because I’m not very good with medical terms or anything medically related usually, however Suzie Edge talks about it from a historical perspective once again and that is something that I enjoy a lot more. I really loved it and cannot wait for any future books from the author.

 

Women in the War by Lucy Fisher

It turns out, I quite liked reading the previous non-fiction book. Within Vital Organs, there is a chapter for Emily Wilding Davison which got me craving more about the suffragettes. I had been in search for a book specifically about the suffragettes, however in my search I came across Women in the War by Lucy Fisher and decided to read this instead. I thoroughly enjoyed it and there was been a chapter about my hometown Bedford and then the town where I work which is Milton Keynes. It was nice reading about the history that happened in two towns that I am very familiar with.

 

Heir of Fire by Sarah J Maas

Between Women in the War and Heir of Fire, I started feeling unwell and had my operation, so not much reading was done. I couldn’t really focus much, so when I started feeling a little more myself, I decided to finish my reread of Heir of Fire. I started it last year some time and have just been dipping in and out of it. There is just something when you’re unwell though that makes you want to return to a familiar place and story. So that is exactly what I did. Rereading this one got me once again excited to finish the reread for the rest of the series, which is something I have not done yet in full!

Read my Discussion Post: Here.

 

Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

Again, I wanted comfort, so next I decided I wanted to read something new to me, but wasn’t sure what. Eventually I decided on Assistant to the Villain and I really enjoyed it! However, it felt weird to me reading it in February and not in September or October when I would normally read books like this. It is a romance with a spooky-season vibe and I definitely will be reading this again during the season and will be picking up the sequel!

 

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

I then decided to pick up a book from my shelf that I have been highly anticipating for so, so long and that is These Violent Delights. I have had this one on my TBR for so long and I think I let the hype get to me quite a bit. I loved this book, don’t get me wrong, but it wasn’t a five star read for me and that was quite disappointing. I will definitely be continuing with the sequel, but I’m not sure if I will be continuing with the companion series at this point. I think I will let Our Violent Ends be the deciding factor.

 

Glass Houses and The Dead Girls Dance by Rachel Caine

Never did I think that the above two books would end up on a wrap up post. I read The Morganville Vampires series in 2014 – ten years ago! – and I never thought I would reread the series. In fact, I included it on a post literally called Book Series I Loved…But Won’t Reread. And yet, whilst I was lying in bed, feeling unwell and uncomfortable the only books I wanted to read were trashy vampire books I loved at 15 years old. So, I decided to start rereading them. I will not lie to you – I am loving it! I cannot in good faith recommend these books as they are so wildly outdated, but I am having a very good time reading them. I don’t know how far I will continue into the series, but for now they are definitely giving me what I want.

That is all for February! Let me know what your favourite book you read in February in the comments!

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