I’ve never really done a wrap up here before so I figured why not. Now is as good a time as any and I read so many books in May. I’ll start with my earliest read book read in may and work my way forward.
I read a total of 8 books in May. It’s not my best record for one month (11 books), but I’m pretty proud of myself because it felt like I wasn’t reading very much.
The first book I read in May was The Pact by Karina Halle
I was in a New Adult mood for most of May so this felt like just what I needed at the time. Now…I might have been really generous with my rating.
There were a few typos in this book which annoyed me a little because I have high expectations when it comes to published books, but it wasn’t unbearable. I felt like the chemistry between the characters was written really well and they story line was entertaining. I didn’t have high expectations going into this one so I wasn’t disappointed.
Rating: 4 Stars
***
Overall this book was just eh for me. I mean it wasn’t great and it wasn’t terrible. I really liked the whole theme of it since it was a modern day Pride and Prejudice retelling.
I didn’t really feel like there was this big climax to the story like I was expecting, so I was a bit disappointed in the end. The story was good and I liked most of the characters. It was a pleasant quick read.
Rating: 3 Stars
***
More quick reads. Devoured, Absorbed, All Over You by Emily Snow.
The first book, Devoured, really got under my skin. Both the main characters Sienna and Lucas were kind of stupid at times and I wanted to slap them, especially at the end of the story. The characters also showed very little character development. Again I wasn’t expecting much so I didn’t set myself up for disappointment so I was kind of generous with my rating.
The other two novellas Absorbed and All Over You were slightly better than the main book. I cant say why other than there was less of the characters in them since they were short books.
Ratings: Devoured-3 stars, Absorbed-4 stars, All Over You- 4 stars
***
I can’t remember how I stumbled across this book, probably a suggestion, but after reading the synopsis, I thought “why not.” I basically went in to this with no expectations, but even that earned this book only about 3.5 stars from me.
I was good, but it lacked quite a few things. Firstly, I had a hard time buying into the emotions of the characters. The narrator claimed how characters felt for each other another, but I just didn’t see it or feel it for myself. Mack’s attraction toward Tully, felt very superficial.
There quite a bit of character development on Tully’s part which greatly improved my rating of the book even if the rest of it kind of annoyed me.
The ending was seriously lacking for me and the story wasn’t neatly wrapped up as I hoped it would be. I didn’t get that overwhelming feeling of happiness at the end of this book, and that disappointed me.
Besides these points I’ve made, I did like the book even if I skimmed through some parts of it. It was good, but it wasn’t great.
Rating: 3 stars
***
Finally, the classics. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
For the most part I enjoyed this book. I’m pretty sure I have read it before, but I remembered nothing about it. Probably because I was in high school and forced to read it. I don’t know.
The back and forth of emotions and the double standards in this novel irritated me a little, but the other parts of the book out-shined those things so I could look over them.
I hated how at times Elizabeth excused Mr. Wickham’s behavior and even justified it in his pursuit of Ms. King for money. After he openly admitted what he was after she should have never see him again. Though this was just my opinion.
I also found it a little predictable what would happen to Lydia. Not that she would have married Mr. Wickham, but that she would have ran off with an officer after her parents let her go with the regiment. And though I have watched the movie first, I could see that would have happened there also. Her stupidity bothered me most of all. She did not deserve her sister’s help (financially) after she almost ruined them all. She was selfish and only thought of herself. The only way I can justify Elizabeth helping her sister out is that she felt Lydia being married to Mr. Wickham was punishment enough and could not allow her to fall into financial ruin too.
I don’t think I really fell in love with the book until the middle when Mr. Darcy proposed to Elizabeth and all of his extensive character development after the fact. That was my favorite part of the book. The way Jane Austen wrote about him made me love him more than I did after watching the movie. I can see now how the film hardly did this book justice.
Despite these little annoyances I mentioned above, the latter part of the book really made me appreciate the story and Jane Austen’s work.
4.5 stars!
***
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
This was weird book. Weird in a way, that there were things mentioned and phrases said that I didn’t completely understand without cliff notes.
While that being the case, I still enjoyed the book. The only person in it who had even the smallest amount of common sense or didn’t irritate me was Nick, the narrator of the story. But at times I felt even he was nonsensical. He was too passive for my taste.
I will just go ahead and say it now. I could NOT stand Daisy. Her and her husband Tom were two of worst people I’ve ever read about. Despicable.
This was a nice, quick read even though it took me days to get through because of my schedule. I think this is a book I would like to come back to someday.
Rating: 4 stars
***
That was all the books I read in May. Have you read any of these books? What are your opinions of them? Let me know in the comments below!
girl in bookland 