April's Book Reviews

I have read five books this past month. More than I thought but not as many as I'd like! The whole TBR thing didn't work for me. It hasn't in the past either. I can't decide ahead of time what I'll be in the mood for. It's just, I pick something up and try to read it and if it's a go, it's a go. Often times, I have to put it down and try something else. I often have many books partly read because of this. I just can't push through if I'm not into it. I know, though, that it's often just a timing thing and to try a book again at a later date.

Anyway, here's what I read in April!

Read and reviewed bottom to top!

• Never Fade by Alexandria Bracken (book 2 of Darkest Minds) 4/5 stars: I actually put this review up in March since I had just about finished it. Thought I should stick it here since I did finish it this month. Here's the review I posted then.  Doesn't suffer quite as bad as other books, being the second in a trilogy. A lot happens and there are new, different, fully developed characters introduced. There's no twist but there is a lot of action.I'll add now, I did cry and I rooted for the protagonist and I also felt a little taken advantage of with a certain character's conclusion. It just seemed... I'm not sure how to put it without spoilers. I'll just say that while I was fully immersed in the story and what happened, It's not how I would have preferred it to be written or how I would write it (I don't think!).
• Flora and Ulysses by Kate DeCamillo 4/5 stars: This was a lot of fun to read. It was a completely different style from things I usually read. It was light, yet still emotional with a strong human element -- I rooted for the protagonist, empathized and sympathized and liked her. Her hero friend Ulysses the squirrel was an amazing character. His PoV was hilarious and adorable. Their sweet friendship pulled at my heart and I wanted there to be more. The comic book element of the book was a perfect addition, given a lot of the story revolved around Flora's love for them. She wanted her hero squirrel and constantly thought back to different comics as the story progressed, in order to progress her own story. It was clever and fun. I'd like a second one, please!
• Fortuneately, The Milk by Neil Gaiman 4/5 stars: It's a little scary reviewing a book by any author with a large fan base. I would like to start off by reminding everyone to take a look at the star rating I gave.... thank you. And, I have read other books by him. Well, I read Neverwhere and very much liked it, I never finished the Graveyard Book or American Gods (again, look at what I said above about timing and going back to books!). After I read Flora and Ulysses I read this and... was a little let down. Don't get me wrong, it was great. the drawings were fun, the story was fun, the whole thing was fun. It was a tad small (I read it in two little sittings), the plot was small, the development of everything was small, and the meaning was small. For such a big name, Neil Gaiman wrote something pretty small, I thought.
• Bone Gap by Laura Ruby 4/5 stars: Well, this one is a little more difficult to review. There's not a ton of reviews on Amazon or Goodreads and yet I had been seeing a lot of this book around. Maybe that's just me constantly looking for new books, following bookish folk on instagram and spending too much time on amazon and goodreads. I was really intrigued by the "unsual magical realism" title it seemed to be getting. I bought it with anticipation and read it right away. It took me quite a while to get through. It was a little slow going. Every time I picked it up, I read it and wanted to keep reading it, yet when I put it down I didn't feel the desire to immediately go back to it. Strange. All around, though, the story was good. I figured out the protagonists problem before the big reveal.  I had a lot of guesses as to what was going on, some were right and a lot were wrong. I felt like I needed more closure. I also felt like it was a spectacularly odd or different magical realism. Makes me think people don't know what that means? Or slight fantasy? I also go tired of hearing how beautiful Rosa was and I never really got to understand her really well. I think this book could have been so much more and I wanted a longer conclusion.
• Invisible by Dawn Metcalf 4/5 stars: This is one of those books I don't see people talking about or posting pictures of but that I really like and think others would too. The first book was a total impulse by and I blazed through it, half hating half loving it. The hate from enjoying such a YA book, and the love of it being so easy to read. Typical in a lot of young adult romantic fantasy ways but in a really different way. Not typical creatures. That made it a lot more interesting -- so this second book was not as much fun but still very enjoyable. Tension between love interests is sort of to be expected in a second or third book, because you spend the first one wanting it to happen and when it does, there's no pull for the other books to see if it does work out because we know it does. The tension was well done and the reasons for new dangers and progress for the characters and story. Of course it's a bridge between one and three. It is two after all. They're all a bridge. I look forward to the next one! There is a next one, right?