Books I Read in April

In the month of April, I read a total of 12 books, 9 of those books were rereads. I've weirdly managed to read 12 books every month so far this year, usually I'm never this consistent with my reading. So here are all the books I read and my thoughts and opinions on them...

Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi - This book follows Penny and Sam, who meet through mutual friends and decide to keep in contact through text messages. I liked this book, the characters were likable and the plot was interesting. But what really drew me to this book was the setting, it takes place in Austin and it was really interesting to see how well the setting translated to my experience of the city.

Simon vs the Homo Sapien Agenda by Becky Albertali - This is a coming of age story following Simon, as he struggles with coming out. This was my first reread of the month and I wanted to reread this book after watching the movie (which is a great adaption) and I also am looking forward to picking up the spinoff sequel that just came out. I forgot a lot of the details of this book, so it felt like I was reading it for the first time. I enjoyed this book, and I again had a huge oreo craving while reading it.

The Beauty That Remains by Ashley Woodfolk - This book follows three characters who have recently suffered the loss of someone close to them, and how music has helped them deal with the loss. I was really surprised by how much I like this book, the characters and the plot are so meaningful, and as someone who has gotten back into playing music on a regular basis, I really enjoyed the impact that music has on the characters.

I Have Lost My Way by Gayle Forman - This book follows three strangers as they form a bond by spending the day together. I have been a fan of this author and her book for a while, If I Stay, was one of the first books I read that got me back into reading again. I really liked this book, I enjoyed the diverse characters and the coming of age elements. There are some elements of instalove and I thought the ending could have been more conclusive, but for the most part I enjoyed this book.

The Lunar Chronicles (books 1-4 and Stars Above) by Marissa Meyer - This is a fairy tale retelling series, with Sci-Fi elements. This is one of my all time favorite series and I have been wanting to reread it for a while, and when I saw that the audiobooks were available from the library, I jumped at the chance to read it again. Since this was a reread, I was able to appreciate all of the details in this series, the world building and character development are so well done, and the story itself is so unique. I'm already thinking about how the next time I read this book, that I want to read each book and short story in chronological order, and how that will add to the level of storytelling.

Red Queen series (books 1-3) by Victoria Aveyard - This series is set in a world divided by blood, and follows Mare, a red blood, who discovers that she has powers that people of her blood should not possess. This series is another reread as I geared up for the release of the final novel. I really love this series, and although it has a ton of cliches, the world building and the writing improve so much with each book. I'm really happy that I decided to reread this series, because there are so many detail and plot points that I had forgotten, and I'm simultaneously scared and excited for the last book.

And those are all the books I read in April. May is going to be a busy reading month, there are so many new releases that I'm looking forward too, but I'm also going on a big trip and I'm not going to have as much time to read as I usually do (I'll be sharing more info about my trip soon!). - Jessica