Books I Read in December

Hello 2019, it's been a little quite on the blog for a couple of months, but I'm looking forward to getting back into my weekly blogging. Since I'm a little behind on posts, I wanted to start this year off by going over the books I read in the closing days of 2018. Here's the books I read in December and some of my thoughts and opinions on them...

Queen of Air and Darkness by Cassandra Clare - This is the final book in The Dark Artifices trilogy, that is set in the Shadowhunter universe. This book is a cumulation of everything that Cassandra Clare has been writing since the first book in The Mortal Instruments series, this book ties in so well with her other series, and it was mind blowing seeing all the correlations. On it's own, this book is a masterpiece, the character development and story development is masterful. I think The Dark Artifices might have taken the spot of my favorite series in the Shadowhunter universe. After reading this book, I do think that you need to read The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices to fully appreciate the series, but it's such a rewarding universe, and I think it's why I come back each time Clare writes a new book in this world.

A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir - This is the penultimate book in the series, An Ember in the Ashes. It was unfortunately a bit of a process to read this book, I started it back in June, but I struggled to remember what had happened in the previous two books, to fully appreciate this book, because it is a really good book. Luckily as I was making my way through this book, I was slowly remembering the main plot points, but I'd definitely missed a lot of the connections to the previous books. I mostly listened to the audiobook of this and I fully plan on rereading the series before jumping into the last book, which unfortunately is slated for a 2020 release.

My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan - This book follows Ella as she spends a year at Oxford on the Rhodes scholarship. I visited Oxford last year, and ever since then I've been obsessed with the atmosphere, and that's what I liked the most of this book. The first half of the book heavily focuses on Ella discovering Oxford, while the last part focuses on the romance. I wasn't a huge fan of the romance and I think that affected my overall opinion of this book, because I enjoyed the first half more than the second. 

East by Edith Pattou - This is a retelling of the Norweigan fairy tale, East of the Sun and West of the Moon. I was really intrigued by this book as it's a early YA book, and the author wrote a sequel 15 years after this publication. Overall it read like a middle grade book, and the main character seemed very juvenile, which threw off my perception of this book. Overall I wasn't able to fully immerse myself in the world or the characters, and I'm unsure if I want to read the sequel. 

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling - This was obviously a reread for me, because there's something about Christmas that makes it the perfect time to reread Harry Potter. This time around I read the UK 20th edition that came out recently, which had some great added elements.

Evermore by Sara Holland - This is the final book in the Everless duology, set in a world where time is currency. I really enjoyed the first book and was excited to delve into the sequel. I unfortunately did not enjoy this book as much as the first, but I was still fairly satisfied with this book. I do wish that this series had gone more in depth in the world building, because I think those elements were rushed and this book could have been way longer. 

And those are the books I read to finish out the year. I've got a few more book posts coming soon about my favorite books of 2018 and some books I'm looking forward to 2019. - Jessica