Another month has passed.. what?? | 2016 February Wrap-Up

Ahhh I honestly wonder sometimes; will it always feel like a month passed, in like, a week?? ‘Cause it’s been happening to me since forever, and every time I still can’t believe it. Kind of like how it feels like my chocolate stash always seems to go from a lot to, like, a crumb in a day? (There’s much less of a mystery of how it happened in that case though, lol. #shhthechocolatemonsterisme)

But anyway, case in point: time flies! And I thought I might as well reminisce of how my month of February went, to cling to the past a bit before another month starts to fly by. XD Let’s get on to it!

• Truthwitch by Susan Dennard: I kind of succumbed to the hype with this one?? There were so many glowing reviews and the premise just had me so intrigued. I’m going to have to add to the hype now; it was quite entertaining, despite the flaws! I loved it. ★★★★☆ (4 stars)
• Rebel Spring by Morgan Rhodes: To be honest, this was leaning more towards the 3 stars range in terms of the critical aspects (plot, characters, etc.) but in terms of entertainment it’s more of the 4-stars range for me. By no means amazing, but still decent! Hence a final rating of: ★★★☆☆ ½ (3.5 stars)
• Tonight the Streets Are Ours by Leila Sales: I think it’s best to go into this one without knowing too much? At least, it worked out fine that way for me. So I’m not going to say much about this other than this book was so entertaining and really worth the time for me. Such an unconventional love story! ★★★★☆ (4 stars)
• Passenger by Alexandra Bracken: I was debating whether to give this one a 3 vs 3.5 stars—I went with 3. But it was by no means a bad read! I just think in my head, I hyped it up a bit too much, and it turned out to be good, decent, and entertaining, but didn’t live up to MY personal expectations. So.  ★★★☆☆ (3 stars)

• Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins: So adorable, this one! I don’t know why I put off reading this for so long. It was really sweet, and great for a light fluffy read. I have the link to the review below, if you want to check it out! (Flawless self-advertising, guys, and I’m not even sorry.) 😉 ★★★★☆ (4 stars)
• Not If I See You First by Eric Lindstorm: Haha I seem to have hit on the great contemporaries this month. Despite the difficulty I had at first to get into it, NISUF was delightfully refreshing read that I really loved. It was so interesting reading from the POV of a blind protagonist! ★★★★☆ (4 stars)
• Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard: Ahhh the rating for this was such a struggle! I SO wanted to love this, but… there were a bit too many flaws for me to rate this higher than a 3. Unfortunately. I mean, 3 stars isn’t bad, believe me! But in this particular case, 3 is almost stretching it.  ★★★☆☆ (3 stars)
• Gathering Darkness by Morgan Rhodes: To be honest, I think this could very well be the same rating I gave for Rebel Spring, but I decided to add another .5 for entertainment. This book was, as the rest of the books, filled with drama, tension and action, and although maybe critically it wasn’t the best, it was still addicting to read! ★★★★☆ (4 stars)

• More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera: Ahhh THIS BOOK. Oh my gosh. My heart literally got stomped into a thousand tiny pieces and it was not okay! Yet I absolutely loved this book. #bookwormlogic. You all should definitely read it! ★★★★☆ ½ (4.5 stars)
• Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin: I had no idea I’d love this book so much! Although I had read many glowing reviews on it prior to reading it, I had my expectations set medium-ish, and WBW totally surpassed them! Full of action, suspense and even some romance, this book was truly a great read. ★★★★★ (5 stars)
• A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab: I can’t decide between 4 and 4.5 stars right now, so I’ll just leave it at either or. Because although I really adored this book (it was seriously so good), there were parts that I was more meh about that I can’t ignore, so… but overall absolutely fantastic! ❤ ★★★★☆ ½ (4-4.5 stars)
• Stars Above by Marissa Meyer: Ahh, the bind-up collection of the Lunar Chronicles novellas were a pleasure to read! A few I’d already read seperately, but a few I hadn’t and those were great. ★★★★☆ (4 stars)

Hm, looking at this I’m kind of wondering if I’m being too generous?? I don’t know, my ratings seem so high—Lol, I know I make it sound like a bad thing, but it’s really not. Just… gah. I don’t know. A thought to be talked about another time, I guess! But for now, I guess I’ll just leave it at I have had a pretty good month in terms of book ratings! XD

• Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
• You Were Here by Cori McCarthy

Well, I’d been hoping to write reviews for at least half the books I read… but something’s better than nothing, right? *attempts to make self be optimistic* *fails* *goes off in search of chocolate to cure my sadness*

• R.I.P It or Ship It Book Tag
• The Book Courtship Tag

Woo, love-themed book tags! Who’s surprised I did these this month? XD

• #39: February 3rd
• #40: February 10th
• #41: February 17th
• #42: February 24th

• You don’t HAVE to write discussion posts, right?
• What makes a good romance?
• Signs you’re falling out of love with a book (or already have).
• Reasons why you should venture outside your favourite genres.
• The book blogger’s guide: How to not go overboard on ARCs and review copies!

Yayyy I’ve actually been pretty successful with my discussion posts this month! I had so much fun writing them, eep! Definitely hope to continue the trend March too. 😉

• I make a monthly TBR for the first time! Woo, go me! (Though it was a pretty ambitious one, I’ll admit.)
• I reminisce about January in this wrap-up post… not unlike what I’m doing right now, lol. 😉
• I become a very helpful chocolate bar—as I always am, of course—and share a Valentine’s Day bookish gift guide, which, by the way, represents 187% of what all bookworms want need. So take notes if you must get a gift for a fellow bookworm!
• I transfigure into my all-knowing self and write about 7 romance tropes you know you secretly—or not so secretly—love or hate.
• Do you crave a sweet romance? Well, I become a temporary advocate for cheesy romance in this post with contemporary novel recommendations. You’re welcome. (Go read those books!!!)
• I celebrate Valentine’s Day with a little post with several types of male love interests. Don’t lie, you know you love ’em.
• And the themed posts continue! I celebrate Family Day by offering a list of books with pro-family themes. Families are a dying breed, according to books nowadays apparently. So it was nice to see that they DO exist, am I right?
• So, I kind of go crazy and fangirl over, maybe, 0.0001% of my favourite bookish OTPs? Hey, I’m a fangirl for a reason.
• I talk about reaching my 1-year blogiversary and share some cool posts and bloggers in a Spotlight Saturday post! (I still can’t believe it’s already been a year, omg. Someone get some chocolate to celebrate, ahem!)
• It was time someone took the step and categorized us wild, untamed and plentiful bloggers! I have taken on the challenge and done so in a post about types of book bloggers! You’re welcome. (I’m always open to chocolate as payment, btw.)

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Yayyy that was a successful month! Which calls for chocolate! (Success means chocolate. Yes.) February was actually more of a low-key month for me in terms of schoolwork too, which probably explains why I’ve actually been posting quite often. Though now that I’ve said that, watch March be the complete opposite… *SIGH* But anyway, success for now! 😀

So, how had your February gone? Successful? (HAVE SOME CHOCOLATE.) Unsuccessful? (ALSO HAVE SOME CHOCOLATE.) Let me know in the comments, along with any other thoughts you might have! ❤