February Reads // Delightful

February Reads... :)

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

5 Stars - Tied for first as my favorite in the series with Cress. I would recommend if you have read Cinder and enjoy dystopian themes, science fiction, and fairy tale re-tellings.

Ok, so if you remember my whole rambly... "I have a hard time identifying with the dystopian female lead..." blah blah ... "but I think I'll be more attached to the story and characters as I read more books..." Well I was right. I really really really liked Scarlet. Both the character and the book. I felt like the second installation in The Lunar Chronicles had all of the plot development, unpredictability, character development, and fast paced plot I was hoping for. I loved how the story lines were woven together, I loved Scarlet and Wolf, I loved Cinder so much more, and Kai too. Thorne was excellent comic relief as well. I feel like I know so much more about all of the characters and the plot now. LOVE. I'm about to start Cress now! Eep!

Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding

4.5 Stars - I recommend if you're an Anglophile, who loves to laugh, or someone who could use a dose of "I've been there!". I thoroughly enjoyed this even though I'd already seen the movie!

I will be honest and say, I wasn't expecting to love this book. I was expecting it to be a little boring even, having seen the movie. (I just don't usually watch before reading) To my happy surprise, this book was very entertaining! It's really funny, and I think Bridget does a good job of portraying how women often feel. At times, I totally sympathized with her. "This is me!" I thought, just cracking up at how real the situations were. Other times I thought, "At least I can find something to wear in the morning and get to work before 10am!" There were times when it was also so sad, the way we view ourselves, the lack of confidence we have... it's kind of awful. But the delightful thing about Bridget is that she never gives up... even when she's not doing well at all. I found myself oddly motivated to start a load of laundry, or clean out a drawer in the bathroom, in between reading this. All in all, I really liked it, and it made me feel like we are all just fine, right where we are, just now. We are making progress, and baby steps do count. :)

The Heir by Kiera Cass

4 Stars - I recommend if you have read The Selection Series and enjoyed it.

Based on what I'd heard about The Heir, I wasn't expecting to LOVE it. However, after the whole whiny lack of communication thing between Maxon and America in The Selection Series... I found Eadyln very refreshing. Is she spoiled? Yup. But, her annoying-ness is more a product of her independence ... which for me, is much more relate-able. I think I am also really enjoying seeing the plot from the POV of the person who is having to choose from the selected. I think The Selection Series would have been very different from Maxon's perspective. The brother sister bond is really a sweet element of the story as well. I had read maybe 5-6 chapters of this, and then picked it up at about 9 pm one night. I was very tired before hand. But at 2:30 am I went to bed, having finished the book. So, I guess you could say I liked it. Very excited to read the next installment. I also purchased The Siren. Has anyone read it yet?!

Dumplin' by Julie Murphy - Ok... so I finished this March 1... it still counts...

5 Stars - I recommend to anyone and everyone. This book is brimming with heart, colorful characters, and relate-ability.

I will be honest and say, the cover of this book is what drew me to it initially. I knew people had enjoyed it as well, so I was happy to give it a try. Overall, I didn't know much beyond it was about a "self-proclaimed fat girl," living in the south, and something about pageants.... Well, this book is just delightful you guys! There is so much heart and truth in this story. It's colorful too-boot. I love love LOVE the Dolly stuff. Because, I think she's an American treasure. So, that was a fun surprise. Overall it's just a really honest and colorful look at what it's like to grow up. What it's like to figure out who you are. There is so much bravery in this book. I'm not particularly into pageants, books about high school, or Texas.... but I thought that this book is so worth reading. Wow. 5 stars on goodreads from me. :)

Have you all read any of these books?! What did you think of them?

XO,

Alexandra

* Asterisks denote titles that I was given advance access to by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. These reviews are my own opinion, and based on the edition of the book I was given at the time. Thank you Netgalley!