I finally read some decent books for Uni // February Wrap Up

Hello and howdy.

I have some exciting news to share today … I got accepted onto the study abroad programme for next semester!!! I had the first meeting about it yesterday and sure I signed up for this but it’s still not fully set in that I’ll be going to freaking America in a couple of months! What the Hell!!

With this though comes a lot more stuff to add to my to-do-list which is why I’m in full blown productivity mode right now (please ignore the fact that I still didn’t get out of bed til noon). As usual though, I’m kicking off with some work that doesn’t feel like work cause I enjoy it so much: sharing my February wrap up!

February ended up being a much better reading month then I though. I didn’t accomplish my mission of reading “all the romance” like I said in my TBR, but I did read 7 and a bit books this month which I’m really happy about!

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Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert – I was so annoyed with myself that I wasn’t able to squeeze this last book into 2021 but it’s okay now because I’ve done it. I’ve completed the Brown Sisters Trilogy!! This entire series was a banger, but this third book in particular was probably my favourite of the three. It was just so much fun! I genuinely don’t think I’ve ever laughed out loud at a book so much, not even just from the witty back and forth dialogue but actual events that take place had me in stitches. I was in a bit of a slump at the start of the month but this was exactly what I needed.

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston – And here we have another book I’m so happy to finally say I’ve read! I ordered this book last year, around the time of it’s release, but it just never came and my order ended up being cancelled. It took me a while to read this, I’m gonna blame the slump, but I did really enjoy it. As hard as I tried I did end up comparing it to Red, White and Royal Blue, I think that’s just inevitable. It has the same fun and addictive writing style but is a bit slower and requires a bit more patience. The found family aspects were my favourite thing about this, so fun and wholesome. I wrote an entire review if you’d like to check out my full thoughts, but now I’m counting down the days til McQuiston’s YA debut.

Secrete Plunge by Jasmin Miller – I like doing trope specific reviews and recommendations. I’ve done a grumpy/sunshine version and I’m working on more, one of them being the accidental-pregnancy trope. This was the first book I read for that and it was a let down. It was too short and despite having the potential, what with one of the characters being a famous swimmer, the other being the daughter of his coach – something neither of them knew about when they hooked up, but it just did nothing with that and I was kind of let down.

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The Collector by John Fowles – I thought this book was going to be about butterflies. It most certainly is not. This was a book I read for uni, and like an idiot I left it until the last possible minute so I read this entire thing the Monday night before my 9am seminar the next day. Like I said, thought this book was about butterflies, it’s actually about a man who kidnaps a girl and keeps her in his basement. Not what I was expecting but, compared to some of the other stuff I’ve read for uni so far in my first year, this one is up there. I actually bought a copy, thinking I’d be doing my first assignment on this book, but my plans hae changed because I also read …

Posh by Laura Wade – Once I’ve finished writing this wrap up I’ll be diving back into this play, writing up my notes specifically on the use of food in this text and making a plan of attack for the essay. Again, I left this to the last possible minute: the free three hours I had between my first lecture and the lecture for this module. I think this is probably my favourite thing I’ve had to read so far. They actually made a movie based off this play, it’s called The Riot Club and that movie actually was recommended to me on Tik-Tok the week before I had to read it which, looking back now, is weird.

Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women that a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall – I did not read this one specifically for uni but I did make the most of the library and borrowed this from there. I’ve wanted to read this one for a while and I’m glad I did this month. Not the easiest and lightest of bed-time reading, which is when I mainly picked it up, but super informative and important to read.

The Nature of Witches by Rachel Griffin – This was a sneaky one. I wasn’t planning on picking it up but it just happened one day. I didn’t totally love this book but it’s hard not to enjoy a book about witches. I really liked the magic system of this book and how it portrays seasonal magic. I also really liked the romance, it was super sweet and I was shipping more or less the whole time.

And there we have my wrap-up. Every February is the same for me, I go into it thinking I can fit in all the books, totally forgetting that it’s the shortest one of the year. I am still very happy with the books I read this month though.

As always I’d love to hear your thoughts and feelings on any of these books, as well as what you’ve been reading!

Elli xx