March wrap-up

Hi everyone!

I’m finally sitting down to write my March wrap-up. I feel like April is flying by, we are already a whole week into the month and I’ve just realized that March is gone.

March was a pretty good month for me personally. It was my birthday month and I had a really great time, even though we still have many restrictions here in Spain and I didn’t have my usual birthday, I still had such a lovely time and felt so loved and cared for by my loved ones.

In terms of reading I managed to finish 8 books and I found some new all-time favorites that I can’t wait to share with you guys! So let’s get into the books:

Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is a New Adult, contemporary, m-m romance that I am absolutely in love with. When I tell you that I finished this in two days, when I was working full time both of those days and that it pained me to stop reading it to get to work and to go to bed at night, because it meant that I had to pause this story, I am not exaggerating.

The banter these two have is out of this world. They are both so witty and, even though it kind of got on my nerves how self-deprecated Luc can be at times, I think Oliver balances him out so well and they fit together perfectly, I was just happy to see them interact.

I also adored the third act conflict in this book, which I typically dislike, so to actually love it should tell you something about how much I enjoyed the book.

Mild spoilers ahead: I think it was a very smart move to shift the conflict from Luc to Oliver, since it gave him a much needed depth that had been kind of missing. He was too perfect, too patient and kind to be real, but this showed a more vulnerable side of him that made him feel human.

The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Another book, another romance. Only this time it is actually adult, but I loved it just as much as the previous one.

I absolutely adored the heroine and how badass she was. I loved how deeply she cares about her culture and her family. The Brazilian elements were very well meshed into the plot and characters. The culture, the food, the custumes, it all just made it really enjoyable to read and added an extra layer to the story.

But what I loved most about this, is how the two main characters manage to pull off their relationship. At the beginning of the book they are in such a difficult position that I kept thinking, there is no way this is going to work, they are either going to brush aside this issues and not give them the importance they deserve, or they are going to go in too deep too quickly and I’m not going to like it, but I actually loved how everything unraveled. I wasn’t expecting for things to go as they did and I’m so happy they did because I really enjoyed these two together.

Also, I listened to the audiobook and I highly recommend it, the narrators did a wonderful job.

Lore Olympus the webcomic by Rachel Smythe ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is a webcomic that Jessen at Jessen Reads Romance raves about and I’ve been so curious to pick it up ever since. It’s my new obsession.

This is an Hades and Persephone retelling, set in a kind of modern world but we’re still following the Greek Gods and mythological creatures. There are so many incredible things about this story. For starters, the color pallet and illustrations in here are stunning and unique, I’ve never seen anything like it but I can’t imagine this story any other way. It took me by surprise at first because of how different it is, but I soon became just absolutely in love with it and it’s one of the story’s strengths for sure.

Not only that, the characters are so complex and well developed. Hades is such a lovable and likable hero, he is kind of broody but is so kind-hearted and compassionate, which you might think is out of character but the author makes his personality really fit with his job and life experiences.

Persephone is such a sunshine heroine, she is a sweet Godess with the biggest heart and their dynamic is one of my absolute favorites I’ve ever read. Persephone also goes through her fare share of hardships, there are some triggers for this series that I’ll write with white ink in case you consider them spoilers: rape, domestic violence. And the way she is battling through that is so beautiful yet heartbreaking to see.

All the Gods deal with modern problems, like zoom meetings and going to the gym, but they still have the essence. It’s just incredible and I’m going to shut up so I that I don’t spent a million years gushing about this because I could. Probably, my favorite read of the year so far.

El Príncipe de la Niebla (Niebla #1) by Carlos Ruiz Zafón ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This was a complete out on a whim pick for me. It’s the first book in a middle-grade fantasy series that I read for the first time when I was in primary school and I’ve always had fond memories attached to it.

I decided to revisit the world this time via audiobook and I loved it so much. It has a super spooky atmosphere, the plot is really interesting and fast paced, and the characters are lovable. I’m having the time of my life rereading this and I would recommend it if you’re into the genre.

El Palacio de la Media Noche (Niebla #2) by Carlos Ruiz Zafón ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is the second book from this same series and this I had forgotten absolutely everything about. I know I read the entire trilogy back in the day, but I didn’t even remember what direction the plot was going to take, so it really felt like experiencing the story for the first time.

I liked this a little less than the first book, probably because the first one is a little bit creepier and also I have more nostalgia attached to it since I reread that one a million times, but still fun and entertaining.

The Weight of the Stars by K. Ancrum ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I finally finished this light, sci-fi, contemporary YA story that I absolutely fell head over heels in love with.

I’ll admit that it took me a bit to get into the story and really root for the characters and their realtionship. The main character approaches the love interest in kind of an unconventional way so I was a bit apprehensive. But it turned out so great, I didn’t expect to end up rooting for these two girls as hard as I did..

There’s also a really beautiful found family that the friendgroup forms, and the way they interact with each other and confort each other was really tender.

The sibling relationship is another one that made my heart ache because of how soft it was. I’m getting emotional thinking about them. It was just perfect, I also loved the ending and the side characters. Impecable.

Beard with me (Winston Brothers #6) by Penny Reid ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is the sixth book in the Winston Brothers romance series but it’s technically a prequel, since it follows one of the brothers when he was still in high-school and the romance that he has back in the day with our heroine Scarlet, who if you’ve started the series already know of since she is a present character in all of the books.

To be completely honest, I wasn’t expecting to like this. By this point, I was kind of ready to have Billy and Scarlet’s story and be done with the series so that I could feel accomplished since it’s taking me three years to get it done. Not that I’m not ejoying it, I’ve reread the first three books of the series like five times each, but the last three books though enjoyable, didn’t make me swoon as much, and I thought this would be the same, fine but nothing special.

I was so wrong, I loved this. I thought their romantic relationship developed so beautifully and organically. I absolutely loved learning more about Scarlet and her background, she has a very difficult family situation and I’ve always been interested in knowing how she got to the place that she is in the rest of the books, so seeing that here was amazing.

I also loved getting to know Billy, finally understanding the little glimpses we get from his personality and truly seeing how deeply he cares about Scarlet but also about his siblings and how willing he was to sacrifice whatever it took to keep them safe.

This is another installment that I see myself rereading in the future and I’m so happy I got to it.

Beard Necessities (Winston Brothers #7) by Penny Reid ⭐⭐⭐’5

After loving the sixth book that much I had to inmediately move on to the next and final book in the series, and I also really enjoyed this.

However, I didn’t love this nearly as much as the previous book. It’s a second-chance romance, which already isn’t a trope I love, but it also takes place 18 years after the previous book. My problem is that in such a long period of time, you change and grow so much as a person that I had a hard time seeing them refall in love when they didn’t knew each other in the present time. It’s like they were still in love with their 16 year old self, and that person didn’t exist anymore and I guess I wanted more time spent actually getting to know each other again and refalling in love. Instead, they kind of fight all the time and behave childishly with each other and then have sex, which isn’t my favorite way to go about romance.

I also thought the family was too involved in their relationship and I would have preferred if they had given them room to breath.

Still, I gave this 3’5 stars, I clearly had a goood time. This family is gold and whenever the couple communicated it was really sweet and I ship them really hard, but it wasn’t my favorite in the series.

CW from The Quiet Pond wrote an incredibly helpful and detailed post with 8 Tips to Book Blog on a Busy Schedule that I found so, so, so useful. I implore you to check it out.

Althea Recommended Queer Books Based on NCT Songs and it was such a fun post to read! I also found some anticipated releases that are coming out later in the year that I hadn’t heard of before, so definitely worth checking out!

Line did a really fun twist on the Top Ten Tuesday meme: Funny Titles. I actually chuckled a couple of times reading her post and I cannot recommend her content in general enough.

Stephanie read and posted her thoughts on 5 Japanese Bestsellers About Cats and it was such an intricate and original post that you have to check out, it’s honestly gold.

How was your reading month? Did you find any new favorite books? Let me know!

Until next time, stay safe

Leyre