We may almost be through February but it's never too late to look back at last month. January was a good start of the year for me reading-wise as I read a lot of five-star reads. Was I too generous with my rating? Maybe, but who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth? Sometimes you just get lucky and find lots of books you enjoy. I was going to write lots of individual reviews but I fell behind and I figured it would be way easier to just combine them together, and more fun for me.
Winter’s Orbit (Winter's Orbit #1) - Everina Maxwell
Winter’s Orbit centres around an arranged marriage. Jainan and Kiem don’t know each other before they’re forced to marry to satisfy some kind of space covenant. Prince Kiem gets asked to marry the representative of another planet who is recently widowed and spends a lot of the book comparing himself to his cousin Taam who Jainan was married to before Taam died in an accident. It’s later discovered that it wasn’t as much of an accident as first expected and that becomes a whole mystery to explore. It was obvious from the start Jainan and Taam’s marriage hadn’t been all it appeared and although Kiem believes Jainan to be still grieving a lost love and being forced into marriage too soon a lot comes out as the book progresses.
If you’re looking to explore a lot of space this isn’t as space heavy as some sci-fi books but I really wanted to read for the romance so I wasn’t too disappointed by that. It was a great book, maybe a little slower than some books but I was hooked trying to figure out who killed Taam and why. I’ve not read the next book in this series yet but I think they’re all standalone anyway so that’s alright.
A Deadly Education (The Scholomance #1) - Naomi Novik
I picked this up for one of my challenges and I’d been putting off reading it for awhile. I can see why reviews were mixed for A Deadly Education, the writing style was different. It was very slow to develop when it came to plot and it was worldbuilding heavy so I imagine that put people off but that was what made me love it. The world of the Scholomance and the school itself was complex so it needed to spend time explaining things and the way it was written it never felt like an info dump.
Galadriel was an outcast in her junior year with no allies in a school that had a thousand things trying to kill her until Orion Lake saved her (although she would debate if the rescue was required). That single incident led to the events of the book and it was brilliant. I didn’t want to put it down and was invested in the story. I didn’t even know what the story would be until the very end when El found herself working with Orion and others in the school to try and save everyone. It just worked, and there was enough of a cliffhanger at the end that I immediately started the second book.
The Last Graduate (The Scholomance #2) - Naomi Novik
This book was less heavy with the world-building compared to the first. You were familiar with the Scholomance at this point it wasn’t necessary and so it was all about building to graduation except it didn’t go as expected. I was a little surprised at the turn this book took but it made sense.
I liked seeing El battle a lot more and also building up a larger group of connections. She didn’t like people yet found herself forced to spend time with them and even help them at times. I like to view this as growth as she learnt she didn’t have to like everyone she helped, and even reluctantly liked some of them without realising she’d let it happen. We got to see El realise that she was strong and see others recognise that too. It was interesting to see how different people reacted. Some accepted her as she was and liked her. Some didn’t care either. And obviously, some wanted to use it to their advantage.
I struggle to say too much about this book without spoiling things but it definitely took turns I wasn’t expecting and I will say if you enjoy this series then make sure you have the final book when you’re almost finished with this one as the cliffhanger is brutal.
Special Mention 4.5 rating
The Golden Enclaves (The Scholomance #3) - Naomi Novik
After the brutal ending of the last book I immediately picked up the final book in the series the next morning. I slew through the book in a single day, an impressive feat for me considering I seem to have developed the attention span of a gnat. Social media has definitely destroyed my attention span.
The final book didn’t quite reach 5 stars for me. It was an excellent ending to a brilliant series. It was interesting to see El and her classmates outside of the Scholomance and see what magic was like out in the real world. Considering the events of the last book, a lot was going on and it was really quite emotional at times. I liked seeing how classmates behaved in the real world as they were no longer in the bubble the school created and they once more had the privileges they experienced in their normal lives. I found some of the alliances really interesting and it was nice to know El was as clueless outside of the school as in it. She seemed to have a brain for magic but then real people and real life were beyond her.
I liked getting answers to some questions that had lingered since the first book and I was impressed that even in this book it managed to surprise me. I won’t spoil anything, there were some frustrations on how the story got wrapped up and I’m not sure I liked the answer to some of the questions. But whatever, it worked and it really explored morality and the extent people will go to for their own comfort.
Favourite
The Chemistry of Familiar Objects - Alexandra Vasti
Alexandra Vasti became a favourite author of mine from just her novellas so I instantly downloaded when she had a new one out and she really is an amazing historical romance writer. It helped that I’d just finished a book I’d thought I’d love and ended up hating because it was such a chore to read so I was happy to read this and realise I wasn’t in a reading slump that was just a bad book.
Emmeline and Robert were just brilliant. They were total opposites and the spark between them was obvious. I wasn’t certain how it was going to go given how dismissive and almost cruel Emmeline had been at the start telling Robert she was evicting him but as soon as you got to know her it was clear there was no malice (not truly) she simply enjoyed getting a reaction from him and didn’t understand him completely. She truly didn’t consider how a sudden eviction might be difficult and she did regret it. And then they had more important things to think about than a silly eviction as someone had broken in and stolen from her and there was a whole conspiracy cracking off to investigate.
I wish this had been longer yet I am also thrilled with how fully developed the plot and the characters were considering this was a novella. I didn’t want to stop reading and I am happy to say I am not in fact ina reading slump so I’m glad I downloaded this when I did.
Reread
Next Year in Havana (The Perez Family #1) - Chanel Cleeton
I went into this book loving it and I finished it loving it just as much the second time around. I’ve already spoken of my love for this one so not sure I should repeat myself. Please see my previous review for what made this book so amazing.
And that was my reading month of January. It was nice to read so many books that I loved. Sadly, there were some disappointments but I don't want to think of those. What were your favourite reads of January? And did you read any of the ones I loved last month?
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