May Reads
Hey, my bookish besties!
Was the month of May a good reading month for you? I spent it sitting by the pool or in my reading nook with my iced coffee in one hand and a book in the other. It was the perfect formula for me to read as much as I did. I spent most of my time exploring the genre of romance but did indulge in some fantasy. If you enjoy reading a book that follows the hallmark movie structure or like fantasy, I’m going to tell you about the books I read this month and maybe you will add them to your TBR!
Let’s jump in!
Eragon Christopher Paolini
Release Date: June 1, 2002
Rating: 4/5⭐️
“Books are my friends, my companions. They make me laugh and cry and find meaning in life.”
✨A Glimpse of What to Expect:
Book One of The Inheritance Cycle follows a 16 year old boy named Eragon who stumbles upon a mysterious blue stone while hunting. To his surprise, the stone hatches and out comes something the world has not seen in ages, a dragon. Suddenly, Eragon is thrown into a world full of destiny, magic, and power. As he races across the vast terrain of Alagaësia, Eragon, his dragon, and storyteller turned teacher try take revenge on the Ra’zac while also evading the King and his powerful evils. In the end, will Eragon be able to become one of the legendary Dragon Riders?
✨My Thoughts:
When I started getting into reading fantasy, my husband wanted me to read Eragon. I finally conceded with the deal that I would read his book if he read Fourth Wing! As he started Fourth Wing, I too began to read Eragon and have noticed there were a lot of similarities between the books which I enjoyed! This young adult book had a ton of world building. If you like YA and fantasy type books, you will definitely enjoy it. I can’t wait to continue the series with Eldest!
Buy it: Amazon
Funny Story Emily Henry
Release Date: April 23, 2024
Rating: 5/5⭐️
“The same universe that dispassionately takes things away can bring you things you weren’t imaginative enough to dream up.”
✨A Glimpse of What to Expect:
What happens when your fiancé,Peter, returns from his bachelor party to inform you that he is in love with the girl that “was always like a sister?” Well obviously, your engagement is over and your only choice is to move in with your ex-fiancé’s new girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend, Miles, as he now has a room available and you can’t leave your job just yet as the children’s librarian. After the devastation, she quickly realized she had built her entire life around her fiancé and, when he sends her an invite to his wedding, she panics and lies to him by saying that she’s dating Miles. While that was probably not her best move, the two end up fake dating and Miles is committed to showing her what Waning Bay has to offer. Slowly, she starts trusting Miles and falling hard for the exact opposite of who she is. But could this really be happening? Would she be able to find herself or will she run when life gets too messy?
✨My Thoughts:
So if you have been living under a rock, Emily Henry recently added another amazing book to her growing list. Funny Story had me hooked from page one. I loved to much about this book, that when I initially wrote my glimpse of what to expect is was extremely too long for Instagram. I really loved every bit of this book. While it was a cute romcom, it also covered harder topics like the end of an engagement, fears, parental neglect/abuse, emotional betrayal, and much more. I loved the dynamic between Daphne and Miles. Emily Henry really embraced the tropes fake dating and opposites attract and ran with them. I feel like she truly made these characters real and I absolutely love that. I truly enjoyed every inch of this book, so I’ve decided I have to move up all of my unread Emily Henry books on my TBR to top position! 💕
Buy it: Amazon
Happy Place Emily Henry
Release Date: May 25, 2023
Rating: 4.5/5⭐️
“There doesn’t need to be a winner or a loser. You just have to care how the other person feels.”
✨A Glimpse of What to Expect:
It is finally time for the yearly getaway to her happy place in Maine and Harriet has news to share with her friends of a decade. To her surprise, when she arrives to the cottage, she sees that her ex-fiancé, Wyn, is also here and the news she was hoping to share of that they broke up five months ago has to be put on hold. But with everything changing and the cottage being sold, they decide to continue the ruse that they are still together. Will they be able to keep up the lie even with their unresolved chemistry still buzzing between them or will the truth come out fracturing the happy place?
✨My Thoughts:
Emily Henry knocked it out of the park once again with this amazing romcom! The depth that she writes into her characters is truly amazing. I enjoyed that this book was not simply just two people falling in love. It was filled with found family, pain, trauma, loss, grief, second chance, and love. It was an excellent book and I can’t wait to see how it compares to the rest of Emily Henry’s catalog!
Buy it: Amazon
Beach Read Emily Henry
Release Date: May 19, 2020
Rating: 5/5⭐️
“I’ve never met someone who is so perfectly my favorite person.”
✨A Glimpse of What to Expect:
After the tragedy of losing her father and learning everything wasn’t as it seemed, January Andrews moves into the beach house of her father’s second life. She hopes to spend the next few months selling everything off and breaking through her writers block. As she expected, it’s harder than she imagined and it doesn’t help that her college rival, Gus, lives next door. One thing leads to another and they make a deal to write in each other’s styles in the hopes of breaking through their creative slumps. While giving each other lessons in their genres, they made one rule - to not fall in love with each other. Easy… right?
✨My Thoughts:
I honestly think this was my favorite Emily Henry book yet!! I loved everything about this. I love January and Gus and their rebudding friendship. I loved the small town, and the relationship developed through the community. The depth in these characters and the discovery of their emotions was breathtakingly amazing. It was one of those books that once I fell, I fell hard and couldn’t stop reading! If you haven’t read this one, I highly recommend it!
Buy it: Amazon
A Court of Wings and Ruin Sarah J. Maas
Release Date: May 2, 2017
Rating: 5/5⭐️
"Leave this world… a better place than how you found it.”
✨A Glimpse of What to Expect:
In the epic third addition to the ACOTAR world, Feyre returns to the Spring Court, a place she once called home. Her mission - gather information on Tamlin’s court and the King’s impending threat. But to do so, she must play a wicked game of deceit to gain the needed knowledge and return to her mate at the Night Court.
As war looms closer, Feyre must navigate her place among the High Fae while mastering her powers. Which is easier said than done when the Night Court is also trying to gather allies for their cause. They must form connections with known foe and the nightmares of dreams if they want the chance to win the war.
✨My Thoughts:
🚨SPOILER ALERT🚨
When I first read the ACOTAR series back in the beginning of 2023, I loved the first two books, but when it came the third, I struggled to get through it. I liked the story, but I felt like it didn’t have the impact it should. Hi, my name is Kylie and I was wrong. After listening to the dramatized version of this book, I feel completely different. I’m so obsessed with this book that it might compete with my love of ACOMAF. I loved knowing how the book ended and how all of the puzzle pieces lined up to get there. Watching Feyre play her games in the Spring Court with Tampon and Lucien validated the Males’ distrust of her. Not only did I understand how she got to escape and return to the night court, but I fully understood how she f*cked Tamlin over by destroying the spring court people’s trust in him. Further into the production, I got literal chills hearing Azriel say, “Be careful how you speak about my High Lady” and I balled my eyes out when the Suriel finally came to his demise. I loved getting to see the Archeron sister develop as High Fae and the Easter eggs SJM left to tell us that Nesta and Cassian were mates. I truly feel like I couldn’t originally appreciate this book properly because I didn’t know how it would end and impact the whole Maasverse. While listening to it, I developed so many theories and I can’t wait to talk about them all! If you felt the same way I orginally did or you just love the series, listening to the dramatized version gave me so much more insight and I highly recommend it!
Buy it: Amazon (physical) or Amazon (Dramatized Audio Version)
Yours Truly Abby Jimenez
Release Date: April 11, 2023
“I agree to be harmless to you”
Rating: 4.5/5⭐️
✨A Glimpse of What to Expect:
Dr. Briana Ortiz has not been having the best year of her life. After finding out her husband of 10 years was cheating on her, she might have used some glitter for revenge and filed for divorce, and at the same time, her brother is running out of time to find a donor. When the new doctor, Jacob Maddox, starts working and the hospital delays the vote for the promotion she wants, so that the new male doctor can get to know everyone, Bri feels like nothing can go right for her. But when Jacob writes her a letter, it changes her complete understanding of him. They start exchanging letter constantly and it becomes the thing they both look forward to everyday. When the impossible happens and Jacob finds out he is a perfect match kidney donor, he decides to give Bri the best gift he could. While he is doing it because he’s always wanted to donate; it works out in his favor because Bri can give him something he needs, a date to his ex-girlfriend’s and brother’s wedding.
✨My Thoughts:
I loved this book! I feel like anxiety can be a tricky subject and sometimes it doesn’t translate on paper like it actually affects someone. However, Abby Jimenez was able to write it beautifully - I feel like she was able to see into my brain and write how anxiety affects me on a daily basis. Because of this reason, I really loved this book. I loved to see how a horrible first impression turned into understanding/friendship and blossomed into true love. My only want with this amazing novel was that I wished I could have had more of the happily ever after! I feel like the ending was slightly rushed after all of the miscommunication between the characters. Despite this, it was still an amazing read and I highly recommend it!
Buy it: Amazon
As I reflect on this month’s readings, I remember all the emotions I experienced from happiness to love to heartbreak to laughter. Each book took a bit of my heart and I’m okay with that. It’s a good ability to be able to read a book and escape from reality for a little while. My reads this month did that for me and I am grateful.
My top read this month was Beach Read with Funny Story coming in a very close second place!
Books Read: 6 Books
5⭐️ Reads: 3 Books
Pages Read: 2,017 Pages
Hours Listened: 18 Hours & 42 Minutes
Have you read any of these books? Leave a comment below. I would love to know what you think!
Until next time, happy reading, bookish besties!
Lots of Love,
Kylie
