April Wrap Up

Another month is over. April basically flew by. I was travelling quite a bit during the first half of the month and with travelling come long journeys, perfect for reading. I read four books during April. I’m quite happy with that. Enough talking, here are the books I read:

How to be a bawse

(I lend the book out, so this is a
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How to be a bawse is a book written by the YouTuber Lilly Singh. I was quite sceptical of this book before I bought it, simply because I’m not that into Non-Fiction books (Besides Uni-Books this is the first Non-Fiction I read in years). I was out with a friend and stumbled across this book, I read the Introduction and part of the first chapter in the store. I ended up buying it because I nearly could not contain my laughter. Lilly’s writing style is so hilarious and down to earth. I really, really enjoyed reading it.

How to be a bawse is a guide to conquering life. It holds this promise. In it, Lilly shares all her tips on how to be a superwoman and achieve one’s goals in work and life in general. She uses simple examples and integrates exercises at the end of each chapter, so that you can practice what you just learned.  It’s been a long time since a book inspired me that long, over a long period of time. This one did. I marked so many quotes, that still inspire me today.

A slight critique could be, that the language is very simple. But that might be because of the targeted group of preteens.

This might not be the best self-help book out there but it is a pretty good one. Especially if you follow Lilly on her YouTube and other social media platforms. This book feels like one long video of her.

Overall I rated How to be a bawse with 4/5 stars.   

Dustlands: Blood Red Road

Dustlands: Blood Red Road by Moira Young was the second book I read this month. The book follows our protagonist Saba, a girl living in an apocalyptic future where almost all our resources are drained and society is kind of lost. Saba is living a peaceful life far away from danger with her family. But her life changes when her twin brother is kidnapped and her father killed. From then on she must care for her youngest sister and safe her brother while fighting for her own life in a world that wants her dead. 

The story and the world is very similar to Mad Max (which resulted in me watching the movie again) and also quite cliché. I still enjoyed the book for the most part. Saba is a strong female lead and the other women in this book are too, that’s always something I like. However, I did not like the writing. I think that is because I read the German edition. It all sounded very wooden. I will continue with this series although it is not an urgent read for me.

Overall I rated this book 3 ½ /5 stars. It was a quick and light “in-between-read".

The star touched queen

Then I read the star touched queen by Roshani Chokshi. I would like you all to stop reading this and to go buy this book. It is one of the most beautifully written I have ever read. You got the book? Perfect. You can thank me later.

This book takes place in the kingdom of Bharata. The protagonist of the story is Mayavati, a seventeen-year-old princess of Bharata. She is cursed with a horrible horoscope: She is to marry death and bring destruction. Because of said horoscope she is yet unmarried and quite content with it. But the kingdom is at war and Mayas father, the Raja, plans to marry her for peace. Maya desperately searches for an escape and finds it, by marring a stranger that appeared out of nowhere and takes her into the magical kingdom of Akaran. A place full of wonder, secret and danger.

The thing I loved most about this book (besides the writing) was the setting. I cannot say too much without spoiling the book, but the way Chokshi sets up this magical world full of wonder is simply amazing. After I finished this book I dreamed about the world. It is just to beautiful to describe. Just read for yourself. I have to note, that I found this book a bit challenging to read, language wise, so if english is not your first language or you are not that confident in your abilities, then maybe read the translation, rather than risking not liking this book.  

I gave The star touched queen 4 ½ / 5 stars and read it within a day. 

"Neither the secret whirring song of the stars 

nor the sonorous canticles of the earth knew

the language that sprang up in the space between us.

It was a dialect of heartbeats, strung together with

the lilt of long suffering and the incandescent hope of an

infinite future." 

A crown of wishes

Because I have no self-control whatsoever regarding books: I went out bought the second instalment of the Star-touched series and read it the next day (10/10 would recommend).

At first I was a bit lost, because this book takes place in the same world as the star touched queen, but the characters are different. I was a bit disappointed, because I felt that Mayas story wasn’t quite over. It took me a few chapters to start enjoying the book. But once I stated to like the characters, oh boy, I fell in love with them.  I really have a thing for a specific dynamic between characters. And the two main characters have just that dynamic.

The story follows Gauri (Mayas little sister) and Vikram, an enemy prince. Vikram gets the chance to compete in the tournament of wishes, held by the Lord of Treasures in the Otherworld. But to compete he needs a companion, and fate wants it to be Gauri. The two of them start out not quite getting along, constantly bickering. But with more and more challenges thrown in their way, they start to get along and maybe even to like each other.

As in the first instalment the writing is impeccable, even better than in the first book. Mainly because Chokshi gets the chance to write more dialogue. This book is a duo-perspective book while the first only showed Mayas point of view.

The story is a bit cliché in some aspects, but the setting makes it seem new nonetheless.

It was an overall fantastic book that I rated with 4 ½ /5 stars.

     

Overall I had an amazing reading month. Now on to may and many more books.

Have you read any of these? Do you agree with my points or not? Do you have any book recommendations? Let me know :)