April was our first full month in lockdown and honestly I’m hoping it will be the last and we have the chance to get out and about more, even if it’s in a slightly limited capacity. One thing I do have though is books and after a slightly rocky start with my reading at the start of lockdown at the the end of March I’m back feeling more in love with books and the escapism they provide, than ever. So with that in mind here are the reads that I’m looking forward to this month!
Vicious by V.E Schwab
This will be my now apparently monthly read with @vegan_shiftworker! It will be my first foray into V.E. Schwab and I’m hoping for good things!
Victor and Eli started out as college roommates—brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong.
Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find—aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge—but who will be left alive at the end?
Hope Island by Tim Major
Snakeskins was a book that I really enjoyed last year, I liked the atmospheric feel and the unexpected routes it took, when I was offered a copy of Tim Major’s new release Hope Island to review I jumped at the chance. The premise sounds just as compelling as Snakeskins and that cover is just so vibrant!
Workaholic TV news producer Nina Scaife is determined to fight for her daughter, Laurie, after her partner Rob walks out on her. She takes Laurie to visit Rob’s parents on the beautiful but remote Hope Island, to prove to her that they are still a family. But Rob’s parents are wary of Nina, and the islanders are acting strangely. And as Nina struggles to reconnect with Laurie, the silent island children begin to lure her daughter away.Meanwhile, Nina tries to resist the scoop as she is drawn to a local artists’ commune, the recently unearthed archaeological site on their land, and the dead body on the beach…
Starsight by Brandon Sanderson
When I posted a picture of my TBR cart on Instagram a few weeks ago I was told that I needed to push Starsight to the top, so who am I to argue? I love Skyward and I can’t wait to see where Spensa’s journey heads next!
All her life, Spensa has dreamed of becoming a pilot. Of proving she’s a hero like her father. She made it to the sky, but the truths she learned about her father were crushing.
Spensa is sure there’s more to the story. And she’s sure that whatever happened to her father in his starship could happen to her. When she made it outside the protective shell of her planet, she heard the stars–and it was terrifying. Everything Spensa has been taught about her world is a lie.
But Spensa also discovered a few other things about herself–and she’ll travel to the end of the galaxy to save humankind if she needs to.
Once and Future by Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy
I was lucky enough to win this in a giveaway hosted by the lovely Bex Hogan as part of Indie Bookstore Day last year, it’s about time I got to it and with book 2 just released it seems the perfect time!
I’ve been chased my whole life. As a fugitive refugee in the territory controlled by the tyrannical Mercer corporation, I’ve always had to hide who I am. Until I found Excalibur.
Now I’m done hiding.
My name is Ari Helix. I have a magic sword, a cranky wizard, and a revolution to start.
When Ari crash-lands on Old Earth and pulls a magic sword from its ancient resting place, she is revealed to be the newest reincarnation of King Arthur. Then she meets Merlin, who has aged backward over the centuries into a teenager, and together they must break the curse that keeps Arthur coming back. Their quest? Defeat the cruel, oppressive government and bring peace and equality to all humankind.
No pressure.
The Binding by Bridget Collins
I felt Like I had space for one more read this month so I picked some of my stalwarts of the tbr pile and asked instagram to vote and this is what they chose!
Books are dangerous things in Collins’s alternate universe, a place vaguely reminiscent of 19th-century England. It’s a world in which people visit book binders to rid themselves of painful or treacherous memories. Once their stories have been told and are bound between the pages of a book, the slate is wiped clean and their memories lose the power to hurt or haunt them. After having suffered some sort of mental collapse and no longer able to keep up with his farm chores, Emmett Farmer is sent to the workshop of one such binder to live and work as her apprentice. Leaving behind home and family, Emmett slowly regains his health while learning the binding trade. He is forbidden to enter the locked room where books are stored, so he spends many months marbling end pages, tooling leather book covers, and gilding edges. But his curiosity is piqued by the people who come and go from the inner sanctum, and the arrival of the lordly Lucian Darnay, with whom he senses a connection, changes everything.
I have some netgalley reviews that I really need to looking at as well if I get the time, these are usually my train commute reads which I’m not doing at the moment so fingers crossed I get some time for them!
Paperbacks and Pinot 