March was a pretty good reading month for me. I read 8 books. Not the best month ever but definitely my best of 2023 so far and the first month in a while that I’ve been reading at what my normal pace was before I hit my big slump in the fall. It felt great and even though I had several misses, I had my first TWO 5-star reads of the year. Looking at April, I’m hoping I can keep the momentum going.
Reading Stats
- Books Read: 8
- Pages Read: 2,962
- Average Rating: 3.25
- 5 stars – 2
- 4 stars – 1
- 3 stars – 2
- 2 stars – 3
- Genre Breakdown:
- Fantasy – 6
- Mystery – 1
- Sci-Fi – 1
- Book Format:
- Novel – 7
- Novella – 1
- Reading Format:
- Physical Books – 8
The Books
Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater
4 stars
I started off the month with Half a Soul. I had heard great things about this one and it definitely was cute and fun. But it was also pretty forgettable. I’ll read the next one when I need a palette cleanser.
Homicide and Halo-Halo by Mia P. Manansala
3 stars
This is the sequel to Arsenic and Adobo. I definitely didn’t like it as much and honestly don’t remember much at this point. But again, it was fun and I’ll read the next one at some point for a change of pace.
The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah
2 stars
I was so excited about this one and I just didn’t like it. It felt like it was trying really hard to appeal to both YA and adult readers and sadly didn’t hit the mark for either. I thought the world was confusing and the characters were annoying. It just wasn’t for me.
Flamefall by Rosaria Munda
5 stars
I really enjoyed Fireborne in January and gave it 4 stars and was expecting to like this one, but I didn’t expect to love it. I totally adored this book and think if I reread Fireborne (which I 100% will do eventually), it would now get 5 stars. I love these characters, I love this world and I love how Rosaria Munda managed to write a YA political fantasy that tackles so many topics in such a great way. I cried my eyes out and yelled and cheered along with this book. I cannot recommend it enough.
Furysong by Rosaria Munda
5 stars
About halfway through Flamefall, I picked up Furysong and knew I was going to jump right into it. Flamefall was better but I loved everything about this one too. A new favorite series and one I already want to revisit. Munda has another series that the first book is supposed to come out later this year, it’s now one of my most anticipated releases of 2023.
Middlegame by Seanan McGuire
2 stars – Full Review
Then I was disappointed by another anticipated read. I just need to stop reading Seanan McGuire, I don’t like her style of books. I’m not into reading for vibes but having the actual plot and world be not explained.
Arrows of the Queen by Mercedes Lackey
3 stars
Then I decided to go for some classic fantasy. I really enjoyed the beginning of this one and it was fun to see how it has impacted current fantasy releases. However, there were then some huge time jumps and I got disconnected from the story. I need a really strong connection to characters to deal with time jumps and Talia just didn’t measure up to that. So I enjoyed it but not a series I’ll be continuing.
The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older
2 stars – Full Review
My last read of the month was a novella I squeezed in at the end and didn’t enjoy. I know it’s a novella but the world building was totally missing. It was one of those where the author seemed to have the world in their head but didn’t tell the reader.
April Plans
23 Books for 2023
I’m up to 7 books read off my 23 books for 2023 so actually ahead of schedule! For the graphic below, green means I read all of the books, yellow means there are more books I plan to read, and read means I have DNF’d the series. I’m hoping to read another couple off this list in April, Defy the Stars and Aurora’s End in particular are on my radar.
Planned Reads
I’m participating in Realmathon in April and really excited. I’m on Team Ilma so I’ll get bonus points for reading Sci-Fi. I haven’t made a set TBR because the prompts are so flexible but I am hoping to read a lot of Sci-Fi plus a little fantasy when I need a sci-fi break. Here are the most likely contenders.
Happy Reading!
Susan Lyn Knits and Reads 
oh The Martian is a favorite! I hope you enjoy all your reads for next month. I’m sorry you had so many disappointing books in March!
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The Martian will be a reread, one of my all time favorites!
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