January was not my best reading month, mostly because I spent the majority of the month in a rather severe reading slump, the likes of which I haven’t experienced in a few years. Luckily, I managed to get through it (with the help of a couple of readathons), and I eventually managed to read a grand total of five books, and two short stories.
Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi. The sequel to Shatter Me, which I read in December. I found it a little slow at first, which wasn’t much help with getting out of my reading slump, but I made it through eventually! The world’s a lot more fleshed out in this, which I appreciated, and I also found myself liking Warner more and more as the book went on, while liking Adam much less (I’ve definitely figured out where my loyalties are in terms of this series’ love triangle).
Mãn by Kim Thúy. A beautifully-written book about life, love and food, set in a Vietnamese immigrant community in Montreal. I’ve written a full review of this book, which you can read here.
The Dark Horse by Marcus Sedgwick. The story of a boy named Sigurd growing up in what seems to be an island fishing village, and his foster sister Mouse, who was raised by wolves then rescued by Sigurd’s tribe. The story is quite slow-moving, particularly at the beginning, but I found that it suited the story that Marcus Sedgwick was telling. Sigurd was an interesting and believable character – a young boy trying to do right by his family, even when he’s not really sure what the right thing is – and his relationship with Mouse is sweet. The whole story has a folkish feel to it, which I liked a lot, though the ending was quite sad.
The Executioner’s Daughter by Jane Hardstaff. A slightly fantastical tale set in the Tudor period, about a girl who has grown up in the Tower of London and longs for the outside world. I liked the writing a lot – it was both quick and engaging; the main character, Moss, was an interesting and likeable protagonist; and her friend Salter’s cynical outlook on the world was a fun contrast to Moss’. The historical and fantasy elements of the story were blended together very well, and lent the book a rather spooky undertone. My favourite part of the book, however, was the relationship between Moss and her father, which, though full of misunderstandings, was resolved beautifully in the end. There’s a sequel (River Daughter), which I’m now looking forward to reading, too, though The Executioner’s Daughter was also an enjoyable read in and of itself.
Destroy Me by Tahereh Mafi. This is the first of the novellas in the Shatter Me universe, and follows Warner from the end of Shatter Me through to around the middle of Unravel Me. Warner’s perspective is definitely interesting, and after reading this novella and Unravel Me, I finally feel like I understand where all the hype over this series is coming from. Despite the fact that this was released between the first two books, I definitely wouldn’t advise reading it before finishing the second book.
Do Not Touch by Prudence Shen. A short story about a security guard in an art gallery, whose duties involve rescuing people who have fallen into paintings that they weren’t supposed to touch – in this case, retrieving a schoolboy from Georges Seurat’s Le Cirque. Generally speaking, I’m not really an art person, so some of the specific painting references were a little over my head, but Prudence Shen’s writing was very fluid and enjoyable. The concept for this story is original, and also incredibly well-executed. It’s also a Tor.com original, so it can be read online here.
Loki’s Daughters by Delle Jacobs. An adult historical romance novel about an Irish Celtic girl who was saved from Vikings as a child by one of their own, and when she is an adult, Ronan (the boy who saved her) comes back to make her his wife. The characters could be quite frustrating at times, as they constantly failed to communicate, and in the early parts of the book I also found myself often annoyed by Birgit and the other women in Arienh’s village, who seemed to be constantly undermining all her attempts to protect them, but as the story progressed this became less of a problem. The two main romances (Arienh and Ronan, and Birgit and Egil) were both very sweet, and the story was engaging – I particularly liked the way that Jacobs managed to reconcile Ronan and Arienh’s very different cultures, and bring their two communities together.
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