Hello, book lovers! đź’•
We’re already halfway through January (which is crazy to think about), and I feel like I haven’t gotten any reading done. That’s probably because I really haven’t. So far this month I’ve only finished a book that I started in December and gotten halfway through a book. It’s been a really stressful first few weeks, and I wasn’t in the mood to do anything.
But I figured I’d update you guys on what I’m currently in the middle of reading and what I plan on reading next. I don’t know how much more I’ll be able to get read by the end of the month, but I’m going to try my best.
So without any further ado, let’s talk about about the book that I’m currently reading!
The book that I’m currently reading (and absolutely loving) is Legendborn by Tracy Deonn. I feel like a lot of people have been talking about this book lately, and for good reason. It’s such an action-packed, fun story.
The following is from Goodreads:
After her mother dies in an accident, sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews wants nothing to do with her family memories or childhood home. A residential program for bright high schoolers at UNC–Chapel Hill seems like the perfect escape—until Bree witnesses a magical attack her very first night on campus.
A flying demon feeding on human energies.
A secret society of so called “Legendborn” students that hunt the creatures down.
And a mysterious teenage mage who calls himself a “Merlin” and who attempts—and fails—to wipe Bree’s memory of everything she saw.
The mage’s failure unlocks Bree’s own unique magic and a buried memory with a hidden connection: the night her mother died, another Merlin was at the hospital. Now that Bree knows there’s more to her mother’s death than what’s on the police report, she’ll do whatever it takes to find out the truth, even if that means infiltrating the Legendborn as one of their initiates.
She recruits Nick, a self-exiled Legendborn with his own grudge against the group, and their reluctant partnership pulls them deeper into the society’s secrets—and closer to each other. But when the Legendborn reveal themselves as the descendants of King Arthur’s knights and explain that a magical war is coming, Bree has to decide how far she’ll go for the truth and whether she should use her magic to take the society down—or join the fight.
A secret society that hunts demons? Yes, please.
But it’s so much more than that. It kind of reminds me of The Hunger Games, but only in the sense that there are trials for the initiates to compete in. That’s where the similarities end though. It deals with diverse and relevant topics such as racism and discrimination, which makes it so poignant and real.
I don’t want to go into too much detail about the plot of the story so I won’t spoil for those who haven’t read it yet. Not only that, but I haven’t finished the book yet and this isn’t a review. I still have maybe 200 pages left, and I have been savoring every minute of it.
I feel like I say this with every book, but I’m taking my time with this one; I’ve been trying to set out more time in my days to read, but lately it’s only been right before I go to bed. And that’s when I’m the most tired, so I only am able to get through maybe 20 pages before I pass out.
But anyway, once I finish this book (or maybe before I finish it), I plan on taking a day and binge reading the last couple Avatar the Last Airbender comics that I have left. They shouldn’t take me that long to get through; it’s just a matter of sitting down and reading them.
So there you have it. Those are the books that I’m currently reading and plan on reading next. Have you read this book? What book are you currently reading? I’d love to chat in the comments below!
The following is from Goodreads:
Stacey is jolted when her friends Simon and Emily get engaged. She knew she was putting her life on hold when she stayed in Willow Creek to care for her sick mother, but it’s been years now, and even though Stacey loves spending her summers pouring drinks and flirting with patrons at the local Renaissance Faire, she wants more out of life. Stacey vows to have her life figured out by the time her friends get hitched at Faire next summer. Maybe she’ll even find The One.
When Stacey imagined “The One,” it never occurred to her that her summertime Faire fling, Dex MacLean, might fit the bill. While Dex is easy on the eyes onstage with his band The Dueling Kilts, Stacey has never felt an emotional connection with him. So when she receives a tender email from the typically monosyllabic hunk, she’s not sure what to make of it.
Faire returns to Willow Creek, and Stacey comes face-to-face with the man with whom she’s exchanged hundreds of online messages over the past nine months. To Stacey’s shock, it isn’t Dex—she’s been falling in love with a man she barely knows.
My Thoughts:
I knew before picking up this book that I would most likely enjoy it because I had read Jen DeLuca’s previous book, Well Met, last year and really enjoyed it. It wasn’t something that I normally gravitate towards, being that it’s set at a Renaissance Faire which isn’t something that I know anything about. But I gave that book a chance, and when I heard that there was going to be another book, I was pretty excited.
And I’m glad I read this when I did. I really related to the main character Stacey. She is a 27-year-old who basically lives at home with her cat. Which is pretty much me in a nutshell. I’m also not used to reading books with characters who are so close in age with me; that probably made it easier for me to relate to her. So that’s most likely a revelation that I need to read more adult romance rather than YA romance since I can relate to the characters more.
That being said, I really enjoyed the romance in the story for the most part. It was really cute, and I was rooting for the two characters to get together.
But I do want to mention that I feel like the cat fishing element of the story lasted way longer than necessary. It was pretty much 75% of the story, so the romance was cute, but it also only started over halfway through the story. Stacey also forgave the incident pretty quickly, which I can kind of understand, but at the same time, I felt like it was a red flag. It was really off-putting because the cat fishing relationship went on for almost a year. So I can understand why there are some mixed reviews about it on Goodreads.
It is a romance though, so you do expect the main character to get together with the love interest by the end of the book. It’s also in the synopsis, so the reader knows going into it that that’s what is going to happen.
Overall it was a lighthearted story that I really enjoyed, I’d recommend reading it if you enjoyed Well Met. And I’m really excited for the next book in this companion series because it has to do with April and Mitch, who you saw a lot in this book. That should be a lot of fun when it comes out in 2021.
So there you have it. There are my thoughts on Well Played by Jen DeLuca. Have you read this book or Well Met? I’d love to chat about it in the comments below!
For more reviews and discussions, follow my blog!
Follow me on Instagram!
Follow me on Goodreads!
