Monthly reading review – March 2024.

This March I have read:

The Shadow over Innsmouth by H.P. Lovecraft ★★★

Klopka i druge priče by Goran Skrobonja ★★★★

Necroscope (Necroscope #1) by Brian Lumley ★★★

Bookshops & Bonedust (Legends & Lattes #0.4) by Travis Baldree ★★★★

Children’s Stories From Japanese Legends by N. Kato ★★★

Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass #2) by Sarah J. Maas ★★★

Heir of Fire (Throne of Glass #3) by Sarah J. Maas ★★★★★

Theirs for Christmas by Effie Campbell ★★★

Mongrel (Outcast Mates #1) by Lee Colgin ★★★★★

Dark Elf’s Ragdoll (Dark Delights #1) by Celeste King ★★

Pucking Wild (Jacksonville Rays #2) by Emily Rath ★★★★★

The Fae Kings’ Bargain (The Blood of Eyamiri Book 1) by Willow McCain ★★

1. How many books have you read last month? Are you happy with the amount you read?

As expected and with lots of stuff happening that took away my time from reading I am back to more manageable number of books read in a month: twelve! This is still an awesome number and I am happy with it.

2. What was the best of all the books you’ve read in March? Any scenes or characters that made a lasting impression?

The best of all books I’ve read in March was Heir of Fire (Throne of Glass #3) by Sarah J. Maas. The first two books I barely held on and was mostly annoyed. The third book was a complete turnaround for me. I liked the characters more and enjoyed the action as well! I was still apprehensive in starting on the next book right away. I will be continuing with the series in April! To learn more about my impressions on this book you can check out my post HERE.

Honorable mentions on great reads go to:

Mongrel (Outcast Mates #1) by Lee Colgin for unexpected endearing smut and historical references.

Pucking Wild (Jacksonville Rays #2) by Emily Rath I might have liked it slightly less than the first book but the lovable characters and dramatic plot points were amusing and I will be reading the next book soon hopefully!

3. Were there any not so good books for you last month? What made it hard or not enjoyable to read?

I got two books in March I did not enjoy reading to the point of wanting to DNF them. The only thing that stopped me was my machoistic nature and desire not to let the book defeat me in this way!

First book that was hard to read to the end was Dark Elf’s Ragdoll (Dark Delights #1) by Celeste King. There were some terrible discrepancies with this book. It was like the author had her mind set with characters and a story but what came out on the pages were just fragments of it. Each and every character obviously suffered from delusions and talked to themselves – like author could not write them in any other way to explain them better. The characters felt plastic and lacked any real motivation – at times it felt like I must have skipped whole chapters where the character might have grown, got to know each other and made some decisions because in the next chapter BAM the reasoning was irrelevant and the decisions are being made that the characters from the previous chapter would not have even thought of. There were some weird word choices and stylistic figures that made me think this book needed a proofreader and editor. Most characters felt like they were from a cartoon for toddlers, especially the villains in their rather comic exclamations. Wanted to DNF this after first few chapters but I have made myself read until the end in order to understand my dislike more. And now I think this story and these characters actually lowered my IQ while I was reading. Rating of two stars instead of one is for the obviously intricate fantasy world but the execution was horrible.

Second book I had problems with reading was The Fae Kings’ Bargain (The Blood of Eyamiri Book 1) by Willow McCain. I literally finished it on the first they of April since the last fifth of the book seemed to keep dragging on forever! I am still counting it for March! The cover should have been warning enough!
The story started out interesting in a smutty way. There was drama and an elaborate magical world with all it’s machinations and gentry. There was a few smut scenes and after that a lot of mechanical political intrigue and no more smut at all. The focal point of issues within the plot of the book was the court intrigue and reactions and actions of nobles in it but for some reason even with multiple POV writing style the only thing that character really gave insight into were their own personal issues and drama. The magical parts were sometimes elaborate and sometimes scarce and at few points magic used to help with one thing was not used again when it would have solved the plot right then and there. The plot twist in the last few chapters renewed my interest some but did not hold for very long. The last parts of the book I had to force myself to read…

4. How did the books you were reading last month fit in your reading plans if you had any?

In March I have barely managed to read my Bookopoly TBR as planned since I read a lot of books outside any plans I made. You can check out how my Bookopoly reading challenge went in more detail HERE. Most of my reading was done in the first half of the month. I planned to read more from Throne of Glass series but ended up reading only two books

5. Any updates on the series you are reading or are you starting any new series?

From the book series perspective I leaned heavily into new book series in March. From twelve books read eight were part of a series and five of those were the first books I’ve read in a series. That leaves three books as a continuation of an already started series. With already mentioned Throne of Glass series and Jacksonville Rays series, I am tempted to continue on three other book series I have started in March: Legends & Lattes but I am not in any particular hurry with it. Necroscope simply because of already owning the second book on my physical shelves. And lastly Outcast Mates series because liking the mentioned characters and the writing style. Considering how many new book series I’ve tried in March I don’t think I’ve made sufficient progress on already started book series and will work on that in April.

6. Would you like to recommend any books or authors you’ve been reading this last month?

Lastly my March reading and trying out new book series was not as good as the previous few months. My recommendations this time go to reading more local authors and appreciating local folklore elements in fantasy and horror setting. This is best portrayed in Klopka i druge priče by Goran Skrobonja short story collection. This is a Serbian author with a fruitive imagination and I am glad to have managed to get my hands on this book!

Final thoughts on March 2024 reading

March was expectedly a slowing down period for me. I had some real life changes I am going trough and am forced to manage my time better in order to fit in reading time. While the number of books I’ve read in March is respectable by all standards I am still not pleased by the quality of my reading material in general. If I am going to have less time to read I will want my books to be more satisfying. In April there will be some challenges for me to overcome and I hope I managed them better and have some great books to read as well!