March Reading Wrap Up

March was honestly such a great month of reading for me. I found some new personal favorites and I'm very proud to have these four books on my shelf now. A few of them I picked up because I heard them being bragged about on all forms of social media and I was very curious to read them for myself. 

I was absolutely dying to get my hands on Lady Midnight since I'm a massive fan of the Mortal Instruments and Infernal Devices series. I had heard nothing but good things about it on Instagram, so I got it shipped overnight and dug into it as soon as I could.

In order of what I read first:

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff 
  Oh my god, this book you guys. This book. IT BLEW MY MIND! 

Imagine: you broke up with your boyfriend/girlfriend, then the next thing you know your home planet is being invaded by another corporation, you escape on a ship only to be pursued by the enemy, then a virus breaks out that turns people into psychotic killers *pauses for breath* and your hacking skills are the only way to save everyone on the fleet...

 So, what could make this book even more brilliant? The story is not told through written chapters like normal, but is instead captured through documents, recordings and any other evidence about what happened on these ships following Kady's experience. Just imagine the entire book is one big case file. How cool is that! But as much as it was just files, everything is still so vivid and you still understood the characters completely. And everything flowed together perfectly too, so it never felt like bits and pieces thrown together. It's honestly one of the most beautiful books I own. It even has posters and the pictures have a way of making a bigger impact that words ever could.

I've never read a book like this in my life (and I have read my fair share of books, trust me) and it changed my perspective on how stories can be told. I'm not usually a thriller kind of gal either, but the first half made me love the characters so much that I was so desperate to find out what happened. This is a book that will keep you on your toes and just when you think you know where the plot is going, it stops you in your tracks. It was as equally brilliant as it was terrifying, and it delivered big time! I can't recommend this book enough and there's even a sequel set for release later this year!

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
Seeing as I loved the Throne of Glass series I knew I would enjoy picking up another one of her books. I absolutely love the whole concept of this book with all of the different creatures and a kingdom of faeries. It was all so rich in details that I honestly wanted to live there for a while. It's all done in such a way that it still kind of feels like a fairy-tale, yet everyone is such a badass and the danger keeps you gripped to the pages. I did start getting a bit frustrated with the main character Feyre at different times in this book, but once I thought about what I would do in that situation I started to understand her actions a lot more. Parts of the book that got a bit gritty didn't really sit well with me either, but I think that's more just my personal taste than anything else. The plot went further than I ever thought it would, which is making me incredibly excited for the sequel.

Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare (no spoilers)
I absolutely adore both of the Shadowhunter series that Cassandra has brought out, so this was a highly anticipated read for me. I kept seeing pictures all over Instagram of the beautiful cover and I ordered my own copy as soon as I could. And it feels so good to be back in the Shadowhunter world! I found Lady Midnight to be the next generation of heroes, following on from Jace and the others. I can already tell that this series is going to be exciting.

The thing that makes Cassandra Clare books so great are her characters and she has nailed them again in Lady Midnight. I don't know how she does it, but I always get so attached to the quirky and bad ass characters that we get. Can just say how much I LOVE Emma? She made the whole book for me. She's a force to be reckoned with and her comebacks are witty as hell. You kinda can't help but fall in love with Julian, and even Ty tugged on my heart-strings with the issues he was struggling with. Just when you can't think this world could get any bigger, there are new/brilliant characters coming in to shake things up. I totally geeked out when some of the characters from the previous books were mentioned, especially Jem and Tessa. I can't wait for the next books to see how they all work together.
This book was exciting and so full of emotions that I'm sad it's over. It definitely lived up to the hype!
All I want to do now is just read every book in the series again!

Cinder by Marissa Meyer 
When I mentioned this in my March TBR I got a lot of requests to let you guys know what I think of it. I wasn't sure I would get through it by April (Lady Midnight is one chunky book!) I've also heard so many people say that it's their favorite book series and I get why now.
I was really excited to dig into this, seeing as it's a spin of my favorite fairy tale Cinderella. Sometimes I forgot that it was even a re-telling, but then the author would bring in parts of the story and I would think "Oh that's clever!" And as much as love the old fairy tale, I was so intrigued by this futuristic world that Cinder lives in. There are so many things I love about this book and I was so gripped to the pages that I never wanted to put it down. It was exciting, sweet, and suspenseful at times. I'm really excited to continue on in this series and see how the other fairy-tales fit in to this world. Highly recommend this book!


 There we go, four books was my goal for this month so I'm really happy that I did it. April should be a great month too; I'm planning on reading Heir of Fire which is the third in the Throne of Glass series, Carry on by Rainbow Rowell, and Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard since I've heard so many great things about it. I really feel like re-reading the Mortal Instruments series again too, so I will probably start City of Bones as well.

Did you read any great books in March? Let me know!
Steph x.