total books read this month: 9
book time! i’ve been waiting to write this post for the entire month because it’s just been a HUGE month book-wise. i literally can’t wait to dive into this. (in case you’re new, i post little recaps of the books i read each month. :)
BUT, before that really quick, i wanna mention that i have turned books into a section of this blog that you can choose to subscribe to separately. all my current subscribers are automatically subscribed to the books section right now, but for newcomers, you may choose to sub or not sub to my monthly book recaps. (current subscribers may also unsubscribe from just the books section). i just thought, since this is a publication mainly about my life, thoughts, and stuff, books wouldn’t be something my whole audience would be interested in.1
anyways, now it is time.
so the nine books from this month are divided into two categories:
percy jackson and the olympians
not percy jackson and the olympians
yes, it was percy jackson month! i was so excited and thankfully was not disappointed. while most of the non-pjo books were in-between reads, i’m going to review them all first, then get into percy jackson (which i will be referring to as pjo, by the way) afterwards.
1) every falling star
by sunju lee
what a book. i took the whole first week of the month to read this 300-page memoir because i was just not locked in. thankfully, percy jackson was very bingeable (which helped me catch up later), however it just took me a bit longer to get into this book. not blaming it on the book (mostly) because it was fabulous.
every falling star is about the author’s experience growing up in north korea in the 1990’s (which, in case you weren’t aware, was the time a huge famine). at the beginning, we’re introduced to the author’s quite enjoyable life in a rich north korean city. he’s clearly happy (mostly) but you can tell as the reader that he doesn’t know much about the outside world at all and has been manipulated by the government’s propaganda.
fast forward a few weeks and now his family has to move. and when he gets to the new, much poorer city, everything just plummets downhill. now, i don’t want to spoil anything, but it does become very depressing, especially keeping in mind that it’s in the ‘90s. the more you read, the more you’ll appreciate all the privileges you take for granted.
overall, phenomenal read. bit of a sad note to kick off spring on, but nonetheless, every falling star by sunju lee gets five out of five stars. i couldn’t rate it any lower—the writing was great, the storyline 🤌 . highly recommend.
2) the mythmakers
by john hendrix
mmm, this was a super fun read.
so john hendrix is known to write books that are like half-graphic novel, half-normal novel. as a lover of both graphic and normal novels, naturally i love his books. so i was excited to read the mythmakers, and let me just say, i was not disappointed.
narrated very cutely by a lion and a wizard, the book follows the lives of famous authors c.s. lewis and j.r.r. tolkien. as a fan of both, i was instantly hooked.
it’s was so interesting to see the two authors’ different backgrounds, experiences, and writing processes. the artwork and the way john hendrix writes makes me never want to put the book down. if you like lewis’s and tolkien’s work, you’ll likely love reading about them. they truly are the ultimate mythmakers, and we owe most of the modern fantasy genre to them.
for being very perfect and beautiful, i gave this book five stars (making it the third five-star read in the month at that point). i very highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone (though you probably won’t understand it well if you’re under the age of 10 or so).
3) when among crows
by veronica roth
so i went on my library’s website one day to renew the percy jackson books (turned out they weren’t even due) and i saw this book just sitting under “ready for pick-up” and i was like… “when did i reserve that?” i shrugged it off and assumed it was fate. so my mom got it and i picked it up to admire the cover. unexpectedly, it was less than 200 pages, but that was kind of perfect because i was already behind on reading.
after finishing the third pjo, i picked this book up and started it. at first, i was a bit confused. veronica roth paints these beautiful scenes and presents multiple characters without much background. she also uses some polish words to refer to some of the creatures and such (which is confusing at first, but you get used to it). the plot is too complex to explain right now, but i described it in my goodreads review as “a dark fantasy folk of the air” because it’s just this spectacular low fantasy, with a bit more blood and spirits and such (and a little romance, which was pretty cute).
it’s a very intriguing little adventure, and for the vibes alone, i’d give it five stars— BUT, this one character just kept spewing swears left and right unnecessarily and the start was a bit slow, so i ended up rating it four and a half stars. would recommend.
4) SUNRISE ON THE REAPING
by suzanne collins
yes, this is it. the book we all (well, most of us) have been waiting for for over a year has finally arrived.
to be completely honest… i already knew this was gonna be my favorite book of the month—heck, favorite of the year—from the very first page. the writing… mmh, suzanne collins has come such a long way from the first hunger games book, it’s amazing. also, come on, haymitch is such a lovable character (quite a step up from coriolanus snow in the ballad of songbirds and snakes heh).
of course, since this is probably the most anticipated novel of the entire year, i can’t spoil even a tiny detail. it’s such an adventure, such a captivating story that everyone deserves to experience purely for the first time. all i can say is that, this was was an infinity out of five star read; exceeded my expectations by far while crushing my soul in the process.
did i like it better than the original trilogy? YES.
did i like it better than songbirds and snakes? dare i say, YES.
do i recommend it to anyone and everyone who can read? ABSOLUTELY.
i honestly still haven’t recovered from reading this book and will likely be thinking about it for the entirety of 2025. what a masterpiece.
want to follow along as i read and review the books you see here and more?
and now… the second moment we’ve all being waiting for…
PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS
by rick riordan
okay, quick lore dump. i actually read the first percy jackson book in like 2021 or around that time… and i hated it. i thought it was a complete rip-off of harry potter (still my favorite series, by the way) and i didn’t want to read the rest. however, things changed after i watched the disney plus show. now that i’m a more experienced writer, i respect authors who put together their own unique worlds in an intriguing way… and i fell in love with the pjo universe. also the characters are amazing. so, this month, i read all five installments of the first percy jackson series, and now you get to hear what i thought of them.
1. the lightning thief
since season one of the percy jackson show covers the book one storyline, i already knew most of what was going to happen (plus, i still remembered some of what i read in 2021). but of course, there were tons of details and fun stuff the series (and my memory) left out, so it still felt like a book i hadn’t read before.
overall, the book is great. love the storyline, the writing is… alright, but it’s middle grade so i can’t judge that too harshly. and the characters… man, i love a good trio. yes, percy, annabeth, and grover still gave off harry potter vibes, i must admit. but the characters were different enough to make the friendship feel unique.
so… after reading this, i officially joined the percy jackson fandom, giving the lightning thief, of course, five stars. if you haven’t read it, you’re kind of missing out (not literally, but still).
2. the sea of monsters
this book caught me by surprise… in a bad way.
you see, after reading book one, my expectations for the rest of the series were pretty high… but after reading this one, i was just not feeling it. the storyline was weird, to say the least. i wasn’t fond of some of the new characters and i just didn’t like the vibes.
don’t get me wrong, i loved the adventure part because of percy and annabeth… but grover (probably my favorite character) wasn’t even in it until the end. also the plot felt kind of… dry (despite taking place in a literal ocean). so, yeah. i just didn’t like it as much as i’d hoped.
because it was still a cool percy jackson adventure and i didn’t necessarily hate it, i’m giving book two of pjo four stars.
3. the titan’s curse
so this book… what a roller coaster.
lots of new characters, new plotlines, new everything. it was super cool; the vibes were a lot darker than the two previous books, which i love of course. we get to meet nico, which i really thought i’d like based on what i’ve heard of him but… i kind of thought he was a brat, not gonna lie.
anyway, overall thoughts… kind of mixed. on one hand, it was a good deal better than the sea of monsters, even though i don’t really know why. but on the other hand, it still didn’t really… impact me emotionally as much. i wasn’t as invested in the story or the stakes for some reason (maybe that’s on me, honestly, i dunno).
so, oddly, i’m going to give this book 4.1 stars. i dunno, i didn’t feel like it deserved five or even four and a half stars, but i had to give it that slight edge over book two. was it still a great, enjoyable book overall? yeah, of course. it just wasn’t… phenomenal.
4. the battle of the labyrinth
at this point, i was honestly a bit disappointed. i thought this was going to be a series i loved at a harry potter or hunger games level… but no, it’s more like one of those random YA novels i pick up at the library and end up really loving, but don’t feel like obsessing over on a regular basis.
anyway, about the actual book, it was… pretty good. i liked the plot a lot, it was weird but in a fascinating way, and the characters and storyline began shaping up nicely. i really appreciated the creativity and intrigue of this one (also percy’s my age hehe). it’s not perfect, there are still things i just kind of don’t vibe with… but it’s a great book nonetheless.
all in all, i enjoyed book four a lot more than the previous two, so it earns a good four and a half stars for a good story and an ending that left me eager for the final book.
5. the last olympian
here we are. the final leg of an amazing journey.
this book, i didn’t adore off the bat. it started out pretty intense and oddly fast-paced, but things eventually slowed down nicely. there was a lot more traveling and dream-related stuff in this one that was giving harry potter and the deathly hallows in the best way possible.
the whole time, i was kind of rooting against percy, weirdly enough. it was strange because the other side of the war wasn’t even inherently evil at all, and they were kind of more logical and rational. but, not to spoil anything, things ended up working out in the end. also, i loved the character development of people like annabeth and nico; great stuff.
i ended up loving this book as much as i did the first book—definitely stan-worthy. despite the… oddness of books two and three, this wrapped up the series very well and made me appreciate it as a whole. so, with great satisfaction, i give the last olympian five stars (though i still don’t know why it’s titled the last olympian…)
overall thoughts
as a whole, i really liked this series. i formed a good bond with the characters and the universe, and i’m excited to dive into the other series at some point this year. was it the kind of all-around five-star experience like folk of the air or unwind? not really (sorry, pjo fans). books two and three just… didn’t work for me. maybe it’s just because it’s middle grade though. overall, i give this series four and a half stars because though it wasn’t quite perfect, it was beyond enjoyable and definitely a series i’ll be excited to obsess over and reread at some point. :)
well, that felt like a lot, even though it was less than the two previous months.
for some reason, i feel very accomplished this month. no, i didn’t keep up with the 10 books a month thing i set for myself, but that’s not even the main goal anyway. i’m going for 75 books this year, and i’m already a third of the way there just in march. at this point, reaching 75 and maybe even 80 books is basically guaranteed (though i don’t want to jinx myself…).
anyways, before we go, i want to share something quickly. in the last month, we reached 800 followers, which is actually insane to think about. like nearly a thousand people are viewing my work, that’s crazy. however, on a separate note, this has been the slowest month growth-wise in this publication’s history; over the last 30 days, we’ve gained less than 10 subscribers…
“but, jack, you literally just touched on how the numbers don’t matter in your other post—”
yeah, i know, but the fact that we reached 800 followers but are 40 away from 400 means over half of the people reading haven’t subscribed. so, if you like what i write and want to support me, your subscription would mean the world to me; i’m hoping to reach 400 subscribers by this publication’s one-year mark, so even though i’m right, the numbers don’t matter, showing your support would really push me to keep going :).
well, now that the embarrassing stuff’s over, thanks for being here. as always, i wish you all a wonderful day, and i’ll see you next month with a new poem or two. much love <3
if you’re confused by all this, ignore it, it’s not a big deal ;)
I bought the Mythmakers last year and I'm stoked to read it!!
And AHHHH SUNRISE ON THE REAPING! Literally so good. I was blown away and it broke me into pieces.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
I NEED SUNRISE ON THE REAPING SO BAD IT PHYSICALLY HURTS ME THAT I DONT HAVE IT YET 😭😭😭