Lila’s Monthly Review | February 2018

Hey, y’all! Lila here to wish you a happy March! February flew by, but then again it is the shortest month of the year, so I guess I shouldn’t expect anything else! Personally, my February was pretty good. Reading wise, I think February could’ve been better, though–but, hey, it’s no biggie, sometimes you get more done, sometimes you don’t! Anyhow, let’s take a closer look at how the month went…

Blogging Business

Nothing new to see here–blog’s still going strong!

POST FLASHBACK

• Lila shared what she does on “gray days” and along with her “cheer up playlist”
• Lila focused on Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones for this month’s segment of The Book Theme Meme
• Lila made a moodboard for the blog tour for Shadowsong by S. Jae-Jones
• Lila did the Romance Fails in Fiction Tag
• Lila reviewed The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert
• Lila explored the world of Maevana from The Queen’s Rising by Rebecca Ross in this month’s segment of Around The World in 80 Pages

Reading Wrap-Up + Mini Reviews

The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert ⭐⭐⭐.75

I really liked The Hazel Wood, but I also think I’m the odd one out when it comes to this book. Magical, mystical, and mysterious, The Hazel Wood read like a mixture of grunge-y, modern thrilled and ethereal fairytale. I do wish we got a bit more from the relationships in the book, but the story was pretty solid in and of itself. I’m glad to see that there will be a follow-up novel (though there’s still no word on whether it’s a direct sequel or a companion) and that we’re getting a short story bind up of Tales from the Hinterland. I think this world and these characters hold a lot of promise, so I’m excited to see what’s next!

The Queen’s Rising by Rebecca Ross ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Holy cow! Talk about a great YA fantasy! The Queen’s Rising took all of the YA fantasy tropes you expect to get from it and bent them into something new and wonderful. Feminist, fantastical, and flat out fun, this book was one heck of a good time! Though the story seemed to wrap up in this one, Ross has announced she’s currently writing a direct sequel and boy oh boy am I hyped for it!

Nejma by Nayyirah Waheed ⭐⭐⭐

I was pretty disappointed with Nejma, largely because it felt like Waheed took an opportunity to grow and develop and decided to play it safe instead. It felt nearly indistinguishable from Salt and incredibly repetitive. The poetry would have been lovely, if I hadn’t felt like I’d seen it before.

The Princess Saves Herself in This One by Amanda Lovelace ⭐⭐⭐

Sadly, I was also disappointed with The Princess Saves Herself in This One. For a massively hyped collection, this one felt like it lacked a lot of sophistication and refinement. It felt like a first draft to me and because of that I also ended up feeling like it lacked full emotional “oomph.” I do think Lovelace has promise as a poet, but this one definitely read like a debut to me.

Book Haul

RECEIVED FOR REVIEW

BOUGHT/WON/GIFTED

TBR

Movies/TV Favorites

Tbh, I didn’t watch any TV in February and the only movie I saw was The Death Cure, which I hated because as a scientist I picked out several MASSIVE plot holes that the movies left in from the books, lol. That being said, I think March is gonna be a great month for movies/TV since I plan on seeing Black Panther and A Wrinkle in Time and I am hype for it!

Music Favorites

Around The Booknet

• Krysta wondered if YA books are maturing too fast
• Inside My Library Mind gave some excellent pointers on how to start a bookstagram
• Analee explored the pressures of writing #ownvoices reviews
• Michelle thought about blogging insecurities
• Tasya questioned if romance is necessary for every YA book
• Kelly discussed negative reviews
• Shar gave tips on how to blog when you have a busy life
• Julianna examined different types of bookstagrams
• Marie explained why and how you should support book bloggers
• 24hryabookblog recommended audio drama podcasts they feel deserve book adaptations
• Fish That Reads gave us book recommendations based on your favorite chocolate bar
• Cam looked at reading as an act of self care
• Mikaela shared some book blogging hacks
• Kourtni pondered the impossible search for unproblematic books

News

• Tahereh Mafi announced that she is writing a new YA fiction book which is inspired by her own life!
• It was announced that Melissa Albert will be writing a follow up to The Hazel Wood in addition to writing Tales from the Hinterland
• A Thousand Perfect Notes by C.G. Drews (a.k.a. our very own Cait of the [in]famous book blog, Paper Fury) got a cover!
• The cover for The Muse of Nightmares (Strange The Dreamer #2) by Laini Taylor was revealed
• The cover was revealed for Ibi Zoboi’s sophomore book, Pride, which is a Pride And Prejudice “remix”
• V.E. Schwab announced a prequel comic for her Shades of Magic series (entitled Shades of Magic: The Steel Prince) and EW gave us an exclusive sneak peak of the art!
• Angie Thomas’s sophomore novel, On The Come Up, also had a cover reveal!

Life Events

So apparently on Groundhog Day, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, meaning we’d have six more weeks of winter? HA! HAHAHA! In traditional rule-breaker fashion, Washinton, D.C. has apparently decided to ignore this age old tradition cause February ushered in spring-like weather around here! Like, y’all. The flowers are starting to sprout. Here’s hoping (knock on wood) it’ll stay this way. Anyhoo, weather aside, February was a pretty decent month for me. Nothing major happened, but life was good, so I can’t complain.

How was your February? Do anything incredibly fun? Read any good books? Anything exciting on the horizon for March?

Learn more the author of this post:

Lila @ Hardcover Haven

Lila is a 30 year old anthropology student and lover of literature who's been book blogging for an eternity. Her hobbies include reading, singing, writing, arts and crafts, and snuggling her two cats, Snoopy and Clementine.