February 2022 wrap up

Hello bookworms!! Welcome to the February 2o22 wrap up.

As you can see from recent posts, we are in catch-up mode!! Never has a week gone by with so many drafts started, and so few actual posts published. I swear, every time another day went by and I only had the barest of content in a draft, my resolve crumbled a little bit more.

BUT, I’m now in the midst of a 4 day long weekend, so I am clawing my way back to ‘blogging-normal’. (Look, if we can have a COVID-normal, then I can have a blogging-normal.) And so we’re back (almost) on track, and here with the February wrap up.

So, let’s go see what I read in February.

February 2022 wrap up

The Spare

Author: Miranda Dubner
Published: 2020
Thoughts:
OK, so I got this book on a total whim. Kindle was shoving it in my face every time I opened the website in 2020, so I bought it. But then it lived unread on my Kindle for over a year.
However, I do LOVE a royal romance story, and this is no exception. It was branded a forbidden romance between the prince and a security guard, but the story was way more than that. It covered the WHOLE royal family. And I was here for ALL of it. (Also, I would kill for a sequel.)
Would highly recommend to fans of Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston, or American Royals by Katharine McGee.
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Wishing Spell

Author: Chris Colfer
Published: 2012
Series: The Land of Stories #1
Thoughts:
I finally finished The Wishing Spell in February. This book took me ages to get through as I was only listening to it in small blocks. But, I can say that I really enjoyed it.
The story itself is full of whimsy and it’s an interesting spin on the fairytale stories we all grew up with. Along with the twin main characters, we also get to spend time with Cinderella, Snow White, Jack, Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks, and more.
I love a good retelling, so I’m keen to finish this series.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Court

Author: Tracy Wolff
Published: 2022
Series: Crave #4
Thoughts:
And we’re back in the world of vampires, werewolves, witches, dragons, and now gargoyles. This book picks up immediately after the end of book 3 in the series. And I mean like seconds later. We’re drawn back into the middle of a conflict that I couldn’t remember details of, so I had to go back and reread the last 2 chapters of Covet.
The story is getting heavier with each iteration that passes, and I miss the mocking from the earlier stories at the whole paranormal genre.
The story was fine, but I’m looking forward to having an ending in sight. Also the missing 3 months, which is up next with Cherish.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

A Girl Like Her

Author: Talia Hibbert
Published: 2018
Series: Ravenswood #1
Thoughts:
I actually felt conflicted once I got to the end of this story. I loved Ruth, our MC, and how much she and some of the side characters grow and change during this story. But to me, Evan, the love interest felt a bit two-dimensional. And forgettable. And that was a real shame, as I know that Hubbert can write complex, engaging love interests. In fact, that’s my only negative of this whole book.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Untouchable

Author: Talia Hibbert
Published: 2018
Series: Ravenswood #2
Thoughts:
I have to say, Hannah was a great MC, but I still liked Ruth more. It’s probably because I can see more of myself in Hannah, but more of who I’d like to be in Ruth. And that can be confronting in a character!! And Nate was a great love interest. I especially liked that he wasn’t afraid of playing the bad boy card and even leaned in to it a bit.
I liked the forbidden romance aspect of this story, and how they kept trying to talk themselves out of their feelings. It made for some fun scenes and good banter.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

That Kind of Guy

Author: Talia Hibbert
Published: 2019
Series: Ravenswood #3
Thoughts:
I normally adore the fake dating trope, and this one definitely had its moments. But, I definitely thought it was the weakest story of the three.
I liked all the characters, so that wasn’t an issue. It was more that I didn’t find their chemistry believable. That and I wanted Rae to go after ex more for what he did. He didn’t deserve to be let off the hook, and she definitely deserved his credit.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Love Con

Author: Seressia Glass
Published: 2021
Thoughts:
Another fake dating story for the month, and another one that didn’t quite hit the mark for me. Although it was very enjoyable I did bump it down a star after some time, as it probably wasn’t quite 4 stars.
The premise ticks all the boxes: friends to lovers, reality tv show, disapproving parents, body positive, evil schemer, romcom that sounds perfect on paper. The execution is good, but it wasn’t one of the best I’ve read lately.
I would recommend it if you’re into cosplay though, as I’ve heard that it represents that world really well (from someone who used to cosplay professionally).
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

So, each month I either have or will be setting a TBR. You can see my February TBR here. I also have a few challenges that I have signed up for throughout 2022, which are the Goodreads challenge, Beat the Backlist, A-Z reading challenge, 12 in 12, and Pondathon II. On top of that, I also have my new book buying… not really a ban, but limit. And to get me through all of that, because I’m a mood reader, we also have my Bookopoly board, and my RNG challenge.

Up to you if you want to go back and look through everything, but I can tell you right now, I read exactly ZERO books on my TBR. This… is more common than I would like to admit. BUT, I did tick a bunch of goals off my challenges anyway.

Pondathon II progress

The below is my February Pondathon II garden. Because I hit so many achievements in February, I think I have more items in my garden than I did in January…

I might amalgamate everything into one garden, once we hit the end of the series, but we’ll see. And I got a secret February reward as well!!

Reading stats

And finally, my reading stats for February. As each month continues through the year, I’ll add monthly comparisons to this as well.

Books by genre in February

Romance definitely won out this month, which was probably fairly obvious with the 3 Talia Hibbert books above. I wavered on whether or not to put The Spare in contemporary or romance, but ended up with the former, as the content deals with much more than just a love story. There’s also PTSD, bullying and harassment, riots, and the general worries of ruling a country.

Books by age category in February

While February was a much higher count of adult books than I would have liked, I still managed to sneak in that one MG book, which is great! We like some diversity. And we had one for the YA bucket as well. Although, I’m starting to wonder if I should move the Crave series to New Adult. Thoughts?

Books by page number in February

I read a grand total of 3,057 pages in February, which gave me an average page per book of 437. Which, is actually great. This was definitely boosted by Court, which came in at a whopping 941 pages. So, despite reading 3 less books in February than I did in January, I actually only read 102 pages less, which more than makes up for the 3 less days in the month!! I’m actually really happy with this, as it means my reading staying consistent.

So, how was your February?