Wow, it’s already June, can you believ it? I can’t, the first half of 2023 is nearly over. May was quite a busy month at work. We had several days off due to Labour Day and Pentecost. I witnessed the honoring of our national football champion without even attending, I just had to open the window at the office to be able to hear literally everything. Furthermore, I feel quite tired and I just don’t know why. However, I’ve read more than I initially thought, I found out when writing this post. Without further ado, here’s my month of May.

The books I’ve read

1. Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman – I’ve already started this book in April, but I couldn’t finish it back then. I did on the first day of May, so therefore its in this month’s overview. This was actually a reread as I’ve tried and DNF’ed it back in 2020. It turnt out the timing was just off. I’m really curious for The Toll now as that series finale gets mixed reviews. ★★★★,5
2. The Stolen Heir by Holly Black – Well, I should have DNF’ed this one. But, I’m stubborn and powered through (also for the sake of a buddyread). I found it super boring and a total waste of my time. I didn’t remember much from The Folk of the Air series and several events were touched upon. One more than the other, but if you don’t remember a thing you just can’t follow this book. I strongly recommend you to reread TFOTA first before diving into this one. Maybe I will do exactly that and try this one again, but it’s not on my priority list. Once, if I’m up to it. ★★
3. Omdat ik altijd al de jouwe was by Emma Anna – An original Dutch age gap romance novel set in New York. I enjoyed this one much more and finished it within a day or two. ★★★★
4. The Empire of Gold by S.A. Chakraborty – Yet another reread because this book got translated into Dutch. I really enjoyed this. ★★★★,5
5. The Traitor Queen by Danielle L. Jensen – My expectations weren’t fully met despite my anticipation. This book felt like a whirlwind with no calm in it. There was loads of action and little character development. Everything felt shallow and rushed, to a point where I got incredibly annoyed. ★★★,5
6. Fourth wing by Rebecca Yarros – This book finally broke my “I just don’t understand all these TikTok hypes” streak as I completely fell for this book. From start to finish, I was hooked. ★★★★★
7. Atlas: The Story of Pa Salt by Lucinda Riley and Harry Whitaker – Finally the last book in The Seven Sisters series got released. After Riley passing away, her son Harry Whitaker granted her wish and completed this book. We got all the answers to all the questions and there is still some mystery in it. ★★★★
8. Vliegen by Paulien Weikamp – A Dutch YA with under 300 pages. The story therefore didn’t really work, there’s more to it and I didn’t feel anything. The concept was good, the excecution less. ★★★
9. Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco – Yet another reread because this book got a Dutch release. Back in 2021, it got me out of a reading slump. Now, it nearly dragged me into one. The story is still not bad, but I was less intrigued than when reading it for the first time. ★★★,5
10. Twisted Love by Ana Huang – This book was of my radar for about a year. I was just casually scrolling and didn’t know what to read. I found the Dutch audiobook for this and was sucked in right away. I finished it within a few days. It has smud, but I still expected it to be heavier. Please read all the content and trigger warnings before grabbing this one. ★★★★
11. Middernachtsfeest by Sarah Sprinz – A German dark academia about a boarding school. It’s not translated into English. However, I’m not really sure what to think of this book yet. ★★★,5

Bookhaul

1. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
2. The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean
3. Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett
4. The Toll by Neal Shusterman
5. Annemijn by Emma Anna
6. Omdat ik altijd al de jouwe was by Emma Anna
7. Na de klap by Marlies Allewijn
8. All the feels by Olivia Dade

I’ve read 11 books this month and that’s a lot more than the previous months! I hope I can keep this flow up so I can actually finish my reading goal. How was your month?

---

You might also like: