May Wrap-Up

May was another month that went by so quickly I didn’t even notice it was over… until it was over. *lol* Seriously for some reason I actually thought I could make it to 5 books this month only to realize that it was already May 31st! XD There were so many things that kept me busy in May it’s actually a miracle I managed to read those 4 books. For one I worked until the last day of May and even had to hand over everything I worked on until then so my successor could take over. In addition to that I also had to try to get my educational sabbatical on track. Which took a lot of time as well. Not to mention my family and normal life stuff.

So yeah, May was another pretty busy month and I really hope that June will be a relaxed month now because honestly, before I start anew I really need a break to recharge my batteries. Those last 2 years were extremely draining and it showed in my blog presence and on goodreads. I used to read 6 – 8 books a month (and this with work and my family etc.) and those last couple of months I only manged to read half of my usual amount. I really needed that change badly and I hope everything will work out. Please cross your fingers for me. XD

The couple of books I DID read in May were fantastic though and I’m so glad I finally managed to read „The Fever King“!!! But before I start to rave about all the books I read I’ll just head over to my monthly wrap up statistics and take it from there! 😉

Books read: 4 (4 books & 0 webcomic, considering I was so busy this was actually a lot?)

Pages read: 1.555 (I guess that’s about my average page count so I’m fine with it.)

Average rating: 4,38 (I really enjoyed all those books, but „The Fever King“ was my fave!! ❤ )

Books that were on my reading list: 0 ( 0 from 2019, 1 from 2021 and 0 from 2022. There are so many books of my TBR on my „currently reading“ so I’m sure the next wrap up will be more successful!)

May Reads:

       

Waking Gods:

I really wanted to continue with this series and when I found the second book in my library I just couldn’t resist. „Waking Gods“ was another great read and by now I can say that Sylvain Neuvel always surprises me! I swear this series has a lot of plot twists I never saw coming. Very curious about the third and last book!

The Blood of Olympus: ,5

I read the final book of „The Heroes of Olympus“ and now I’m sad! T_T I didn’t want this series to end but at the same time I wanted to know what happens next so #bookwormdilemma *lol* I really enjoyed this book so much though! The friendship in this were everything and even though it was more serious than all the other books I kinda loved it for that?! I’ll always love the golden trio (Percy, Nico and Leo) because they are just amazing! <333 I suppose my next Uncle Rick series will be „The Trials of Apollo“? XD

The Map to You:

I actually got that one as an ARC from NetGalley and I was very surprised I got approved for this. *lol* „The Map to You“ was a really good f/f story and I loved the easy banter between the two MCs Sasha and Kinsey! 😉 Their flirting was so much fun and the fact that they were friends before they became lovers was the icing on the cake. At least for me it was. XD This book tackled way more serious topics than I thought it would though, so consider yourself warned, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows! ;-P I’ll write my full review about it soon!

The Fever King:

Okay, this book!! This book knocked it out of the park for me! I wanted to read „The Fever King“ for ages and never really got to it but damn did I miss out! You know the kind of book that has you sort of spellbound? Yep, „The Fever King“ was this kind of book! For the couple of days it took me to read it, I was totally obsessed with the book and constantly found myself thinking about Dara and Noam. I really loved this one to bits and pieces and I can’t wait to read the second one. I’m afraid it will be super dark but ahhh I need to know!!! T_T

This said: How was your May? Did you read a lot of books and if yes which ones did you read? Was there a favourite among them? Did you read any of the books I read last months and if yes, did you enjoy them? What have you been up to in May and is your life as busy as mine?! (I genuinely hope it’s not because my schedule always feels extremely packed. *lol*)

Talk to me and let me know! 

And as always take care and stay healthy and safe!

*hugs’n’kisses*

The Sassy Library Fox

Review: Waking Gods (Sylvain Neuvel)

Rating:

”If there’s one thing we should have learned by now, it’s that we’re not the greatest thing in the universe, certainly not the smartest. Seems logical there’d be a great many things in it we can’t comprehend.“

Do you remember my sceptical face when I read the blurb of “Sleeping Giants” and was confused by the “enormous, ornate metal hand”? Yeah, it’s been a long while but after almost a year I finally managed to get a copy of “Waking Gods” into my greedy hands and I was very happy to be able to continue this crazy journey. And boy, let me tell you this: It’s been another freaky ride. *lol* The story of the second book starts about 10 years after the first book ended so we have a lot of things we need to catch up to before the plot actually picks up and thickens again.

”I’m a soldier, so if they tell me to walk up behind it and kick it in the butt, I will. But if we can avoid the whole me and Vincent dying thing, you know … that’d be good.”

But first things first: Of course our book starts with a visit from “Mr. Smith” because a huge giant figure similar to Themis suddenly appears right smack in the middle of London and kind of looms over the city. No one knows where it came from or what it wants but the mere presence of the figure already seems to be quite threatening and while the governments are busy thinking about how to deal with this new challenge, there appear more and more giant figures all over the world. So the inevitable happens: After 10 years of training and sort of parading through the world with Themis Kara and Vincent are brought back into the game and are probably the only hope for humankind.

„Kara’s … engaging in diplomacy.“
[She’s what?]
„She’s giving him the finger. Very mature, Kara.“

Haha! Yeah, they probably shouldn’t have sent Kara to do the job, because this girl is as fierce and rebellious as ever but oh well; thankfully Vincent is the voice of reason and knows how to talk her down. ;-P Not that diplomacy would have helped with the things that were coming their way, but that’s a story for another day. I really enjoyed that we got to see a lot of the cast from the first book and Mr. Smith, Dr. Franklin and Eugene Govender were all a part of “Waking Gods” as well. Unfortunately the same can be said about the people we didn’t like. Yes. Mr. Mitchell and Alyssa are once again a part of this book too. >_< And I still don’t like them, especially Alyssa. Urgh, that woman!

„I may believe in God, but I’m at war with Him. I’m a scientist, I try to answer questions, one at a time, so there’s a little less room for Him as the answer. I plant my flag, and inch by inch, I take away His kingdom.“

Anyway! What I really loved was that we didn’t only get to see the huge problem of the robots and the threat they presented for humanity but that we also got to see more of the character’s personal lives. They are all human, they make mistakes and no matter how mysterious they are, they still had a past and a background story that was worth telling. Honestly, those background stories were one of the best things about this book, at least for me, because I was almost speechless when they were revealed. Not to mention all the plot twists that always caught me off-guard. This mixed with a little bit of science, theoretical discussions and the omnipresent questions of “What does humanity stand for?” and “Is it worth to be saved?” made this a really intriguing read.

”I came to realize that good and evil were out of my reach, that time was the only thing I had any control over. I could buy time, create intervals. I could not truly make the world a better place, but I could make part of it a better place for a short while. I came to peace with that.“

All told “Waking Gods” was at least as mind-boggling and startling as its predecessor and I can’t wait to pick up the last and final book. I’m sure Sylvain Neuvel has still a lot in store for us and I’ve no doubt the plot twists in book three will throw me for a loop as well. I love that I can never anticipate what will happen next and this makes this series such an interesting read. Highly recommended for everyone who enjoys to be kept on their toes. 😉