The first week in February was Polarthon hosted by the wonderful Jade at Jadeyrae reads where we had to choose a team and complete five prompts. My team was the Walrus
Team captained by Gavin Hetherington of How to Train Your Gavin.
For my first prompt which was Dark Waters I chose Crater Lake by Jennifer Killick. The story centres around a group of school kids who visit an out and about centre where not everything seems to be normal. I gave this book 3 stars as I found the constant use of cos throughout the book as very off putting and I did not believe that these school kids were in year 6 they sounded much older.
My next prompt was to choose a book I could dive into. So I picked a re-read of the Little Witches Magic in Concord Graphic Novel by Leigh Dragoon. I wanted to see if I had enjoyed the book as much as I did when I received it as one of my first ever Netgalley Arcs and the answer was yes. It even got the same 4 stars as before. I loved the art style and that Leigh kept to the original story of Little Women but just turned them all into Witches
My third prompt I had to choose a book with an artic setting and I chose The Girl Who Saved Christmas by Matt Haig and I read and listened to the audio at the same time. Yes I did read a Chrsitmas book in February . The Girl who saved Christmas is the second book in the Christmas series and this time Father Christmas is searching for a girl by the name of Amelia Wishart and that's all I am going to say about the book as I do not want to give any spoilers away. I did enjoy listening and reading along but I did find that there were differences in the audio compared with the book, For example when Matt wrote about shoes in the story the audio called them boots but after awhile I did not notice the differences. It was really nice being in that world again and so I gave this book 4 stars and intend to finish up the series later this year.
For my fourth prompt I had to choose a book with dark cover so I chose the final book in The Trap Door Mysteries. The final book is called The Lost Treasures. The series main character is Tilly who is an orphan and works as a maid in a Manor House. Tilly has a secret she is the Librarian of a Secret Magic Library which can be reached by the Trap door but there is one rule Tilly must be under the age of 13.
The final book was set mostly on a ship sailing to New York and I loved how Abie Longstaff pulled all the missing pieces and tied them together in a perfect bow so I had to give this final book 4 stars.
For my final prompt I had to read a polar fantasy so my choice was The Truth Pixie by Matt Haig. I wanted to read more about the Truth Pixie who appeared in A Boy Called Christmas and the scenes in the book she was involved in made want to laugh out loud so I knew a book where she was the main character would be really good. I was not disappointed I loved that she could not tell lies even when she wanted to and so I had to give it 4 stars
My next read for the month was the Middle Grade Monthly Book choice which was A Wolf for A Spell by Karah Sutton. Wolf for A Spell is set in Russia and has Russian Folklore brimming through it. There are three main characters Baba Yaga, Zima the Wolf and Nadya. These characters become interlinked when Baba Yaga needs a wolf's nose and Zima needs help from Baba Yaga to help her injured brother. Then later on Nadya needs Baba Yaga's help to save her friend who is about to marry the Tzar or is it actually Baba Yaga who is helping her? I loved that there were so many POVs but thought that Nadya's could of done with more beefing up but what irked me alot was that we find out something about Katerina without any backstory and we have to accept what we are being told. I also don't think that there was enough time to describe the magic system in the book. I originally was giving this book 4 stars but as I was writing this review I made the decision to lower my rating to 3 stars. It was a good book nevertheless.
During the months of December and January I started reading The Star Spun Web by Sinead O'Hart but due to me being in a kind of a reading slump I only managed to finish the book during this month. Star Spun Web is about a young orphan girl called Tess de Sousa who is taken by a mysterious relation she knew nothing about to live at Roedeer Lodge. We begin to realise that Norton Cleat's interest in Tess is more ominous that first thought. I did enjoy the book but found it very slow going and the action happened later on in the book but was a little bit too late for me so I gave this 3 stars.
My next read was White Bird by R J Palacio which is a graphic novel. Here we learn about Julian who was the Bully in Wonder grandmother when she was a child during Germany's Occupation of France during WW2. We learn through her eyes just how bad being a Jew living in France at this time. I found this story beautiful, haunting and real as these events even though the grandmother is just a character. It gave me so many raw emotions I cred a lot. I would recommend reading the whole graphic novel as there are some very interesting facts and figures. I usually struggle giving out 5 stars but this book like Wonder was absolutely stunning and I knew this would be a very high 5 star.
I carried on reading graphic novels and my next choice was the Oracle Code by Marieke Nijkamp and Manuel Preitano. In this we follow Barbara Gordon and this story she is a hacker who likes solving puzzles. This time trying to solve something left her needing rehabilitation in a centre. Instead she finds that all is not it seems and begins to investigate. I loved the art style and the actual storyline so I had to give it 4. I am now wanting to read more DC Comics graphic novels.
I decided that I wanted to read the Hilda Comics since it had been made into a Netflix series so I read the first book Hilda and the Troll. I found the story a bit simplified and could not understand how a young girl was allowed to roam around without her Mum being around. I did like Stewart Pearson's illustrations but found the actual story lacking so I had to give it 3 stars.
My next choice was a children's non-fiction book called Mythopedia An Encyclopedia of Mythical Beasts and their Magical Tales by Good Wives and Warriors. I originally go this as an Netgalley Arc but could not read it on my phone so I purchased a copy. You can see my review on why I had to give this wonderful book 4 stars.
My final read was The Midnight Guardians by Ross Montgomery which again was a Netgalley Arc but then I received a signed copy via my box subscription Tales By Mail. You can see my review and find out why I gave it 4 stars.
So to recap I read 12 books
6 were Ebooks and 6 were Physical
They can be broken down into 9 Middle Grade, 2 Children's and 1 Young Adult
My star ratings were one 5 star, seven 4 stars and three 3 stars
I read 2356 pages
I need to unhaul 5 books
