April reading wrap up

I know the days are all blurring into one a bit because every lockdown day is the same but wow I actually struggled to recognise where the cutoff between March and April was when it came to writing this roundup. This was a really GOOD month for reading for me and I'm honestly not convinced May can live up to it. With three 5 star reads and 2 four star ones, there's a whole lot I really want to recommend here!

1.) Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams. This is my only kindle read for the month, and has been on my mental TBR ever since it was released. Queenie is a Jamaican-British woman in her mid-twenties struggling to find her feet again after a long-term relationship breakup. She's starting to ignore her work responsibilities at a job she worked really hard to get, neglect friendships and look for new men whilst at the same time being not quite ready to let go of her old boyfriend. The book is like nothing I expected but in a really great way. It was refreshing, especially as often women of colour are desexualised in books, and Queenie's sexuality was very much at the forefront of the novel.
5/5 stars

2.) Strangers by C. L. Taylor. A thriller told from the perspectives of three strangers, this really had me hooked. Ursula's in need of a new home after her kleptomania gets her kicked out of her flatshare, Gareth's struggling to look after his mum with dementia, and Alice is being stalked. I found myself tearing through the book trying to find out how their lives intersect and who the mystery killer in the book is. I really did enjoy this right up until the end. I felt like some of the ways things ended were a bit of an easy cop out, and the person that brought them all together by stalking Alice was really so predictable I almost discounted them as being too obvious to be the culprit.
4/5 stars
3.) China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan is the second book in his Crazy Rich Asians series. It picks up with Nick and Rachel planning their wedding (that Nick's not invited his mum to after everything that went down in the last book). When Nick's mum not only turns up unexpectedly but ALSO drops the bombshell of telling Rachel who her real father is, the pair are encouraged to visit Rachel's birth dad and find out more about the family she never knew. I probably loved this even more than Crazy Rich Asians. It's the most dramatic book and I was obsessed with all the storylines and subplots. It reminded me of why I love YA fiction and I can't wait to read the final part of the trilogy.
5/5 stars
4.) A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin. This is the fourth book (fifth volume) in the Game of Thrones series and honestly was my least favourite so far, but I still really enjoyed it. This is where the character perspectives split: in this book we have Arya, Sam, Jamie, Cersei, Brienne, Sansa and some minor characters in Dorne and the Iron Islands. There was a lot of description in the book, and it felt almost as if it was paving the way to move from the drama of the last book to the drama of the next book. There were still some thoroughly 'Game of Thrones' moments of 'what the hell is happening and who's dying now' of course.
4/5 stars
5.) Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. The fact that this is a debut book is honestly? Mind blowing. This is one of those books I could see myself re-reading every decade when I'm in a different place in my life to soothe me and remind me of absolutely beautiful writing. I'm going to write a full review of this at some point so I'm going to try and keep this brief for now. The book tells the story of Kya, a girl growing up in rural marshland in America with no money and a dad who cares less for her than for where he'll get his next drink. It's a coming of age tale that takes place alongside chapters that are looking into a murder that that takes place in the marsh 19 years later. This is one of the best books I've read so far this year and would recommend it to everyone.
5/5 stars
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