I'm on a gap year, she said. I'll blog consistently, she said. Quality content and not just memes, she said. Ahem.
So, you may - or may not - have noticed that I haven't been posting recently. April has been a bit of a hectic month, mainly because...I wrote a book. I can scarcely believe it myself! I decided that this year I was finally going to start writing again and so decided to take part in Camp NaNo, where you can write as many words as you want in the month of April. I had spent the whole of MArch filling in character profiles and detailing the plot, so I was super excited to delve in.
I finished my first draft on the 24th of April. It has 87,549 words. I'm really proud of it. I've finished one other draft of another WIP before, but because I didn't bother to plan anything, it's a bit of a mess. This time around, it was different. I had direction and my story had purpose. Instead of being filled with mainly flowery writing, there were plot lines and character development (I hope!) and quite a lot of dialogue. I'm waiting two weeks to edit it so I can look at the story through fresh eyes. I'm so excited to editing it!
I also tutored my first pupil this month, which was so fun. I taught GCSE maths and English - I really enjoyed it! I've also started applying for more jobs now, so I hope I get one soon!
I took a break from social media as well. I haven't been on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram much at all this month. It's been refreshing. I definitely find social media can be quite toxic for people, so I'm trying to spend much less time on it. I logged onto Twitter the other day and everyone was still angry and there had been more drama in the book community. I logged right back out.
April has also been quite a difficult month. There was a lot of writing to universities, having to deal with Official Things, trying to figure out my life...it was very stressful and my anxiety took a bit of a dive. I'm hoping to get back on my feet in May though - here's to a good month! 🍸
Because I was writing so much (my WIP and letters to universities), I didn't manage a lot of reading and I started to feel a bit of a slump coming on. HOWEVER, I'm getting over it. YAY!
Sky in the Deep - ⭐⭐⭐.5 | Wildcard - ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 | Look Into My Eyes - ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | The Mystery of the Painted Dragon - ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 | The Midnight Peacock - ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 | Real Mermaids Don't Wear Toe Rings - ⭐⭐⭐
I had a mixed reading month. I received Sky in the Deep for a blog tour (you can read my review here). I thought the characters were beautifully written as well as the complex relationships, but this didn't feel like a fantasy, more like a historical fiction novel.
I finally read Wildcard. I LOVED Warcross, so I was super excited to get to this. I really enjoyed it. I loved Emika and the Phoenix Riders. I loved all the heart-stopping moments and all the twists and turns. I loved how the story ended and I adore Marie Lu's writing. However, it didn't grip me as much as the first book to the point where I couldn't put it down. Although it was like that for the last half of the book, I didn't feel as "AH I CAN'T PUT THIS DOWN" as I did in the first book. That could've just been my reading slump, though.
I also finished the last two books in the Sinclair's Mysteries series. I LOVE THESE BOOKS. They're so much fun. I adore all the characters. I love all the mysteries they get into too. It's sinister and cunning without being utterly terrifying. It's such an amazing series - I can't wait to read the spin-ff books with Lil and Sophie!
I've been on a bit of a middle-grade spy/mystery kick this month. I was browsing through my library's ebook system and found the first Ruby Redfort book was available. I've been meaning to read this series FOREVER. I'm so glad I finally started reading it - it was so much fun and exactly what I wanted to read. I'm waiting for the rest of the series to become available and then I'll probably binge read all of them!
Finally, I read Real Mermaids Don't Wear Toe Rings. I was feeling quite anxious and bleh the other night, so I wanted something lighthearted. Although this was a cute, fun read, the writing was very simple and the characters weren't fleshed out, so I didn't love it as much as I was hoping to.
...and many more! This is just a tentative list!
That was my April! How was yours?
What was your favourite book of April? What are you hoping to read in May? Let's chat!