I successfully slowed down my reading pace in May, yay! Only three books added to my read list. May was kinda busy for me because it was still exams season. Then Ramadan came along and so I didn’t as much time to read as I did in the previous months. May felt like a cleanse for my reading addiction and I’m happy about it, honestly 🙂

Okay, so here are the three books I read in May:

1. Mistletoe and Murder by Robin Stevens

The next book from the Murder Most Unladylike Mystery series. In Murder and Mistletoe, Daisy and Hazel are on their Christmas break. They are visiting Daisy’s brother in Cambridge. But as usual, trouble seems to always be able to find them. A string of accidents happens to an heir just a few days before he turns 21, which is on Christmas. Our detectives race with time to find the culprit before the accidents turn into something fatal. Just like the other books in this series, Murder and Mistletoe is very fun to read. Both Daisy and Hazel have matured a bit more compared to themselves in the first book. There are also teenage crushes, which is very cute. Another thing I like about Robin Stevens is that she doesn’t shy away from writing about same sex relationships/crushes in her books, even though the setting is in the early 20th century, when same sex relationships were still a taboo and not accepted by the society. It’s quite refreshing. Like I mentioned in my previous Recent Reads post, I already have another book in the series, Creambuns and Crimes, but I haven’t got around to that. Soon!

2. Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

I was very late to the Red Queen party, but here I am. I’ve read praises for this series from book bloggers I follow, so it had been sitting in my TBR list for quite a long time before I decided to start reading it. Red Queen is about a world divided by the colour of the people’s blood; there are the red people (commoners) and the silver people (people with superpowers, thus have higher class). Mare Barrow is a red, but in an incident, it is revealed that she has silver power. It surprises the king and queen because there has been no such thing happened before. She is taken under the crown’s wing, given a false silver identity, and betrothed to a prince. Things, of course, go south. Mare is divided between the two world; her old life, family, and friends, or her new life as a future princess. I got bored halfway through, because the pace is very slow, but I managed to finish it in May. The story is interesting, actually, despite its slowness. The twist is quite predictable, but still delivered in a good way. I already have the next book in the series, Glass Sword, and it’s next on my TBR list.

3. Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

Camille Parker returns to her hometown and stays in her mother’s house for a few days to cover the story of the murder of two young girls, whose teeth have both been removed by the murderer. She meets a lot of people from her past life there, including her teenage half-sister whom she hadn’t seen for years. Since the local police are not very helpful, Camille must go around town looking for clues by herself. But as the mystery unfolded, the past Camille has long forgotten about is starting to unfold too. Gillian Flynn sure knows how to write. Her description is very vivid and also gross and it made me shiver. I had to take a break while I was reading a part where a rape is being vividly described. But man, the story is so, so good. The twist is very unpredictable; it leaves me gaping but also satisfied. It’s the perfect ending for the story. You have to read it if you haven’t!

Part of the reason why I didn’t read many books last month is perhaps because I find it hard to finish Fallout by Gwenda Bond. I started reading in mid May and I haven’t finished it now. I don’t know why I read it very slowly. It’s quite good so far. I don’t know much about her character in the comic books, but Lois Lane in this book is smart and sassy, almost similar to Veronica Mars. Reading it has been a struggle for me, but I’m determined to finish it as soon as possible because I already have two books in queue (and I’ve been eyeing some other books to buy haha!)

See you in the next Recent Reads!