December 2021 Wrap Up & January Hopefuls

Happy Saturday!!

What are you most excited about this weekend. I’m waiting for today’s Snowdrop (k-drama) episode. I started watching the show yesterday and am hooked. Other than that, I’m pretty much reading Portrait of a Thief.

Coming to the wrap-up, I hardly remember how December went because most of it was reading The Green Bone Saga, so I don’t have much to tell about my month.

Now let’s get this post started.

Reading Stats for December 2021

• Total Books: 6

• Pages: 3043

Reading Mood Board

Books Read in December

➼ Legendary ★★ | The core of this book was to find what happened to Tella’s mom and reveal Legend’s identity. It was pretty obvious who Legend was because there were so many hints directed at one person in the book, which (not surprisingly) Tella missed. And then there’s the so-called love triangle when I couldn’t even see a line connecting two people.

➼ Finale ★★★ | Ever since I read about the Fates in Once Upon a Broken Heart, I’ve been waiting to read more about them, which finally happened in Legendary and Finale. They were chaotic just like I thought they’d be. But when it came to the plot (of this book or the trilogy), it was underwhelming. I couldn’t help but compare the books in this series to Once Upon a Broken Heart and felt that the plotlines were basic in this series and had nothing much to make it more engrossing. It’s fine for a one-time read though.

➼ The Chosen One ★★★ | The Chosen One started off like being in a nightmare. The magical realism part was playing mind-games with me. Just when things were going out of control, Echo’s life took a complete 180 in the second half. If the first half was grey-ish, the other half was cheery, promoting positivity and self-love. You can make out this difference in tone easily. This was a nice biographical book in general.

➼ Jade City | Jade War | Jade Legacy | The Green Bone Saga review is coming soon this month. I don’t know how to review it without being reminded of all the painful memories that I’m trying hard to forget.

The first book was slow and I didn’t mind the pacing because there were many characters and terms of the Green Bone clans that I had to know, so I think it was fitting for introducing a new reader to a world where wearing Jade meant power, status, respect, and everything. The second book was about expanding the clan’s network, which meant more competition, smuggling, and a bunch of exciting stuff. By the time I reached the third book, my mind was running on fumes so I took a little break from this trilogy, finished The Chosen One and avoided Jade Legacy for a few days, and had no choice but to pick the last book. I think book 3 destroyed me. This book felt longer than book 1 and 2. After three books and a heartbreak, I can safely say this trilogy gave me a whole new context for Jade. Read it if you haven’t.

Books Reviewed

Book(s) of the Month

Other Posts on the Blog

➼ Quote it Sunday ft. Jade City

➼ 25 Backlist Books I need to read in 2022

➼ 10 Books I’m Thankful for in 2021

➼ 6 Sequels I’m planning to read in 2021

January Hopefuls

➼Portrait of a Theif [ARC]

➼ Swan Song of my Era [ARC]

➼ The Poppy War

➼ How Moon Fuentez Fell in Live with the Universe (finished reading)

Things I liked in December

• I finished one K-drama, which I didn’t force myself to watch, and enjoyed it.
• 12 of 2021. I finally did a 12-monthly-favorite-books-of-the-year on my booksta. It was high on my wishlist and am happy that I ended the year having posted it.

To-Do List for January

• Since I couldn’t send any mails last month, I need to start sending BBN mails ASAP.
• Update reading bullet journal regularly
• Finish The Poppy War

Favorite(s) Song of December

• Love Tonight by Shouse (listened to this song on repeat the whole month as my bgm for The Green Bone Saga )

Posts To Check Out

I wasn’t active in the blogosphere in December, so there are very few posts here.

➼ 22 Retelling Veronica @ Little Coner Reads can’t wait to read.

➼ Mehek @ The Critiques of a Fangirl shares with us how she edits her Instagram posts.

➼ Check out this Bookish Christmas Tag posted by Georgia @ Lost in Neverland

➼ We have Aamna @ The Ink Slinger and Jayati @ It’s Just a Coffee Addicted Bibliophile recommending books to read based on Bollywood songs.

SHow(s) Watched in December

After watching Vincenzo and The Tale of the Nine-Tailed, I didn’t feel like watching another K-drama and be bored. But by some strange twist of fate (most likely from Youtube edits), I ended up watching True Beauty. I thought it was going to be another cheesy drama, but I was wrong. The story was highly entertaining with the side characters contributing to the plot as well. Highly recommend it if you are looking for a fun-filled K-drama.

Let me know what you are planning to read in Jan 2022?