Quarterly reads #1


I can't believe it is April already. So much has happened in the first three months, both in my personal 
life but also in society. Over the last few weeks a lot has been happening and we seem to be in a 
lockdown, so I'm hoping to get a lot more reading done that I have this first quarter of the year. I 
absolutely loved writing my post about reading 52 books in 2019, and after seeing Alice Anne talk 
about her recent reads every month I decided to take inspiration and do quarterly reads where I share 
everything I've read in the last 3 months. Unfortunately for the majority of this year I've been in a 
mayor reading slump and haven't met my Goodreads or personal goal, so I'm hoping to have reached 
it and made a lot more progress by the summer time. Fingers crossed.

At the beginning of the year I found that I was putting a huge amount of pressure on myself to pick 
the perfect book to kick of 2020 and make sure that it was a good read, that I struggled to find 
something. I picked up something short because I didn't want to over do it at first, but I think this has 
been one of my favourites book I've read so far. I would describe this as more of a 'middle grade' 
book as it is definitely for the younger audience, but the overall story is fantastic. The mixture of 
friendship and magic with relationships and even aspects of mental health was perfect. At the end I 
found myself wanting more because the writing was perfect and I'm shocked that it took me this long 
to pick up one of Holly's books. I have all of her books and can't wait to read more from her. 5 stars

For years I have heard nothing but people rave about this book. Whether it's extracts every now and 
then popping up on my Facebook or seeing it in the background of someones photo on Tumblr back 
in 2014. I managed to find this for a fraction of the price from World of Books and read it as soon as 
it arrived. Out of all of the books I've read, not just this year but in general, I think I was most 
disappointed by this. I can't put into words how much I disliked this book and the only reason I didn't 
give it a lower rating or DNF (did-not-finish) it is because I did enjoy a few sections in the first part. 
Other than that I found it really boring and overall I'm really disappointed with this read. 2 stars

Last year I really got into reading graphic novels (I read 8 in 2019) and I find them particularly good 
to read when I'm in a reading slump, which I've been in for most of this year. I originally heard about 
this book from Books with Chloe, and decided to pick it up. Being a huge fan of graphic novels I 
didn't expect to come out of this confused and disappointed but unfortunately that was the case. There 
was no real storyline, it didn't flow very well and felt really rushed despite being over 350 pages long. 
I read this at the end of January and I can't remember anything from this book in the slightest. 2 stars

After not getting on with the previous graphic novel, I knew I would love this. Heartstopper is a 
series I fell in love with last year so when I found out a third volume was coming out, I made sure to 
preorder it. This follows the story of Nick and Charlie, and in this particular book they go on a school 
trip to Paris. I love their relationship and how they go through everything together. My favourite part 
of this volume was that sex was talked about. And instead of making the characters have sex, Alice 
chose for them to have a conversation about how they weren't ready, which I really enjoyed reading 
and admired because it isn't represented in books enough. I am so excited for volume 4. 5 stars

This year I began working with Wisteria Publishing which is an independent publishing house that 
was created by a writer with writers in mind. In February they had a collection of short 'anti-
valentines' stories launching written by 4 various authors. I had quite high hopes for this, as I do with 
a lot of shorter reads, but came out disappointed. I didn't get on or enjoy any of the stories and found 
myself just reading for the sake of it. I enjoyed each authors style of writing and would read from 
them again, I just didn't get along with this book. 2.5 stars

I heard so much about this book and since I have to buy all my books in paperback, I wanted even 
longer to get my hands on this. I had really high expectations, because there was so much hype 
surrounding this book and people talking about how they couldn't put it down. For me that wasn't the 
case. Despite reading this in 2 sittings, they were spread out over 6 weeks. After reading the first 100 
pages I found myself avoiding picking it up. I'm glad I read it and loved the overall style and message 
behind the book, but I didn't find it as gripping as I've heard people have found it. 4 stars

I originally saw this book in Waterstones at Christmas but avoided picking it up as I had already spent 
so much on books that day. I wish I picked it up sooner because I loved everything about this. It's 
split up into different chapters depending on your mood, so you can pick it up and read as and when 
you want. However I chose to read it in just 1 sitting, like I usually do. I found myself relating to 
every single poem/passage in this from the heartbreak to the love to the sadness. I can't wait to pick 
up volumes 2 and 3 next and look forward to connecting with those just as much. 5 stars

I was sent the Kindle edition of this book to review and I went in completely blind. After reading the 
description I realised it was going to be about astrology and expected it to be around 120+ pages, 
having 10 or so pages on each star sign. That wasn't the case. Instead this is less than 15 pages long 
and has 1 short passage on each sign, that I found to be completely unrelated to the astrology sign 
itself. The only reason I gave this two stars and not one, was for the sole purpose that I did enjoy 
reading each passage and thought they were beautifully written, I just wouldn't recommend it for 
this book or the context of astrology.  2 stars

This originally caught my eye in a book store in Amsterdam and after thinking about it for over 6 
months and it being sat on my Amazon Wishlist I decided to purchase this, and the following two 
volumes. I enjoyed the message and representation of discovering your sexuality and how different 
relationships with sex can look, as well as the heavy focus on mental health. The only downside I find  
to this book was that it was very repetitive and would often repeat the same things in each chapter. I 
look forward to reading the following two books and seeing her story continue. 3.5 stars

My solo exchange diary vol 1 - Kabi Nagata
This is the follow on book too; my lesbian experience with loneliness, but the first volume of her
diary. I wasn't disappointed with the first book but I wasn't overly in love with it, so I didn't know
what to expect with this book, however I ended up preferring this. It felt so much more personal and
honest and I'm really excited to read volume two. The only reason I didn't rate this higher is because I
most likely wouldn't read it again, but I would still recommend it. 4 stars.

xoxo
Lea-Mai

This post does contain gifted items (marked with an Asterix) however this post is no sponsored. See disclaimer page for more information.

14 comments

  1. I haven't read any of these reads you have mentioned, but I too am reading more, especially during the lockdown.

    I started The Flat Share last night, it seems really good so far.

    Amy x
    The July Rose

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    Replies
    1. I've heard amazing things about The Flat Share, I'm so excited to read it x

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  2. Ooh I love hearing about what other people have been reading- I’ve been reading so much more since lockdown & haven’t read any of these yet so it’s great to hear your thoughts!
    Soph- https://sophhearts.com/ x

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    1. Got so many on my TBR that I want to read, just don't know where to start x

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  3. I will have to check out the books you recommended! I’m determined to read more this year x

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  4. love Holly Bourne so much but haven't read that one yet! it's on my list for sure x

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    1. I have all of her books, but this is the only one I've got round to reading so far x

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  5. Definitely adding all these to my TBR list. I wish I could read more, definitely need to take more time for myself

    Katie x
    www.katiefloss.com

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    1. Graphic novels are the easiest way to get into reading so I definitely recommend checking those out first x

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  6. I've just downloaded a bunch of new books to my kindle so I'm gonna add some of yours too now!
    Rosie
    loverosiee.co.uk

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  7. I’ve enjoyed reading more in lockdown I’ll have to add these to my list

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