May 2018 Wrap Up

I guess that this was the month of re-reads. Every year the BookTube community does a summer Harry Potter marathon. This has been happening for a few years and I wanted to actually do it as well. I am perfectly fine with this summer being a Harry Potter summer.

1. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, J.K. Rowling 5/5 *re-read*

“It is impossible to manufacture or imitate love.” 

The war against Voldemort is not going well: even Muggle governments are noticing. Ron scans the obituary pages of The Daily Prophet looking for familiar names. Dumbledore is absent from Hogwarts for long stretches of time, and the Order of the Phoenix has already suffered losses. 

And yet …

As in all wars, life goes on. Sixth-year students learn to Apparate, and lose a few eyebrows in the process. The Weasley twins expand their business. Teenagers flirt and fight and fall in love. Classes are never straightforward, though Harry receives some extraordinary help from the mysterious Half-Blood Prince.

So it's the home front that takes center stage in the multilayered sixth installment of the story of Harry Potter. Here at Hogwart's , Harry will search for the full and complex story of the boy who became Lord Voldemort - and thereby find what may be his only vulnerability.

I don't know why I started on the sixth book, but I did.

I love these books so much.

These books are fun and powerful to read. Every time I pick up these books it feels the same. I still feel like a child reading them for the first time. I don't re-read books that often and somehow these books never change for me. I love the characters, the plot and the emphasis on the power of love. After the Goblet of Fire it is obvious that the books are going to become more dark and they have. By the end of it I was sobbing. I honestly don't know how J.K. Rowling did it. 

2. The Princess Saves Herself in this One, Amanda Lovelace 3.5/5

“your happiness

comes before

anyone else's

happiness.

-the real meaning of 'self respect'.” 

A poetry collection divided into four different parts: the princess, the damsel, the queen, & you. the princess, the damsel, & the queen piece together the life of the author in three stages, while you serves as a note to the reader & all of humankind. Explores life & all of its love, loss, grief, healing, empowerment, & inspirations.

I've wanted to read this book for a while. It's one of those books where you see quotes on Instagram. It was also recommended to me since I loved Rupi Kaur's poetry. I did love this book but it is a little overhyped. It definitely resembles Rupi's poetry but it didn't give me the same feeling. It's very dark and serious poetry. I was very impressed at they had a 'Trigger Warnings' page. That's very important so that people know what they're getting into and I think all books should have that. This book was clearly very close to the author and her experiences. There is nothing wrong with that but it made it somewhat harder to relate to. That being said it was well written and I'm sure that it could be more relateable to someone else.

DFTBA

-AB