Wyrd & Wonder Wrap Up

We have come to the end of this wonderful month full of fantasy! At the end of my first Wyrd & Wonder I’m feeling very glad I heard about this event – I’ve written more posts than ever before, and participated in my first read along, which was super fun. I met other very cool bloggers, and I really loved the weekly round-ups in which everyone’s posts were put in one place, I liked setting aside the afternoon to read through them.

At the start of the month I set myself a TBR of about 10 books, and actually on this instagram post I momentarily went mad and had 14 books on my planned reads for May, and actually I didn’t too badly, finishing up my 10th read just this morning. I did end up getting through all the ARCs I had set out to read so yay! I did also make it through about half of Malice by John Gwynne, and I know I might cause some outrage but I’m really struggling to get into his series. It’s better now that I’m halfway through but I still don’t feel the need to pick it up constantly. And I read a few pages of The Shadow of the Gods in my bookstore and it didn’t grip me yikes. But anyway, I might try finishing it next month. The last two weeks I did read a bit slower, doing one book per week because work has been busy and I’m moving next week so I have other things to fill my free time, but I’m still quite proud of the achievement.

If you missed out, here are all the reviews I wrote this month:

• The Witch’s Heart by Genevieve Gornichec ★★★★★
• Sairō’s Claw by Virginia McClain ★★★★★
• For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten ★★★★★
• King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo ★★★★
• The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid ★★★★
• The Wood Bee Queen by Edward Cox ★★★★

And for the books I read but haven’t reviewed:

• Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb ★★★
• The Craftsman and the Wizard by Joel Newlon ★★★
• The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri ★★★★★

I had a pretty good reading month in terms of enjoyability. So many good books, and most of them new releases for either May or June. Fantasy is on fire right now and just because Wyrd & Wonder is over doesn’t mean I won’t continue on my fantasy trajectory. I have many more lined up, but I am looking forward to hitting a few non-fantasy reads that have been patiently waiting in the wings.

Of course, there was also the read along of The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart, which I loved, as you’ll know if you read my posts. If you missed them, you can find them here: Week One – Week Two – Week Three – Week Four. Obviously, if you haven’t read the book don’t read my posts, as it’s spoilers galore. I think the appeal of the read along, apart from the social aspect, is the fact that I was able to discuss major events of the book without worrying about not giving things away, as in my reviews I aim to stay spoiler free.

Another great thing about blogging events, the prompts! I managed to squeeze quite a few in, so here’s the roundup:

• Top Ten Tuesday: My Latest Fantasy Reads
• Desert Island Reads which was probably my favourite one to do
• Highly Anticipated Books in which I look at 21 upcoming fantasy releases I’m looking forward to for the rest of the year.
• A mini-review of The Unspoken Name by A.K. Larkwood because of the #TropeTuesday prompt: with friends like these.
• Get to Know the Fantasy Reader Tag in which I look at my journey as a fantasy reader.
• My prompt catchup looking at days 19-29.

And last, but not least, the Wyrd & Wonder Bingo. This was super fun and if you want to see more about it you can go over to Imyril’s page at There’s Always Room For One More and see if there’s still time to join the fun! So, how did I do?

• Asian-inspired setting, The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri, which is inspired by Indian culture.
• Reluctant hero/heroine, The Wood Bee Queen by Edward Cox , which has not one but two reluctant heroes in it.
• Stand-alone, The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid.
• Freebie, King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo.
• I never knew my father, Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb, in which poor Fitz is still a bastard and orphan, and still has a terrible time of it.
• Retelling, The Witch’s Heart by Genevieve Gornichec, which is a retelling of Norse Mythology from the point of view of the witch Angrboda
• LGBTQIA author, Sairō’s Claw by Virginia McClain
• Chosen one, For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten, in which Red isn’t exactly you’re typical chosen to save the world character, but she was chosen from birth to be sacrificed to the woods, being the second daughter.
• Read along, The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart.
• Indie/self-published, The Craftsman and the Wizard by Joel Newlon.

There we have it! Thank you to everyone who read and interacted with my posts over this month, I look forward to seeing what everyone does next!

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IMAGE CREDIT: pegasus by Svetlana Alyuk on 123RF.com