So…this month was really something. If you’ve read my last few posts, you might know that February was a trying month. A lot of stuff went down, and unfortunately, I got into a terrible reading slump. I seriously thought I wasn’t going to get a single book read this month, but that thankfully didn’t happen. I managed to get two books read! Definitely not a lot, but at least it’s something. Take a look!

The Honorable Imposter by Gilbert Morris

Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis: Forced by his family to become a minister in the Church of England, Gilbert Winslow is offered a dangerous and challenging task by one of the most powerful nobles in Britain. Taking the post offers fortune and escape from a life he despises, but Winslow discovers it also means becoming a spy. His mission is to infiltrate a group of religious separatists and to ferret out the whereabouts of their leader, who is accused of dissension against the King. In spite of his initial uneasiness, infiltration proves to be an easy matter. But will the ultimate betrayal be so simple? With the influences of good and evil, faith and doubt, compassion and selfishness pulling him apart, to whom could he turn?

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My bestie Kay Adelin sent me this book a while back (thanks!!!), and I was excited to read it! However…I feel like a lot of things happened to make me not enjoy this book as much as I thought I would. For one, I had just read A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. I didn’t think this book would live up to the hype I’d seen, but boy did it. And I didn’t have the second one, so not only was I in a book hangover, but a reading slump was coming on and the only thing I felt like reading was A Court of Mist and Fury (which, again, I did not own at the time). But I was like, I’ll just read something else? I should know better! I always end up having a hard time finishing books when I’m in that mood!

So yeah, it took me pretty much all of February to finish this book. I will say that it is a great story, but it either is not for me, or just isn’t for me as of right now. It’s funny because I always used to read historical stuff when I was little. Like, it was pretty much ALL I would read. But these days, I have a hard time getting into them unless they have some sort of weird twist in them, like Lovey War by Julie Berry or The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu.

I read one of the other Winslow series books a little more than a year ago, The Gentle Rebel, and I liked it well enough. I thought the characters were interesting, and I liked the action. I so wish I could say the same for this one. I feel like the characters just plain annoyed me at times, especially the love interest. I think the only character I liked was the protagonist, Gilbert, but even felt a little flat to me at times. I gave a star for the characters to add into my final rating.

The story was interesting, but I think I might just bored of this time period. I’ve read quite a few books about the Mayflower and all that. and each one is pretty much the same. I will say this one was a little unique because of the whole spy part of the plot, and that was interesting. But sometimes it really just dragged on when I feel it should have stopped, which is ironic considering that I felt like it ended very suddenly. I ended up giving a star for the plot, too.

I guess I have to talk about the romance. I can’t say I was very involved with it, and I honestly didn’t really care who he ended up with, even though I knew the whole time he’d end up with the main love interest. I mean, that’s what’s supposed to happen in these kind of stories, right? Anyway, I didn’t like how Gilbert would sometimes force himself on the love interest, Humility, I thought that was a little uncalled for. I gave half a star for the romance.

Finally, the writing. As I said, I’ve read another one of Gilbert Morris’ books before, and I also read his How to Write and Sell a Christian Novel. But I felt like his writing was a bit different in this one. Sometimes it annoyed me, and sometimes it was just plain confusing. I would have to read things slowly in order to understand what the heck was happening sometimes (or I just gave up and moved on, haha!). Still, it was better than I could do I guess! I don’t usually like to judge writing quality because I know I really am not that much better. Anyways, I gave it a star.

All in all, I think it was just down to preference and the mood I was in, and I probably shouldn’t have forced myself to read it when I was suffering from a book hangover. Decisions, decisions!

Rating: 3.75/5 Stars

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sanchez

Genre: Contemporary

Synopsis: Perfect Mexican daughters do not go away to college. And they do not move out of their parents’ house after high school graduation. Perfect Mexican daughters never abandon their family.

But Julia is not your perfect Mexican daughter. That was Olga’s role.

Then a tragic accident on the busiest street in Chicago leaves Olga dead and Julia left behind to reassemble the shattered pieces of her family. And no one seems to acknowledge that Julia is broken, too. Instead, her mother seems to channel her grief into pointing out every possible way Julia has failed.

But it’s not long before Julia discovers that Olga might not have been as perfect as everyone thought. With the help of her best friend Lorena, and her first kiss, first love, first everything boyfriend Connor, Julia is determined to find out. Was Olga really what she seemed? Or was there more to her sister’s story? And either way, how can Julia even attempt to live up to a seemingly impossible ideal?

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If you didn’t know, I work as a Supplemental Instructor at my old community college, and the class I’m the SI for is going through this book. So I kinda had to read it, haha! And y’all, like I wish I could have liked The Honorable Imposter, I wish I could have liked this one too, but I just didn’t. I appreciate the author’s desire to share her culture, and I especially appreciate her desire to spread the word about mental health issues in young people, it just didn’t do it for me.

I didn’t like any of the characters. I guess I got a tiny bit of an attachment to her extended family who lived in Mexico, but besides them, I didn’t really think anyone had nay redeeming qualities. Especially the protagonist, Julia. I get where she’s coming from, but she was such a jerk it was hard to see past that. I warmed up to her a little by the end, and I was able to relate to her in ways I didn’t think I would, but I stayed pretty lukewarm towards the cast. I gave a half a star for that.

I’ll read a contemporary every now and then, and I usually do like these types of stories. I like that I got to learn more about Mexico’s culture, and, like I said above, it was nice to see an accurate depiction of depression and anxiety. I liked the whole mystery surrounding Julia’s deceased sister, but funny story time: I already knew what went down with her. I also work as an English tutor, and I had helped a student in the past who was writing an essay on this book, so I got all the spoilers… ANYway, let’s just forget that for now, shall we? I also really liked the part where she went to visit her extended family in Mexico, because it made me think about visiting my own extended family. But y’all, sometimes stuff would happen in this story that just didn’t make sense. They would hint at major plot points, but I spent the time confused about things half the time. I feel like the author’s method of storytelling was a bit…unconventional, I guess. Which is fine! But it just wasn’t for me. I gave the story a star.

As for the writing, I spent half of the time annoyed with it. I feel like it went overboard with the descriptions which was a little boring sometimes. It jumped around too much for my taste, and it was easy to forget certain things that she would bring in at the beginning, then not mention again until the end. I just didn’t like the style, I guess. I ended up giving it half a star.

I wish I could have liked this book as much as some of my students did, but it just wasn’t a good reading month for me I guess!

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

Unfortunately, that’s it for this month. I feel like I’m getting back into the reading mood, though, so maybe I’ll read more this month? We’ll see! For now, let me know in the comments what you read this month! I’d love to hear about it!

As always, God bless y’all and have a wonderful week!