February Wrap Up (2025)

 Hey guys, this is Abi here, 

And I'm back with my first 2025 Wrap Up... in February. 

Hey, it's okay! I was reading Harry Potter for the entirety of January- it's fine. 

I read a total of 6 books in February, and considering it's only 28 days, I'm happy with that. 

I was hoping it would be 7, but I will hopefully be finishing my CR by the end of the week. 

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this. 

1. Friday Black, by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

I haven't thought about this book since, maybe a few days after finishing it at the srtart of the month, but seeing the cover has brought it all back. Friday Black is only a series of short stories, but they sure do pack a punch. In only a few pages, each story makes you feel something. With some, it's anger. With others, you feel sorrow. With a couple, you feel fear. They each hold their own, none is better than the other. 

Based off of the title, I'm hoping you'll be able to tell what some (not all) are about. It's true, some of them raise the issue of racism, which is present, even decades after people started standing up for people of colour. Other stories are about greed, about violence, about most of the injustices that are present in society today. 

This book is extremely short, but if you care about anything I have said about this book today, do yourself a favour and read it. You won't regret it. 

2. Malibu Rising (Reidverse), by Taylor Jenkins-Reid

I don't know how I did this, but I read this in three days. There was something just so readable about this that made me not want to put it down, or at least, pick it up whenever I had a spare moment. Malibu Rising is very much a family orientated book, focusing on each of the children of world-famous single Mick Riva. They each have their own lives, their own journeys that their on- and their own secrets. Secrets that will bubble to the surface at their annual end of summer party- a party that's very much in the public eye, as anybody whose everybody will be there. 

Drinks will be poured, secrets will be washed up, and before dawn, the house will go up in smoke. But it's what happens before that, that changes everything. 

With this book, we follow the Riva family, from when the Riva children's parents fall in love, when each of them is born, all the struggles and hardships they go through, all the way to the legendary party, as grownups. Maybe it was the urge to find out what happens next, what it was that contributed to all of these dark secrets. But whatever it was, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the Riva children, and their missing father. 

3. What Does it Feel Like? by Sophie Kinsella

If you didn't know, What Does it Feel Like was one of the books on my Anticipated Releases post for October-December for last year. It's based on Sophie Kinsella's own diagnosis and recovery of her malignant brain tumour, back in 2022. It's told in a series of anecdotes and conversations, starting right when she's writing the first draft of a new book, when the book is released, when it becomes a film, and then after surgery, and her recovery. It's so simply written, so matter of fact, that it almost feels blunt when you realise what's happening. 

The word for this book, like Psycho, is concise. What Does it Feel Like does not tread lightly. But hope is threaded into the story as well, as the story goes on, that Eve will grow stronger, get her memory back, beat the odds. It's such a simple story, but it's powerful. I hope this isn't my last Sophie Kinsella book. 

4. The Pieces of Ourselves, by Maggie Harcourt

I must have really been in the mood for emotional books this month, this is the fourth one on the bounce! I ordered this immediately after finishing my re-read of Theatrical, and finding out that I wanted more of Maggie Harcourt's writing. It didn't matter to me that it wasn't about theatre, and backstage, I just wanted more. That's when I came across this. 

The Pieces of Ourselves is about a girl called Flora, who is trying to piece her life back together after a devastating 'incident' that apart her life as she knew it. It's a year later, and Flora is struggling to come to terms with her diagnosis, and trying to establish what's usual for her. She's working at a hotel, just trying to get through the day, when she's tasked with helping a young man, trying to find out more about a couple he know had something to do with the hotel. That's the starting point. 

What happens next is a story about Flora's own self discovery, as she delves deeper and deeper into this mysterious couple's lives, along with Hal, and their journey as they become closer. It's a truly beautiful story, that deals with sensitive subjects, and has a small amount of romance in it, but it's not the main focus. 

This is only my second Maggie Harcourt book, and I have no doubt that I will be reading the others soon. 

5. Psycho (Psycho #1), by Robert Bloch

Hey guys, I have a review for this. It's linked into the title. 

You don't need to read the same words twice- go and read the review if you're interested in this. All my thoughts are there. 

6. The Hatmakers (Cordelia Hatmaker #1), by Tamzin Merchant

If I'm honest, it was the second book that caught my attention. I thought it was a standalone, it looked like a standalone. 

Then I read the blurb and realised that 1)it was in fact a series, and 2) The Mapmakers was actually book 2. So what did I do? Naturally, I bought book 1. 

I've completely forgotten about how excited I was for book 2, because I was so invested in this. 

Cordelia Hatmakers is from the Hatmakers family (of course, it's literally in her surname), and is one of the five exclusive maker families in England. She is desperate to show how good she is, by finally making her own hat, until all her hopes are washed away- word is sent that the boat her family owns, currently out at sea, collecting a feather for the King's Royal hat has sunk, with everyone, including her father, on it. Aside from this devastating loss, someone is robbing all the Maker families, and trying to start a war between France and England. 

Cordelia is convinced her father is still alive somewhere- but how can she convince her family of that when she has no way to prove it? Especially as these weird robbings keep happening...

The Hatmakers is a fun, fast paced story, full of magic, interesting characters and well thought out plot. I kept wanting to get to my next available moment so I could see what happens next. 

On to book two... 

And those are all of the books I read in February! I'm sure you can guess what the next one would have been if I had finished seven, but you won't have to wait long, because my TBR should be out within a couple of days! 

As always, feel free to comment what books, or even videogames/tv shows/ films you watched in February! 

I hope you have a wonderful evening, and I'll see you all soon! 

Byeeee! 

-Abi xxxxx