What I read in February 2021

If you’ve been around here for a while then you’ll know I love reading. In fact a few years ago I used to write regular book reviews on here. I fell out of love with them though so I stopped. Last year I posted a few bookish posts though and I really enjoyed writing them. So I’ve decided to give monthly book round-ups a go instead. So here’s the second one with mini reviews of all the books I read in February 2021.

I will say I’m not the worlds fastest reader so unlike a lot of book bloggers who can fly through a few books a week (like, how?!) I usually average a couple of books a month. That’s fine though, it’s not a race and I’m not a book blogger I just really enjoy reading and I love talking about books!

Also you won’t find any books rated below 3 stars on here, a few years ago I decided if I just wasn’t feeling a book then I wouldn’t force myself to carry on reading it. There’s too many good books to read to waste time carrying on with bad ones!

The Burning Girls

Author: C. J. Tudor | Genre: Thriller | Length: 400 pages

C. J. Tudor has been mentioned in quite a lot of my bookish posts and there’s a very good reason for that. She’s one of my absolute favourite authors. I genuinely look forward to this time of year knowing there’ll be a new novel out by her! The Burning Girls is her fourth novel and I absolutely powered through it. I just couldn’t put it down!

Chapel Croft has a lot going on for a small village. Five hundred years ago eight protestant martyrs were burnt at the stake. Thirty years ago two teenage girls vanished and two months ago the local vicar committed suicide. When Reverend Jack Brooks moves to Chapel Croft with her daughter hoping for a fresh start she finds the village has more in store for her than she’d hoped for. With secretive locals, strange figures sighted in the chapel and the odd welcome gift of an exorcism kit. Jack knows more than anyone that everyone has something to protect but uncovering the truth may just put her and her daughter in danger.

I’ve enjoyed every single one of C. J. Tudor’s novels but this one has probably worked it’s way to the top. This book has everything you could possibly want from a thriller and a fantastic ending that I definitely did not see coming. Tudor has definitely outdone herself with this one!

The Thursday Murder Club

Author: Richard Osman | Genre: Mystery | Length: 382 pages

Despite seeing quite a lot of good things about this book, I had a few reservations. I will read pretty much anything apart from chick lit but my favourite novels and definitely dark and creepy, thrillers, historical fiction and crime novels are my thing. So when something is described as a ‘cozy mystery’ it doesn’t quite fit into that dark, creepy category! But I decided to give it a go and reserve my judgement until I’d tried it and I’m so glad I did because I loved it!

In a nice, upmarket retirement village gathers a secret club calling themselves the Thursday Murder Club. They have access to old crime cases and set about trying to either solves them or come up with their own theories as to what happened. When the local developer for the retirement village is murdered the club suddenly find themselves with a very active murder case to solve. The bodies begin to pile up and the case unravels and the unlikely group of crime fighters find themselves doing a better job than the police. Through unorthodox methods and fun adventures the group set out to solve a mystery that has more twists and turns than any of them ever thought possible.

I honestly think the term cozy mystery is perfect for this book. It has some fun, lighthearted moments, a good crime mystery at the heart of it but it’s a really feel good novel too.

The Ghost Garden

Author: Emma Carroll | Genre: Children’s historical fiction | Length: 96 pages

Now let me start off by saying that I love Emma Carroll’s books, she’s up there with one of my favourite authors but all of her previous books I’ve read have been young adult books and unfortunately this children’s book just didn’t live up to my expectations.

When Fran unearths a bone in the gardens of Longbarrow House she begins to worry that she’s triggered a chain of events. On the same afternoon, Leo the grandson of Longbarrow’s owner breaks his leg. Are the two incidents connected? Fran and Leo team up to find out what’s happening. With the threat of war looming over Europe, the pair discover eerie shadows of the future lurking in the grounds of Longbarrow House.

I did like the idea that this book introduces World War One to children in a way that they’ll enjoy and understand but because I’m used to Emma Carroll novels being packed with detail I just felt like this one was lacking something. It was an interesting story but it seemed to be over before it had started.

So that’s what I read in February! A bit of a mix of books. The stand-out book this month was definitely The Burning Girls.

What did you read in February? Let me know in the comments!