April 2025 Reading Wrap-Up
A big book, a silly book, loads of new releases, and a new favourite duology with autistic rep
Last month was an excellent reading month for me, as I read twelve books, all but three of which I rated five stars. My total page count was over 4000, which does not happen often. I read another Stormlight Archive book, a really weird children’s book, seven newly-released books, a super underrated YA duology, and some letters from two church fathers.
Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rhythm of War is the fourth book of the Stormlight Archive series that I have been reading through. Although I did still like it a lot, it is my least favourite book in the series so far, hence the lower rating. There are a few reasons for this, which I will discuss. First, there was not as much action, and it just felt like less stuff happened in this book as compared to the previous three, despite it being longer than all those ones. Secondly, the characters that I like the most (Shallan, Renarin, Jasnah, and Adolin) were not in this book as much as I had wanted them to be. The flashbacks in this book were written from the perspectives of Venli and Eshoni, and I have honestly never been much interested in the Parshendi, so that was another thing I did not like much. Things did pick up toward the end though, and I did get more invested then. It was still a good book, and I do recommend it!
It will probably be a while until I read Wind and Truth, the next book in this series, as I have heard some less-than-ideal things about it, with everyone I have encountered saying it was their least favourite book in the series so far. I do still plan on reading it at some point, but do not expect it to be anytime soon.
Urgum the Axeman by Kjartan Poskitt
⭐⭐⭐⭐
I wrote an entire post reviewing this book, so if you have not seen that yet, go read it! Basically, this is a book that I read when I was much younger and thought it would be fun to reread now as an adult to see how my opinion on the book has changed since I first read it. It was really fun to read, as there is just so much weirdness in this book! I had a lot more things to say in my full review, so read that for more information, but in summary, I still liked this book, just less than what I had liked it as a child.
The Fate of Dragons by Kaelyn Hamm
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I got an ARC of this book to read, just as I did with the second book in the series. Fate of Dragons is the final book in a young adult fantasy trilogy, called the Singers series, and I really enjoyed it! The book was just recently released on April 2, so you can buy and read the whole series anytime now.
This series follows a teenage girl named Cassy who learns she is a half-elf, and there is a music-based magic system. All three books are excellent; I loved the whole series and highly recommend it. Plus, this book obviously has dragons in it, and I can never get enough books with dragons!
The Gorgon’s Fury by Brandon Mull
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Gorgon’s Fury is the first book in a new sequel series to Fablehaven, featuring the hilarious satyrs Newel and Doren. During the satyr games competition one year, creatures around Fablehaven start turning into stone, and it is up to Newel and Doren to stop the gorgon that got loose before they too turn into stone. This book was better than I expected it to be; it was such a fun middle-grade fantasy quest story, but with a bit of a twist, since I had never read a book with satyr protagonists before! It is very short, so it did not take me long to read, and I found the story addictive the whole way through.
Fire and Ash by Erin Hunter
⭐⭐⭐⭐
This is the last Bamboo Kingdom book, a middle-grade fantasy series about pandas. It was a nice conclusion to the story, but nothing spectacular. Again, it is a short book, so I was able to read it quickly and get ahead on my reading goal!
Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Okay, I am now begging everyone in the world to read this book. Here, John Green tells the history of tuberculosis interspersed with the story of Henry, a young man from Sierra Leone who suffered from a drug-resistant, and therefore harder to treat, version of the disease for several years. Tuberculosis has impacted our world in such significant ways, many of which I had no idea before reading this book.
Everything is Tuberculosis is incredibly moving and so, so necessary, especially for those living in developed nations where tuberculosis is viewed almost exclusively as a disease of the past. Tuberculosis is the world's deadliest infectious disease, but it does not have to be this way. Despite being curable, over a million people a year die from tuberculosis because they lack access to reliable testing and proper medical care. We can live in a world where no one dies from tuberculosis. Let's make that happen.
Reliquary of the Dead by
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I was looking forward to this book quite a bit, as it is the first published novel by my favourite YouTuber, who has the channel Ancient Egypt and the Bible, which you should all subscribe to. It was excellent, and I highly recommend it to fans of science fiction or just anyone looking for a good story.
Reliquary of the Dead is a captivating start to a new science fiction series set in the 25th century. The protagonist is an Egyptologist named Pierre Gulet who winds up going to Gliese, an exoplanet where a colony of people from Earth has been established. There, he learns that things on the exoplanet are not going well and discovers some incredibly bizarre and interesting things. I found the book highly entertaining and especially enjoyed the ancient Egypt references throughout. It ends on a cliffhanger, so I am very much looking forward to reading the second book in a few months!
Storm Singer by Sarwat Chadda
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This was an excellent middle-grade fantasy standalone set in a medieval India-inspired world. The protagonist, Nargis, is an orphan girl who injured her hip at a young age, causing her to require a cane. When she is cast out of her community, she encounters a garuda, a part-human, part-eagle mythological beast, who requests her help. It is a beautiful story with many lovable characters and a music-based form of magic.
There were two things that slightly bothered me here, as they seemed a bit out of place. One was that the air pirates in this book have a plank on their ship for people to “walk the plank,” but actual pirates in history never did that; the whole idea of walking the plank originated from Peter Pan in the early 20th century. The other was that corn was mentioned once, and corn is native to the Americas, so it was a bit odd for it to be present in this fantasy world that is obviously based upon medieval India, where corn did not exist. Anyway, I realize those are very minor issues, and the book was overall a spellbinding tale with a good mix of action and amusing banter, so I highly recommend it!
On Democracies and Death Cults by
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
If I had known about this book sooner, I would have included it on my list of 2025 anticipated book releases, but I did not find out about it until after it came out.
is a super-based British journalist and author, as well as perhaps my favourite living atheist, and I had previously read one of his other books, so I knew I had to read On Democracies and Death Cults ASAP. This book is about the Israel-Palestine conflict, contrasting the democratic nation of Israel with the complete death cult that is the terrorist organization Hamas. It recounts in graphic detail the appalling atrocities committed on October 7th, 2023, against innocent Israelis, and how so many young people in Western countries have become literal terrorism apologists.Many things in this book were difficult to read, given how horrible the events of this war have been, yet I believe a book like this is so very needed in the times that we are now living in. If you have watched in shock as antisemitism has skyrocketed over the past year and a half and cannot understand why, read this book. If you think that the current conflict is all about land and religion plays no role in it, read this book. If you are unaware of Islamic leaders’ ties to and admiration of the actual Nazis, read this book. If you are a living human who cares about other living humans, read this book. More people need to understand what really happened that day and why so much of the world is intent on denying or even approving of the horrific actions committed in the name of a religion that glorifies death.
Why the Sparrow Cries by Hope Bolinger
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This is such a beautiful young adult contemporary story set in London. It all begins when a teenage girl named Harper visits the British Museum, only to encounter Homer, a literal time-travelling teenager from the Greek Dark Ages. As she struggles to get along with her mother, Harper must protect Homer from a mysterious stalker and figure out how to get him back to his own time. I loved Harper so much; she is one of the most relatable characters I have read about. There are many little details here I enjoyed seeing, from the funny Old Testament references to the fact that Harper's mom is named Livy Hesiod; I mean, how cool is that?
Also, I should mention that the author, who is autistic, has said that all her protagonists are autistic too, though the fact that Harper is autistic is never stated in the book because it was written before the author had been diagnosed. If you love ancient history, neurodivergent representation, and books that touch on the subject of religion but are not preachy about it, Why the Sparrow Cries is a book you should definitely read.
How the Eagle Dies by Hope Bolinger
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The second book of the Sparrow duology takes place two years after the first one, when Harper goes back to London to visit Homer after not seeing him for a long time. Then, they both get sent back in time to a fictional place called Palikari, where Homer is from, which gets Hellenized by the Greeks around 800 BCE. There, Harper has to learn to survive in a completely foreign culture, and potentially, find a way to get back to the present.
Like with the first one, I really liked this book. It is technically historical fiction, given the ancient setting it takes place in, but the fact that the protagonist is from the 21st century gives it an interesting twist. This series is also extremely underrated, so it is a great choice if you are looking for books to read that do not get much attention.
The Epistles of St. Clement of Rome & St. Ignatius of Antioch
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I will be the first to admit this: the amount of ancient Christian writings I have read is severely lacking. So, when I found a book containing all the letters of these two early church fathers, I bought it because I had been wanting to read them for some time. This book contains the letters of Clement to the Corinthians and of Ignatius to the Ephesians, Magnesians, Trallians, Romans, Philadelphians, Smyrnaeans, and Polycarp. The letters were good and I am glad I read them; the part about the phoenix was especially amusing! There is a lot of good information in here, and I would suggest reading this if you have not done so. The translation used some thees, thys, and thous, which I am not particularly fond of, but it was a nice read otherwise.
Those are all my April reads! I hope you found some good recommendations for books to read, or at least just enjoyed reading my thoughts on these books.
Great recs! I am especially interested in the John Green book! Requesting from my library now. Thanks!