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Helen Reynolds

April Wrap-Up

"I always keep two books in my pocket, one to read, one to write in." - Robert Louis Stevenson

In Reading...

This month I only read one fantasy?! I don't know what happened there. But I do know I joined a rebellion, was made hostage in a school, rapped like a Queen, adopted a cat, came out of retirement to solve a murder and got the f*** out of the dream house.


The books of April, with links to my thoughts on them:

Three Hours by Rosamund Lupton

On The Come Up by Angie Thomas

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

In The Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado


Favourite read was In The Dream House. Okay so I did also give 5 stars to Days of Blood & Starlight and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd because damn, those were masterful. But In The Dream House was stunningly different. I absolutely loved the unflinching exploration Machado does of her own life and how her story is one of many that needs telling. The way it's written blew me away and it will stick with me for a very long time.


Worst read was Pet Semetary by Stephen King as I had to stop reading after maybe 150 odd pages? It's well written and I liked the characters, the setting and even the plot. I just found the way it was told was too passive and slow. I couldn't get myself to keep reading.


In Writing...

I freaking finished writing my novel. The first official draft is 102,557 words. Yes, the ending is absolute garbage and I probably need to write an epilogue of some kind. But the first stage is done. Currently have it sent to beta readers, planning on printing it again to make more changes during the month of May, and then it's query time.


In Life...

Easter was super fun this year as Oscar, sort of, had an egg hunt. He enjoyed the chocolate in any case. Loving the weather being all sunny and today I'm particularly happy because Guz is back home after a work trip that involved travelling with a sprained ankle.

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