Monthly Book Blog Wrap-Up: April 2022

It’s time for another monthly book blog wrap-up featuring the month of April. I felt busier than I actually was (?), mainly because the past couple of days I’ve been hard at work putting together posts for Wyrd and Wonder. Which has nothing to do with April, but so it goes! I surprised myself in April by posting for five days straight the week of April 4. That’s hardly the norm for me, so don’t get used to it. But keep reading to see what you might have missed this past month.

Book Reviews

I posted four book reviews in April. From earliest to latest, here are my recent book reviews.

Book Memes and Other Posts

I posted the following book memes:

I also participated in the Support Book Bloggers Challenge by writing about three (free!) things you can do to help book bloggers.

Statistics

A few more lovely people followed my blog to bring my total to 65 of my 2022 goal of 100. Thank you to my new blog followers for helping me make my way to that goal!

In April my blog saw more unique visitors than the previous month. I don’t know how or why I’m seeing this upward trend, but I’m super happy and thankful to see it! Please keep visiting!

In April my top five posts were:

#BeatTheBacklog

Lisa at Owl Be Sat Reading started the hashtag #BeatTheBacklog to rally those who want to make a dent in their TBR list. Two of the books I read in April fall under #BeatTheBacklog: THESE HOLLOW VOWS by Lexi Ryan and TELL ME AN ENDING by Jo Harkin.

Other Bookish Progress

I posted a massive book haul rounding up my purchases in March. It took forever to format, so please do click and admire all things bookish in that post.

I posted my Trope-Ical Readathon March 2022 Wrap-Up detailing the books I finished for that readathon

And I also joined Mythothon Round 6, where I posted by reads for Team Isis. I still need to do a wrap-up post for this…somewhere in between all of the Wyrd and Wonder posts.

Book Review: The Cicada Tree by Robert Gwaltney

Author: Robert Gwaltney
Publisher: Moonshine Cove Publishing, LLC
Publish Date: January 14, 2022
Print Length: 334

Official Synopsis

The summer of 1956, a brood of cicadas descends upon Providence, Georgia, a natural event with supernatural repercussions, unhinging the life of Analeise Newell, an eleven-year-old piano prodigy. Amidst this emergence, dark obsessions are stirred, uncanny gifts provoked, and secrets unearthed.

During a visit to Mistletoe, a plantation owned by the wealthy Mayfield family, Analeise encounters Cordelia Mayfield and her daughter Marlissa, both of whom possess an otherworldly beauty, a lineal trait regarded as that Mayfield Shine. A whisper and an act of violence perpetrated during this visit by Mrs. Mayfield all converge to kindle Analeise’s fascination with the Mayfields.

Analeise’s burgeoning obsession with the Mayfield family overshadows her own seemingly, ordinary life, culminating in dangerous games and manipulation, setting off a chain of cataclysmic events with life-altering consequences-all of it unfolding to the maddening whir of a cicada song.

When an eleven year old, whisky drinking, piano prodigy encounters a wealthy family possessing supernatural beauty, her ensuing obsession unleashes family secrets and a cataclysmic plague of cicadas.

My Review

I received a free, digital, advanced reading copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. My review is my own and reflects my honest opinion about this book.

I 100% chose this book based off of the title and cover. Last summer where I live was when we experienced the emergence of the Brood X cicadas. And I love (most) bugs. So even though this isn’t a genre I usually read, I thought I’d give it a shot.

The Cicada Tree is told through 11-year-old Analeise’s point of view in 1950s Providence, Georgia. It’s a slow-moving, mild, psychological thriller during which Analeise becomes captivated by the Mayfield family. The first half plods along taking its sweet time to introduce the reader to most of the characters and their personalities. To be honest, it moved a bit too slowly for me, particularly since certain synopsis highlights only come to focus in the last half of the book. The second half reads at a faster clip as the mind games begin and Analeise becomes evermore enthralled by the Mayfields.

Though the ending felt abrupt and unsatisfactory, Gwaltney kept me guessing at what would happen next. Every time I thought I knew what a character would do, they ended up doing something I didn’t expect. Only near the end did I more or less figure out one piece of this strange game of manipulation. I don’t quite understand how the cicada explosion fits into the story; I decided to just go with it. Maybe it has to do with the imagery of emerging. That is, like the cicada brood, Annaleise finds herself emerging into a cruel corner of her community; she emerges into the truth.

“I could taste it right away, the feeling in Etta Mae’s soprano–the taste of want. It was like cinnamon. Only a smattering. Red hot and honeyed. Then fading. Lingering just long enough to scald my tongue.”
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Another interesting and unexpected aspect I enjoyed is that Analeise can see and taste music, which is a form of synesthesia. The way Gwaltney describes how Analeise senses the various notes and tone of the music was beautiful. In fact, I loved all of Gwaltney’s descriptive prose. I’m not an expert on the culture of 1950s Georgia. But the way Gwaltney described it made me feel like I was there experiencing all of the conversational analogies and “-isms.” One particular favorite quote of mine is:

“We tolerated her like a fly at a picnic.”
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The author characterizes well the desire to be included, particularly among Analeise’s female peer group. The desire to fit in can be so alluring that even the stronger-minded find themselves stuck like a bug in a web. Gwaltney also captures the sweetness of the innocent and more oblivious in Etta Mae, Analeise’s friend.

Overall, The Cicada Tree is an interesting historical fiction, psychological, gothic thriller. Though I enjoyed the writing, I felt the pace of the story was off. This type of story ended up not being for me, so take my opinions with a grain of salt. I think if you’re a fan of The Dutch House by Ann Patchett (which I also rated similarly), then you’ll enjoy this book.

Rating: 3/5
Content warnings: gaslighting
Reading format: Kindle e-book

WWW Wednesday: March 9, 2022

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme revived and hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words.

The idea is to answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses.

What are you currently reading?

What have you just finished reading?

What are you going to read next?

Currently Reading: I’m currently reading The League of Gentlewomen Witches by India Holton. It’s technically an ARC from NetGalley. I’m only about 15% in, but I’m really enjoying it so far. It’s witty and well-written. It’s sort of haughty in a period English sort of way, but the story doesn’t take itself too seriously. I have no idea what to expect out of this story, but I’m excited for the ride.




Recently Finished: Late last week I finally finished The Cicada Tree by Robert Gwaltney. I’m not quite sure how to describe it. It’s sort of like a psychological thriller, but less thriller and more manipulation? It’s not a genre I usually read, but I decided to incorporate it into my Tropeical Readathon list. I started it several months ago, but got caught up with other goals. Long story short, I’m glad I finished it. Now I just need to write my review and post it on NetGalley.




Reading Next: I meant to start The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna next, but decided I didn’t want to travel with a thick hardback copy. So I’ll star this next after I get home from vacation.






WWW Wednesday: February 23, 2022

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme revived and hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words.

The idea is to answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses.

What are you currently reading?

What have you just finished reading?

What are you going to read next?

Currently Reading: I’m still working my way through Culture Warlords by Talia Lavin. It’s a heavy read and I can only get through one chapter at a time before needing to switch to something lighter. I’m also reading Blood of the Lost Kingdom by Kristin Ward as part of a Write Reads blog tour. It’s the next book after The Girl of Dorcha Wood, which I also read as part of a blog tour.




Recently Finished: I recently finished reading A Dance With the Fae Prince by Elise Kova. It’s a stand-alone novel that’s part of the Married to Magic collection, which is based in the world of Midscape. I wrote my review for it a few days ago. I’m not sure when I’ll post it since I still need to post my review of the first book, A Deal With the Elf King. Yes, I am a little behind on posting reviews, but that’s honestly how I prefer it. It means I have a handful of reviews to pull from and post if I find myself overly-committed one week.



Reading Next: I decided that in March I need/want to get back to making progress on my NetGalley shelf. So I will finish The Cicada Tree by Robert Gwaltney. I also plan to read, perhaps simultaneously, The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna, which I checked out from the library.





WWW Wednesday: January 26, 2022

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme revived and hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words.

The idea is to answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses.

What are you currently reading?

What have you just finished reading?

What are you going to read next?

Currently Reading: Right now I’m reading an ARC via NetGalley of Castle in their Bones by Laura Sebastian. Apparently this has been sitting in my NG queue for a little while. I didn’t realize it’s by the same author who wrote Half Sick of Shadows, which I loved. This hits bookstores on February 1. I’ll probably finish it by then, but I don’t think I’ll be able to write my review and post it on the blog by that date.




Recently Finished: The last book I finished is To Bleed A Crystal Bloom by Sarah A. Parker. It’s not the first “dark fantasy” I’ve read, but it’s certainly the darkest. I loved it. Right before that I finished Field Notes on Love by Jennifer E. Smith, which is a YA “meet cute” type romance. I wrote my reviews for both of these books, but just need to decide when to put them in the blog queue.



Reading Next: I’m either going to keep reading The Cicada Tree by Robert Gwaltney, or start The Broken Heart of Arelium by Alex Robins. The latter is for a blog tour with The Write Reads, so keep an eye out for my review next month.