February wrap-up // The slump continues, but at least I discovered k-dramas

I’m glad that February is the shortest month of the year… Twenty-eight days are perfectly enough, and I’m eagerly waiting for spring. Spring is my favourite season, I just love weather that is not cold but not too hot either. I am fond of the waking nature, everything about that season feels so special. February was my worst month reading-wise in years, I don’t even remember the last time I only read two books in a month, it was either 2015 or 2016. I don’t mind if I don’t read that many books quantity-wise, but the fact that I didn’t even feel like reading makes me sad.

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Rating: 4 out of 5.

I liked On the Come Up by Angie Thomas even more than The Hate U Give. Bri is a really sympathetic character, and she has such a strong personality that it was fascinating to read about her. She made mistakes, but she always tried to make them up. I was fond of the rap excerpts too, it is clear that Angie Thomas is good at rapping.

Content warning

Child abandonment, mentions of homophobia, mentions of gang activity and violence, mentions of drug addiction, Harry Potter reference.

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Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

I discovered Fence: Volume One by C. S. Pacat when I was reading Caro’s review of the series, and it piqued my interest, so I borrowed it from the library. It was quite good! I didn’t fell in love with it or anything, but it was entertaining, and I will continue the series. I knew nothing about fencing before (though I always found it interesting), so I learnt quite a few things.

Content warning

Abandonment, bullying.

TV show updates:

• I’m caught up on Brooklyn 99! I watched season four, five and six at the beginning of the month, so now I’m waiting for the next to be available on Netflix. It’s still really entertaining!

• I started watching a k-drama called Run On. I’ve binged seven episodes in only a few days, and I love it so much! The main characters are extremely sympathetic, I relate to the male lead so much, haha.

• I rewatched 2gether: The Series. I still think that the last two episodes created an unnecessary drama (and now knowing that Pam in the book is such a cute and helpful person, while in the series she’s so bad… ah, it sucks, and I don’t know why did they have to change that), and it could have been better without it. I still love it with all my heart though.

I watched Sotus: The Series, a Thai BL series and I really liked it! It had a cute slow-burn romance, and the story was low on drama, which was great. I loved Kongpob, the main character, I was so fond of his funny and daring remarks. I also appreciated the fact the girl characters were so decent in this series, they weren’t there to stir unnecessary drama. The only thing is that the chemistry between the two boys was not the best, especially compared to 2gether: The Series.

I absolutely adored Romance Is a Bonus Book! I’ve wanted to watch a k-drama for a while now, so when I saw this in Ali’s January wrap-up, I took it as a sign. It’s set in a South-Korean publishing house, and it was so fascinating to have a glimpse of their everyday lives! The main intrigue is that Eun Ho is in love with his childhood best friend, Dan Yi, who is a few years older than him. I didn’t have a problem with this, but in my opinion, the actress who plays Dan Yi didn’t play her role that well. Eun Ho’s actor was really great, but I wish they cast another actress. It’s so sad because Dan Yi as a character is super lovable. I also missed some kind of transition between “we’re friends” to “we’re dating”, as it was not really authentic from Dani Yi’s part. The side characters were amazing though! I’m so glad that they weren’t stabbing each other at the back, but they were like a mini family. I’m especially happy for Seo Joon and Hae Rin! The mystery aspect was well-done too, I was surprised at the twists.

I finished the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina! I liked this TV show a lot, and I’m sad that they cancelled it. I think my favourite season was the third one, as it involved characters from Greek mythology, like Pan, Circe and a Gorgon. I think the last few episodes were not the best, and the ending was certainly not what I was expecting, but altogether it was a really enjoyable series. Though I am not fond of this trend that every character has to have a partner in order to be happy… Some of the couples had zero chemistry, and they just got paired for the sake of being in a relationship, which is such a toxic concept. (Unfortunately, this is quite common, and not just in TV series.)

No month can pass without me mentioning BTS in my wrap-up, I guess it’s become a tradition at this point. This time I want to show you Abyss by Jin. It was released last December, but for some reason, I haven’t listened to it until February, which is insane. It’s a beautiful song! I discovered Crystal Snow in that month too. It gives me goosebumps every time I listen to it. Also, I got the best birthday gift ever from BTS. They were on MTV Unplugged and played four of their songs, and covered Fix You by Coldplay. Well, it was released on the 23rd, but thanks to time zone differences, I only got to see it on my birthday, the 24th, and I listened to them loads of times. I still do. All of them are perfection, but because I don’t want to paste five videos, let me show you Life Goes On and Fix You.

I really liked the soundtrack of Romance Is a Bonus Book, and I wanted to highlight two of them, The Story I Couldn’t See (or Take My Hand) by Jannabi, and You’re Beautiful by Will Bug.

Taylor Swift is really the queen of productivity. She decided to rerecord her first six albums (the ones she doesn’t own), and the first one is Fearless, which will be released on April 9. But she dropped the new version of Love Story in the middle of February and obviously, I had to listen to it at once. It’s so good, guys.

February was quite similar to January in most aspects. I learnt Spanish with my friend, I danced to BTS and worked out almost every day, which I’m proud of. At the end of the month, when the weather was good, I walked a lot (one day I walked eight kilometres), which is something I want to continue, now that we’re heading into spring. I also started to learn how to play the guitar. Well, I only practised a few chords, but it’s something. I am currently learning how to play Wildest Dreams by Taylor Swift. There are only five chords, which are not that hard, but transitioning between them fast enough is really tough.

My birthday was pretty chill, I listened to BTS MTV Unplugged after getting up, then I had my Spanish study session, and after that, I sang and listened to BTS again, and then watched Netflix. I don’t see birthdays as big deals, I don’t think I ever had a birthday party, but I’m okay with that. I don’t look old enough for my age, and I certainly don’t feel like it. I think age doesn’t really matter, I’m not going to change myself to act differently as I’m more of an adult now. I think it’s important to save some childlike traits of ourselves.

How was your February? Did you have a great reading month? Have you found any new favourite TV shows or movies? Are you happy that winter is over? (Well, at least in the Northern Hemisphere.) Are you looking forward to the rerecorded Fearless album?

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