As we gradually shift from the bright blues of summer to the softer hues of autumn, it is time for me to share the books I read this summer. I managed to read a total of sixteen books over July and August. My reading has been staying pretty consistent, with my average amount of books read per month staying at eight.
July
As I mentioned, I've been reading roughly eight books a month and July was no exception. I read a lot of new releases as well as continuing to tackle my TBR pile.
The first book I read in July was The Court of Miracles by Kester Grant. I had heard good things about this book and it was supposed to be a fantastical retelling of Les Miserables. I have a weakness for stories set in France, specifically Paris. I saw that this was on offer on the Kindle store and bought it for a mere 99p. I'm glad I decided against buying it in physical format as I ended up not enjoying it as much as I hoped. I have a full spoiler filled review, which you can read here. I would say my main complaint is that the narrative jumped around too much for my liking and offered very little explanation as to why. I ended up being underwhelmed by this book and have no intentions of continuing the series. I gave it 3/5 stars.
Next I read Fly by Night by Frances Hardinge. I picked this up three years ago as a World Book Day book as I knew Frances had won a Costa award for her other works. I enjoyed the first chapter and that was about it. I think this was aimed at someone a lot younger than me and I could see the appeal in why a younger audience would enjoy this. I struggled with staying engaged with it and was very glad when my time with it came to an end. I gave it 2/5 stars.
Then I read a book I was really excited for, it was probably in my top three books for the year, and that was Loveless by Alice Oseman. Alice has become a favourite author of mine in the past year and I will order anything she writes. This is another one I have a full review of, which you can read here. It had amazing ace/aro rep and was another classic YA Contemporary from Alice. I did find it a bit repetitive at times, but apart from that I thoroughly enjoyed my time with it. I gave it 4/5 stars.
An unexpected love of mine was the Traveling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa. I had bought this years ago and had decided to finally pick it up. It's about a Japanese man who adopts a cat from the streets and their lives together. It is told mostly from the perspective of the cat, which added a lot of humour to the book. It was a very easy, yet highly entertaining read. I believe there are plans for it to become a film at some point in the future. I gave it 4/5 stars.
A hyped up book that I decided to purchase was You Should See Me In A Crown by Leah Johnson. I knew that this was a Black Girl LGBT+ Rom Com going in and if that doesn't get you to want to read it, then I don't know what would. I found it very funny and sweet. It was the perfect summer contemporary. My only complaint is a personal one and that it was written in first person. I generally struggle with first person, I just don't vibe well with it for some reason. Apart from that, it was a solid cute contemporary. I gave it 4/5 stars.
The next book I read has become a new favourite of mine. That is The Diviners by Libba Bray. Evie O'Neil is my new favourite female fictional character. I loved the setting and the mystery. I will say that it does take a while to get to the central plot but once you're there, then it gets really good. I also have a review for this one, which you can read here. I had the audiobook from before I cancelled my subscription and the audiobook was superb. I gave it 4.5/5 stars.
Moving away from 4 star books, my next read was Girl, Serpent Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust. Again, I had heard good things about it, particularly the LGBT+ rep. In the end I had mixed feelings about this book. I felt it could have been shorter as it dragged out the story quite a bit. I enjoyed the first section of this book, but I struggled with the middle and ending. I had wanted to really enjoy this but it ended up falling flat for me. I gave it 3.5/5 stars.
My final read of July was The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutowski. Back in the day, I had heard amazing things about this book, especially about the political side of it. What I read, I found dull and unenjoyable. Nothing happened in this book. I didn't care for either of the main characters. I just found it disappointing. I gave it 3/5 stars.
August
August is my favourite month of the year as it is my birthday month. I also had quite a good reading month too, which made August an even better month. I managed to read eight books in August.
The first one is actually one I started in July but finished in August and that was Carry On by Rainbow Rowell. I know there is lots of controversy around Rainbow at the moment, due to some accusations of racism in her book Eleanor&Park. I have decided to donate all of the books of hers that I own as I have come to the conclusion I'm not a big fan of her work and I don't want to support someone like that. Carry On is a well loved book, but personally I had a lot of issues with it. My main one was you could tell it was written by an American author trying to make it sound authentically British. I also found the characters very annoying and didn't care for the plot. I've seen a lot of descriptions of it being a "knock off Harry Potter", which I agree with to some extent. This did start as fan-fiction from one of her other books, so I don't know why it became an actual book. It was not for me in the end, so I gave it 3/5 stars.
I then jumped back into The Diviners series, by reading Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray. This is the second book in the series. While I still enjoyed it, Lair of Dreams suffered from second book slump syndrome and was not as engaging as the first book. I did love reading more from Henry, who has become another favourite character of mine. I didn't like the introduction of a love square. The romance felt kinda unnecessary. The mystery was not as engaging as the first book as well. I have a full review of this book, which you can read here. I gave it 4/5 stars.
A quick read for me was the script for In Bruges by Martin McDonagh. Martin is one of my favourite screenwriters and In Bruges is a family favourite film. I've watched about six times in the last year, so I finally decided to read the script for it. There were some bits that were different from the film, but apart from that it was an easy and fun read. I gave it 4/5 stars.
Next I read Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor. Laini is one of my favourite authors, I adore the Strange the Dreamer duology. I had actually read the first book in this series, Daughter of Smoke and Bone, over two years ago. I decided to finally continue with this series. I think leaving such a big gap between books was a mistake. I struggled to understand the world and the plot, but Laini's writing is so beautiful it makes up for that. I was glad to be back in that world, but the two year gap between instalments was a bit confusing. I should have probably reread the first book, but I really wanted to finish this series. I gave it 4/5 stars.
Once again, I jumped back to the Diviners with Before the Devil Breaks You by Libba Bray, the third book in this series. For a series I loved so much, I found with each book I enjoyed it less and less. I had major issues with a certain element of this book, which I will be writing about in my review of this book. Again, I didn't care for the mystery as much. But I adore these characters and the setting so much. I gave it 4/5 stars.
Another Alice Oseman book I read was the newly released paperback for Nick and Charlie, a Solitaire novella. While I found this a cute and easy read, it was filled with far too much drama for my liking. It was also fairly predictable. I did read this in one sitting, which was nice. I love Alice, so I gave this 4/5 stars.
I finally finished the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series, by reading the final book, Dreams of Gods and Monsters. Now that I was back in this world, I had a grasp on what was happening. I really enjoyed the first part, but ended up struggling quite a bit with the second half. Laini is a great writer and I really admire her writing style. I'm glad that I've finally finished this series, even if it did take me over two years. I gave it 4/5 stars.
My final read for August was a slightly unsual one and that was The Promise: An Avatar the Last Airbender Comic bind-up. I recently rewatched ATLA for the first time in many years and fell head over heels in love with it again. I had been meaning to pick the comics up for a while, so I treated myself to one. I found it enjoyable. It takes place after the series has ended, so I won't go into details about the plot as to avoid spoilers. I will say that it felt a bit filler-esque and was setting it up for the next comic book. I gave it 4/5 stars.
That concludes my wrap up for July and August. I'm really happy with all the books I've been reading lately.
Carenza :) x
