July has come and gone, and now it’s August. The local schools are opening back up soon, and fall is just around the corner. Personally, I can’t wait until the weather cools down and things start coming in pumpkin flavor.
Last month I made some new strides in my book blogging journey. For one, I started posting videos on my new BookTok account. I also received a couple of ARCs that I reviewed on this blog. Overall it was a great month for me.
This month I read five books. I wanted to read more, but I was visiting family in the middle of the month, and I wanted to spend all the time I had with them. Most of them were great, with only one of them being a little lackluster. There was also only one DNF book this month, which I’ve listed at the bottom.
Disclaimer: All opinions expressed are my own. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
★★★★☆
At the time, I liked this one. I think I was mostly looking at this book through rose-tinted glasses because thinking back, this book wasn’t as great as I wanted it to be. I read Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo before I even started this blog and I loved it. Sadly, I don’t think this book was as good.
This book takes place in the Grishaverse, the same universe as Six of Crows. Alina is a perfectly average young orphan working as a mapmaker for the army of Ravka. One fateful day, she discovers that she has a rare power and is whisked away to Ravka’s capital city to learn how to control and utilize it. Read my full review here.
The Beginning of Once Upon a Time by Kristy Dixon
★★★★★
I received this one as an ARC (but it has since been released), and let me tell you, I’m glad I did. This book is very lighthearted but still a lot of fun. It was a lot of fun trying to predict where the story would go next.
It follows the fairy princess Izla and her brother Thane. Izla love to use her magic to play matchmaker for humans, and to Thane’s chagrin, their father wholeheartedly endorses these schemes. Not only that, but Thane has been tasked with assisting in the matchmaking. The book follows the two as they end up catalyzing about half a dozen different classic fairy tales and trying to help people achieve happily ever after. Read my full review here.
The Last Pendragon by Jeanette T Queen
★★★★☆
I also received this one as an ARC and it comes out in a few days (August 8th, 2024 to be exact). I enjoyed it a lot. There were a few things keeping it from being a perfect 5/5 stars, but it came really close.
The story follows Elizabeth, a fresh graduate from university trying to figure out what she wants out of life. Shortly after moving back home to live with her grandmother, she discovers that the world is much more magical than she thought it was. As it turns out, she is not a nobody, but has an important role to play in defending the world from vampires and demons. Read my full review here.
Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
★★★☆☆
As much as I had hope for this one, this wasn’t it. Instead of getting better, all my problems I had with the previous book only got worse. Not only that, but this book had one of my least favorite tropes: not telling someone about a problem they need to know about. Also, it felt like nothing really happened for most of the middle third of the book. Things didn’t get interesting again until the last five chapters or so. I probably will be dropping this series.
This book picks up a few months after Shadow and Bone ended, with Alina and Mal joining forces with a privateer with a mysterious past.
Caraval by Stephanie Garber
★★★★★
After Siege and Storm left me disappointed, I needed something good. Reading this book paid off in spades. This one was hyped up a lot on TikTok, so I was worried that this would be not as good as I thought it would be. I was dead wrong. This book kept me enthralled from practically page one. It’s best to go in as blind as possible so I’m not going to summarize the premise. Read my full review here.
DNF Pile
- The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
This month had some ups and some downs in what I read, but I’m glad I read every single one of them. Here’s to a great August.
Happy Reading
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