July Wrap-Up
Hiya bookworms!
Ok I swear this month has gone by so quickly. I’m going on vacation in August and I have yet to plan any of my itinerary! Does anyone else plan their vacations super last minute? Any tips on how to plan a vacation, specifically a road trip? Anyhoo, I managed to read 11 books this month which is a bit better than last month. I read more books from my mandatory TBR, but I’m still behind because I signed up for more book events and Netgalleys 😅 I’m also now 9(!) books behind on my Goodreads reading goal so I really need to get more reading in ASAP. Maybe I’ll read in the car on my road trip, but I think I’ll be too distracted by looking for deer 😂
My Library and the Public Library
The Okay Witch by Emma Steinkellner
Review:
I read the sequel first and loved it so much that I had to read the first book. It was really good but I enjoyed the sequel more. I thought the plot was interesting and the characters were just as well-written as they are in the sequel. Since I read the sequel first, this book felt like I was reading Moth’s origin story, and also Mr. Laszlo’s. I thought Mr. Laszlo was a cute cat character at first, but when you find out that he was the previous owner of the shop where Moth’s mom works, and was a bit like a father-figure to Moth, I felt like that’s just a touch bit weird and uncomfortable because now he’s with Moth basically 24/7 😅 Is it just me or do you guys think so too? Other than that, he reminds me a bit of Salem from Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Another thing that was kind of off to me was that Peter looked older in this book than in the sequel and I’m not sure why that was. One thing I liked about this story was how Cal and Moth resolved their differences about whether Moth should be taught magic or not. Also Charlie is still such a supportive friend and I liked seeing their friendship grow. Sarah on the other hand, she frustrated me so much with how she treated her daughter. She had good intentions (I think that was debatable lol but still) but handled everything with her daughter absolutely terribly. Her actions were straight from the class of: How to Make Sure Your Daughter Never Speaks to You Ever Again 101. The conflict resolution between her and her daughter was a bit abrupt, but I’m glad it happened so they could move on and we could get the nicer family dynamic that’s in the sequel.
4/5🌟
Elsker by S.T. Bende
Review:
Thank you @sushirainbow for the recommendation! This book started off so fast! Kristia, the main character, was just talking about going abroad and next thing you know she’s in the UK. Kristia also experiences visions which she describes as having a handicap. I never really read a book that portrayed visions as a handicap, but it was a very interesting take on that topic. When she first meets Ull, she mentions his facial expressions a LOT 😂 Everything in their relationship happens so fast as well. Their first couple dates were so cute though and definitely gave me butterflies while I was reading. After that, I though their relationship was meh lol. I really loved all of their friend dynamics though. Emma and Victoria were super fun roommates and I loved Victoria’s sense of fashion. Gunnar and Inga were so precious and I loved how close Kristia got to Inga; they were like sisters.
Regarding the plot, I really loved how we learn a lot about Norse mythology throughout the story. Some things I didn’t like were Kristia’s flip-flopping decisions and Ull’s patronizing attitude. Kristia spends the whole book being on Ull’s side and wanting to help him survive Ragnarok no matter what, but then she runs into ONE problem that isn’t even that bad and wants to break up with him, even though she was dead set on being his ride or die 😅 Also when Kristia is trying to help Ull with Ragnarok, he keeps being so patronizing towards her and keeps saying that she doesn’t know what she’s doing, doesn’t know what she wants, and that she’ll regret her decision. Like, dude, she has a brain and can make her own decisions so just chill. On a final note, I really want to try these waffles they kept eating! I’m also curious to see what happens in the rest of the trilogy, so I might pick the rest of the books up sometime.
3/5🌟
Netgalley eARCs
Saint Cecilia and Pastor Lawrence Volume 1 by Hazano Kazutake
Review:
This is such a cute manga! Cecilia is such a sweet character and her relationship dynamic with Lawrence is the cutest thing ever. They care about each other a ton and it’s fun to watch Lawrence try to decipher his feelings towards Cecilia. The little girl who had a crush on Lawrence was definitely my favourite part of the manga. She was hilarious and so adorable 😂 I’ll definitely be continuing with this series! On a side note, I saw someone’s review for this where they said that Cecilia is like the next Umaru-chan and omg LOL I can totally see this 😂
4/5🌟
Ya Boy Kongming! Volume 1 by Yuto Yotsuba
Review:
I loved this manga! It was so entertaining and I can’t wait to read the next volume! It ended on a major cliffhanger so I need to know what happens NOW. Funny story about this manga, I started reading it while my bf’s family was watching a Chinese movie on Netflix called Dynasty Warriors and it turns out the history in this manga is the same as the movie. The 3 brothers in this manga looked exactly the same as the 3 brothers from the movie too! What a coincidence 😅 I was so hyped for this manga after I realized this. Anyhoo, it was fun to see Kongming’s transition from ancient Chinese life to life in modern day Japan. I enjoyed reading about his new job and bonding with Eiko’s manager over his love of the Three Kingdoms period in China. I felt like there was a bit of fan service with some of Eiko’s scenes, but aside from that this was a really great manga!
5/5🌟
Hématite by Victoria Maderna
Review:
This was a cute little story with a dark twist near the end that I did NOT see coming. I liked the art style and thought the characters were all portrayed well with their magical characteristics, like how Hematite uses an umbrella during the daytime because the sun and vampires don’t mix. I also thought it was neat how the werewolf could change from human to werewolf and wasn’t always a werewolf like in some stories. Also the poetry in this book is great and really has that “romantic pining” tone down! Seriously though, that ending… just why… It was SO TRAGIC and I really hope things get better for Hematite in the upcoming volumes.
3.5/5🌟
Grimm Tales from the Cave Anthology by Cullen Bunn and More
Review:
Ooooh boy I really enjoyed this anthology. I was obsessed with fairytales as a child and had a special place in my heart for Grimm’s Fairytales. When I saw this on Netgalley, I just had to request it! I loved this anthology! It was so gory and creepy and omg I had chills reading some of the stories. For most of the stories, you could easily tell which fairytale it was portraying, but some weren’t as well-known, so some people might not catch the references. Lots of these stories are told in a modern-day setting which I think makes the stories have more of an impact on the reader, because lots of these situations could happen to anyone−minus the magical and occult parts lol. I think the art styles really suited the creepy vibes of each story and overall I think this anthology was really well done!
4.5/5🌟
Other (e)ARCs
Sisters of the Snake by Sarena & Sasha Nanua
Review:
Thank you Harper Collins CA for the ARC! I was on the street team for this book so I was super excited about its release. I think I may have overhyped it for myself though, because I did enjoy the book but it wasn’t as super awesome as I had expected. This is definitely just my own opinion and didn’t have anything to do with the writing style or anything like that, but I felt like the story just ended too happily(?) and the romances were super predictable. I also didn’t really see many examples of how Rani was so spoiled in the beginning of the book. It’s mentioned throughout the story that she was so spoiled, but she just seemed like a typical princess to me and acted how a princess would? Also the villain’s backstory didn’t make sense with their actions. I thought that their actions were extremely overdramatic for what happened to them and the backstory didn’t justify what they ended up doing.
Regarding the writing style, I think Sarena and Sasha did a really good job with writing Ria and Rani’s POVs together. I think it’s really neat how they both worked on each POV. I also liked how Rani’s conversational style was more polished than Ria’s, but I felt like some words that they chose were a bit anachronistic for that setting. An example of this would be when they use the word “gonna.”
I thought the characters were all so interesting and I especially loved reading Ria’s POV! Shima and Aditi were definitely some of my fav characters as well. I thought the character shift that happened to Rani’s parents was a bit jarring but I guess it makes sense given the plot. Also omg the worldbuilding in this book is SO GREAT! I loved reading about all the lore and folktales of the Masters! Omg and the food! I loved all of the mentions of food! Reading this book made me feel so hungry and now I just want to try all of the foods from this book.
Overall, this was a really interesting book and I got pretty invested in the story and characters so I can’t wait to see what happens in the next book, although I already have a pretty good idea of what might happen 🐍
3.5/5🌟
Strange Gods by Alison Kimble
Review:
Thank you Alison for the eARC! This was such an interesting book to read and I thought the premise was so fascinating. I was really invested in Spooky’s story for the first third of the book, but once she started going on her chain of adventures/tasks, the story became repetitive and I just wanted to reach the end. I loved the idea about the different Gods and how some would try to take over Earth. All of the creatures and beings in this book were also very creatively described. Carcass was great and I loved his personality; it was so fun to read. I was hooked in the beginning of the book where Carcass first meets Sppoky and she has to go do something for him. I thought the camp Spooky was forced to attend was so bad though. How the camp punished the children was literally like psychological torture. Also, the reasons the kids were there were things you wouldn’t even think of as criminally wrong because some of them were there just because of misunderstandings. One final thing I didn’t like about the plot was the romance. I honestly think that romance came out of nowhere and was completely unnecessary, especially given the circumstances. When I got to that part in the book I had to do a double-take because I was like wtf is happening 😅 Overall, it’s an interesting book though and I would still highly recommend it!
3/5🌟
The Okay Witch and the Hungry Shadow by Emma Steinkellner
Review:
Thank you Simon and Schuster CA for the ARC! I hadn’t read the first book before reading this sequel, but that was ok because Steinkellner includes a quick recap of what happened in the first book. This recap was super helpful and I feel like you could read this sequel as a standalone because of it. I really enjoyed this story of a girl discovering she’s a witch and her trying to navigate that while attending a school where her classmates are mean to her because she’s different − nerdy different because they don’t know she’s a witch. This book had some great messages about accepting yourself no matter what. Also, love the role-playing game in the story that’s similar to D&D!
In regards to characters, I loved how distinct their personalities were and how they all experience some character growth or changes throughout the story. Gor-Gar is so precious and he’s such a sweet character. Moth’s mom Cal is so supportive of Moth which is really nice to see. Charlie is also such a supportive and loyal friend, and he does his best to support Moth through her self-acceptance struggles.
One thing I really love about this story is that one single person does not take all the blame for what happens. Everybody accepted a small part of blame with what happened to Moth, which is way more realistic and it’s good for children to see that sometimes there are a bunch of little things that can contribute to a reaction or event, and it’s not always one person’s fault. I also like how things ended with Moth and the popular girls because second chances are a good thing as long as people show they’ve grown. Because of all these things, I highly recommend this book!
5/5🌟
Venus Underwater: Songs from Mermaidia by Julia Hengst
Review:
Thank you R&R Book Tours for the eARC! This was such a cute story and I think children will definitely enjoy reading it! The illustrations are beautiful although I wasn’t a huge fan of the art style of the mermaid’s faces 😅 I love how the blobfish is portrayed as a happy fish though, instead of the pouting fish we always see in pictures; it was cute. This book also has lots of fun wordplay such as “chakras” being “sharkras". The rhyming songs and poems are also very fun to read aloud. Angela McChickenface is also my absolute fav character from the book. How can you not like a character with that name, it’s great 😂 This book is also filled with lessons about kindness, mindfulness, self-love, and acceptance. Overall, I think this is a really great story to read to kids!
4/5🌟
Audiobooks
Jade City by Fonda Lee
Review:
This audiobook is WACK. It’s like Game of Thrones mixed with the mafia. Like holy crap. Go read this or listen to the audiobook asap because it’s SO GOOD. I love all of the characters and they are freaking spectacularly written. You will be invested in the lives of EVERY character! The family bonds and relationships are just amazingly written. I haven’t felt this strongly about multiple characters from a book in a long time. Also the worldbuilding is amazing and you really feel like Kekon and Janloon are real places. The politics in this book are so intense and it’s like nonstop action and intrigue. I loved reading about it! There’s also a plot twist near the end of the book that ruined me. I honestly didn’t think it was true for a bit and it took some time for me to accept that it actually happened. There’s still a small part of me that hopes it will undo itself in the second book though, but I highly doubt that’ll happen 😅 Anyhoo, seriously go check this book out. It’s amazing. I didn’t think I would like it because it’s not the usual type of book I’d read, but I gave it a shot and I’m so glad I did!
6/5🌟
That’s all for my wrap-up! If you’ve read any of these books, I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below! Also, if there’s one book from this list you definitely add to your TBR, I hope it’s Jade City 😜
Happy reading!
