What a month. I think I was so close to giving most of these books five stars. It has really been an exceptional month for me and I can’t quite believe it. It has also been one of my best reading months in terms of quantity as well as quality! I read 12 books, which is my joint highest month with January.
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Okay, I know I’m just making excuses now but the end of June / start of July was horrendously busy. I had friends staying, then I got a new job (YAY!) and then I had my birthday weekend, which if you follow me on social media, you’ll know that I was all over the country celebrating! And that is why I haven’t posted my June wrap up until today.
On the plus side, I think I’ve kicked my reading slump in the arse and I got loads of books for my birthday so now if I just get some free time, ya girl is gonna read.
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This post is based on the questions for the ‘Mid-Year Freak Out Tag’, but I’ve edited it to suit my needs a bit better. I’m pretty sure most of these will be to no one’s surprise but let’s see! I’m still going to be doing a June Wrap up, which you will be able to find here, but for some more specific check ups, here’s how my 2019 is going!
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This is becoming a theme now, but welcome to the mess that is my life. I haven’t posted in over 20 days and that’s the longest I haven’t posted all year. I’ve said this at the start of all my wrap ups, but I’m still proud of myself that it’s only 20 days. Last year I was less consistent and my 2019 views for 5 months have already exceeded the entirety of 2018!
I’ve been having some issues with reading slumps and moods – I’ve been very much on a romance kick without having a lot of unread romance on my shelves. Also just life has been kicking me in the bum so Imi’s been absent – sorry, kids. Expect a comeback sometime soon.
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This year, I have been so good about getting reviews up before release with ARCs, but I can see myself beginning to fall behind so here’s a couple that are recent releases or soon-to-release that I haven’t got to yet.
New year, new me, new attempt at blogging a wrap up every month. Let’s see how long this lasts! I’m going to try and keep it pretty simple and to the point, in the hope that I can keep it up for the whole year, but we’ll see how that goes.
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As usual, I’m behind on reviews so let’s have a catch-up session on some ARCs I’ve read of late. A few of these were read as part of my #ARCAugust challenge (yes, that’s how behind I am) while others I read this month!
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Name: Curiouser and Curiouser (Steampunk Fairytales #1)
Author: Melanie Karsak
Genres: Sci Fi, Fantasy, Retelling
Publisher: Clockpunk Press
Format: Audiobook
Source: Author
Overall Rating: ★★★☆☆
GOODREADS | BUY
To save the Hatter, Alice must work with the one man she despises so much that she might still love him.
Alice thought she’d turned over a new leaf. No more working for Jabberwocky. No more making deals with the ruthless Queen of Hearts. No more hanging around The Mushroom with tinkers, tarts, scoundrels, and thieves in London’s criminal underbelly. But she’d been bonkers to dream.
Hatter’s reckless behavior leads Alice back to the one person she never wanted to see again, Caterpillar. Pulled into Caterpillar’s mad schemes, Alice must steal a very big diamond from a very royal lady. The heist is no problem for this Bandersnatch. But protecting her heart from the man she once loved? Impossible.
Sometimes love is mad.
*This audiobook was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review*
I’ve done pretty well this August, making my way through quite a few books on my TBR, those I managed to buy/scavenge/win at YALC and all while holidaying in Madeira, enjoying the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, house hunting and actually packing up to move! Check out my August wrap up to see what I managed to devour this month…
Because You Love to Hate Me edited by Ameriie ★★★★☆
KEY WORDS: Villains, short stories, fairytales, retellings.
I really enjoyed the concept behind this anthology and the execution was delightful, leading me to find some new favourite authors as well as falling in love again with the writing styles of my faves (hi there, Say Sha and Schwab). Having the stories followed by the booktubers’ prompt and commentary made this a more intriguing read as well as meaning I got to try and guess each prompt as I read the tale. Highly enjoyable.
See my full spoiler-free review here.
The Exact Opposite of Okay by Laura Steven ★★★★☆
KEY WORDS: Feminism, high school, slut shaming, guys are douchebags.
While not being released until March 2018, The Exact Opposite of Okay was exactly what I needed to read in the heat of a summer holiday. It was laugh out loud funny while still tackling important issues of high school bullying, slut shaming and revenge porn. Read this book when it comes out in March. Just read it.
See my full spoiler-free review here.
Micah Grey series by Laura Lam ★★★★★
KEY WORDS: Intersex, queer, magical, circus, adventure, coming of age, SO SO GOOD.
This series was everything I have ever wanted, but didn’t know it. At this time, I would say that all three novels in the Micah Grey series are up there in my favourite books I’ve read this year. If you love fantasy and adventure, read these books because they made my life infinitesimally better.
See my full spoiler-free review here.
The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James ★★★☆☆
KEY WORDS: Diary entries, emails, space travel, easy reading.
Easy reading and fast paced leading to a pretty chill day. And it releases today! Happy Release Day to Lauren James – head on down to Waterstones! Worth a read and perfect for younger readers in the YA category.
See my full spoiler-free review here.
The Treatment by C.L. Taylor ★★★☆☆
KEY WORDS: Mystery, adventure, adolescents vs. government, psychology, brainwashing.
The perfect thriller for younger readers. Intriguing story with great writing, making it a good read for all ages but especially perfect for those a little too young to get stuck into Paula Hawkins and Gillian Flynn just yet. If you’re a fan of these authors but not YA then check out Cally’s adult novels (I’m yet to read them but after reading this, they’re next on my list).
See my full spoiler-free review here.
The Arsonist by Stephanie Oakes ★★★★★
KEY WORDS: Adventure, thriller, mystery, Berlin Wall, Cold War, friendship, family.
Probably my favourite book of the month. A beautiful stand-alone mystery which follows the lives of three seemingly unrelated people who are thrown together one summer. Molly Mavity, a soon-to-be-orphan whose mother committed suicide and whose father is on death row for commiting arson. Pepper Al-Yusef, a boy failing out of High School who struggles to speak to girls. Ava Dreyman, known as “The Anne Frank of the Cold War”, whose diary and death incited revolution in East Berlin leading to the destruction of the Berlin Wall.
I loved every second of this beautifully written mystery.
See my full spoiler-free review here.
Prisoner of Ice and Snow by Ruth Lauren ★★★★☆
KEY WORDS: Mystery, adventure, sisterhood.
My first middle grade novel in what feels like forever, but still a very enjoyable read. A lovely little fanatasy that seld-describes as ‘Frozen meets Prison Break’ – Valor is on a mission to save her sister and break her out of the most secure and cruel prison in the land.
See my full spoiler-free review here.
Wunderkids Part 1: Wildwood Academy by Jaqueline Silvester ★★★★☆
KEY WORDS: Adventure, boarding school, mystery.
An intriguing boarding school adventure which leaves you on a crippling cliffhanger as you wait for the second installment, due to release in March 2018. When Nikka is accepted to Wildwood Academy for Talented Youth she thinks it’s heaven, then things start going wrong.
See my full spoiler-free review here.
Books read: 10
Pages read: 3,728
Approximate words read: 932,000
Books bought: 4
ARCs recieved: 6
NEW
New authors read: 16 | New series started: 4
FORMATS
Hardbacks read: 0 | Paperbacks read: 9 | eBooks read: 1
TYPES
Standalones read: 3 | Books within series read: 6 | Anthologies read: 1
GENRES
New Adult: 0 | Young Adult: 9 | Middle Grade: 1
Fantasy: 4 | Sci-Fi: 2 | Thriller: 2 | Contemporary: 1
What books did you read in August? What was your favourite? Let me know in the comments!
Name: The Treatment
Author: C. L. Taylor
Genres: Young Adult, Thriller
Publisher: HQ
Format: Uncorrected Proof (ARC) Paperback
Source: HQ Books, YALC
Publication Date: 19th October 2017
Rating: ★★★☆☆
GOODREADS | PRE-ORDER/BUYCecelia Ahern’s Flawed meets Never Let Me Go in the pulse-pounding YA thriller from the Top Ten Sunday Times bestselling author of The Escape.
“You have to help me. We’re not being reformed. We’re being brainwashed.”
All sixteen year old Drew Finch wants is to be left alone. She’s not interested in spending time with her mum and stepdad and when her disruptive fifteen year old brother Mason is expelled from school for the third time and sent to a residential reform academy she’s almost relieved.
Everything changes when she’s followed home from school by the mysterious Dr Cobey, who claims to have a message from Mason. There is something sinister about the ‘treatment’ he is undergoing. The school is changing people.
Determined to help her brother, Drew must infiltrate the Academy and unearth its deepest, darkest secrets.
Before it’s too late.
KEY WORDS: Mystery, adventure, adolescents vs. government, psychology, brainwashing
*I was given this ARC at YALC by the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review*
I think the best way to describe this book is what Cally says in her acknowledgements at the end of the novel – “Prison Break meets One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest but for teens”. If that sounds like your cup of tea then you 100% need to pick this up when it releases in October.
I always feel like I have to explain how much I enjoyed a book when I give it three stars because even I feel like it’s not a good rating but I have to confirm that it is. I enjoyed this book a lot. Three stars means I liked it, but when I see someone give books I loved three stars I get a bit upset wondering what their problem is. Thing is, three stars is a good rating. 3/5 is more than half, but when you only have the choice of one to five, you have to be really careful about what you give your four and five stars to.
The Treatment was intriguing, a story that explored family and friendship and an evil government (all recipes for success) through an adventure that puts lives in danger and looks into psychology and brainwashing. All exciting topics and very well written, immediately drawing me into the action. I liked this book, I promise.
The reason it doesn’t get four or five stars for me is because it, much like The Loneliest Girl in the Universe, seemed a bit on the youngest side of YA for me. It’s a personal preference, and I LOVE thrillers so I spent the whole book thinking, ‘god, I bet I’d love Cally’s adult novels’ (they are all now on my TBR). The only other thing I could fault it for, again, much like The Loneliest Girl was how quickly it concluded. It hit the climax of action and then suddenly everything happened in the last three chapter and it was over. The final “wrap up” chapter seemed a bit too much like, “eh, I’m done now so I’ll just tell you all these things so that the book is over”.
A solid three star novel that I would happily read again. Perfect read for a weekend away, train journey or summer holiday.
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