Monthly Wrap-Up: July 2019

Let me say that I’ve seen the love in the book community. And I cannot be more prouder than I am of it and my dear friends (you know who you are). When I’ve been struggling with my Mom’s diagnosis, I had all the support I could ever wish for. And since Mom is done with her chemo (yesss!!!), I want to thank you all. I love you.

As some of you may have seen, I haven’t had much time with my blog. On numerous weeks, I have lacked any thrill in writing anything or was too tired. But I am slowly getting back into my routine, so please be a bit more patient with me, okay?

While July was a rollercoaster for me, I wanted to share some of the highlights of the month:

I hate life. And I hate responsibilities. They kill any reading time I do have. Okay, it wasn’t so bad. But I would have loved to have read more books. While one was disturbing (I explain below) and the other two were spectular, I had a pretty good month. So I can’t complain too much.

DEV1AT3 by Jay Kristoff

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Damn you, Kristoff. I don’t know what’s with his writing. But it sucks you in, destroys you, makes you want more, then angers you when you bloody well know you should have waited for the sequel to come out. I am fully rooting for Lemon Fresh and Cricket, my two darlings.

And yes, expect a curse-filled review soon. He deserves nothing less.

Honor Bound by Rachel Caine and Ann Aguirre

⭐️⭐️⭐️½

I haven’t been this disappointed in a sequel in a long time. I don’t know where it went wrong. While some people loved the plot twist and romance, which is creepy, I feel conflicted. I wanted to love it. My expectations were so high.

Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My only five-star rating of the month goes to this gorgeous novel. I can’t stop thinking about it. For grimoires to have personalities (!!!) just speaks to my soul. I adore the worldbuilding, character development, and storytelling!

Small haul, right? You’re not the only person surprised by it. July was so hectic that I had little time to grab any books. But I couldn’t forget these two though. I’ve started reading the first one and love it! I cannot wait to open up the other.

Spin the Dawn by Elzabeth Lim
Queen of Ruin by Tracy Banghart

If I were able to list all the 2019 Book Blogger Awards posts, I would! But alas, I don’t have the time. So I want to feature some of my favourite posts of the month!

Ally from Ally Writes Things tells it like it is. And she gives you awesome tips for mood reading.
My Slytherin sister Jess from Fiction No Chaser discusses growing out of YA and not caring what people think about her love of it.
Loretta from Laughing Listener made me buy Spin the Dawn. Why? Her review. I don’t blame you, my puffball. I love you.
Elaine from Elaine Howlin perfectly explains why Leigh Bardugo’s debut series is complicated. I loved her review.
I have way too many books to read. But let’s add an 80 Thoughts post. Dev from Read by Dev tells us why we need to read Kingsbane. I KNOW. I’ll get to it. Some day.