Majority of this month's reads were audiobooks. I read 18 books in the month of July, participated in Becca's BookoplAthon and The Reading Rush.
CATCHING FIRE BY SUZANNE COLLINS
Catching fire is the second book in the Hunger Games trilogy. Katniss Everdeen has survived the hunger games with her fellow district 12 tribute Peeta Mellark. This book disappointed me. Only a little bit of it was actually the Quarter Quell and the rest of the book was just boring. Collins elaborated in too much depth for things that didn’t really help with the plot and rushed over things that I liked. But I did enjoy the little bit of quarter quell that was in the book. I did enjoy seeing Katniss thoughts about what she was thinking as the events happening throughout the book.
3 ★
MOCKINGJAY BY SUZANNE COLLINS
Mockingjay was the final part of the Hunger Games trilogy. Katniss has survived the Quarter Quell but without Peeta. It did have a bit more action in this book than the other two, and I felt like Collins didn’t go into unnecessary depth for parts of the book. This book really didn’t make me have any feelings towards this book, it wasn’t bad and it wasn’t good, the only bit that made me feel was the death of a character that hurt.
3★
BookoplAthon
THE BOY WITHOUT A SOUL BY MICHAEL PANCKRIDGE
This is the last book in the Book of Gabrielle duology. Gabrielle is an orphan without any memory of her past. She is not like any other children, she is cursed or blessed with special powers. This was a reread for me and it definitely was not what I remember. It was a good read, but I think I have outgrown this series. It also had a very dark theme that I didn’t expect, which I didn’t mind.
3★
THE WICKED KING BY HOLLY BLACK
The Wicked King is the sequel to The Cruel Prince. I liked Wicked King more than Cruel Prince. I found the characters less annoying, I was able to imagine the world of Fae more and I really enjoyed the relationship development between Jude and Carden.
3★
THE GIRL FROM SNOWY RIVER BY JACKIE FRENCH
I have a hot and cold relationship with this author, so I went into this book not knowing whether this would be a book I liked or not. The Girl from Snowy River is also on my self destruct list. This book surprised me, it took a while to get into, but I powered through and glad I did. Flinty was such a strong character and made this book worthwhile to read. Seeing her struggles were hard to read, I can not say whether the rep in here was accurate personally, but I felt like it was done well.
3★
DOWN AMONG THE STICKS AND BONES BY SEANAN MCGUIRE
Down Among The Sticks and Bones, is the second book in the Wayward Children series, and this follows Jack and Jill and how they got to where they were in the first book. I liked the rep in here, and McGuire was able to make the atmosphere so dark and gloomy, but Jill just ruined this book for me. She irritated me, I don’t know if you were meant to feel sorry for her, but I didn’t and I didn’t like how Jack helped her, like seriously.
2★
THE HOLLOW GODS BY A. J. VRANA
I received an eARC of this from NetGalley and my full review is up. This was the first book in the Chaos Cycle Duology and I loved it. This book was creepy, atmospheric, mystery-filled and kept you on your seat. The Folklore was amazing and the characters were very realistic. The rep in here was great, I can’t personally say that for the grief rep, but the anxiety was amazing. I was reading parts and I thought this is what I feel when I get my anxiety attacks.
See my full review - https://bookishequestrian.wixsite.com/mysite/post/the-hollow-gods-by-a-j-vrana-review
5★
BEDLAM BY DEREK LANDY
Bedlam is the 12th book in the Skulduggery Pleasant series. It was a very fun read, it made me laugh, it made me cry and it made me rethink everything I thought I knew Derek Landy was capable of doing. It surprised me and I felt a tiny bit disappointed in the ending, but the more I have thought about it the more I understand. I can’t wait to see what happens now.
5★
MAYBE NOW BY COLLEEN HOOVER
This was the sequel to Maybe Someday, and I enjoyed it, but definitely not nearly as much as the first book, and I felt like it wasn’t up to the same standard as Hoover’s other books I have read. I liked seeing Maggie’s POV, but it was just a letdown and not sure it was needed.
2★
READING RUSH
DARKWHISPERS BY VASHTI HARDY
This was the sequel to Brightstorm. Darkwhispers follows twins, Arthur and Maudie as they go on another skyship adventure. This was a very fast-paced read, atmospheric and action-packed. It had good protagonists and a very evil antagonist. I loved the animals in here, like the first book, they were my favourite part of the books. It was just ok for me and I can’t tell why. It has everything in a story for me to make me love it, but I just didn’t.
3★
THE EXPLORER BY KATHERINE RUNDELL
Fred, Con Lila and Max’s plane crashed and they have to survive in the jungle alone. Or are they? My favourite part of this book was an animal that joined them in their survival. I have always wanted one as a pet. I can’t tell you what animal because of spoilers. It was just adorable. Sorry, It was again a face-paced read, I loved the jungle. The characters were ok, I honestly don’t know how realistic some of them are, but I have never been stuck in a jungle so how can I tell? Overall it was an average read for me.
3★
CORALINE BY NEIL GAILMAN
This was the first time reading from Neil Gailman, and I don’t know what to think of his writing. It was ok, but I can’t say what I didn’t love about it. Coraline was a fun read, creepy, and since I was listening to the audiobook the singing rats was the only thing that scared me a little bit.
3★
TUCK EVERLASTING BY NATALIE BABBITT
This was an interesting read. A spring that makes you immortal and whether it is a curse or a gift. It was a short book, so I don’t have many thoughts towards it, but I was disappointed in the ending even though it was realistic.
3★
SILVER BRUMBY'S DAUGHTER BY ELYNE MITCHELL
This was about as the title suggests, Thowra’s daughter Kunama. This was a reread, and I didn’t love it nearly as much as The Silver Brumby. I love Mitchell’s writing the atmosphere she creates. But this book was about Kunama and I just couldn’t get into it as much as Silver Brumby because I love Thowra so much and wanted more books where he was the main character.
4★
THE QUEEN OF NOTHING BY HOLLY BLACK
This was my 100th book read of this year. The Queen of Nothing was the third book in the Folk of the Air series. I had a good time reading it, I found the characters a lot less annoying than even in Wicked King, I liked the romance that developed throughout the three books and how it came together in this book.
3★
LOVE FROM A TO Z BY S.K. ALI
Zayneb and Adam path cross and it goes from there. There was an amazing rep in here, I learnt a lot about what Muslims go through every day, just for being themselves. They have a free right to have their religious beliefs. If you don’t mind contemporary or romance I think it is worth a read.
Personally, it was a 3★ only because I am not much of a contemporary reader and don’t love much.
ASSASSIN’S QUEST BY ROBIN HOBB
This was the last book in the Farseer Trilogy, and wow what an ending. This series is an adult coming of age fantasy that follows the royal bastard son of Prince Chivalry, his name is Fitz. Hobb just can’t be nice to Fitz can she, but I loved it, the plot, the characters, everything I loved everything about this book and series in general. The Farseer Trilogy has become one of my favourite series of all time.
5★
HE LOVES ME, HE LOVES ME NOT BY IRIS MORLAND
Liam and Mari get drunk and get married in Vegas, that's where their story starts. Liam needs to stay married to Mari for six months. Can they make it? I really enjoyed this book, sometimes it is good to read out of your normal genre. It was a bit cheesy at times, but it was an overall good read.
3★
That’s it, all the books I finished in July. Overall I had a very good month quantity wise, but not quality with an average of stars.
Becca's BookoplAthon - https://twitter.com/BeccasBookopoly
The Reading Rush - https://forum.thereadingrush.com/
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