June was one hell of a month for me. It was super busy, but we managed to survive and make it through in the long run. I ended up reading not as much as I wanted to, but I still read some pretty good books. You’ll find my June reads and my June haul below the cut.
Books I hauled in June:
- Twisted Games by Ana Huang
- Leather and Lark by Brynee Weaver
- 400 Kilometers by Drew Hayden Taylor
- A Talent for Murder by Peter Swanson
- The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller
- The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley
- Middle of the Night by Riley Sager
- Children of Anguish and Anarchy by Tomi Adeyemi
Books I read in June:
1. And Then There Were Four by Nancy Werlin
Rating: 3 Stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: I really liked how this book was written. It was neat to read the perspective written in second person and also how the other perspective was written on more of a stream-of-consciousness style. It was really unique. However, I didn’t love the overall storyline of the book, and the premise of the parents trying to murder their children. It was just not my personal cup of tea.
2. Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll
Rating: 5 Stars
Format: Audiobook
Review: This was a really interesting story. I liked the focus on the victims and survivors in the story, and not on the man who was the murderer. It was pretty obvious who the author was dancing around, but I think it’s really important to focus on the people affected by his actions as opposed to the person who did the murders. I liked the structure of the novel and how we got different timelines and also different perspectives. I really enjoyed reading from both points of view, though it was hard knowing that one of the characters wasn’t going to make it.
3. Ten by Gretchen McNeil
Rating: 4 Stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: This was dun for me to re-read. There were a few things that felt a bit dated but on the whole, I had a really good time reading it. I like Meg as a main character, and the romance with TJ was very cute. I liked the intrigue and all the discussions we had as a book club about it. It was a good way to wrap out our reading year.
4. Illegal by Francisco X. Stork
Rating: 4 Stars
Format: Audiobook
Review: This was an interesting continuation of this series. I enjoyed the two main characters. There was a lot of intrigue and murder. The story was pretty action packed. I was decently happy with how the story played out, but there was definitely perts of me that were nervous about how things were going to play out. It was a tense conclusion.
5. All Systems Red by Martha Wells
Rating: 4 Stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: Murderbot makes for an interesting main character. I did think it was fun to read the story, and it was really interesting in the world building. I also liked that it was a quick read. I liked the futuristic setting, and general premise. It was a great audiobook. I loved the full cast and all the different voices.
6. An Illustrated History of Notable Shadowhunters and Downworld Denizens by Cassandra Clare
Rating: 4 Stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: This was an interesting collection of bonus infomration about some of the key characters in all of the series in this world. I am glad that I finally picked this up. The art was absolutely beautiful to look at.
7. Scars and Stars by Jesse Thistle
Rating: 4 Stars
Format: Audiobook
Review: I enjoyed this collection. It was interesting to read the poetry. I liked that the author narrated his own audiobook; it seemed really appropriate since it was very clearly about him. I definitely think this is a great collection to check out.
8. The Damned by Renee Ahdieh
Rating: 4 Stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: It’s been a long time since I read the first book in this seires, but it was pretty easy to get back into it once I did. I liked the characters and the development of the romance again. The supernatural elements were a really fun part of the story. I’m looking forward to continuing on with the series.
9. Mayuk: The Grizzly Bear by Charlie Craigan
Rating: 4 Stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: This was a really quick read, but I’m so glad that I read it and picked up a copy for myself. It was really interesting to learn the story. The art was really lovely as well.
10. How the Robin Got Its Red Breast by Charlie Craigan
Rating: 4 Stars
Format: Physical Copy
11. Hamlet: Graphic Novel by SparkNotes
Rating: 5 Stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: I really enjoyed this adaptation. I learned a couple of new things about the play, which is definitely fun. I liked the art and the character design. I’m really glad that I read it.
12. Twisted Love by Ana Huang
Rating: 3 Stars
Format: eBook
Review: I was intrigued by the summary of this story, and I enjoyed it for the most part. Like I definitely wanted to know how things were going to play out. However, there were parts of me that were disappointed because it really felt like it skipped over parts of the story that would have been really interesting to read more about, while other parts were heavily lingered on and they were slightly less interesting to me. I just wanted more development of aspects of this book.
13. A Talent for Murder by Peter Swanson
Rating: 5 Stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: This was a very, very good read for me. I really enjoyed the premise of the story. It was well-written, and the characters were really interesting. I liked all the different perspectives that we read from and what they brought to the story. It really kept me guessing about what was going to happen next. It was such an interesting read. I may want to go back and read the first two books in this series.
14. Moon of the Turning Leaves by Wabgeshing Rice
Rating: 5 Stars
Format: Audiobook
Review: I wasn’t sure about a sequel for Moon of the Crusted Snow, but I ended up loving this one so much. The book was beautifully written, and had the same amazing tension building of the first. It’s the first time in my memory that I have cried while listening to an audiobook. I liked the different points of view, and getting to know more about the daughter character. While the ending was definitely sad, it was an appropriate ending for the story. I highly recommend this series.
15. Twisted Games by Ana Huang
Rating: 3 Stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: I wanted to love this, but I just really didn’t. The pairing was intriguing but the pacing was really weird. There was lots of time spent on parts of the book that weren’t as interesting as parts that were completely glazed over. I just felt that it was very strange. That being said, I had enough of a good time that I wanted to finish it and know what was going to happen next.
16. The Twisted Ones
Rating: 4 Stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: This was a really weird book, but I loved it. I loved Bongo, the dog character, and I thought Mouse, the protagonist, was really interesting too. The overall horror elements of the story were definitely kind of freaky, and gave me the creeps. I will admit that I had to put this down for a while because I was really worried that something bad was going to happen to Bongo, but he was fine in the end. Definitely a fun spooky read!
17. A Touch of Panic by L.R. Wright
Rating: 3 Stars
Format: eBook
Review: These are always such interesting mysteries for me because they’re supposed to be about Karl Alberg, but you genuinely don’t spend very much time with him on the whole. I felt thsi book had a lot going on, but it was definitely interesting to read about. I am interested to see how it will all be adapted.
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