Since this is as late as it is, I’m going to keep this short and sweet. I just couldn’t handle not posting this staple to my blog. I read 11 books in July, largely because I started play The Sims 4 again and before that I was deep in my reality TV obsession. Let me tell you, this game has completely taken over my entire life. Including in August. So let us all pray I remember how to have balance. (I’m just kidding, I’ve never known how to have balance, which is how I read as much as I do.)
Books Read by Rating
5 Stars
I’m thrilled Atonement Sky worked for me as well as it did. Sometimes with the way Nalini has made this world so huge, it’s hard for me to find the same level of connection to brand new characters as I do when I already know of the character, but this one really worked for me. I will acknowledge there are flaws, but also, I don’t see them, you know? To me, this was great and it gave me all the welcome home vibes that I love so much about her books.
Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid didn’t surprise me at all with how much I loved it, but I will say, I was not quite prepared (even though I should have been) to cry/sob for thirty minutes straight at the end of the book. (That may be a slight exaggeration, but not enough of one.) Considering I was driving, that was not necessarily the safest thing. I would have liked for just a bit more at the end, an epilogue or something, but also, this is TJR so I wasn’t really surprised that it didn’t have one. Also, this is sapphic, in case you didn’t know that!
You can officially find my review of The Blonde who Came in from the Cold in a review post, but let me just tell you that the tl;dr is that I loved this book so much! The audiobook kept me company on my drive to Raleigh and I was giggling, kicking my feet, etc. It was a delight. Magic Shifts by Ilona Andrews was a graphic audio reread and those graphic audios are fantastic. It also brought me one book closer to Hugh’s book in my reread, so obviously that was fantastic. The Game Plan by Kristen Callihan will get a full review shortly because I read the re-release as an ARC and loved it even more than I did the first time I read it. Face Off by Chelsea Curto was a book that I devoured on my plane ride from Minneapolis to Vancouver. I read it in one go and I loved everything about it. I can’t wait to read more from Curto.
4.5 Stars
I really enjoyed both of these books so much, but wanted just a touch more from each of them and that’s what kept them from being a full five stars. You can read my review of Destination Weddings and Other Disasters here, but the short version really is that I would recommend! The Enchanted Hacienda was truly fantastic. I’ve been searching all year for a book that would give me witchy plant vibes in a way that I can’t seem to articulate well enough to find exactly what I want, but this came really close! I appreciated the way this plot was a lot about the FMC finding her way home and starting her life over. As we’ve talked about, that is something I’m really looking for this year.
4 Stars
Reviews are now up of Rose in Chains and The Enchanted Greenhouse, and a review post should be coming shortly (if I can keep up this momentum, which is a question) for Wooing the Witch Queen. Long story short, each of these books had a wildly different vibe, but I enjoyed and appreciated each for what they were.
Closing Thoughts
This was such a good reading month based on quality that I actually can’t be mad that I didn’t finish more books. I will say that this was definitely a month of the soft DNF. If a book wasn’t gripping me immediately, I put it down. Hopefully I’ll circle back eventually, but honestly, who is to say? Not me, that’s for sure.
xx
firewhiskeyreader 