I was absolutely swamped in June with plans every single weekend, which resulted in me neglecting the blog so terribly. I apologize for that, but also, don’t be alarmed if that happens again in July. The good news is that I did not neglect my reading (shout out to audiobooks, as per usual). I read 26 books in June somehow, which is even more impressive when you think about how many hours I spent watching Love Island… Anyway, let’s talk about those books, shall we?
Actually, before we talk about the specific books, let me talk a little more about the 26 books I read in general. This month I paid zero attention to the demographics of the books I was reading and wow, can you tell. When you default to reading popular books, it is too easy to find yourself reading white author after white author. It’s so important that we remember to engage with what we’re reading and think about whose voices are being represented in the books we’re picking up. Yes, publishing could be better about putting their marketing dollars behind authors of color and promoting them so that their books are just as buzzy and are getting picked up for adaptations. But it’s also on me, a person who has plenty of books by authors of colors hanging out unread in various formats on my shelves and I somehow still managed to only read two books from authors of color. So this is a call out for myself, but I hope that me sharing where I have fallen so short can help someone.
Books by Rating
5 Stars
A review of One for the Road by Elliot Fletcher is coming, but what I’ll say now is that I really loved this single mom x grumpy doctor who become neighbors and wind up fake dating for reasons related to this town is too small. I really, really liked all three books in this series, which I think is a trilogy, but I will RIOT if the publisher doesn’t let Elliot give me Heather’s book. I need it.
Also, ACOWAR being a five star is such a pleasant surprise because ACOMAF did not live up to my memory, but I loved ACOWAR so much??? I am confused and bewildered because WHAT DO YOU MEAN? Truly baffling. My reread to prepare for ACOTAR 6 is wreaking havoc on my opinions of this series.
4.5 Stars
Shout out to my library for delivering audiobooks of two of the most popular books of the year, both of which I enjoyed! I actually have not a single clue what my thoughts are of Yesteryear still… Cannot work that one out in my head. I have no idea. I gave it a 4.5 because I was riveted the entire time, so that’s close enough to real enjoyment or something? Idk. But Into the Blue I actually really liked, but I gave it a 4.5 not a 5 because the Julia Whelan effect took a 4 star read up a notch. I think her narration is incredible and fully makes up for the fact that Into the Blue has a writing style that I typically don’t gel with. But this was an emotional read that felt like a watered down TJR read, but not in a bad way. Also, I’m glad both of these books are popular enough that my opinion doesn’t really matter, because for both of these, I’m not sure my opinion has been fully formed/I don’t know how to put my thoughts into words.
Turning to the books I know how to talk about, The Paris Match by Kate Clayborn was absolutely marvelous. So why a 4.5 not a 5 star? I do think a lot of it was me, but I felt removed from the characters in a way that I’m not sure worked for me this time around. Also, I think I wanted more of who these characters were prior to going to Paris and I don’t think that really belongs in the book because the way Kate wrote it was really great. But I wanted to see them in their past before this trip to Paris. Oh, this book is about this doctor flying to the wedding of her former sister-in-law when she meets this mysterious broody man on the plane and then finds out that he’s the best man. And then there are issues with the bride and groom and so now Doctor finds herself pretending to be good friends with broody Best Man and it’s really great and really lovely. Maybe I am talking myself into a full five star… I’ll leave it where it is for now.
Phoebe Berman’s Gonna Lose It by Brooke Averett is about a woman who is turning 30 and she’s still a virgin because she gets tremendous anxiety surrounding intimacy even though she really, really wants that. She proceeds to create a list because that’s obviously the way to handle it and then… A lot of things happen. This is a contemporary fiction with a heavy romance plot, but I don’t think it quite fits the central focus is THE romance so much as the central focus is FINDING romance, if that makes sense? But it does fit the secondary aspect of the definition regarding how it works out. There are three possible love interests, but this book is also about friendship and figuring out who you are, which is really great to see at 30. Because here’s the thing, I don’t think you’re ever done figuring out who you are. And I know some people think that Phoebe reads young, but I also think that a lot of us are still really messy and figuring things out into our 30s so to me, she didn’t read too young. Anyway, I really liked this, but I wanted more. This book is less than 300 pages and I think it could have used another 20-30. But that’s just me being greedy.
The Four Engagement Rings of Sybil Rain by Hannah Brown was, to me, so much better than the first book in this series. I absolutely adored this one. Sybil Rain is the epitome of “The Bolter” and has found herself somehow ending three engagements. She winds up using her flight and hotel voucher from her cancelled honeymoon and winds up at the resort somehow at the same time as one of her exes. And also then another reaches out. I had an ALC of this book so there’s a full review coming soon, but for me, it’s enough to say that I was genuinely so into this book. Sybil’s messiness comes from such a real place of always feeling like she wasn’t enough and that she should be more perfect. There were a couple of times this book veered too far toward the absurd, which is why it wasn’t perfect for me, but I really, really enjoyed it.
The Ex Vows by Jessica Joyce is everything everyone has always said it would be. I loved the emotional aspects of this book and I think it’s only my mood that kept it from being a full five stars and I should probably just promote it to the full five, but for now, I’ll leave it as is. This book has anxiety representation and is such a good second chance romance. I really, really loved it. Yeah… I should revise this list, but it’s too late.
4 Stars
Four stars was definitely the rating I threw out the most this month, but I stand by these ratings. Half City by Kate Golden was a really fun start to an urban romantasy series, but I’m not sure I’m sold on it yet. I need more to decide. Going Bicoastal by Dahlia Adler is one that I think if I was a little younger, I would have given five stars. It’s a Sliding Doors type situation and I’m obsessed with the concept. I really liked it so much, but it just didn’t have that extra magic for me, a 34 year old. Definitely, DEFINITELY recommend with my whole heart if you’re shopping for a teen though, especially one looking for bisexual representation. My review can be found here. Accidentally on Purpose by Kristen Kish is a great memoir that I needed a lot more context for to really know what was happening than what I had. Basically, if you’ve never seen Top Chef, I do feel like a lot of this memoir will not quite work for you. But because I really loved Kristen on The Traitors, I wanted to read her memoir when I realized she had one. It’s a great memoir! I just wish I’d had a little more context, but that’s on me not the book. Pictures of You by Emma Grey requires a content warning that this book is very heavily about coercive control in an intimate partner relationship and therefore, it’s a book that I absolutely should not have read. But that’s on me. I love Emma Grey’s writing so I do think it’s a well done book, just again, not a book for me.
Girl’s Girl by Sonia Feldman is a literary fiction book about three teen girls and it follows them one summer… It’s really, really well done, but also, so not my vibe. But the cover is stunning and I do love supporting and reading queer authors, even though I frequently forget to make that a priority. The Jewel of the Isle was really, really fun even though it’s also quite stressful. The adventure romance of my dreams, honestly. It’s giving Lost City complete with a himbo MMC, but also, it’s a grief book on both sides (dad for FMC and brother for the MMC) so I loved that part too. If you’ve been looking for another really fun adventure romance, I think this one is great! Blood Bound by Ellis Hunter is a romantic fantasy that I have as an ARC so there is a full review coming. I really did enjoy this one mostly, but the pacing of it was sometimes uneven. Sea of Charms by Sarah Beth Durst is also a book I have an ARC of and it is probably my favorite in the series because this one revisits the characters we’ve met previously (sometimes very briefly) and also, despite largely taking place on a boat, was so much more full than the last book, which was so isolated. So I really loved that part as well.
Dungeon Crawler Carl…. Y’all, idk what to say about these books. They are actually addictive? I never thought I would like this series, but here we are. I’m obsessed with Princess Donut and I can’t stop reading them. Shout out to my library again!! They’re probably overall going to be a five star series and maybe they are individually, but also, they’re just out of my comfort zone in a way that makes 5 stars feel wrong for each book.
3.5 Stars
Honey and Margo’s Got Money Troubles are two more books that are out of my comfort zone, but sometimes we try things and they work and sometimes we try things and we feel neutral leaning positive about them. Honey is a book I requested on Netgalley because I am always looking for a book that will give me the feelings I had reading Daisy Jones and the Six. To be clear, that’s not what this book is doing. Instead, it’s giving Britney/Christina vibes following a character who got famous as a teen and watching her navigate her singing career to adulthood. There are undertones of eating disorders and creepy people, but our FMC does not experience sexual assault. There’s a lot to this book and in a lot of ways it’s really good, but it’s also just not for me and what I wanted from the book isn’t really what I got. My full review has been posted!
The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith is another grief novel (mother) and it has a romance happening in it, but it is not a romance. It is good, but not really great for me and I think the abrupt ending was really what kept it from being a four star. Margo’s Got Money Troubles is a better tv show than a book, in my opinion, but I am not sure if other people would agree. The Grump Whisperer by Katy James is a book I have an ALC of and I really did mostly like it. The pacing was my issue, which is really not surprising because that’s my issue with everything I’m reading these days and I can’t decide if it’s a personal problem or not. Anyway, my full review is coming.
3 Stars
A Court of Frost and Starlight is completely pointless in my opinion and I really think I should have just skipped it. However, it does contain Nesta trying despite being in a very dark place and I love Nesta so I give it stars for that alone. Also, I appreciate Elain. A little bit. Kind of.
Last First Kiss by Julian Winters should have been so perfect for me because it features Jordan learning that he’s on the asexual scale, which is representation that I LOVE, but the pacing!!! It took me over a month to finish this book. I kept waiting to just be swept away, but it kept not happening. That said, I still think it’s a book worth reading and I will keep trying to find the perfect Julian Winters book for me as he continues releasing more books. (Also, if I had started this book on audio, it wouldn’t have taken me as long so I wouldn’t have noticed the pacing and that isn’t fair to the book that my eyeballs require near perfect pacing when my ears do not.)
Closing Thoughts
So those are the books I read this month! Some winners but a lot of books where the pacing didn’t work for me. Is this just me? Are you also having pacing issues with some books that you’re picking up? I would love to know your thoughts and your favorite reads of June!
xx
firewhiskeyreader 