July 2019 Wrap-up

Well July was an interesting month, I received quite a few unexpected but very welcome ARCs that turned out to be awesome!  I also decided to participate in The Reading Rush at the last minute.  So in the end I only read 3 of the books that were on my July TBR, but I read a ton of books this month and reviewed a lot of them so I call that a win.

Books/Ebooks/ARCs

• Girls Like Us by Cristina Alger
• Review
• This one came out out July 2nd.  This is another thriller/mystery that reads like a crime TV show.  This was different than what I expected.  It follows an FBI agent as she unravels a murder while on leave after she has been injured and for her father's funeral.  She begins to suspect her father of the serial murders or if not he was involved in some way.  This was a bit slow paced for my taste as it is more procedural than suspenseful.  I found parts of it to be really predictable, but other parts I didn't seen coming.  Overall I enjoyed it.
• The Elemental Trial by J.A. Armitage and Claire Luana
• Review
• This came out on July 15th.  This is the 2nd book in the Faerie Race series.  Like the first book it was really fun.  It was a little heavy on the romance and insta love, but the actual race part was fun.  The series is really creative and I am looking forward to the next installment.  
• The Doomsday Trial by J.A. Armitage and Claire Luana
• Review
• This came out August 1st.  This is the final book in the Faerie Race series and by far my favorite.  It wrapped up the race nicely leaving me satisfied and content.  I loved the action and the magic.  This one wasn't as heavy on the magic and focused more on the sinister plot and the game the characters had to play.  This series overall was really fun and creative.
• Never Have I Ever by Joshilyn Jackson
• Review
• This is a really good domestic thriller following two women trying to outsmart each other in the most epic game of Never Have I Ever.  One woman is trying to blackmail the other in exchange for not releasing her deepest darkest secret and potentially ruining her perfect life she's made for herself.  The perfect life woman has to play the game or potentially lose not only her rainy day stash of money she's been saving and maybe lose everything she's built for herself.  It's really good
• Senior Year Bucket List by J.M. Miller
• Review
• This was released on July 29th.  This is a new adult second chance romance and I loved it!  It follows Celia in the wake of her best friend Merilyn's death as she reunites with Mer's brother Caleb.  Caleb and Celia have an uncomfortable reunion, but they are willing to push past it to fulfil Mer's last wish, to complete her and Celia's incomplete Senior Year Bucket List items.  I couldn't put this down and Celia stepped out of her comfort zone to complete the tasks and sparks flew Caleb.  
• The King by Jennifer L. Armentrout
• Review
• This is the 2nd installment of the spinoff to the Wicked Series.  It follows Brighton, a member of a secret order of evil fae hunters and Caden, the king of the Summer Fae aka the good fae.  This is part of the 1001 Dark Nights franchise and each novella is considered a standalone, and a way to introduce you to the world the story is set in.  This is a continuation of the story that began in The Prince, and I understand there will be one more installment.  Brighton and Caden not only have to fight off the evil fae, prevent the evil fae Queen from crossing over into this realm, but they are also fighting their blossoming romance.
• Crown of Feathers by Nicki Pau Preto
• I started this a while back on audio but could not get through it.  The audio was really bland, but the story was good so I hoped to pick it up later.  I gave it until 30% and in an unusual turn of events I DNFed it.  While the story is interesting and the writing is fine, it just find it slow and it didn't grab my attention.  This book is far to long and I have too many other things I want to read to force myself to read it.  Maybe I'll come back to it someday.
• The Magic of Race Bailey by Eric Hobbs
• Review
• I read this for The Reading Rush for a book with a title of 5 or more words.  I've had this forever and just never got around to it but I'm glad I finally did.  This was fun and action packed.  There is some magic, both magician type magic and actual magic, supernatural stuff, and it's pretty action packed.
• Skyward vol 2 by Joe Henderson
• This is a graphic novel series about a world that has lost its gravity.  Willa and her friend are trying to restore gravity, but as they are on their journey they find out how Low-G has affected things outside the city.  Willa's mission to fix the world and turn gravity back on will not be easy and plenty of people want to stop her.  This is fun and the art is really beautiful.  I think the rest of the issues are out, but I'm waiting until the 3rd volume is out this fall to continue.
• Small Spaces by Katherine Arden
• Review
• This is a fun middle grade spooky story.  This would be perfect for the fall time right around Halloween.  While is is geared towards kids this is also perfect for those of any age who want to dip their toes into horror but don't want anything overly scary.  This follows Ollie and her friends as they find themselves in a nightmare fighting the likes of  The Smiling Man.  They have to figure out how to get out of his maze and save the rest of their class who have turned into a creepy scarecrow army.  I'm looking forward to reading the sequel Dead Voices which is out soon.
• Black Dawn by Mallory McCartney
• Review
• I've had this on my Netgalley shelf forever.  It is one of the first books I picked up for review.  Unfortunately, this book just didn't work out.  It is poorly constructed despite having great potential.  
• The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
• I read this for The Reading Rush prompt for a debut, but I'm not 100% sure it was Carroll's first book.  I had other books that filled that prompt.  This also filled the Popsugar challenge for a book that inspired a common phrase or idiom.  We all know "Mad as a hatter", and this book is just that.  It is completely nonsensical as Alice traverses Wonderland and the world through the Looking Glass in her dreams.  Again Disney did a great job keeping to the story, but this was kind of ridiculous and a bit too whimsical for my tastes.  I'm glad I finally read it though.

Audiobooks

I got through a ton of audio's this month, they just weren't the ones I was hoping to get to.  I think 9 audiobooks is an awesome number so I'm not complaining.  

• Shadowglass by Rin Chupeco
• This was the perfect ending to the series.  Tea's story finally comes to an end and all is revealed.  As her story is slowly revealed, we come to learn what really happened during her exile and what she is really trying to achieve.  Between the past and the present all of the loose threads that were left open in the previous books came to a close, and I really liked the ending.
• Rise by Ellen Goodlett
• This was the conclusion to the Rule duology and follows three sisters Zofi, Ren, and Akeyla as they navigate the path to the throne as their father the king lays dying and must declare the next heir.  Each of them has a secret and is being blackmailed by someone calling themselves the true heir.  The sisters have to decide to trust each other with their terrible deeds or suspect them of betrayal.  This is full of magic, political intrigue, and lots of twists and turns.  I really enjoyed the family and friendship dynamics between the sisters and I honestly wasn't sure who the culprit was until the final reveal.  This is a really fun YA story with some really creative elements..
• Sweet Evil, Sweet Peril, Sweet Reckoning, and Sweet Temptation by Wendy Higgins
• This series has been recommended so many times by fans of other authors I love.  It also frequently pops up as a recommendation on my library's overdrive site based on my reading habits.  I'm finally getting around to it as it is going to fill the popsugar prompt for a book with a title that contains "salty", "sweet", "bitter", or "spicy".  This series is definitely a "guilty pleasure" read.  It follows the children of fallen angels and has all of the YA tropes that you would expect, bad boy attracts the good girl, the insta-love, the love triangle, all of that stuff but I find myself engrossed in the story and invested in the characters.  This is different enough from other YA angel/demon tales that it keeps my interest and I want to know what happens next.
• The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden
• I've been loving this series. I love the mythology, the characters, and the writing style.  This was a great ending to the trilogy, everything came full circle.  I will admit, the Russian naming conventions still confused me as everyone has more than one name and several of the character names are very similar.  That didn't take away from the awesome story.  I see myself revisiting Vasya on her adventures in the future.  
• The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
• I'm using this for two challenges, The Reading Rush and a book I saw being read on TV.  I saw one of the characters reading this to her kids on season 3 of True Detective, and it fits the non-human main character prompt for reading rush.  I found a really good version on Hoopla narrated by Gildart Jackson, but there are many versions to choose from plus I followed along the ebook version to keep the characters straight.  I didn't realize this is a collection of stories, not just the tale I know from the Disney movie about Mowgli and Baloo.  This was actually pretty enjoyable.
• A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
• I never read this as a girl, but I loved the movie.  This and the Secret Garden by the same author were favorite movies of mine.  While the stories have a similar feel, they are different enough for a young girl to enjoy.  As an adult I enjoyed it and it was nostalgic to finally listen to it.  This fulfilled The Reading Rush prompt to read a book and watch the movie.  I also used this as my Popsugar prompt for a book that makes me nostalgic because it makes me remember watching it as a little girl and playing make believe at my grandmother's house in her living room.  I loved this story and the Secret Garden as a girl and I still love them today.
• Queen of Ruin by Tracy Banghart
• This is the sequel to Grace and Fury.  It follows a pair of sisters as they fight back against the oppressive society that gives women no rights and treats them as property.  The sisters have had enough of being submissive and treated as little more than slaves.  This was a decent sequel, but it moved a bit slowly.  I really liked the first book and looking back I couldn't put it down.  It took until about 60% until things started to happen and the build up wasn't as suspenseful as the first book.  It still love the message of this series about girls not needing to be pretty and silent and rely on their male counterparts.