Well, this is a few days late but better late than never, as they say. So, July was probably the best month of reading I have had in a VERY long time. I read a total of 12 books! 12. Books! That's only one short of how many books I read for the entirety of last year. So, I'm pretty pleased with myself and my getting out of my reading slump. A good lot of them were done in the Booktube-a-thon as well. But without further ado, let's get onto which books I read!
#1: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
You can find my review of this one here (warning: there are spoilers in this review). Ultimately, I liked this book but it was disappointing. The review I wrote was my original thoughts, but, to be honest, the more I think on it, the less I like the book. I fee like the ending is the only thing that saved it for me (even if I did see it coming). I gave it a 3.5/5 stars.
#2-4: The Chaos Walking trilogy by Patrick Ness
Again, I have a review up of these here (no spoilers). This, obviously, covers three books I read, and it also where my Booktube-a-thon reads start. I thought these books were brilliant! I gave the whole series a 5/5 rating.
#5: Frostbite: A Vampire Academy Graphic Novel by Richelle Mead
This is a little one I read to complete one of the challenges for the Booktube-a-thon. As a big fan of the VA series, I quite enjoyed this. It does skip a lot of the story but still kept in a lot of my favourite scenes from the book. I wasn't expecting much but I liked it nonetheless. I gave it 3.5/5 stars.
#6: Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
I did plan to write a review for this one but I kept forgetting and now the story isn't fresh enough in my brain for me to do so. I really loved this book. It was so captivating and raw and I thought it was excellent. I gave it a rating of 4/5 stars.
#7: Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding
I thought this book was so great. It's very much a guilty pleasure read and nothing to be taken all too seriously. And that's why I loved it! I gave it 3.5/5 stars.
#8: Stardust by Neil Gaiman
This was the first book of Neil Gaiman that I've read. I've heard so much about his work and his writing appealed to me before I'd even picked up any of his books. Also, I adore the movie adaptation of Stardust. I thought the book was gorgeous and only lost points because it was so short. I feel the movie actually does a better job of fleshing out the story, but, even still, I gave it 4/5 stars.
#9: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
Now I wish I could say I enjoyed this book, but I really didn't. I feel like there was an intersting story underneath it all and that's probably the only reason I gave it more than 1 star. But I found the characters weren't very compelling or relatable, there was an overuse of metaphors in the writing, the world lacked substance and the romance was so dull. I gave it 2/5 stars.
#10: Eye of the World by Robert Jordan
I actually started this book months ago so I think I only had 100-200 pages left to finish it this month, but anyhow. I find Jordan's writing to be a bit too long-winded for my liking but the story seems compelling enough thus far. Also, I have been told many times that this story gets really good later on so I'm willing to stick it out. Plus, I feel like there's certain series one really must read if you're interested in fantasy and this is one of them. Anyhow, I gave it 3/5 stars.
#11: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephenie Perkins
My local bookstore had this book on sale and after hearing about this book over and over again in the book community, I caved and picked it up. I will admit I don't think it lived up to the hype. I really enjoyed it and thought it was pretty adorable, but I don't think it was fantastic. I found certain parts of the story to be extremely frustrating but alas, I still intend on reading the rest of the 'series'. It's a good book if you want something light. I gave it 3.5/5 stars.
#12: Silver Shadows by Richelle Mead
And finally, we come to a close on possibly my most anticipated read of the year. You can find my review of it here (no spoilers). I only picked up the Bloodlines series late last year (even though, I've been a huge VA fan since 2008/2009) and boy, was I glad I did. It's a great series and this was a brilliant addition to it. I gave it a 4/5 stars.
So, there's my July Wrap-Up! I'd like to think I can live up to it for August but I need to be honest with myself here. I just started the new semester at uni, and that + working = me not having as much time to read. I'm aiming to keep to shorter books throughout the semester so I can still keep at a steady pace but we shall see how it goes.
How many books did you read in July? Which were your favourites? Also, if you want to keep up with my reading over the month or anything else, feel free to add me on Goodreads here! :)
Until next time!
Jess, xxx
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