Saturday, August 1, 2020

July Wrap-Up


How is 2020 going by so fast...

What's up with July and cults? I read a couple books with cults in them this month and no one warned me there would be cults in these books?

I completely failed my TBR. I posted it thinking I'd read at the same speed and consistency as the very beginning of the month, but July was not a fun time for me and I ended up having very little energy to read and I just watched anime and re-read old comfort reads the entire month.

And then there was the additional distraction of Haikyuu!! ending, and threw myself into fanfiction in the midst of mourning... Also, I was feeling nostalgic so I picked up "Come Morning Light" by SharkbaitSekki and that fanfic is 300k+ words, which is even longer than A Little Life's 800 pages, so yeah I've been busy. I've been reading through it really slowly though because I've been reading 3 books at the same time + this fanfic. Lots of words to read. 
Also I've fallen into this barren pit called oikage and I've been scrambling for crumbs...it's been a terrible time it's pretty much 99% angst here

This month, I've been using the app libby a lot for audiobooks! I wanted to try audiobooks for once since many people seem to enjoy reading with audiobooks, and they also allow me to do other things while reading. However, since it's my first experience with audiobooks (aside from Sadie but that was an extraordinary full-cast audiobook), I'm not sure how I feel about them...I think I'm just not used to them. But I highly recommend libby since it's an easy way to get audiobooks and ebooks from your library in these trying times.

I've also made an attempt to make my reviews shorter, so if anyone's wondering why they look half-sized it's because I realized I've been writing so much in these mini-reviews, I end up having nothing to say in my actual reviews :")

👪 buddy read
🎧 audiobook

Books Mentioned

  • The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
  • What Happened To Goodbye by Sarah Dessen
  • The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
  • Beartown by Fredrik Backman
  • The Wicked King by Holly Black
  • The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black
  • Haikyuu!! (Vol. 38-end) by Haruichi Furudate
  • Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
  • We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
  • Beach Read by Emily Henry
**summaries taken from the book but might be slightly altered

⸺ ⁕ 

Genre: Contemporary & Historical Literary Fiction
Trigger/Content Warnings: grief, mentioned suicide, cheating, homophobia, cults

🎧 The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai

Summary

A dazzling new novel of friendship and redemption in the face of tragedy and loss set in 1980s Cicago and contemporary Paris in 1985, Yale Tishman, the development director for an art gallery in Chicago, is about to pull off an amazing coup, bringing in an extraordinary collection of 1920s paintings as a gift to the gallery. Yet as his career begins to flourish, the carnage of the AIDS epidemic grows around him. One by one, his friends are dying and after his friend Nico's funeral, the virus circles closer and closer to Yale himself. Soon the only person he has left is Fiona, Nico's little sister. Thirty years later, Fiona is in Paris tracking down her estranged daughter who disappeared into a cult. While staying with an old friend, a famous photographer who documented the Chicago crisis, she finds herself finally grappling with the devastating ways AIDS affected her life and her relationship with her daughter. The two intertwining stories take us through the heartbreak of the eighties and the chaos of the modern world, as both Yale and Fiona struggle to find goodness in the midst of disaster.

Rating: ★★★+(.75) (3.75/5)


I said I would start keeping these reviews shorter but I have a lot to say about this book? First of all, I enjoyed it a lot. There were times in the beginning where I was lost and I couldn't figure out where the story was going, and how the Fiona's story, which is set in 2015, would connect with Yale's, whose story is set in the 1980's. However, it all started to come together at the 40% mark, and at some parts I could appreciate how well-woven the present timeline was, but at other times it seemed unnecessary. I personally enjoyed the past timeline a lot more than the present, but then again, I grew increasingly attached to Yale as the story progressed. I just wish Fiona's character was developed more in the 1980 timeline. It's a very character-driven story, and it was very touching—I found myself tearing up a little especially towards the end.

Overall, The Great Believers is a very powerful story about the AIDS epidemic and its effects on those left behind. It was also interesting to draw parallels between this period of history and the current one, with the COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement & protests highlighting the prejudice and bigotry that plagues America, as well as the problem of police brutality.

((Also, I read this half-ebook/half-audiobook, and I found the audiobook...eh. I personally didn't really like the voice they did for Fiona? And I kinda tuned out a couple times since the narrator doesn't really command attention so I found myself switching to ebook when I found my attention wandering.))


Genre: YA Contemporary Romance
Trigger/Content Warnings: divorce, cheating

🎧 What Happened To Goodbye by Sarah Dessen

Summary

Who is the real McLean? Since her parents' bitter divorce, McLean and her dad, a restaurant consultant, have been on the move—four towns in two years. Estranged from her mother and her mother's new family, McLean as followed her dad in leaving the unhappy past behind. And each new place gives her a chance to try out a new persona: from cheerleader to drama diva. But now, for the first time, McLean discovers a desire to stay in one place and just be herself, whoever that is. Perhaps Dave, the guy next door, can help her find out.

Rating: ★★★+(.5) (3.5/5)


I am very pleasantly surprised. I honestly wasn't expecting to like this book but ohmyGod I liked it quite a lot! 

Chick lit romance really isn't my genre, so I was extremely wary of picking this up. However, I ended up really enjoying the romance, and I found the friendships and familial relationships quite lovely. I really liked how it wasn't purely a romance book, but also a study on familial relationships and how each member of the family is affected by the divorce. I really loved the characters, especially Dave and Deb. I loved Deb's character; the way she took charge of the model town project and organized the whole thing really appealed to my INTJ Virgo self. And I LOVE DAVE! I loved Dave and McLean and their banter. I was expecting cheesy but they were actually really cute. 

The beginning was a little slow, and it took me a while to get into the swing of things. There were some scenes and some really long descriptions that I felt were kinda unnecessarily long? There were parts I found myself just glossing over real quick. I also thought that the big conflict towards the end wasn't very big of a conflict at all? And it lasted all of two seconds? I also wasn't a huge fan of the frequent jumps in timeline. I felt like there were too many of them, and the shifts in time weren't distinct enough, which led to momentary confusion on my part. 

Overall, What Happened To Goodbye was a very enjoyable read. The romance was a pretty nice slow-burn, and they had so much chemistry I loved them. I highly recommend this novel for anyone looking for a nice, no-stress romance!

Genre: YA Fantasy
Trigger/Content Warnings: bullying, mentions of suicide, abuse

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

Summary

Jude was seven when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King. To win a place at the court, she must defy him—and face the consequences. As Jude becomes more deeply embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, she discovers her own capacity for trickery and bloodshed. But as betrayal threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.

Rating: ★★★+(.5) (3.5/5)


I had extremely high expectations for this book since it's so highly lauded in the book community. It didn't quite meet my expectations (I thought it'd be a 4.5-ish stars), but it was still an entertaining read. 

I really loved Jude. She was such an interesting character I really felt for her motivations and goals and she's so smart. I also really loved how resilient she is and how protective she is of her family despite how terribly flawed they are. And she's just so cool I love her so much and I can't wait to see how she manages to handle the situation in The Wicked King. I don't like Cardan nearly as much as I love Jude, but I am intrigued to learn more about him and what kind of character he'll turn out to be. And I'm extremely interested to see how their relationship progresses in the next book because I love enemies-to-lovers.

The last 35% or so of this book was so fun and I couldn't put it down. I was tempted to rate this book higher because of its great ending. However, I couldn't overlook the fact that the middle dragged. I wasn't really interested in any of the characters except Jude, Jude's family, and Cardan so the middle was...eh. I honestly just wished they'd cut down the school scenes and get to the main plot sooner. Maybe I'm just not a fan of school scenes?

Overall, I enjoyed reading The Cruel Prince and I'm very excited to pick up The Wicked King soon!


Genre: Sports, Literary Fiction
Trigger/Content Warning: sexual assault, mentioned suicide, mentioned child abuse, grief, homophobia, (sports) injury

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

Summary

People say Beartown is finished. A tiny community nestled deep in the forest, it is slowly losing ground to the ever encroaching trees. But down by the lake stands an old ice rink, built generations ago by the working men who founded this town. And in that ice rink is the reason people in Beartown believe tomorrow will be better than today. Their junior ice hockey team is about to compete in the national semi-finals, and they actually have a shot at winning. All the hopes and dreams of this place now rest on the shoulders of a handful of teenage boys. Being responsible for the hopes of an entire town is a heavy burden, and the semi-final match is the catalyst for a violent act that will leave a young girl traumatized and a town in turmoil. Accusations are made and, like ripples on a pond, they travel through all of Beartown, leaving no resident unaffected. Beartown explores the hopes that bring a small community together, the secrets that tear it apart, and the courage it takes for an individual to go against the grain. In this story of a small forest town, Fredrik Backman has found the entire world.

Rating: ★★★★+(.75) (4.75/5)


I don't know why I'm always so reluctant to pick up anything that revolves around sports, when it has been proven time and time again that I love sports fiction (all for the game, haikyuu!!, free!, daiya no ace, kuroko no basuke). So of course I loved this book. I was really worried that after finishing A Little Life last month I would find myself in yet another slump where nothing I read seemed good enough for a high rating, but this book was amazing

This is my very first Backman book, but I've heard that this was really different from the kinds of stories he usually writes. This story explores a wide variety of very relevant themes such as sexual assault, homophobia, bullying, and more. And I felt that Backman handled all of it with a lot of grace. A lot of extremely important conflicts were brought up when this scandal hits the town; this story is a study of rape culture, mob-mentality, and the roots of the misogynistic behaviors and mindsets of men.

I know the seemingly abrasive lone-wolf with a secret heart of gold is an extremely overdone character trope, but holy heck am I trash for it. Benji is probably my favorite character out of all of them, and I can't wait to read the next book to see him, Amat, & Bobo again. A lot of the characters in this book are amazing and I hope to see more of them in Us Against You.

So why isn't this a 5 star read? I'm personally not a fan of multiple POV's, and there were a lot in this book. Some were amazing (Benji, Amat, Maya, Kira, Ana, Jeanette), but some were just so insignificant I kinda skimmed them (Filip's mom, Maggan, club president). The writing style itself was very nice, but also some of it got too repetitive. I actually like repetition in writing, since I think, if done well, it gives writing a lot more character, but I think the repetition coupled with the enormous amount of POV's kinda threw me off. But in all the writing style is nice, I highlighted so many nice quotes throughout my read, I'm just being nit-picky. 

Overall, Beartown is a very powerful story that tackles extremely sensitive topics in a delicate, respectful way, and I highly recommend this to everyone. This is another one of those books that I wish everyone would read at least once in their life because of how important and relevant this story is to society today.

Genre: YA Fantasy
Trigger/Content Warnings: violence, torture

The Wicked King by Holly Black

Summary

In order to keep her family safe, Jude has bound herself to Cardan. Navigating the constantly shifting political alliances of Faerie would be difficult enough on its own, but Cardan does everything in his power to humiliate and undermine her. When it becomes all too clear that someone close to Jude means to betray her, threatening her own life and the lives of everyone she loves, Jude must uncover the traitor and fight her own complicated feelings for Cardan to maintain control as a mortal in a Faerie world.

Rating: ★★★★ (4/5)


This book was so fast paced, and there were barely any dull moments—I was hooked. I was initially kinda reluctant to pick this up, since the first book was a bit of a disappointment to me, but this book really redeemed this series in my eyes. I'm going to keep this real short since I don't want to spoil anything.

I really loved the political intrigue in this book. There was also a lot going on at once, which always kept me thinking and figuring out each scheme, so I had a lot of fun trying to piece things together while reading. And the Jude and Cardan interactions were so great I like them a lot. And I really wish Holly Black would stop mentioning Cardan's tail when things get even slightly steamy because I forget it exists sometimes and I never asked for a reminder. The tail aside, I really like how Cardan is developed throughout the books I am extremely fond of him now.

Also I didn't mention this in the review for The Cruel Prince but I don't think I'm a fan of Holly Black's writing? It's not bad at all but it's quite roundabout and some of the phrases she writes are structured really weirdly...sometimes they require extra scrutiny before I understand what she's trying to say.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun fantasy read!



Genre: YA Fantasy
Trigger/Content Warnings: violence

The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black

Summary

He will be the destruction of the crown and the ruination of the throne. Power is much easier to acquire than it is to hold onto. Jude is left reeling after someone close to her betrays her. She bides her time determined to take back everything they took from her. Opportunity arrives in the form of her twin sister, Taryn, and Jude must risk her life if she wishes to save her sister. War is brewing. As Jude slips deep within enemy lines she becomes ensnared in the conflict's bloody politics. And, when a dormant yet powerful curse is unleashed, panic spreads throughout the land, forcing her to choose between her ambition and her humanity.

Rating: ★★★+(.75) (3.75/5)


I...really like the cover of this book? Why does everyone hate it 😥 
Once again, I'm going to keep this short to avoid spoilers.

Oak was so cute in this book, I love Oak. I picked this up immediately after finishing The Wicked King since I loved the second book so much. Unlike the other books, I found myself really liking the beginning of this book, but my enjoyment waned towards the end of the book. I found some of the twists quite boring and I was wishing they would be more exciting. 

I also wish they hadn't introduced so many more characters in this book (unless they aren't new and I just never noticed them? LOL). And I think a common thread here is that a lot of the people who are important in the previous book end up becoming secondary/minor characters in the next, and that made the story seem a bit stiff in this book. 
"by you, I am forever undone."
But I really loved the romance. The romance ended up developing really well—I liked JudeCardan in The Wicked King, but I loved them in Queen of Nothing. I highly appreciated the JudeCardan angst, but I was also wishing that there would be more.

Overall, I had a lot of fun reading this series. It started out as a bully romance kinda? Which I wasn't super into but then it developed into more and I just really love JudeCardan!!! 

((Also in the middle of typing this review I read Cardan's letters to Jude? They're the greatest thing ever please search them up when you finish the series!!!!!))


Genre: Sports Manga

Haikyuu!! (Vol. 38-43+) by Haruichi Furudate

Summary


Inspired after watching a volleyball ace nicknamed "Little Giant" in action, small-statured Hinata  Shouyou revives the volleyball club at his middle school. The newly-formed team even makes it to a tournament; however, their first match turns out to be their last when they are brutally squashed by the "King of the Court," Kageyama Tobio. Hinata vows to surpass Kageyama, and so after graduating from middle school, he rejoins Karasuno High School's volleyball team—only to find that his sworn rival, Kageyama, is now his teammate. 

Thanks to his short height, Hinata struggles to find his role on the team, even with his superior jumping power. Surprisingly, Kageyama has his own problems that only Hinata can help with, and learning to work together appears to be the only way for the team to be successful.

Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5) 


If my goodreads average rating is outrageously high, I blame it on giving 6 volumes of Haikyuu!! 5 stars.

Full disclosure, I knew from the very start that this was going to be a 5 star experience. Haikyuu has always been one of my most beloved anime/manga since my freshman year of high school, and it continues to hold a very special place in my heart.

The past 70(?) chapters that I neglected to read for the past year were just as amazing as I remembered the manga to be. There was just so much character development from everyone and I am just so fond of everyone I wanted to cry. Watching Hinata's character development over the entire course of the manga makes me feel like such a proud mom. Especially the most recent 10 chapters or so? His growth is amazing. Also Kageyama! Thinking back on Kageyama from chapter 1, he's grown so much. And of course I have to mention Tsukishima and his character development. I adore Tsukishima. Every single play of his from the Shiratorizawa match will forever have my heart. 

I am so devastated that this manga ended. I will miss this series forever. 

Overall, I definitely recommend Haikyuu!! with my entire heart. If there is one manga you read in your entire life, I hope it's Haikyuu!!

(Also Kenma is rich? He's really made it in life and I'm so proud of him GO KENMA!!!🐈💖)

((Edit: all of Nekoma is rich I chose the right team to stan))

(((Edit again: can we please talk about Yaku, Hanamaki, and Matsukawa's glow ups? :") )))



Genre: Non-Fiction

Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

Summary


Drawing on cutting-edge neuroscience and psychology and displaying all of he brilliance that made The Tipping Point a classic, Blink changes the way you'll understand every decision you make. Never again will you think about thinking the same way. Malcolm Gladwell redefined how we understand the world around us. Now, in Blink, he revolutionizes the way we understand the world within. It is a book about how we think without thinking, about choices that seem to be made in an instant that actually aren't as simple as they seem. Blink reveals that great decision makers aren't those who process the most information or spend the most time deliberating, but those who have perfected the art of "thin-slicing"—filtering the very few factors that matter from an overwhelming number of variables.

Rating: N/A


Hmm I don't feel comfortable rating this because I guess it was informative and it's something that a lot of people promote as a book you should read, but I didn't enjoy it? Again, non-fiction isn't my thing and this book, to me, was a bunch of case studies (a lot of them I've already read about) bunched into one book. And some of them were entertaining to read (the first section and the section about Kenna) but the rest of the book took me a really long time to get through. I've been reading this book since Christmas of 2019...

But it is informative, so if you're into psychology and case studies you might enjoy this more than I did.


Genre: YA Contemporary Mystery/Thriller
Trigger/Content Warnings: racism, accident & injury, grief

👪 We Were Liars by E. Lockhart 

Summary

A beautiful and distinguished family. A private island. A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy. A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive. A revolution. An accident. A secret. Lies upon lies. True love. The truth. 

Rating: +(.75) (1.75/5)


One of my goodreads friends wrote "the more I read of this book, the less I like it" and I— 👀

Anyways, I've been agonizing over this rating because there were parts I did enjoy. It's not a terrible book, it just didn't live up to my expectations. It had so much potential, but it fell flat.

I guess I'll start with things I liked. I found the family drama very amusing interesting. I also appreciated the way it was trying to criticize classism and intra-familial conflicts. I also really like books with unreliable narrators because I like to try to spot the lies, embellishments, and inconsistencies. The plot itself was pretty interesting and there was a nice element of mystery to it. However, I'm pretty familiar with plots like these, so the plot twist (i guess?) wasn't much of a surprise to me (don't read this unless you want to be spoiled, but the bells echo the impermanence of all things did it better tbh. Highly recommend if you're looking for a nice tdbk fic. I'd make a the bells echo vs. we were liars: who did it better but we all know what the answer is going to be)
I also really liked the fact that the chapters were so short it made reading feel effortless.

And now to the things I didn't like...
I have now learned how much I appreciate a nice writing style, and this definitely was not one of them. I do like sentences that are short and concise, but this was really pushing it. Another thing about the writing I didn't like was the over-dramatic metaphors. I also wish there was more of the family drama towards the beginning rather than it being only about the children. I never felt much for "The Liars" and I never grew to care much about any of them. . Also, I didn't care much for the romance I thought that was unnecessary too. I also wasn't a huge fan of the fairy tale chapters, but I've also read reviews that praised it so to each their own I guess. 

Overall, I wrote a lot of bad things but this wasn't a bad book. It just wasn't for me. I also might have enjoyed it more if the end was more of a surprise to me. So my word of advice for this book is go into this book knowing nothing! I was only able to predict part of the plot twist, but not all of it.

((Update: we all didn't really like this haha if only Cadence wasn't so cracker bland))


Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Trigger/Content Warnings: grief, cheating, cults

Beach Read by Emily Henry

Summary

A romance writer who no longer believes in love and a literary writer stuck in a rut engage in a summer-long challenge that may just upend everything they believe about happily ever afters. Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes bestselling romance. When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast. They're polar opposites. In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they're living in neighboring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer's block. Until, one hazy evening, one thing leads to another and they strike a deal designed to force them out of their creative ruts: Augustus will spend the summer writing something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel. She'll take him on field trips worthy of any rom-com montage, and he'll take her to interview surviving members of a backwoods death cult (obviously). Everyone will finish a book and no one will fall in love. Really.

Rating: ★★★★+(.25) (4.25/5)


I loved this book a lot! It definitely was not what I was expecting, and in a good way. 

Yeah I felt really catfished by this book, but in the best way possible. I was expecting it to be a super cute and fun, summery read, and I was expecting it to be more...chick-lit? But the story is a lot deeper than that. It's not a dark book per se, but it was darker than I thought it would be. I didn't know there would be cults? I also didn't know this book would deal with grief. But this entire book was a really fun time. I really loved Gus' backstory and honestly Gus himself. Cynical men with tragic backstories and commitment issues who constantly distance themselves from others due to their belief that they are unable to experience true love? Typical, but sign me tf up. And I got pretty emotional over January and what she's been going through. I actually teared up quite a lot near the end. I really love books about grief and moving on, and this book surprised me with how emotional I was at times.

I really loved the romance. The pining was so great. And Gus is so swoon-worthy I loved him. It also talks about the stereotypes people place on romance books, about how it's "for women" and how it's looked down upon in comparison to literary fiction, and now I feel a lot more incentive to pick up romance books and give them all a try. Especially since I loved this one so much.

I do have to admit, though, that there were some scenes and some lines that had me cringing pretty badly, which is why I had to take off 3/4 of a star. I cannot stand super cheesy, hallmark-y lines like "I don't need snowflakes as long as there's January" ... nonono why. 

Overall, I really loved this book and I'm really glad that I had the sudden inspiration to pick up romance books. I highly recommend this for anyone who is looking for a fun and emotional summer read!


This Month's Stats:


Total Books Read: 15📚
Average ★ Rating: 3.8🌟

Total Words Read: 861,375
Total Pages Read: 3,416
**excluding manga

⸺ ⁕ 

I had big plans to read a lot this month and I failed miserably :") I still plan on getting to the books I put on my July TBR, maybe in September or whenever I'm over this reading slump that I've fallen into. 

A friendly reminder that seeing your friends is not a necessity; stay home and stay safe!
Hope you all had a great July!


—璇


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