The first book I read in July was The Princess Saves Herself In This One by Amanda Lovelace. This is a poetry collection that which is divided into four parts. The first three parts tell the story of the author, the struggles she faced, and how she came to be who she is now. The last part is called You and addresses the reader and gives insightful advice in the form of wonderful poems. Every single poem in the collection is beautiful and insightful. I think it is a must read for any teenager and young adult! It was the first poetry book I've read and I absolutely adore it!
I also finished reading The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater which is fourth and final book in The Raven Cycle Quartet. As it is the last book in the series I can't tell you much about it because it would spoil the previous books. However, I loved it and in my opinion every book in the series just gets better as the series progresses. It was full of friendship, loyalty, family and magic!
The third book I read was Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton. This is the first book in a new fantasy trilogy and takes place in a desert nation. It follows Amani, an orphaned girl who lives in poverty with her aunt and uncle and wants to escape. One day she decides to enter a shooting contest in order to win money and escape as she is a talented shooter, whilst at the contest she meets an unnamed stranger who saves her life and who she later escapes with as they both go on the run from the army. I loved this and found the whole idea to be brilliant. I also loved the magical creatures and
magical elements!
For the Booktube-a-thon the first book I read was Am I Normal Yet by Holly Bourne. I have a full review on this in my previous blog post.
During the Booktube-a-thon I also read Love Letters to the Dead. I enjoyed this but did have some issues with the characters actions. This follows the story of Laurel whose sister has died, in a way to cope with this Laurel writes letters to famous dead people who have influenced her in some way. Through the letters you discover what has happened in Laurel's life and how and why her sister died. My one and only problem with this book is that the characters smoke, drink and do drugs just to seem cool when in reality it just makes them seem a bit stupid or as if they are trying too hard.
After the Booktube-a-thon I read The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovet. This centres on a girl called Hawthorn who is a loner and doesn't really fit in. One day her brother, Rush, discovers that a girl he went to school with, Lizzie, has gone missing. Although Hawthorn didn't get on with Lizzie, she decides it is up to her to discover what happened to her, and in a bid to do this becomes obsessed with Lizzie's life, including her boyfriend Enzo. I feel like this book could have had so much potential but I felt a bit let down by it. The pace was incredibly slow and at times the book just felt boring. I also couldn't really stand Hawthorn and Enzo, which isn't great considering they're the main characters. However I did love all of the side characters, especially Rush and Connor.
Next I read The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E Smith. This follows Lucy and Owen who get stuck in an elevator together during a power cut. When they get out of the elevator they spend the night together exploring New York City and fall in love. A few weeks later they bother discover they have to move away and the story follows their long distance relationship. I did enjoy this book as it was really cute, fun and fluffy but it was very much a case of unrealistic instalove.
Finally I read The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan. This follows a romantic relationship that the protagonist has from beginning to end and is set out in the style of a dictionary. I love the concept of story and Levithan's choice of words, but the story was pretty much your basic boy and girl meet, there is a problem, they break up story. However I did really enjoy it!
I also finished reading The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater which is fourth and final book in The Raven Cycle Quartet. As it is the last book in the series I can't tell you much about it because it would spoil the previous books. However, I loved it and in my opinion every book in the series just gets better as the series progresses. It was full of friendship, loyalty, family and magic!
The third book I read was Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton. This is the first book in a new fantasy trilogy and takes place in a desert nation. It follows Amani, an orphaned girl who lives in poverty with her aunt and uncle and wants to escape. One day she decides to enter a shooting contest in order to win money and escape as she is a talented shooter, whilst at the contest she meets an unnamed stranger who saves her life and who she later escapes with as they both go on the run from the army. I loved this and found the whole idea to be brilliant. I also loved the magical creatures and
magical elements!
For the Booktube-a-thon the first book I read was Am I Normal Yet by Holly Bourne. I have a full review on this in my previous blog post.
During the Booktube-a-thon I also read Love Letters to the Dead. I enjoyed this but did have some issues with the characters actions. This follows the story of Laurel whose sister has died, in a way to cope with this Laurel writes letters to famous dead people who have influenced her in some way. Through the letters you discover what has happened in Laurel's life and how and why her sister died. My one and only problem with this book is that the characters smoke, drink and do drugs just to seem cool when in reality it just makes them seem a bit stupid or as if they are trying too hard.
After the Booktube-a-thon I read The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovet. This centres on a girl called Hawthorn who is a loner and doesn't really fit in. One day her brother, Rush, discovers that a girl he went to school with, Lizzie, has gone missing. Although Hawthorn didn't get on with Lizzie, she decides it is up to her to discover what happened to her, and in a bid to do this becomes obsessed with Lizzie's life, including her boyfriend Enzo. I feel like this book could have had so much potential but I felt a bit let down by it. The pace was incredibly slow and at times the book just felt boring. I also couldn't really stand Hawthorn and Enzo, which isn't great considering they're the main characters. However I did love all of the side characters, especially Rush and Connor.
Next I read The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E Smith. This follows Lucy and Owen who get stuck in an elevator together during a power cut. When they get out of the elevator they spend the night together exploring New York City and fall in love. A few weeks later they bother discover they have to move away and the story follows their long distance relationship. I did enjoy this book as it was really cute, fun and fluffy but it was very much a case of unrealistic instalove.
Finally I read The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan. This follows a romantic relationship that the protagonist has from beginning to end and is set out in the style of a dictionary. I love the concept of story and Levithan's choice of words, but the story was pretty much your basic boy and girl meet, there is a problem, they break up story. However I did really enjoy it!
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