July 2020 Wrap-Up

Hello everyone! I can't believe another month has passed already. This year has simultaneously felt like the slowest and fastest year. July was an alright month for me. I was very stressed and there were some sad moments but I also read a good number of books and finalized some plans that were making me anxious. Overall, I hope August will be a better month!

I read a total of 13 books in July. Some of them were a bit longer whereas others were novellas. I largely credit this number to the Reading Rush Readathon, during which I read all of these books except the first four. I aim to read the same number or more in August, but we shall see if that happens! Without further ado, let's jump right in!

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BOOKS READ
1.
Title: The Crow Rider
Author: Kalyn Josephson
Rating: 4 // 5 stars
Review

2. 

Title: Renegades
Author: Marissa Meyer
Rating: 5 // 5 stars
Review

3.
Title: Archenemies
Author: Marissa Meyer
Rating: 5 // 5 stars
Review

4.
Title: Supernova
Author: Marissa Meyer
Rating: 5 // 5 stars
Review

5.
Title: Burn
Author: Maya Banks
Rating: 3 // 5 stars

6.
Title: Meeting Sang: Silas
Author: C.L. Stone
Rating: 3 // 5 stars

7.
Title: Meeting Sang: Nathan
Author: C.L. Stone
Rating: 4 // 5 stars

8.
Title: Meeting Sang: Gabriel
Author: C.L. Stone
Rating: 4 // 5 stars

9.
Title: Curse of the Night Witch
Author: Alex Aster
Rating: 4 // 5 stars
Review

10.
Title: The Prince 
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Rating: 4.5 // 5 stars
Series Review

11.
Title: The King
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Rating: 5 // 5 stars
Series Review

12.
Title: The Queen
Author: Jennifer L Armentrout
Rating: 5 // 5 stars
Series Review

13.
Title: Breaking Dawn
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Rating: 5 // 5 stars
Review

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BLOG POSTS

June 2020 Wrap-Up
June 2020 Book Haul
Book Review: "The Crow Rider" by Kalyn Josephson
Unboxing: Dreamy & Co's "Welcome to Crescent City" Box
Book Review: "Renegades" by Marissa Meyer
Book Review: "Archenemies" by Marissa Meyer
Book Review: "Supernova" by Marissa Meyer
Reading Rush TBR
Book Review: "Curse of the Night Witch" by Alex Aster
Book Review: The Summer King Novellas by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Book Review: "Breaking Dawn" by Stephenie Meyer

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Thanks for reading!

xoxo

Lauren

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Book Review: "Curse of the Night Witch" by Alex Aster

Title: Curse of the Night Witch

Author: Alex Aster

Series: "Emblem Island" #1

Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy

Page Length: 352 pages

Publication Date: June 9, 2020

Rating: 4 // 5 stars

Goodreads

*I was sent a free digital ARC of this book from Sourcebooks in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own*

Going into this book, I didn't really know what to expect. I was hoping for an enjoyable middle grade adventure but wasn't exactly sure of what was going to happen. I ended up being pleasantly surprised at how fun and enjoyable this book was. 

I think what drove this for me was our three main characters. They are pretty well written and unique in their own ways even though we only get Tor's point-of-view throughout the novel. I thought it was interesting to see the character developments from the beginning to end of the book and how the relationships changed. I really liked all three characters. I feel like Tor is just trying to live his life on his own terms, Melda is the strong but suffer in silence type, and Engle is a food-loving, loyal friend (I highly relate to his food loving). 

Additionally, this world was very interesting. I was wondering throughout the book if this would be a stand alone or a series and I'm pretty excited that there's going to be more books. I want to know more about the magic system and the world because it's all rather fascinating. 

This book was also just a fun adventure. Sure, there were lots of serious or tense moments, but overall I'd say I had fun reading this book because of the fun, adventure aspect. We cover a lot of events and visit a lot of different parts of this island and it was very enjoyable to read. I thought the balance between fun banter, serious conversations, and high-stakes actions was quite good. 

One thing that I tend to enjoy most about middle grade is how easy it is to fall into the story and how they're usually quick reads for me. This book was exactly that way for me and I really enjoyed my time. I ended up reading it in one sitting and I think that worked best for me. 

Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot and I'm interested in seeing where the plot and characters go next (especially after that ending). 

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Thanks for reading!

xoxo

Lauren

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Reading Rush TBR

Hello everyone! Today I am super excited because it's the start of Reading Rush! Reading Rush is a 7-day long readathon that starts today and ends on Sunday. There are different challenges for what to read and there's a bunch of fun activities that will go on throughout the week. But, without further ado, here's my to-be-read pile!

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Challenge 1: Read a book with a cover that matches the color of your birthstone.

I was born in August so my birthstone is the peridot which is a bright green color. It was actually quite difficult to find a book for this, so I decided to go with three short novellas instead of a full novel. I've chosen Meeting Sang: Gabriel, Meeting Sang: Nathan, and Meeting Sang: Silas by C.L. Stone. 

  

These are three novellas taking place from different character POVs during the first book in the Ghost Bird series. I've read the first two but haven't gotten to these three yet. I think they'll be short, quick reads and I'll hopefully gain some character insights through them. 

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Challenge 2: Read a book that starts with the word "The."

For this challenge, I decided to go with The Prince and The King by Jennifer L. Armentrout. These are two of the novellas following the Wicked trilogy and I've been eagerly awaiting the release of the final novella before I read these. They're both under 200 pages so I think it will be easy to fulfill this challenge.

 

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Challenge 3: Read a book that inspired a movie you've already seen. 

This might be cheating since I've already read this book, but I chose Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer. This is the final book in the Twilight Saga and I've been rereading the series in preparation for Midnight Sun's release in August. It's been many years since I've actually read this but it was always my favorite in the series so I hope that this will also be a quick read.

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Challenge 4: Read the first book you touch. 

The first book from my monthly TBR that I touched was Burn by Maya Banks. This is the third and final book in the Breathless Trilogy which is a trilogy of companion romance novels following different main couples. I read the first two each in one sitting and I'm surprised that it actually took me so long to finally get around to reading this one. 

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Challenge 5: Read a book completely outside of your house

For this challenge, I'm going with The Queen by Jennifer L Armentrout. This is the final novella in the Wicked trilogy that I mentioned in Challenge 2. This is also relatively short and I think that on the day where the weather is nice that I can get outside and read this easily. Although, I may also take one of the novellas from challenge 1 to fulfill this challenge since they're shorter. Either way, I will be reading this during the readathon no matter what. 

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Challenge 6: Read a book in a genre that you've always wanted to read more of. 

I've chosen nonfiction for this challenge and I actually have two picks for this. The first that I want to read is Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge. This is a nonfiction book about systematic racism and how it impacts all areas of life with a specific reference to the UK. As someone who wants to move to the UK in a couple years, I think it's very important that I'm knowledgable about how structural racism is similar and different to America.

 

The second is Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi. I don't see myself finishing this book this week since it's a super long, dense history book but I would like to make some significant progress. I read a couple chapters last night and already feel as if I've learned more about racial history than in my entire public school education. I can tell that this is going to be an invaluable resource for me and I do want to continue reading it this week even if I can't finish it before the readathon is over. 

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Challenge 7: Read a book that takes place on a different continent than where you live. 

I've chosen two books for this challenge as well. It may be slightly cheating in that I've chosen fantasy books but, to be fair, they don't take place on my continent. The first of these is Curse of the Night Witch by Alex Aster. It's a middle-grade fantasy that came out a month ago and I meant to review before then.

 

The second is The Dark Tide by Alicia Jasinska. This is a YA fantasy that sounds so good. This one comes out in August and I'd also like to have my review up before then. This is actually also the book that I am starting this readathon with today.

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Are you going to be participating in the Reading Rush? Let me know in the comments below! I am super excited to be participating in this readathon for the first time and I can only hope that I'm going to be motivated to actually complete the challenges!

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Thanks for reading!

xoxo

Lauren

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You can follow my bookstagram here for more bookish content!

To get more awesome posts like this post, click the follow button to the right!

Get free worldwide shipping with Book Depository using my affiliate link

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