June has been the wake-up call that our world has needed and with the month officially winding down, let's continue to fight for change so that our futures will be brighter than our past. Black Lives STILL Matter and there are still many petitions to sign. In the past week, several members of the Black trans community have been targeted as victims of hate crimes (some names: Riah Milton and Dominique "Rem'mie" Fells) and there's been a resurgence of news about crimes done in the past - among them is the murder of Elijah McClain in 2019.
Just because one month is over does not mean we stop using our voices to uplift the Black community. Continue signing petitions, calling your representations, and letting them know that this corrupted system must be torn down.
In addition to reading a lot of important and informative articles, I was also able to finally score some new favorites. I feel like most of the books I've read this year have all been on the "meh" level and while some were good, very few have really impressed me.
( note: the covers aren't in order but I couldn't get them to line up properly and it annoyed me so I switched things up to get things to look nice 😅 😅 )
a song of wraiths and ruin by roseanne a. brown - 3.5 stars
resurrection, olympic games, and the heart of a king
This book definitely surprised me and I'm sure you've seen all the praise it's been getting on the bookternet. I struggled a bit getting into the story at the beginning but there was a crucial turning point where I suddenly became incredibly invested. This has all the classic elements of a young adult fantasy and it's set amongst lush West African folklore - I'm definitely excited to check out future works by this author!
furies of calderon by jim butcher - 3.5 stars
elemental spirits, an invading horde, and overthrowing a king
The Codex Alera is one of those staple adult fantasy series that I've been wanting to pick up for a long time. As the first book in a series, there's a lot of introduction to the world but one of my favorite aspects was how Jim Butcher made every chapter count towards the bigger story.
spin the dawn by elizabeth lim - 4.5 stars
a journey to sew the dresses of a goddess
I'm so glad I decided to reread this before I picked up the sequel because it was such a wonderful experience. I fell back in love with the world that Elizabeth Lim had created as well as all the characters. It truly solidified this book as one of my favorite young adult fantasies and made me all the more excited for the sequel.
we hunt the flame by hafsah faizal - 3.5 stars
a compass, a journey, a book to bring back magic
I read this with the wonderful So-Shelf Distancing Book Club which has been one of my favorite quarantine activities. The story itself has elements of standard YA fantasy and the writing itself was very lyrical, however, there were some discrepancies with the plot and the characters themselves were pretty two-dimensional. It's one of those stories that while enjoyable, didn't leave a lasting impression on me.
running barefoot by amy harmon - 3.5 stars
pure friendship built on literature and classical music
I've been putting this book off for such a long time but I finally picked it up. In some ways, I'm a bit disappointed that I didn't love this story as much as I had hoped - the main character literally feels like a character replica of myself in both name and hobbies. Unfortunately, while the characters were pretty well developed, I felt like the plot wasn't as fleshed out.
the killing moon by n.k. jemisin - 4.5 stars
taking dreams from the criminals and a soul-stealing monster
I recently shared in my Mid Year Freak Out tag that this scored the spot for my favorite read of the year. The story completely caught me by surprise, I was so invested with the world and politics, it didn't even matter that I wasn't necessarily connected to the individual characters. NK Jemisin does a fantastic job in weaving together important political ideas through the lens of arbitrary peace and I can't wait to jump into the sequel.
night of cake and puppets by laini taylor - 4.5 stars
the best 3 hours of happiness
Mik and Zuzanna are one of my all-time favorite bookish couples and I don't know why I've been putting off reading this novella for so long. It was honestly serotonin in a book, I couldn't stop smiling and fangirling over this couple. This is for sure my new go-to when I need a pick me up.
unravel the dusk by elizabeth lim - 4 stars
fulfilling bargains and fighting for your country
This was one of my most anticipated releases of the year and it certainly lived up to my expectations. So much happens in this book that there were moments where I just had to stop reading because I was so worried for the characters. Once again, Elizabeth Lim draws readers back into the world with her lush writing and her characters are honestly some of my favorite people.
I've been feeling the reread bug lately and since I've collected a couple of my past favorites recently (thank you quarantine shopping) I have the luxury of actually picking them up so here are a couple of options.
I am still participating the #kpopreadathon - I haven't been as good about updating as I originally planned but here the books I have left to read.
This post took me way too long to write - I've honestly forgotten what the concept of time is and procrastination has slowly taken over my life. Despite taking forever to actually get my thoughts together, I'm pretty happy with everything I read in June.
Now that I've finally finished this post - turning it to you, what was your favorite book that you read last month?
4 Comments
Ahhh I really want to reread TID and Iron Fey series too during this quarantine, idk what's stopping me 😭🥺
ReplyDeleteTasya // The Literary Huntress
ahh you should pick them up!! I keep looking at my copies of TID and telling myself to read them because I've been in a physical reading mood so hopefully July is where it happens!
Deleteto be honest, The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang overshadowed all of the books that i read in july because it was SO GOOD. it definitely lived up to my expecations and was a very dark and well structured epic fantasy that i loved.
ReplyDeleteI just finished rereading TPW and I still don't know how to write a review for that masterpiece! Hoping to start my reread of TDR, if you've read it let me know your thoughts!!
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