Hello everyone! I’m very pleased by the number of books I’ve read this month! I’ve been getting floated to other units in the hospital frequently this month so I’ve had a lot of extra time at work to read. In other exciting news: I have reach 900 followers! 🎉 I cannot begin to express how much that means to me. I absolutely love reading books and writing bookish posts, and the book blogging community is amazing. I want to give a huge thank you to every person who follows me and helped me get here! I plan to do a giveaway at the beginning of August to celebrate so keep yours peeled for that post! ✨

---

TRUEL1F3: This series ender was packed full of the same non-stop action and thrills as the two previous installments. Eve’s POV is given more page-time again and I loved being back in her head to witness her emotional turmoil. Although I enjoy books full of action, the events here were extremely fast-paced and I got whiplashed while reading. Nevertheless, the Lifelike series was one hell of a ride and I recommend them for any fan of sci-fi!  ARC provided by Knopf Books for Young Readers through NetGalley.  ★★★  [review]

GODDESS IN THE MACHINE: This book is about Andra, who was put into cyrosleep to wake in another planet with other colonists from Earth in 100 years, but ends up waking 1000 years later instead. The worldbuilding here was amazing. The author did such a fantastic job and I could go on and on about how perfectly she crafted the setting. And the plot twists! You will not see them coming at all. The reveals and plot twists made me absolutely giddy with excitement while reading!  ★★★★  [review]

DARING AND THE DUKE: I was looking forward to this book as soon as I realized it would be about the Duke and Grace. Their relationship and falling out had been teased since the first book and I was itching to know what had happened. While it wasn’t my favorite of Sarah MacLean’s books (nothing beats her Scandal & Scoundrel series in my opinion) it was still an enjoyable read. ★★★  

THE FAITHLESS HAWK: Okay, WOW. How rare is it for the second book in a duology to be even better than the already amazing first? The Merciful Crow was one of my favorite books last year and I’m so glad this surpassed all of my high expectations! You are definitely kept on the edge of your seat the entire time and I loved the angst that was introduced! Such a fantastic conclusion to an awesome duology!  ARC provided by Macmillan Children’s through NetGalley.  ★★★★★

THE ORPHAN COLLECTOR: A captivating story about the Spanish Influenza outbreak of 1918, and eerily timely giving the events of today. The author weaves together a story that is poignant, heartbreaking, and thrilling. I was absolutely glued to the pages and found it difficult to put the book down. The vivid writing made the fear and confusion of the story palpable to the reader. I recommend this to any fan of historical fiction, you will not be disappointed.  ARC provided by the publisher through BookishFirst.  ★★★★  [review]

A ROGUE OF ONE’S OWN: Evie Dunmore once again knocks it out of the park with this one! I absolutely loved Lucie and Tristan’s story. First of all, Lucie is such a strong, independent, smart woman and I was so looking forward to her book once I learned she would be the star of the sequel. Secondly, the chemistry between Lucie and Tristan was sizzling! All those repressed feelings and years of longing really up the angst in this one.  ARC provided by Berkley through NetGalley.  ★★★★½

THE DAMNED: This book is focused a lot more on Bastien and his story. I found myself really enjoying his point of view and getting to become familiar with his thoughts and emotions. The biggest complaint about The Beautiful was the lack of vampires for a book about vampires, and just as I had suspected, this book is full of all the vampire-y goodness readers were looking for. Renée Ahdieh also really expands on the worldbuilding, so not only do we get a lot more vampires, but other paranormal creatures as well, such as the fey.  ★★★★  [review]

YOU LUCKY DOG: At first glance, this book seems like everything I could ask for in a book: an accidental dog switch leading to a romantic match between their owners? However, between the lukewarm romance and the writing, I was pretty indifferent towards the story. The biggest issue I had was the writing: the story was full of long exposition and unnecessary chapters dedicated to detailing every minutes of the characters’ lives. I never though a book about doggos could disappoint me so greatly.  ARC provided by Berkley through NetGalley.  ★★½ [review]

MY FAVORITE HALF-NIGHT STAND: The last couple of Christina Lauren books I’ve read have left me wanting, so I was extremely pleased to find myself really enjoying this one! This was fun, flirty, and angsty. It was exactly the kind of light pick-me-up I was looking to read in the summer. I initially found myself frustrated with Millie, until I came to the realization it was only because I saw so much of myself in her insecurities, inability to open up, and emotional guardedness.  ★★★★  [review]

LOBIZONA: I’m not sure what I was expecting when I went in to this, but I will say that I was pleasantly taken by surprise and my expectations were surpassed. I can’t resist a story based on ~magical~ schools and this really gave me what I wanted. Manu, the protagonist, ends up at an academy for brujas (witches) and lobizons (werewolves) as she attempts to figure out who she is, where to find her father, and a way to rescue to her mother. I will definitely be reading the next book.  ARC provided by Wednesday Books from NetGalley.  ★★★★

DEVOLUTION: My favorite thing about Max Brooks’ books is how real he makes them seem. From the author’s foreward to the very last page, he absolutely commits to the narrative. Even though I know it’s fiction, he adds so much detail that I start to second guess myself with some of the events. This book was thrilling and terrifying. I spent a good portion of this book with chills running up my back from the vivid descriptions. The mixture of first person narrative with the interview excerpts were perfectly interwoven and cohesive to form an excellent horror story. ★★★★

FABLE: There is just something about Adrienne Young’s writing that makes me fly through the pages. This book was non-stop action and fun from the very beginning. Seafaring adventures are some of my favorite stories so I feel like I can be more particular about them, but this ticked all the right boxes. From the strong heroine, Fable, to our amazing cast of side characters aboard the Marigold, this was a fantastic read.  ARC provided by Wednesday Books through NetGalley.  ★★★★½

THE CROW RIDER: I spent the entirety of this book trying to remember the plot points, information, and characters from The Storm Crow. The fact that I couldn’t remember much from the previous book really killed my ability to connect and completely immerse myself in the story. That being said, this was a strong sequel to the duology. Kalyn Josephson did a great job keeping the plot moving forward and writing plenty of action scenes. Also: PRINCE ERICEN!  ★★★½

---

OTHER

Top Ten Tuesday: Covers Better than the Book | WWW Wednesday #32 | Top Ten Tuesday: Authors Whose Books I’ve Read the Most | 2020 Book Blogger Awards – Nominations | Let’s Talk Bookish: What Makes a Book YA?

---

BLOGGER SHOUT-OUTS

✨ Rin Reads – Erin is new to book blogging and I am loving their posts. I look forward to reading more book reviews and other content from them!

✨ Inside My Library Mind Judges Book Covers – Every month, Marija finds a handful of new releases and then judges their covers _{(we all do it, don’t lie)} and it’s really fun!

✨ Forever and Everly’s Review of The Poppy War – For those unfamiliar, I am o b s e s s e d with The Poppy War series. May has written an amazing review for one of my favorite books and I encourage you to check it out! and then immediately add it to your TBR

✨ Drizzle and Hurricane Books’ Discussion on Content Warnings – Marie’s post on whether books should contain trigger/content warnings is so important. The give readers the option to decide whether or not they’re in the right headspace for a book that may cause mental/emotional stress. Definitely give her post a read!

✨ The Bookish Twins – This is a blog that I just recently followed, run by twins Lauren and Megan. Their blog aesthetic is #goals and I’m looking forward to following them!

✨ Vicky’s Post on How to Make Blogs/Social Media More Accessible – Vicky discusses the importance of making sure content is accessible to screen readers or those who may use other aids on the internet. She lists some really helpful hints and information.