C O M B I N E D C O M P L E T E J U L Y / A U G U S T R E A D I N G Hello lovely reader! I really can't quite believe that August has surfaced so soon. Or more accurately, that this month is almost over too. Or really that we've made it this far into the year with the toss of a coin. I don't know where time thinks to go, how the year feels like it's nearing its end when yesterday felt like the first day of the new year. Whatever the reason, time feels as if it's speeding up to parallel the velocity of a partner in crime, light. I was indirectly Informed by a few tweeting birds via book Twitter that August brings with it Self-Published fantasy month! And while I don't usually participate in monthly themed reading challenges because for all my inclusivity, I really do read for mood and whim, I found myself accidentally taking part in it anyway. But if the dominos fall where they may?... just call me a domino. And my contribution? My continuation into Rebecca Crunden's dystopian fantasy, the Outlands Pentalogy. What a lucky duck I am. I'm not sure about you but diving into a dystopian naturally has me drawing the resemblance from fiction to life. I think it's safe to say that if we're consuming the mores and milieu of a fabricated setting, we're bound to question and reflect on the state of our own. While I understand the hardship of reading intense dystopian novels in this climate, the escapist quality is doing its job for me, to aid my escape while enjoying this fierce world imagined. With Rebecca Crunden's series exploring all things relatable to our own climate such as sickness, pandemic, human disaster, plague, propaganda, famine, mutable moralities, magisterial control, dictatorship, abuse, raw characters and an intensive fight for freedom, it's all very harsh but with an end in sight. And if hoping for a better world and a better life isn't indivisible from human nature, then we're stargazers uninterested by the vista of night. In any case, I'm three books into the series and I can't stop long enough to catch my breath. I'm raring for that end in sight! In other bookish news, another little birdie told me (yes, I am rather removed from modern society's updates and developments so trusty Twitter and its chirping community of information-dense birds can be an ignorant woman's guiding informative) that August housed within it Book blogger Appreciation Week too. A grand cheer to all my fellow bookworms who pour their adoration for literature into every review, every post and every blog. Behind the scenes of book blogging life isn't the glamorous picture it looks to be. It's hard work. Rather exhausting. It's a passion project but still painstaking work. As a small blogger, I'm so grateful for every passing eye, every wandering finger or fleeting glance that passersby deign to bestow upon the fruits of my labour. Eat away, my friends, eat away. Juggling multiple chronic illnesses isn't quite the game of amiable softball. It's a hardball royale. One that takes no prisoners with my unpredictable body, with little advantage to spare. As my health has taken a deep and dwindling dip this year, I've not managed to keep up my characteristically slothful reading pace. A lot of radical rest has replaced my desire to commit to all things bookish. Sleep, rest and repeat has been my slogan of necessity. Still, I'm very happy to announce that after months without request, I have two new author Interviews and some bookish promo to share! The lovely Nara Jade has her PR debut book 'Burning for the Beast' to share and I was honoured to interview both Kaitie Howie and Hayley Reese Chow on their current releases. You can find my interview with Kaitie (which I absolutely loved taking part in) here and my interview with Hayley about her second-in-series to her Odriel's Heirs series here! As for the intents and purposes of this post, I leave you with my July and August reads! 1) Kissing Micky by Ellen Devlin - Rating ★ ★ ★ 3
Marika Ray accomplishes light-hearted comedy value through upbeat tension, delightful disputes without an over-the-top slapstick edge. Testy neighbours to mild friends to lovers united. Feel-good and flirty, with an extra side of sawdust. C O N T E N T_W A R N I N G: Adult content, one bedroom scene and some swearing You can find my full review of 'Man Glitter' here! - 3 S T A R S to Man Glitter2) Whiskey Secrets by Carrie Ann Ryan - Rating ★ ★ ★ 3.5
The conflicts in the Whiskey Secrets are earnest with an emotive interior that gives this story its bona fide depth, and Ryan annexes it all with a casual, plain-spoken writing style that pronounces the sober overtones and flows as smooth as they say whiskey does. C O N T E N T W A R N I N G: Mentions gambling and recalls domestic abuse. Some discussions/memories/thoughts surrounding controlling relationships. An instant of on page physical assault. A few detailed/steamy sex scenes and profanity. The male lead struggles with survivor’s guilt coupled with the struggle of not getting to be enough or a bigger part of his son’s life. - 3.5 S T A R S to Whiskey Secrets3) Shot in the Dark by Tracy Solheim - Rating ★ ★ ★ ★ 4.5
I thank Ms. Solheim for bringing romantic suspense back into my CR life, and I award a voluntary (and enthusiastic) congratulatory cheer with hands clasped firmly on this well originated and lovingly framed piece of romantic fiction. I’m getting woozy with my end-of-book complacency. C O N T E N T W A R N I N G: General warning for violence. Mentions drug possession, alcohol consumption and child abuse/assault. Also briefly mentions drug and gun trades. Animal trafficking. Mentions animal deaths and details about trading for animal parts. The female lead’s dad has Alzheimer’s and there are sensitive scenes for readers who know, care for or have family members with dementia. Also Mentions pancreatic cancer. Swearing and a few steamy sex scenes. You can find my full review of 'Shot in the Dark' here! - 4.5 S T A R S to Shot in the Dark4) Hate to Date You by Monica Murphy - Rating ★ ★ 1.5/2
Hate to Date You was a reading miss for me, and while I was disappointed, that’s just the way the cookie crumbles sometimes in this reading fraternity of hits and misses. If you like the best friend’s brother paired with the forced proximity trope, feel free to give this one a try. Alas, it didn’t work for me and while I didn’t hate to date this one, I didn’t love to take it for a impassioned rendezvous either. C O N T E N T_W A R N I N G: Profanity, alcohol consumption, mentions drugs and a few sex scenes. You can find my full Goodreads review of 'Hate to Date You' here! - 1.5/2 S T A R S to Hate to Date You5) A History of Madness by Rebecca Crunden - Rating ★ ★ ★ ★ 4.5
In A Touch of Death we knew Nate through Kitty's mind and saw him through Kitty's eyes. In A History of Madness, we're graced with a POV change as we read from Nathanial Anteros, a Firebird in irons, incarcerated, as his loathing for a diabolical Kingdom only grows. While his mind dances a mercurial anthem from dejection to desperation, from mayhem to misery, the shuddering, palpitating flux of his mind boasts a biography of madness that speaks to a famine for freedom. C O N T E N T W A R N I N G: Mentions (retrospectively) moments of self harm, self-destruction and attempts at suicide. General warnings for violence, alcohol consumption and profanity. Mentions being hanged, drowned, starved, beaten and whipped. Also deals with themes of forced/arranged marriage, past miscarriages and there is an on-page abortion scene that may be sensitive to readers. Bear in mind that there is sensitive content surrounding this including absent attitudes towards the death of life. Also mentions execution and off-page rape (there are conversations that allude to rape throughout). Detailed descriptions of tortured bodies and there is one non-descriptive/vaguely described bedroom scene. The main male character's struggle with anxiety and PTSD is also chronic. You can find my full review of 'A History of Madness' here! - 4.5 S T A R S to A History of Madness6) A Promise of Return by Rebecca Crunden - Rating ★ ★ ★ ★ 4.5
A Promise of Return, third in succession, is a thrilling, atmospheric and soul-shredding campaign for repossession that appraises Thom’s exemption from a bestial tournament known as The Red Arena. This book is no less intense or gravelly, no less fierce or bare than its earlier born siblings. C O N T E N T W A R N I N G: Violence, beatings, blood, abuse and torture throughout. Descriptions of bodily harm and injury. Beheadings. Killings. Profanity. Self harm and alludes to cutting wrists. Mentions child abuse. Rape. Also mentions attempted suicide. There are also scenes that display anxiety, PTSD and panic attacks. A few fade to black bedroom scenes. - 4.5 S T A R S to A Promise of ReturnI hope you've enjoyed my July and August reads, but more than that, I truly hope you've enjoyed your own. Stay safe and well, friends. I love interacting with fellow readers and hearing about reader opinion, so if you'd like to talk books or about your own recent reads, get in touch and comment below! H A P P Y R E A D I N G <3 --------------------------------------- M Y R A T I N G S Y S T E M: ★ - 1 star: I did not like the book ★★ - 2 stars: The book was okay ★★★ - 3 stars: It was a good, solid read ★★★★ - 4 stars: A great book ★★★★★ - 5: A phenomenal read --------------------------------------- _________________________________________ R E L A T E D P O S T S: ● May/June Reading Wrap Up 2021 ● March/April Reading Wrap Up 2021 ● January/February Reading Wrap Up 2021 ● November/December Reading Wrap Up 2020 ● September Reading Wrap Up 2020 __________________________________________ SHARE ON FACEBOOK Leave a comment and let's talk...
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VaishaliBorn in the UK Archives
February 2024
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