August Wrap Up

by Unknown - Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Okay, wow, how is August already over? I swear I was just doing my July wrap up and August TBR yesterday. I feel like when you look back at the years and the months they seem to fly by yet the hours and the days go quite slow.

Books

I am quite happy to say I got a fair amount of reading done in August. I also got some of my friends that didn't read very much into it, which is always a win because reading is #awesome!

I also have book reviews for most of these books I am talking about up on my blog so I'll make sure to leave a list so you can see my in depth discussion of the plot, characters, ideas and writing. The books are in the order of how I read them in August (not an order of how much I liked them or didn't like them).

1. A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES BY SARAH J MAAS

ACOTAR by Sarah J Maas is a book I have talked about extensively on my blog and in more posts to come, because it is so freaking brilliant! It has fantasy and romance and magic and mystery and suspense and humour and it's the absolute perfect package. Maas used Beauty And The Beast as an idea but put an entirely different spin on it with fae, a war and lots of secrets. This is such an amazing read and so worth your time! It just made the entirety of my August so much brighter and better.

2. A COURT OF MIST AND FURY BY SARAH J MAAS

ACOMAF by Sarah J Maas is the second book in the ACOTAR series. I raved about the first book above but the second one was so, so much better than the first and just blew my mind. It was absolutely breathtaking and so mysterious and I had no idea what was going to happen next. The characters are so well fleshed out and the relationships (friendships, familial love and romantic love) is just so beautifully written. It is highly engaging and so, so, so good.

3. HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD BY J.K ROWLING, JOHN TIFFANY AND JACK THORNE

Okay, so this is a book I think the entire world was just holding their breath for when it got released and after I got my hands on a copy and proceeded to devour it, I find that while I did like it, it wasn't as much as I'd hoped I would. I think it was more the fact that it is a play and not an actual book that changed things for me because plays are, after all, meant to be watched rather than read.

4. THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE BY JANDY NELSON

This was such a touching and poignant book about grief, love and loss. It was so well explored and wholly unique. The characters were layered and intricate and quite beautifully done. It didn't have much of a plot and some of the character actions were questionable and didn't make too much sense yet it was a really, really good book. I loved how the main character wrote these little notes and scattered them all over the places and before the beginning of each chapter in the book, you'd see one of these notes that had a connection to the story.

5. THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER BY MICHELLE HODKIN

I quite liked this book because it was a unique idea, quite haunting and creepy (it wasn't scary, just intriguing with a little bit of creep) and unpredictable. I liked the plot and the writing helped add more depth to the plot. However, the characters were a little bland.

6. THE SIREN BY KIERA CASS

I didn't love this one too much. The plot was very boring and had absolutely no action, some of the events occurring in the book were questionable and I didn't feel any connection to the characters. I wa expecting a lot more because I was very excited for this book, having read Cass's other series, The Selection, but I found myself disappointed. The idea, however, I did like and feel had potential.

Related: The Siren Book Review

7. SINCE YOU'VE BEEN GONE BY MORGAN MATSON

This one was so summery and light and fun. The idea of the book was quite lovely and the plot was pretty exciting and intriguing up to a certain point, from where I felt it went downhill. However, I loved how the book explored the unbreakable friendship bonds between the two main characters and how they did simple things like watch movies and go to the flea market yet how much fun they'd have doing that because they did it together.

8. THIS SAVAGE SONG BY V.E.SCWAB

This was such a kick ass book! I loved the characters who were so strong and brave, especially Kate, one of the main characters and the ideas behind the book were brilliant. One of my favourite things in the book is a poem for children about the monsters which I felt had a lot of significance to the characters and the story. It was a dark and very quotable book and I adored it.

Related: This Savage Song Book Review

9. AN EMBER IN THE ASHES BY SABAA TAHIR

This is a book I've heard so much about and when I read it, although I found the start a little slow, I got into it and I quite liked it! I cannot wait for the next book to come out in September so I can devour it too!

A book review for this will be coming soon as I have recently finished reading it!

Blog

This year has been a pretty good one for blogging! I started posting daily, interacting more with other book bloggers or bookstagrammers and have really been working hard to create content for my blog! I've had a lot of fun doing so and have really loved the responses I've gotten, which makes my work a lot more satisfying and enjoyable.

These are just some of the other fun blog posts I have done this month which you can check out. Most are just book recommendations and book tags where I discuss *cough* fangirl *cough* about some awesome books!

Life

Not much happened this month other than blogging and school, which is very sad, but I am looking forward to the holidays which are right around the corner (3 more weeks to go I believe!) and then I can be free to read all day, without disturbance.

However, I did get my first two ARCs which is super exciting for someone who has only been book blogging for a month or two! I absolutely loved the books I was sent and I am very grateful to Allen And Unwin and Macmillan for sending me those!

Anyway, that is it for my wrap up! I had a lot of fun reading this month and cannot wait to see what books lie in store for me next month!