June Reviews, Part 1

I’ve finished my first 5 books reviews for June. Let’s dive into the details.

Statistics

Age Category: 1 MG, 2 YA, 2 A

I think the last crop of 5 was all adult books. So, I guess, I’m making up for that lost time!

Author’s Gender: 1M, 4F 

Genres: 1 Humor, 1 Horror, 2 Fantasy, 1 Mystery/Thriller

No Contemporary? That’s sort of a surprise, isn’t it?

Indie Authors: 3 No, 2 Yes

Pretty close to half … again.

Total Pages Read: 1,464

Average Pages per Book: 292

Not bad. 

Ratings: 3, 3, 3, 4, 4

All good books, some more niche than others! None that cross genre this time around. But still, all good books means get those TBR lists ready when you watch this video!

Book Notes That Didn’t Make the Video

I Even Funnier

• I listened to this one as an audiobook from my local library. That made me curious, however, about the different editions. Because it mentions artwork which I obviously didn’t get to see. Also there’s a chapter that makes specific mention to “buying the audiobook” and “getting three seconds of silence” which makes me wonder what the print book says. Maybe someday I’ll find out. 
• I rated the previous book in this series 4 stars. 
• Get yourself a copy here. 

The Haunting of Hill House

• I listened to this one as an audiobook from my local library. 
• Yes, I’ve seen the movie. But it’s been a LONG time. I didn’t remember anything about the movie other than a random (disturbingly clear) memory of a single scene from about the midpoint of the book. I can’t even picture the house from the movie. I just have the really clear picture in my head from the book. I have a feeling no movie could capture that detail so I’m worried about watching the movie again now. 
• Get yourself a copy here. 

Immortal Defiance

• I received an electronic copy of this one from the author in exchange for an honest review. 
• Historically, I have been rather hard on vampire novels. Unless you’ve been following me since my OOOLLLDDD blog days (I hope that’s not the case because THAT blog was a hot mess) you probably don’t know that. But, historically, they bug me a little. They’re usually very cliche. This one is NOT. To be fair, the vampire (arguably) is … but he’s in a completely different book so it’s forgivable. I love the differences in this one. 
• Support indie authors and grab yourself a copy here. 

Before I Let Go

• I read this one in electronic format and borrowed it from the library. 
• The diversity in this one is decent. We have a character who is pansexual, one who is identified as asexual (although it’s implied she hasn’t really decided if this is accurate yet), and a gay couple. In addition, much of the story centers around Kyra’s bipolar disorder and how people in the town see her as a result of that diagnosis. 
• Grab yourself a copy of this story here. 

Odriel’s Heirs

• I listened to this one was an audiobook which I was gifted by the author in exchange for an honest review. Hayley Reese Chow (the author) was actually on my review list for later in 2020 (this book came out in March). But, when the audiobook was finished, she sent that my way and scooted up the review request list. Have I mentioned the review request list is MUCH shorter for audiobooks?
• I was listening to this one and reading Immortal Defiance at the same time. I had to stop doing that pretty quickly because they were too much alike! So, if you stalk my Goodreads and you happened to notice it looked like it took me longer than usual to finish Odriel’s Heirs I promise it had NOTHING to do with the book being slow. I stopped it and started again from the beginning when I was done with the other one. 
• Support indie authors and grab yourself a copy of this one here.

The Video

See the full reviews here (don’t forget to like and subscribe)