I’ve finished my next 5 book reviews for August. Let’s dive into the details.
Statistics
Age Category: 1 MG, 2 YA, 2 A
A nice mix this time around. Good for me!
Author’s Gender: 4 F, 1 M
Insert obligatory comment about imbalance again …
Genres: 1 Romance, 1 Contemporary, 2 Fantasy, 1 Political Thriller
Hello big mix, how are you?
Indie Authors: 4 No, 1 Yes
Yikes! Alright, in my defense, this is a result of the shield challenges mostly coming up traditional authors.
Total Pages Read: 1685
Average Pages per Book: 337
Ooohhhh there were some long ones on this crop, yes? This seems large to me.
Ratings: 3, 3, 3, 4, 4
All good books, some great books. Pretty cool!
Book Notes That Didn’t Make the Video
This Love Story Will Self-Destruct
- I listened to this one as an audiobook which I borrowed from my library. I do that a lot.
- Having looked at a sample chapter of the book, I’d say I would recommend the audiobook especially if you’re bothered by overused italics. Just in the small sample I looked at, the italics were heavily relied on. That’s something you won’t notice or be bothered by on the audiobook. Plus the voice actors did a great job. Go audio. (You’re welcome)
- Grab yourself a copy of this one here.
Speak
- I bought this one at my local used bookstore when it earned the shield for “recommended based on a recent 5-start read”. This one was recommended after I finished Zero by Tom Leveen (I think) another great contemporary book!
- This is almost painful to admit, but here we go. This book was published the year I graduated high school. I’m actually surprised I hadn’t heard of it or read it before, considering I would’ve been close to the target audience when this one actually came out.
- If you, like me, hadn’t read this great book yet … you can get it here.
City of Ghosts
- I added this one to my TBR after I read The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud and someone recommended this one. I was hoping for another great middle grade read that utilized ghosts and scary storytelling strategies.
- At the time of filming the video I hadn’t looked up how many books are actually in this series. It’s three. Just FYI.
- Grab yourself a copy of this one here.
Root and Branch
- I received an electronic copy of this one from the author in exchange for an honest review. I forgot to mention that in the video because this also earned a shield, which is how it got bumped up to appearing in August. YAY
- I mention in the video that this one has a GREAT first chapter that just sucks you in and makes you want to keep reading. I noticed that the first chapter is available on Amazon with the “Look Inside” feature. So, go ahead, dive in … you won’t regret it!
- Support indie authors and get yourself that copy here.
Unearthly
- I added this one to my TBR way back in the day because I was on a huge Fallen kick. I loved that book mostly because of the characters and the way the story was different than so many of the other ones I was reading. This one sounded similar. I suppose I should’ve analyzed that fact a little closer and realized something SIMILAR to something I loved for being DIFFERENT may be problematic. Oops.
- Honestly, I did love the romance. I’ve often said I’m a big YA romance fan and less of an adult romance fan because it sparks that first experience with love feeling and leaves you with a happy-for-now ending that doesn’t have to last forever. This one does that in a cute way. Loved the romance line.
- Grab yourself a copy of this one here.
The Video
For the full reviews (of most of these titles, I did a fast review of two of them) check out the video.
ALSO, while you’re there … Subscribe to the YouTube channel. I’m hoping to hit that magic 100 soon and do something cool.
