Seriously how did June disappear so quickly? Saying that, it could have been because I spent a lot of it stuck between the pages of my books.
I definitely need to get out and about in July… possibly.
Overall, 19 books read this month and as always here’s my speedy thoughts on this month’s bunch…
The ‘Air Awakens’ series – really enjoyed the first three books, and then it dragged for me. Overall though, a creative, fun fantasy YA series. 4 YA stars.
‘One Last Greek Summer’ – I read this with the Pigeonhole community and it was a light, summery group read. 3.5/4 stars.
‘Stoker’s Wilde’ – a review read via Netgalley and surprisingly fun. Mixing literary characters of Oscar Wilde and Bram Stoker into a Gothic mystery. 4 stars
‘The Peculiar Charm of Miss Jane Austen’ – a Netgalley review read, and it didn’t overly work for me, some fun elements and ideas. I believe this is going to be a time-travelling series. 3 stars.
‘The Art of Dying’ – I enjoyed this murder mystery sequel novel set in 1850s Edinburgh, full review previously on the blog. 4.5 stars.
‘Death and the Harlot’ – loved this fun crime read set in 1759 London whose MC is a prostitute named Lizzie Hardwick (full review on this book and the art of a good-story on my blog feed) 5 stars for pure entertainment and historical detail.
‘The Corpse Played Dead’ – the second Lizzie Hardwick novel and another really fun read! Bring on some more! Rounding up to 5 stars for pure enjoyment grading.
‘The Misfit Tribe and the Secret of Mystery Island’ – read this for a blog tour and sadly it didn’t work as it was too similar to ‘The Goonies’. A sad 2 stars.
‘The Sorcery of Thorns’ – enjoyable, creative and magical YA read. Just tipping into 4 stars on my YA scale.
‘Truthwitch’ – another magical action fantasy read, and the first in a series; fun! 4 YA stars.
‘Blood Orange’ – I’m still thinking about what went wrong for me with this one. I think my expectation was high, from other reviews but it didn’t all come together for me. Weird ending and lots of unlikeable characters with little to balance them. 3 stars.
‘We Hunt the Flame’ – really enjoyed this, loved the evocative language and the central characters, great YA magical fantasy read. 4 YA stars.
‘The Missing Years – full review on blog as part of a June Blog tour celebrating the publication of this thriller, mystery. Really enjoyed it. Lacked pace of some novels, but I enjoyed taking my time reading it. 4.5 stars.
‘The French Girl’ – again not a pacey read from Lexie Elliott but entertaining, nicely plotted and created. Tipped into 4 stars.
‘Wicked Saints’ – despite it waning for me in the middle, I enjoyed this debut YA novel – bloody, gothic dark fairy-tale with themes of deception, desire, greed, lies, religion and the exploration of monstrosity. Some great character complexity and subversion, which redeemed it for me. Just tipping into 4 YA stars.
books.tea.and.me 