It’s that time of year again! June is coming to an end (how is it already almost July?), and it’s time to freak out about how half the year is already over. Thank you to Amy @ A Fangirl’s Opinion for tagging me!
Reading this year has been a little slow compared to other years, but I’m hoping to pick up the pace soon, so I can reach my goal of finishing all the books I physically own. For now, let’s talk about the books I’ve finished in the first half of 2021!
✧ This review is spoiler-free! ✧
“Slowly, I take my hands off of the controls. I let my mind rest. My thoughts quiet.
There are no further calculations required of me.
It is strangely peaceful.
I lean into my mic to speak to my squadmates.
‘Finian, Scarlett. It has been a privilege to serve in squad 312 alongside you.'”
Aurora Burning, Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
Title: Aurora Burning
Series: The Aurora Cycle, #2
Authors: Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff
Published: May 5, 2020
Publisher: Knopf Books For Young Readers
Category: young adult
Genre: sci-fi
Pages: 495
My Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.5)
Goodreads page
One thing that might be surprising is that I read a lot of romance novels. I don’t talk about it here because this is more of a YA book blog. When I saw that Jack Edwards reviewed all the books he read in 2020 in one sentence each, I knew I had to try as well. Because I read a lot of books that I don’t end up reviewing, I thought it’d be a good idea to dedicate a post on my (brief) thoughts for each book I’ve read so far in 2021. However, that post would be insanely long, so I decided to split them up by month. Today, I’ll be reviewing all the books I read in January, and in a few weeks I’ll review February’s books, and so on and so forth.
Continue reading✧ This review is spoiler-free! ✧
Title: Heartstopper, Volume Two
Series: Heartstopper, #2
Author & illustrator: Alice Oseman
Published: July 19, 2019
Publisher: Hodder Children’s Books
Category: YA
Genre: contemporary, LGBTQ+
Pages: 320
My Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads page
As a mood reader, I don’t participate in reading challenges or create TBRs. However, my goal this year is to get my physical TBR down to zero, and I’m already falling behind. When I saw that Caro @ CJR The Brit was doing this challenge, I decided to join as well to get myself back on track! This challenge was originally created by Cathy @ 746 Books.
The challenge is to read 20 books between June 1 (today!) and September 1. What drew me to this is that the rules are pretty lax. You don’t want to read 20 books? 10 books is fine, too! You want to switch out a title in your TBR? Sure, you can do that as well! You can really cater this to your wants/needs, and it seems like the sort of thing that can ease you into the reading challenge realm before getting to the hardcore stuff.
Summer is right around the corner, which means there is only a little time left to spring clean. I’m planning on moving in a couple months, so I’ve been trying to get rid of everything that I don’t absolutely need. I’ve been procrastinating cleaning out my bookshelf, but sometime this summer I *might* be putting up some of the books I unhaul for sale before donating the rest. Maybe… I haven’t given it much thought yet.
While taking a break from spring cleaning, I came across this tag on Mary and the Words! I wasn’t tagged by her, but I thought I’d give it a go anyways. (Apparently this tag was created by Jen @ Book Syrup on YouTube, but I can’t seem to find the original video….)
CRY-WORTHY BOOKS
Finals week is over, which means I can finally decompress and enjoy life. This past semester has been seriously tough mentally and emotionally, so I couldn’t help but cry in relief that I’m done. As a sympathetic crier (I start tearing up when others cry), it doesn’t take much to make my eyes sweat. I thought I’d compile a list of books that made me tear up as a celebration of finishing this semester. (Don’t question my logic… my brain is fried and I don’t feel like thinking).
✧ This review is spoiler-free! ✧
“She…hoped. And hope was dangerous. Hope was the most vicious evil of them all, the thing that had managed to thrive in Pandora’s box among misery, and disease, and sadness—and what could endure alongside others with such teeth if it didn’t have ghastly claws of its own?”
– Chloe Gong, These Violent Delights
These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong
(These Violent Delights, #1)
Published: November 17, 2020
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Category: YA
Genre: historical, fantasy, retelling, romance
Pages: 463
My Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.5 stars)
Goodreads page
─────────────────── ●⚫● ───────────────────
Perfect for fans of The Last Magician and Descendant of the Crane, this heart-stopping debut is an imaginative Romeo and Juliet retelling set in 1920s Shanghai, with rival gangs and a monster in the depths of the Huangpu River.
The year is 1926, and Shanghai hums to the tune of debauchery.
A blood feud between two gangs runs the streets red, leaving the city helpless in the grip of chaos. At the heart of it all is eighteen-year-old Juliette Cai, a former flapper who has returned to assume her role as the proud heir of the Scarlet Gang—a network of criminals far above the law. Their only rivals in power are the White Flowers, who have fought the Scarlets for generations. And behind every move is their heir, Roma Montagov, Juliette’s first love…and first betrayal.
But when gangsters on both sides show signs of instability culminating in clawing their own throats out, the people start to whisper. Of a contagion, a madness. Of a monster in the shadows. As the deaths stack up, Juliette and Roma must set their guns—and grudges—aside and work together, for if they can’t stop this mayhem, then there will be no city left for either to rule.
[ This synopsis was taken directly from Goodreads. ]
Continue reading
BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS:
HADES EDITION
During quarantine, I decided to invest in a Switch. I mean, what else is there to do stuck indoors except invest a lot of time and money in fictional stories and characters? (Wait, I just realized that that sounds very similar to books. Huh… who would’ve thunk it.) It seemed like a good idea at the time. In fact, it was such a genius idea that all of the US decided to join in on the fun. It was virtually impossible to find a Switch, and it took me a few months to get my hands on one.
Now that I’ve got one, I’ve become super obsessed with this little game called Hades. You might’ve heard of it. It won The Game Awards for Best Independent Game and Best Action Game in 2020. While I don’t know much about The Game Awards (or care, to be frank), I can understand why it won. It’s a super fun game, and it has fantastic artwork. If you’re looking to take a break from gaming, but want something Hades related, this is the place for you. If you’re looking for book recommendations in general, this is also the place for you. We welcome gamers and non-gamers alike here.
✧ This review is spoiler-free! ✧
Title: Temple of Ice
Series: standalone
Author: Christian Cura
Anticipated release: May 17, 2021
Publisher: self-published
Category: YA/new adult
Genre: fantasy
Pages: 212
My Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3.5)
Goodreads page
─────────────────── ●⚫● ───────────────────
Meet Tama, an adept winter mage of Khione, a beautiful, dangerous land. Bloodthirsty monsters roam the frozen wilderness, and the unforgiving elements are a constant. Tama and her friends—Kachina and Masou—are on the cusp of completing their education at the temple where they have trained for the past four years. They need only to do one more thing: earn the Goddess Tira’s final anointing. But to do that, they must fight through hordes of corrupted creatures and endure the perplexing obstacles within Mount Orodani.
The road before them is long and bloody, and Tira’s evil sister, Malsumi, won’t stop sending her minions until she is strong enough to break free of her prison. Tama fights valiantly to defend herself and her people from these twisted monsters. But she will soon discover the real threat is much closer than she initially thought…
[ This synopsis was taken directly from Goodreads. ]
Continue reading
The Awkward Book Blogger 