What I Read In July 2023 + My August TBR
I read SIX books this month—a fantastic reading month for me. And another surprising part …. only one of those books was an audiobook. Usually, I read about 2-3 audiobooks (read audiobooks? Listen to audiobooks?) a month, but this past month, I stuck with paperback (and hardcover) books.
Let’s dive in, shall we?
Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez
WOO, go Abby Jimenez! New favorite series alert. I love the Part of Your World series so much; I raved about Part of Your World in last month’s wrap-up post. But this one was just as good. I can’t go into this book without first raving about Dr. Jacob Maddox. The mental health and anxiety conversations were unmatched compared to other books. The way his anxiety was … portrayed and how he dealt with it. I liked how Abby Jimenez didn’t make his anxiety a “flaw” waiting to be fixed (by Bri, the FMC), but it was a part of him. I loved the fact that Bri was there to complement Jacob and was the right person for him and knew what he needed. Speaking of Bri, I loved her character. She is bold and confident and not afraid to speak up. However, we see her in this book at her lowest—her divorce went through, her brother, Benny, is dying, and she feels a lack of purpose. With a new doctor threatening her place as the head of the ER, she sees Jacob as competition. But Jacob and Bri send each other letters and a friendship begins to form. I loved Jacob and Bri so much and hope that you can pick this one up if you haven’t!
Rating: 5/5
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Once More With Feeling by Elissa Sussman
Okay … I think this author isn’t for me. I liked Funny You Should Ask enough—I gave it three out of five stars. I was excited to pick this one up because I saw it recommended to me on bookstagram. But honestly? It fell flat for me. I struggled to get through it. I didn’t like the FMC; she was boring? The MMC was cool. The one thing I liked about this book (and surprisingly didn’t like about the first one of hers) was the then/now chapters. I usually don’t like when a book does that, but this one helped move the story along. I liked reading about the main characters as they were growing up and growing their careers. This story reminded me of Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake in the early 2000s. Read if you liked that!
Rating: 3/5
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The Love Wager by Lynn Painter
This was my first Lynn Painter book that I read, and apparently, this one was more of her “adult” romance novels. She writes fantastic YA romance novels, which some are on my list. However, this was more of an adult romance novel … and it kind of bored me. I thought the characters had so-so chemistry, only at times, and usually, I like fake dating schemes, but with the twist of the competition going on throughout the book, I found it hard to get through. At some point, more than halfway through the book, I just wanted to tell the characters to kiss and get together already, and live happily ever after. I heard that her YA romance novels, especially Better Than The Movies, are better, so I’m excited to try those.
Rating: 4/5
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Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
This was my only audiobook listen this past month, and oh my gosh … this book on audio just only elevated my dislike for the main character, June, who is whiny and selfish. I was giving her major side eye throughout the whole book. This book features June, who witnesses the sudden death of her late author friend, Athena. Before she goes back to her apartment, June “takes” Athena’s first draft of the new novel she just finished. Without giving it a second thought, June edits it and “rewrites it” (June’s words) and passes it off as her own. She sends it to her literary agent and then gets it published … under her name. The book is narrated by June as she the book becomes a hit, but June is haunted by Athena’s ghost. June was a deeply unlikeable character … but honestly, I think all the characters are deeply unlikeable. I wasn’t rooting for anyone. The whole time, June was advocating for herself when in reality, she should’ve come forward or at least written on the front book of the cover of the book she “took,” “co-authored with Athena.” (I forgot Athena’s last name.) This book was gripping and had me wanting to finish right away!
Rating: 4/5
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The Assassin’s Blade by Sarah J. Maas
Okay, I did it. I started the ToG series. Entering my fantasy era now…. Okay—I did it. But I didn’t do it in the popular order that everyone reads this series in. I started in publication order, with The Assassin’s Blade—and honestly? So worth it. TAB is five novellas. I started reading the “true” first book, Throne of Glass, a long time ago, and got confused with the world-building. But starting with TAB, I got to understand the FMC, Celeana, and the different places she’s taken to in each novella in TAB. It explained more of the world in these novellas (in TAB). And then starting with ToG (review below), I was more comfortable truly starting the series. The publication order really isn’t too different from “romantic” order. The publication order puts TAB as first book in the series, and the romantic order puts TAB in the fourth book of the series. I may do a quick glance through of TAB when I get to it.
Rating: 4/5
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Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
And I have read the second book in the ToG series! This series is truly worth the hype. It’s more YA then ACOTAR and Crescent City. There is less romance and more fantasy and action scenes in it. This book reminded me of Hunger Games and Divergent (this book came out around the same time these movies did). Celeana is thrown into the king’s competition to be his “King’s Champion.” She must fight several other criminals to become the King’s Champion. It was easy to get through, partly because it was gripping and I needed to keep reading.
Rating: 4/5
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