Best books of the year so far? // August Wrap Up

Hi and howdy, happy Friday!!

The post office keeps hanging up on me so clearly the next logical step is to chase the next postman I see down the street. If I get locked up for violence against Spain’s terrible postal service, just know that it’s been fun fellas ✌

Before I get arrested though, I’m here to talk about the 11 books I read in August. I had a really good reading month, not only in quantity but also quality. Don’t get me wrong, there were a couple of duds, but for the most part I see a lot of these books featuring on my favourites of the year so I’m excited to talk about them today!

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The Best of the Best, the Crème de la Crème.

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My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell – I don’t know what motivated me to pick this up at the start of the month but I’m so glad I did.

This book follows Vanessa who had an affair with her teacher back in high school. When other former students go public with the teachers inappropriate behaviour years later, Vanessa is forced to face the truth that maybe how she saw their relationship wasn’t how it actually was.

I found this hard to read at times and yet couldn’t stop. It was horribly captivating and made even more heart-breaking because you know that there’s so many women out there who have lived this story in real life.

As Many Nows as I Can Get by Shana Youngdahl – I’ll hold my hands up and admit that this was pretty much a cover buy for me, even if it did sit on my Wishlist for over a year before I purchased it. I didn’t really know what to expect going into this one but it definitely exceeded all expectations

I can’t talk much about the plot. It’s more of a character driven story which makes summing up what happened difficult. It really does a great job of focusing on complicated relationships made more complicated by drug and alcohol abuse, the pressure of spreading your wings and leaving your small town where you’re the star behind, and also teenage pregnancy.

I read this on my various train ride to and from Barcelona, I did a reading blog about it and everything, but I’m really glad I had so much uninterrupted time with this book because that added to my reading experience. I loved everything about this book!

Fools in Love edited by Ashley Herring Blake & Rebecca Podos – You can’t go wrong with an anthology of romance stories, especially one that’s overflowing with f/f romances like this one.

I had a lot of fun with this collection of novellas. Obviously I liked some more then others, but that’s just how it is with anthologies. I actually had an annoying hangover the other day but sprawling on my bed reading this made it slightly better.

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Never Saw You Comin by Erin Hahn – I read my most anticipated book of the year. I repeat: I READ MY MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF THE YEAR!! And it did not let me down which is such a relief. Erin Hahn’s previous novels (which I’ve also loved so much) have both focused on music and that was my favourite aspect besides the romance. Her newest release is more religious heavy which had me nervous.

There was no reason to be nervous though, this was just as amazing as her previous books. I loved the romance between Meg and Micah, they complimented each other so well. I also ended up enjoying the religious aspects that centred around the hypocrisy of the church and the “purity” culture that shames teenage girls simply for existing.

The Inheritance Games & The Hawthorne Legacy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes – I was not expecting to get an ARC of the sequel so you can only imagine my delight. Of course I had to go back and re-read the first book because my brain had more holes then swiss cheese but I’m glad I did because these books benefit from reading one after an other.

These two books made me really happy. They really make me focus and try and guess along and piece things together. I can’t recommend these books more!!

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The Duds

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Just a Fling by Charity Ferrell – I was hoping this would be the start of a new guilty pleasure new adult romance series but it was just pretty “meh”. The Hollywood Princess and Bodyguard trope was fun but that’s about it.

Fighting Silence by Aly Martinez – This was a really good book until the end. I get the ending was for added drama and to set up the next companion novels but it would have been so much better without all that. It was fun to read while it lasted though.

Pucked by Helena Hunting – The title for this one makes me laugh all the time but that’s besides the point. My search for more hockey romances lead me to this book thanks to some Tik-Tok recommendations. I enjoyed this one. The word “beaver” as a synonym for a certain something else was overused and the main guy ended up annoying me.

Mark of the Wicked by Georgia Bowers – I received an ARC of this book and it was okay. I liked the premise and the fact that the main character was a genuine bad person. In my opinion she deserved most of what she got, but that was interesting point to read from. I think this would have been better if I’d read it when I was a bit younger and also around Halloween time.

The Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead – I’m halfway through with the Bloodlines series and … I’m still not enjoying it😭😭😭

So those were the books I read in August. Overall a pretty decent month. If you’ve read any of these books, I’d love to know what you thought, I’d also love to hear what you’ve been reading recently. Thanks for reading :))

Elli xx