Month: July 2023

Wrap Ups

July Wrap Up

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This month was pretty solid reading wise! Continuations of a couple series and read some books that were high on my TBR so can’t complain 🙂

Flight Risk by Cherie Priest – ⭐️3/5 stars

Sign Here by Claudia Lux – ⭐️3/5 stars

Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison – ⭐️4/5 stars

Barbarian’s Touch by Ruby Dixon – ⭐️3/5 stars

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang – ⭐️4/5 stars

Zero Days by Ruth Ware – ⭐️4/5 stars

Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice – ⭐️4/5 stars

Barbarian’s Taming by Ruby Dixon – ⭐️3/5 stars

Unfortunately Yours by Tessa Bailey – ⭐️4/5 stars

Barbarian’s Heart by Ruby Dixon – ⭐️2/5 stars

Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman – ⭐️4/5 stars

Updates

Yellowface Review

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Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars: same year at Yale, same debut year in publishing. But Athena’s a cross-genre literary darling, and June didn’t even get a paperback release. Nobody wants stories about basic white girls, June thinks. So when June witnesses Athena’s death in a freak accident, she acts on impulse: she steals Athena’s just-finished masterpiece, an experimental novel about the unsung contributions of Chinese laborers to the British and French war efforts during World War I. So what if June edits Athena’s novel and sends it to her agent as her own work? So what if she lets her new publisher rebrand her as Juniper Song–complete with an ambiguously ethnic author photo? Doesn’t this piece of history deserve to be told, whoever the teller? That’s what June claims, and the New York Times bestseller list seems to agree.

Because this book was written from June’s point of view it kind of gave me You vibes. Like she very much is Joe Goldberg but in the literary world. The ways in which this woman thread the various justifications around and around in her mind until she actually thought what she did was ok was intense to read. I was constantly on the edge of my seat wondering when and how she was going to be exposed and I was so thoroughly invested that I had to put the book down for a few days.

I liked the flashbacks to early on in June and Athena’s friendship and how their tenuous bond was established. Why Athena still chose to keep June around and why that prompted June in taking the manuscript in the first place. I feel like she thought she deserved and earned it after being used by Athena. The way that this one lie just spirals and how June feels so vindicated with all this success and after her initial failure.

Even though this was a pretty short-ish book there were some pretty heavy topics and themes woven throughout this book that without the help of the audiobook would of been a slog to get through. Worth it though I feel because the way the plot wraps up was shocking and unfortunately highly realistic and just makes you question a lot of the publishing industry as a whole.

⭐️4/5 stars This book was wild!

Reviews

Zero Days Review

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*SOME SPOILERS AHEAD*

Hired by companies to break into buildings and hack security systems, Jack and her husband, Gabe, are the best penetration specialists in the business. But after a routine assignment goes horribly wrong, Jack arrives home to find her husband dead. To add to her horror, the police are closing in on their suspect—her. Suddenly on the run and quickly running out of options, Jack must decide who she can trust as she circles closer to the real killer in this unputdownable and heart-pounding mystery.

I liked the fact that we start off the book in the middle of a break in. I went into this book completely blind so I wasn’t aware of the fact that they were actually hired by the company and I was kind of on the edge of my seat. This was a great way to establish how the relationship between Jack and Gabe worked and how she suffers without him in her ear for the rest of the plot.

I was a tad annoyed that she injures herself so early on the book and that completely hinders her stamina and strength. I would of liked her to be at her best and not be as debilitated by not being able to think more critically due to pain. Because of this most of the answers to the whole mystery behind Gabe’s death is pretty much told to her by those around her and she doesn’t completely come up with the answers by herself like I thought she would.

Again because of this injury she isn’t in motion all that much and we’re pretty much just sitting with her while she stews upon what her next move is and how much she is bleeding at the moment and should she just give up or keep going. It got just a little bit repetitive I think when I was wanting more action and adventure. She was basically just trying to run from the cops rather than on the hunt for the actual people who killed Gabe which is kind of what I wanted to see.

I was engaged and highly invested in figuring out what happened and her genuine sadness over the death of her husband felt very realistic and authentic to me, didn’t shed any tears but that melancholy feeling overcame me for sure! I was very content with the ending and even though there are still a few answers I wish we would of gotten I was overall entertained.

⭐️3/5 stars Not my favourite Ruth Ware but still pretty good!

Reviews

Such Sharp Teeth Review

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Rory Morris isn’t thrilled to be moving back to her hometown, even if it is temporary. There are bad memories there. But her twin sister, Scarlett, is pregnant, estranged from the baby’s father, and needs support, so Rory returns to the place she thought she’d put in her rearview. After a night out at a bar where she runs into an old almost-flame, she hits a large animal with her car. And when she gets out to investigate, she’s attacked. Rory survives, miraculously, but life begins to look and feel different. She’s unnaturally strong, with an aversion to silver–and suddenly the moon has her in its thrall. She’s changing into someone else–something else, maybe even a monster. But does that mean she’s putting those close to her in danger? Or is embracing the wildness inside of her the key to acceptance?

Rory was an interesting character for sure. I feel like even though this is from her perspective we don’t delve as deep into her character than what I wanted. She reacts pretty realistically throughout her attack and the subsequent changes that start to occur. She is a very defensive and overtly arrogant character as well which I appreciated, she’s not the most likeable person.

I understand Scarlett had a lot going on being pregnant and everything but she wasn’t very observant of her sister. I know they don’t really express their emotions to each other in this family but Rory would continuously wear the same outfit for weeks and apparently smelled pretty bad and she wouldn’t say anything to her. Also the fact that she invited her mother over and didn’t really consider Rory’s feelings at all despite knowing how touchy the subject was.

The romance was very cute albeit far fetched. The fact that this man still continued to allow Rory back into his life when she did some pretty awful things to him just wouldn’t happen I don’t think. But because the book overall is pretty over the top and a tad ridiculous I could let that go and just enjoy the cuteness. The mystery behind who was the original werewolf wasn’t that much of a surprise but I did enjoy the build up to the full moon and how Rory was trying to find a way to stay aware after the change.

⭐️4/5 stars I enjoyed this more than I was expecting to!