July 2023 in Books

The Summer I Turned Pretty - Jenny Han

Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer—they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one wonderful and terrible summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.

I didn't like this book at all.

Read for the PopSugar 2023 Reading Challenge.
Prompt 3: A book about a holiday.

Rating: ⭐⭐

The White Queen - Philippa Gregory

A woman who won the love of a king and ascended to royalty by virtue of her beauty, Elizabeth Woodville fought tenaciously for the success of her family -- her daughter who would one day unite the warring dynasties, and her two sons whose eventual fate has confounded historians for centuries: the Princes in the Tower. An active player in the power struggles that surrounded her, she made hard and courageous choices, always trying to protect those whom she loved.

I simply adore Philippa Gregory's Plantagenet and Tudor series! I re-read this book for this challenge...I may read the entire series again! It's so good!

Read for the 52 Book Club Challenge.
Prompt 18: Set during a war other than WWI or WWII
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Rearranged Life of Oona Lockhart - Margarita Montimore

Oona's life is out of order.

Brooklyn, 1982. Oona Lockhart is about to celebrate her 19th birthday and ring in the New Year. But at the stroke of midnight, she finds herself in her fifty-one-year-old body, thirty-two years into the future.

Every birthday, Oona leaps into a different year of her life at random. Still young on the inside, but ever changing on the outside, who will she be next year? Nineties Club Kid? World traveller? Wife to a man she's never met?

As the years pass, Oona must learn to navigate a life that's out of order...but is it broken?

I really enjoyed this book, and was sad to see it end. Would have loved to have read more!

Read for the PopSugar 2023 Reading Challenge.
Prompt 47: A book about a holiday that's not Christmas

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Serpent & Dove - Shelby Mahurin

Two years ago, Louise le Blanc fled her coven and took shelter in the city of Cesarine, forsaking all magic and living off whatever she could steal. There, witches like Lou are hunted. They are feared. And they are burned.

As a huntsman of the Church, Reid Diggory has lived his life by one principle: Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. But when Lou pulls a wicked stunt, the two are forced into an impossible situation—marriage.

Lou, unable to ignore her growing feelings, yet powerless to change what she is, must make a choice. And love makes fools of us all.

A very good beginning to a series! Looking forward to reading the sequels.

Read for the 52 Book Club Challenge.
Prompt 38: An enemies-to-lovers plot

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Clockwork Princess - Cassandra Clare

Book 3 of the Infernal Devices series.

Danger and betrayal… Secrets and enchantment… Third and final book in the bestselling prequel series to The Mortal Instruments, set in Victorian London. A net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute. Mortmain needs one last item to complete his plan. He needs Tessa. But Jem and Will, the boys who lay equal claim to Tessa’s heart, will do anything to save her.

A good ending to this series.

Read for the PopSugar 2023 Challenge.
Prompt 49: The longest book (by pages) on your TBR list
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Remarkably Bright Creatures - Shelby Van Pelt

After Tova Sullivan’s husband died, she began working the night cleaner shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium. Ever since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat over thirty years ago, keeping busy has helped her cope. One night she meets Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium who sees everything, but wouldn’t dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors—until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.

Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova’s son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it’s too late...

This book! Oh, all the feels! Loved it!

Read for the 52 Book Club Challenge.
Prompt 31: Set in a workplace.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Any One of Us - Martyn Ford

Her old schoolfriends are dead. She might be next.

When Ruby hears from her best friend Elizabeth that two of their old classmates have been murdered, Ruby is more certain than ever that leaving her hometown was the right decision. But after Elizabeth suddenly stops responding to texts, and Ruby hears a third classmate has been killed, she knows in her heart what has happened. Elizabeth is dead too.

Missbrook Bay is a place haunted by memories Ruby wanted to forget, and people she never wanted to see again, but Ruby has no choice but to go back to investigate. While staying with her ex-boyfriend, she notices a pattern in their full school year photo—the killer seems to be working through victims in a specific order. And after her ex’s house is broken into, Ruby realises nowhere and no one is safe.

There are still many faces left in that photo. Any one of them could be the next victim—and any one of them could be the killer. And with each death, the killer is getting closer to Ruby.

This was a decent enough read, but not very memorable.

Read for the PopSugar 2023 Reading Challenge.
Prompt 19: A book that fulfills your favourite prompt from a past challenge (something broken on the cover).
Rating:⭐⭐⭐

Thorn - Intisar Khanani

Princess Alyrra has never enjoyed the security or power of her rank. Between her family's cruelty and the court's contempt, she has spent her life in the shadows. Forced to marry a powerful foreign prince, Alyrra embarks on a journey to meet her betrothed with little hope for a better future. But powerful men have powerful enemies - and now, so does Alyrra.

Betrayed during a magical attack, her identity is switched with another woman's, giving Alyrra the first choice she's ever had: to start a new life for herself or fight for a prince she's never met. But Alyrra soon finds that Prince Kestrin is not at all what she expected. While walking away will cost Kestrin his life, returning to the court may cost Alyrra her own. As Alyrra is coming to realise, sometime the hardest choice means learning to trust herself.

Inspired by The Goose Girl fairytale by the Brothers Grimm.

I really enjoyed this book!

Read for the 52 Book Club Challenge.
Prompt 12: High Fantasy.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Legend - Marie Lu

Los Angeles, California
Republic of America

He is Day.
The boy who walks in the light.

She is June.
The girl who seeks her brother's killer.

On the run and undercover, they meet by chance. Irresistably drawn together, neither knows the other's past.

But Day murdered June's brother.

And she has sworn to avenge his death.

This is an excellent beginning of a trilogy, I'm looking forward to the sequel.

Read for the PopSugar 2023 Reading Challenge.
Prompt 29: A book your friend recommended.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

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