Friday, July 27, 2018

Short Book Reviews

Hey Everyone!
So here's a bunch of short book reviews for you to try and catch up on all of the books I read and haven't reviewed in May and June. There will be a separate one to catch up on July and hopefully I won't get so far behind again. The list of books covered in this review are:

So without further ado let's jump on into this. 

First up is one of the books I finished in May. It's Ace of Shades by Amanda Foody. It was the April OwlCrate book and I finished it on May 26, 2018 and rated it a 3/5 on Goodreads. To be perfectly honest, this definitely wasn't my favorite book but it was halfway entertaining. I had really high hopes for it because it gave off a strong Six of Crows kind of vibe (and EVERYONE knows how much I love Leigh Bardugo) but it fell short of the mark for me. It didn't help that I read this book between the first two Lunar Chronicles books which I really did love. My biggest problem with this book is how much I hated the main character, Enne. She was prissy and judgmental and even though she did experience a good amount of character growth and development by the end of it, I don't think there's enough development for her character to make me like her. On the other hand, the male protagonist, Levi, I did like a lot. I was left wanting a LOT more of his story and background than I got in this book. All in all the book wasn't bad but it wasn't exactly great either. Solidly 3/5 and I will probably read the subsequent books in the series as they come out, even if I'm not as rabidly waiting for them like I was with A Court of Frost and Starlight. 

The first book I read in June was the first one I drew out of my book jar and I hated it. I finished it on June 7, 2018 and gave it two stars on Goodreads (I never give 1 star reviews for whatever reason). This book was super boring and for a less than 200 page book it took me FOREVER to read. It's a story about a coast guard rescue off the coast of Cape Cod in the 1950s. It had so much promise to be an exciting daring rescue tale and the parts that were about the actual rescue were good but there was just too much Jules Verne-esque exposition (like the infamous fish lists in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea) in the way of filler information about the history of the Coast Guard, the history of fishing in Cape Cod in general and other random tangents which had absolutely NOTHING to contribute to the story. I NEVER say this but.........the movie was better. 

The second book of June (and the second chance for my book jar) worked out MUCH better. I finished it on June 9, 2018 and gave it a solid 5/5 on Goodreads. Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda ranks up there as one of my favorite books of all time. I went out when I was about a quarter of the way through the book and bought the sequel to read as soon as I finished it. This kicked off my Young Adult fluff addiction which lasts until the end of June. It's a sweet little gay love story between a boy named Simon who is having an online relationship of sorts with a boy from his school, codenamed Blue. Neither knows the other's true identity as Simon's being blackmailed by a boy who has found out his secrets: both being gay and his email relationship with Blue. It's adorable adn so relatable for anyone who's ever been a teenager, different, and/or in love for the first time. I want to live in Simon's world and the movie was every bit as good.  

My third book of June is Leah on the Offbeat, the sequel to Simon vs.. I finished it on June 10, 2018 and also gave it a 5/5 on Goodreads. I loved this just as much as I did Simon. It's a book about Simon's best friend Leah, who is a closeted bisexual. Leah covers up her emotions with surly attitude (I can relate to that) and discovers she's in love with one of her female friends who is dating her other best friend. After her best friend and the girl break up, Leah has to come to terms with who she is and how she feels. It's also LGBTQIA fluff with a sweet little happy ending. Like I said, I loved it just as much as Simon and I hope, hope, hope there's more to come in the series. 

Next the book jar gave me Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell which I finished on June 23, 2018 and gave a 4/5. This is also fluff. It's about a girl named Cath who writes fanfiction for her fandom, Simon Snow (which is totally Harry Potter). she's in her first year of college trying to find her voice in creative writing that isn't fanfiction while learning to be independent from her sister Wren and making friends with her roommate and her roommate's ever present, maybe boyfriend, Levi. It's also a love story of self discovery. I loved it but in my opinion Rainbow Rowell can do no wrong. 

The last book I read in June was Let's Talk About Love by Claire Kann, which I finished on June 25, 2018 and gave a 5/5 on Goodreads. This book struck a chord with me. The main protagonist, Alice, is a biromantic asexual (just like me! represent!) who has just been dumped by her girlfriend because of her lack of interest in sex. Alice thinks she's done with dating until she meets the new employee at the library where she works, Takumi. Friendship and flirting become the tentative beginnings of a relationship where she has to confess her asexuality to him in the hopes that he won't reject her for it. While she's navigating her newly admitted sexuality (or lack thereof) she's dealing with her two best friends and roommates relationship with each other (that frequently leaves her out) and her parents' expectations for her to be a lawyer (she doesn't want to be a lawyer). So once again another LGBTQIA (can't forget the IA in there guys) with a healthy theme of self discovery. 

So those are my quick little reviews of my books through the end of June, leaving us with just July to contend with which is five books (maybe six depending on how fast I read my current book). 

Anyways Happy Reading!
-Richelle and Emma
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