Hi all!
June was the month I officially returned to active blogging after my two-month long hiatus! I’m so so so happy to be back and I’ve missed you all so much!!
This June, I finished my second last semester of uni and got to relax and just read and watch tv. I FINALLY finished the editing job I had … so I have no work commitments and the moment! It’s such a relief and I’m so proud of myself 🙌🏼
Books read
= 9 books, 2 novellas, 1 short story, 1 comic
Books reviewed
Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli was so gorgeous and sweet! I’m so happy I read this, especially when I was really nervous about not liking it. I was worried because Becky is not bisexual herself, and she wrote a bi character, and I really didn’t like The Upside of Unrequited. But I had no reason to worry!
★★★★★
My Plain Jane is a great sequel to My Lady Jane – a series about England’s famous Janes. I loved all the characters – Jane, Charlotte and Alexander – and the retelling was just awesome. I highly recommend this if you want to read a fun historical book, especially if you’re not really a fan of historical novels.
★★★★
My Lavender Boyfriend was a very cute novel, and one I wasn’t really expecting to like. I thought it would just be another plain romance, but it was much more nuanced than I thought, especially with the discussions the book brings up. The romance was also gorgeous.
★★★★
Out, Proud and Prejudiced was a great novel at the beginning, but the more I read, the more upset and disappointed I became. When writing a retelling, authors can 100% take the book in whatever direction they see fit, but, good God, why did she have to take it there??? I’m so confused and annoyed.
★★
Book of the Month
It’s a tie!!
Luck in the Shadows was an incredible series to starter to what I think will be my newest obsession: Nightrunner. I loved everything in this book: the plot, the magic system, and especially the characters. Alec is the sweetest character ever – I love him so freaking much. And Seregil is super awesome, and definitely my newest fictional crush. READ THIS BOOK! Also this is me right now:
★★★★★
Oh gosh, the final book in the Abroad duology was a little piece of treasure. I sobbed so much while reading this book, but I smiled just as much. Watching Nick’s development and him eventually coming to accept himself was incredible and so powering. I will love this series forever.
★★★★★
Monthly Disappointment
I liked We Will Make Mischief Together, but I was also disappointed by it because it had so much potential. And it was wasted. The whole novella was spent waiting for Frances to travel to meet her girlfriend, and when she finally gets there – 80% of the novella later – it ends very quickly, with promises of future adventures. That’s it? SHOW MY THE ADVENTURES! I don’t care about Frances leaving her family – I care about her travelling with her lesbian pirate girlfriend, wtf. Ughhhhhh.
★★.5
If you like that, try these … My new weekly post series!
This month, I created a new blog series where I feature a favourite book of mine and there I share recommendations of similar books. Have you ever read an awesome book and then wanted to read something like it again? Well, this series is for you!!
Click on the book titles below to see each post and check out some awesome book recommendations!
Book tags
I participated in quite a few tags this month! Click on the images below to check out my answers to tags and who I tagged in return.
Book memes: T5W
I was really impressed by one of the topics for this month’s Top 5 Wednesday! When given the chance, people have a tendency to celebrate cis m/m pairings, while ignoring the many non cis relationships out there, as well as f/f pairings.
I understand that a lot of people many only just be beginning to read LGBTQ+ books and it’s easier to start with m/m (that’s where I started too!), but if you’re only reading cis m/m books, it might be worth looking into that and deconstructing the reasons why.
Click on the image below to see my answers to this great meme!
Extra content
This month, I reread an old favourite book of mine from high school called On the Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta, and it inspired me to write up a post about all my favourite books from high school! Check it out:
I also wrote up a masterpost of all anticipated releases from July to December this year! Please check it out, I worked super hard on it!
ARCs I received
Books purchased
Non-bookish stuff
Now that I’m on my uni break, I’ve spent a lot of time reading, relaxing, going out and watching TV and movies!
I binged all of Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G. on Netflix. It was amazing! I’ve watched a few other shows and movies on these men, but this one was the best by far! Please watch this show – you’ll learn so much about their deaths and how the police just honestly didn’t care about them. And the acting is super incredible too!
I also watched Ocean’s Eight with my friends the other day! I simply adored it! What a great heist film. My friend said he didn’t enjoy it as much because nothing went wrong and I’m like, ‘Yeah, that’s because when women are in charge, everything runs smoothly.” Bitches 👏🏼 get 👏🏼 stuff 👏🏼 done 👏🏼
Wow you had an awesome reading/blogging month!!!! You just talked me into watching Unsolved on netflix…I’ve gone past it a few times now. Have an awesome July my lovely 💖💖💖
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Thank you Steffy!! omg yes you need to watch it! it’s so interesting ❤️
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Wow, it looks like you had a great comeback! All the posts look fabulous and I’m going to be doing some major blog hopping for the next hour or two, reading those I missed.
Also, you are the next in a long line of bloggers and book tubers that have been slowly influencing me to pick up My Lady/Plain Jane, so thank you!
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Thank you Emma!! 💕 Omg yes, you need to read the My Lady Janies series – they’re incredible 😘
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I am so glad you liked Luck in the Shadows!! ❤ I've just started the third book in the series and I'm loving every bit of it! 🙂
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ohhh!!!! I need to read a few more ARCs before I can pick up the other books – glad you’re enjoying the series 💕
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It seems you’ve had a great month! Relaxing is always fun, isn’t it? For me July will be the month of rest as my summer just started🙂
I’m happy you loved Leah On the Offbeat too! I absolutely love those characters both in Simon and in Leah. The writing style is amazing too!
Tell me, what did you think of Gemina? I’m curious.
I think your ‘if you liked this, read this’ posts are so awesome! I’ll have to check the one on The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo out! ( Even though I haven’t read the book yet haha.)
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Thanks Eva! Glad to hear you’re about to have a relaxing month!
Leah on the Offbeat is amazing, isn’t it?? Becky did a great job there.
Omg I loved Gemina!! I read it in a few days. I love Nick and Hanna so much!! I liked this book better than Illuminae and now I’m excited for Obsidio! 💕
And thank you!! Those posts are fun to make but they take time lol
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I loved Gemina too! It’s such an awesome book!
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Oh, that Rosa pic! Hehe. Love it!
The Liz Jacobs book is so pretty, omg 😍 I’m gonna check it out.
Hope you have a wonderful July!
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Hahaha Rosa understands how I feel!! Please do check out Abroad!! it’s a great duology 💕
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You read so many books! I’m jealous! I wish I could still read that much in one month. Sadly, I’m still struggling to find a balance between my first full time job and reading.
I really liked the book of the month and the monthly disappointment bits you did. That’s such a cool idea!
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Oh don’t worry, I feel you! I only managed to read this much because I’m on semester break! if I had a full time job, it would be hard for me too! but you’ll get there!
Thank you so much!! 💕
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Fantastic month after returning! Can never complain about 2 book of the month selections! 💜 I do enjoy how you also include the big disappointment of the month as well 😉
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Thanks Danielle!! It’s always hard to find the book of the month, but if I found a book disappointing, I could go on forever lol!!
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Haha right? I am usually torn between two favorites but have a handful of meh..
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Too bad about We Will Me Mischief Together- the cover really jumped out at me! Sounds like a great month otherwise 🙂
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Yeah, I picked it up because of the cover too! The whole novella is about this girl finding her girlfriend .. and that’s it! Disappointing, but yeah, still a great month 💕
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I need to read The Illuminae Files and Fence! Also yaaaay so happy to see your reading the Nightrunner series! 😀 ❤
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Yes you do!! have you read Nightrunner?!?!
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Yeees! I stopped part way through book number 5 and need to get back into it and finish the series haha
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Do it!!! 💕
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YOU BOUGHT THE PRINCESS TRAP YES
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I DID!! I SAW YOU RAVING ABOUT IT AND BOUGHT IT IMMEDIATELY !
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