June Book Wrap Up

A Crystal of Time by Soman Chainani

Rating: 5/5 stars

In the fifth installment of the The School for Good and Evil, all of our favorite characters are back but our heroes are all in danger because of the evil, false king that has taken control of the kingdom. With every new book in this series, a real danger and fear for my favorite characters becomes more intense. I absolutely love that, especially when it happens in a middle grade series! This book was a roller-coaster for my emotions in the best way! I immediately ordered the final installment for this series when I finished A Crystal of Time. 

The Iron Flower by Laurie Forest

Rating: 5/5 stars

The Iron Flower is the second book in The Black Witch Chronicles and it did not disappoint me at all! Our favorite characters like Lukas, Elloren, and Yvan are back and just trying to survive as they help the resistance. I loved reading about Elloren development and how she is finding out more and more about how wrong she was about her people, religion, and government. The love triangle in this series is intense so be ready for it. I know people might disagree with me about this but I prefer Lukas and Elloren together over Yvan and Elloren but still loved the whole triangle in this book. 

Firefight by Brandon Sanderson

Rating: 4/5 stars

Second book in the Reckoners series by one of my favorite authors! I enjoyed this book more than the first one which makes me very excited to pick up book 3 in July! I liked how Sanderson explained the condition of the city after the events in Steelheart and then quickly moved on to another city where the Reckoners help was needed. Seeing the underground network of the Reckoners in another city added so much to the story for me. There were deaths, there were some serious revelations! Overall, a great book. 

Scavenge the Stars by Tara Sim

Rating: 4/5 stars

Okay so this book was incredible and I am so glad it didn’t disappoint me. All I knew about this book is that it was a retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo which is the favorite classic. I just love a revenge story with a sparkle of romance. I am very excited to see where this series goes. The sequel will be ordered as soon as it is out! 

How to be a woman by Caitlin Moran

Rating: 3/5 stars

Caitlin Moran details her life experiences that have shaped her as the woman that she is today and talking about some basic “woman” characteristics that she didn’t agree with. It was very chatty and that is not necessarily a bad thing. She comments on pop culture and gender rights throughout the whole book. It was all overall okay but there were times where it was too much ranting for me. 

The Shadow Wand by Laurie Forest

Rating: 5/5 stars

I was extremely excited to start this book, the third installment in The Black Witch Chronicles! There was a major revelation that happened at the end of Iron Flower and we start this book shortly after those events. Pretty quick into the story there is a major death and wow, that hurt! The author is not messing around! Definitely more adult content throughout this novel which I loved. I fell more in love with Lukas when reading Shadow Wand. I was so emotionally invested and moved while I read this. I may or may not have shed a couple of tears! I am so sad that I have to wait probably a year or more for book 4! At least there are a couple of novellas in this series to hold me over until book 4 comes out!

The Infinite Noise by Lauren Shippen

Rating: 5/5 stars

In this book, we follow Caleb who has the ability to feel the emotions of everyone around him, a true empathy. Being 16, in high school, and knowing everyone’s emotions makes Caleb’s daily life very difficult. Caleb befriends a boy named Adam who Caleb has noticed is very depressed. Slowly Caleb and Adam get closer and they have to work together to get through life and high school. It was a beautiful book that showed an incredible LGBTQ+ relationship. 

One True King by Soman Chainani

Rating: 5/5 stars

I finally made it to the final book in The School for Good and Evil and wow was this final installment everything I wanted it to be! Tedros and his friends need to stop the false king and complete several trials left by King Arthur in order to save themselves and the kingdom. My favorite part was definitely Merlin and all of the crazy things he says and does. The way Chainani connects all of his books and kept revealing new information even in the last book was incredible. The humor and emotional moments that fill his books were definitely there. I loved how this store ended, it honestly made me tear up. This is a series that I would gladly read again and again. 

Openly Straight by Bill Konigsberg

Rating: 3/5 stars

This was another LGBTQ+ book I read this month and it was overall okay. Rafe is a teenager living in Boulder, Colorado and he is openly gay. He isn’t teased or tormented because of his sexually but he gets tired of being only known as the gay kid. Rafe decides to transfer to an all boys boarding school in New England to start fresh and he decides to keep his sexuality a secret from everyone at the new school. Seeing Rafe navigate through this new school, new friendships, and new life is interesting and has several moments where Rafe needs to decide if keeping this secret is worth it. Overall, like I said, this book was okay but I was hoping for more honestly.  

Birthday Girl by Penelope Douglas

Rating: 5/5 stars

This was the first book I have ever read by Penelope Douglas but it will not be the last! I absolutely loved it! I can’t believe I have never read one of her romance books, they are adorable. In this book, we follow a young woman who meets an older man at the movie theater on her birthday and there is an instant connection. Come to find out, she is dating that guy’s useless son. The couple ends up having to move in with the father. Nothing happens between the older man and the young woman until after the relationship with the son has ended but wow, was there sexual tension! I think what I liked the most about this book is how these two people realize how much they need and want each other, not just sexually but emotionally. 

The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter

Rating: 5/5 stars

I was most excited to pick this book up finally. I had heard so many amazing things and I was not disappointed at all. The fact that Evan Winter self published this book is incredible to me because of how good it is. We follow Tau as he is training to become a soldier to protect his people from their perceived enemy. Several things happen and Tau is now on a quest for revenge. The mythology, world building, magic system, all of it is fantastic in Rage of Dragons and I cannot wait for the next book in the series! 

The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan

Rating: 4/5 stars

It felt good jumping into another Riordan world, especially one based on Norse mythology. Magnus Chase is a young boy who lost his mom and is now homeless. His uncle goes looking for him, saying that he is a danger and very soon after that, Magnus is thrown into a world of Norse gods, Valkyrie, and prophecies. This book has the same great humor and sarcasm one can expect from a Rick Riordan book. 

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Rating: 4/5 stars

I have been wanting to read more books by Latinx authors so when I found this novel by a Latinx woman, I was sold. I have always loved books to tie into real world mythology, especially Greek or Norse mythology. This book is filled with Mayan mythology and as someone who is Hispanic with family from Mexico, I want to learn more about Mayan mythology. This book follows a young woman that is treated badly by her family because of who her dad was and one day when she is left alone in her grandfather’s house, she finds bones hidden in her grandfather’s trunk. Come to find out, these bones belong to a god who comes back to life and needs her help in order to reclaim his throne and full powers. I really enjoyed reading this book and the characters were all entertaining to follow. This author just had a new book come out this month called Mexican Gothic and I already know I will be purchasing it very soon. 

Angles of Music by Kim Newman

Rating: 3/5 stars

This is a hard book to describe because the main plot is a little insane! So pretty much, the phantom of the opera, named Erik, runs an agency that solves crimes and mysteries in the city. Just think of Erik as Charlie from Charlie’s Angels, and the women that work for Erik are his “angels.” It was very insane but in general, a fun read. My only problem is this book, which caused the rating to be 3 out of 5, was the way to was written as more like short stories because there are multiple time jumps and new “angels” introduced too often. I felt like every time I got used to the angels and started enjoying those angels, they would change. 

Wildest Dreams by Kristen Ashley

Rating: 4/5 stars

The main character is a wealthy woman named Seoafin “Finnie” Wilde and she lost her parents when she was young. She finds a witch that tells her that there are multiple dimensions where her parents’ twins or doppelgangers are still alive. All Finnie has to do is pay a million dollars to this witch and she are her own twin from that other world will trade places for one year. Her twin wants to switch with Finnie too. As soon as the switch happens, Finnie realizes that her twin tricked her into a possibly dangerous situation. She is forced to marry Frey Drakkar, a powerful and important warrior in this fantasyland. This book has a hate to love relationship, a lot of magic, dragons, and fairies. I am excited to see where book 2 goes.

The Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan

Rating: 4/5 stars

Book 2 of the Magnus Chase and man, do I just love this series and just books by Riordan in general! Magnus and his friends are back trying to stop Loki, find Thor’s hammer, and stop the possible giant invasion into Midgard. Riordan’s humor in this book is incredible and the new main character that was introduced adds so much to Magnus’ team. This character is gender-fluid which I just loved that Riordan is including more LGBTQ+ people into his books. We end this book talking about how Magnus needs to finally meet Percy Jackson and man, am I excited for that!

Books I didn’t finish:

The Twisted Ones by Ursula Vernon

If you have followed my book blog journey you would know that I don’t give up on books. It is not something I like to do. I usually try and force myself to get through books because there is always something positive that I can enjoy. But unfortunately, this book disappointed me and I just COULD NOT finish it! I was really excited actually about this book because I love horror but I got through about 180 pages and I couldn’t find anything to hold on to. I had to DNF The Twisted Ones unfortunately.