June Reads – End of Month Wrap-Up

/ Eve Messenger

Hello, fellow book junkies! June was a fantastic month for reading. Not that there were 5-star books across the board–actually, there was only one– but I sure enjoyed the literary ride.

MAGICAL FANTASY WORLDS:

Uprooted by Naomi Novik
Adult Fantasy, 438 pp. 5/5 stars

I fell madly in like with protagonist Agnieszka, a wild heroine with a heart of gold. Yes, Agnieszka is a young adult character but–fair warning–the writing is not.

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Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton
YA Fantasy-Middle East, 306 pp. 4/5 stars

The mythical creatures in this book are so, so good. Sure, Act Two had pacing issues, but the ending was epic and set the stage for a fantastic book two, which I’m super pumped to read. The next book in the series is tentatively titled Traitor to the Throne and is supposed to be released March 2017. Nine months to go, just like a baby. 🙂

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HISTORICAL POLITICAL INTRIGUE:

And I Darken by Kiersten White – Netgalley ARC
YA Historical Fiction (not fantasy), 496 pp. 4/5 stars

A bold new character has entered the YA arena and her name is Lada Dragwlya. I cannot wait to see where Kiersten White takes this series. See my review of And I Darken here.

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A TRIP TO PARANORMAL ROARING ’20s:

Lair of Dreams (The Diviners #2) by Libba Bray
YA Paranormal-Historical Fiction, 613 pp., 4/5 stars

Libba Bray is an architect of a writer who deftly weaves together multiple story lines featuring tons of characters without confusing the reader. Lair of Dreams made me laugh out loud and also cower in terror (in a good way?) Descriptive passages, while masterfully written, went on a bit long at times. I highly recommend listening to the the audio version of this book; narrator January LaVoy is super talented–she voices every kind of accent, different genders, and even sings beautifully.

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MIND-BLOWING ALTERNATE DIMENSIONS:

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North
Adult Speculative, 403 pp., 4/5 stars

Author Claire North is all kinds of smart–only a brilliant mind could come up with the very believable but far-out concepts proposed in this book. Protagonist Harry August has the ability to relive his life many, many times over. With each rebirth, he gets to know other people with the same ability, and they pass along messages to each other through time. They can also alter events. If Harry of the analytical mind had been a bit more sympathetic this would have been a 5-star read.
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A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray
YA SciFi/Romance, 360 pp., 4/5 stars

I was thrilled to finally hold a hard copy of this book in my hands so I could get a good, close look at what may be one of the all-time most beautiful YA covers. Marguerite, the only artist in a family of genius scientists, travels through different dimensions to find her father’s killer. In each dimension, Marguerite experiences an alternate version of her life. In one dimension, the Russian Romanov royal family was not murdered in 1918, and as a Romanov descendant Marguerite still lives in modern-day Russia as a princess. I could have stayed in that dimension for the entire book. It was so good! The romance aspect of the story was fine except for the love triangle.

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ART AND LAUGHTER IN AUSTRALIA:

The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl by Melissa Keil
YA Coming-of-Age, 295 pp., 3.5/5 stars

Funny story with a unique POV, set in a small Australian town. Check out my review here.

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TEARS IN TENNESSEE:

The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner
YA Contemporary, 384 pp., 4.5/5 stars

Writer Jeff Zenter THREW DOWN with a strong debut. The Serpent King was about friendship, boys standing up to dad issues, teens taking emotional risks, plus nice, nuanced descriptions that made you feel you were walking alongside the characters in Tennessee. Lydia, one of the three central characters, was unique and entertaining but might have crossed the line into Manic Pixie Dream Girl territory. If you’ve read the book, I’d love to hear your thoughts on that–reality checks are good.

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AND BOOKS THAT MAKE YOU THINK:

The Day We are Born by Philippa Cameron
YA Contemporary-Mental Health, 210 pp.

I fell hard for the evocative title. The Day We are Born was well written and started out nice and voice-y, but then the promising story got hijacked by pamphlet-style education about depression.

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The Light Fantastic by Sarah Combs
YA Contemporary, 320 pp., 4/5 stars
Expected pub. date: 9/13/16

This book gets you thinking. Lots of emotion and a dreamy writing style. I reviewed it  here.

— Eve Messenger

 

 

 

23 thoughts on “June Reads – End of Month Wrap-Up”

  3. Wow, Eve! A brilliant selection of books and now I’m torn – so many I want to read. I’m intrigued by Uprooted and the writing, Lair of Dreams sounds good with a catchy title and the time travelling aspect of A Thousand Pieces of You definitely appeals to me. The only one I’ve read is Claire North’s book – very good but I felt equally ambivalent towards Harry August.

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  5. Wow, so many beautiful books here I already want to read! Glad to see you gave The Serpent King 4.5. I bought it in May but I haven’t gotten to it yet. I read a sampler for Uprooted a while ago, but it hasn’t dropped in price anywhere to my knowledge. I really want to read it though. The sampler was amazing. I will be looking up all the ones I don’t already have in my tbr too. 😀

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  6. Though I read more paranormal/sci fi in YA than anything else, The Serpent King has grabbed my interest. It goes on my TBR list, probably moved ahead in the lengthy queue.
    Have you read Tell The Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt, Eve? It’s an excellent coming of age story.

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  8. I just read The Diviners last month, I can’t wait to break in to Lair of Dreams. With your head nod, I’m looking forward to it even more. I also have A Thousand Pieces of You as well as As I Darken on my TBR. Can’t wait to get to them now. 🙂

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