It was an awesome month of reading YA books for YA'UGUST!
Here's what I read:
The Women by Kristin Hannah: NOT for YA'UGUST, but for book club. I hurried and read it at the beginning of the month. And yes, it deserves all the hype it's been given. Such a powerful story about a girl's experience as a nurse in the Vietnam War and then her dealing with PTSD after she gets home. So emotional and heart wrenching. But ending with a feeling of hope. I loved that I didn't have to go away from it feeling terrible.⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon: The cute first book in a series of related stories about a girl and a guy who's parents have conspired to put them together (for a sort of arranged marriage situation) and they get angry at that, but fall in love anyway. They learn how a lot along the way, especially how to embrace their culture without sacrificing themselves.⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Secret Astronomers by Jessica Walker: A cool looking book with amazing illustrations (like a graphic novel) that I've been really looking forward to. It's about two girls who are communicating through writing notes to each other in this old astronomy textbook they find at their school library. The one girl is trying to solve a mystery surrounding her mom's time at the high school in the 80s and the other is trying to just be the good kid. The premise for it is great, but I felt like the story fell a little flat and got over powered by the agendas and messages.⭐⭐⭐
The Killing Rules by Bree Despain: I was able to go to the launch party for this one and buy the book on that day. So excited to get to it! It's a great story that includes romance, horror and suspense. Our girl is compelled to kill, so she has worked out a system where she only kills the bad guys. Our boy is the editor for the school newspaper and he is on a mission to figure out who is behind the killing spree in their town and finally, once and for all, who killed his father three years before. The two of them have had eyes for each for years, but had grown apart in recent years. Now they are pushed together again to accomplish their goals. It gets pretty intense! But so much fun at the same time. Great story and I'm so happy Bree is back to publishing again after some long years away. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
13 Days of Summer by Stephanie Kate Strohm: This was a fun road trip story where three girls who are massive Swifties get tickets to Taylor Swift, but they live in Maine and the concert is in LA... so they drive across the country to get there and have all sorts of adventures along the way. They pick up a boy at the first rest stop who has been abandoned by his ride and he is instantly meshed into the group and bonds with our main girl. It's a fun one! If you are a Swiftie you really NEED to read it! ⭐⭐⭐⭐
A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir: This is the third in the Ember in the Ashes series and one I've been trying to finish up for a long time. It took me a minute to get into it and there were parts that moved slow, however, it picked up big time toward the end and it for sure as intense as the rest of the books. And there's a big reveal, oh my word! Now I have one more book to finish the series. Such a ride this story! ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Snow in Love by various authors: This one is a compilation of four short YA stories centered around Christmas. The authors are Kasie West, Nic Stone, Melissa de la Cruz and Aimee Freidman. They were all cute and fun, but of course I enjoyed Kasie West's the best, which actually happened to be a road trip story again! The characters are trying to drive home from Denver to California because the snow has grounded the planes. And the adventures happen! And love blooms! ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Always Jane by Jenn Bennett: I chose this one to be my last official YA'UGUST book because it filled in a square that gave me a Bingo! This one is about a girl who works for this big wig music industry dude, and she is hanging out with his family at the big resort at the lake for the summer, and his son is there and they clash, but then they don't. There's a back story that makes it hard for them to get over some stuff, but it's a pretty intense relationship in the end and I loved seeing the boy be so so SWOONY over the girl. Great stuff! And lots of music references in this book too. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
It's been a great reading month! And I have an amazing month planned for September! One week of reading on the Oregon coast and lots of audio books while traveling. Also... meeting Sabaa Tahir on the 30th. So excited!
How did your month go?
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