Hey all! So it is that time again! Time for my July reading wrap up. I got through 12 books in July and overall had a good reading month!
Let’s jump straight in.
Physical/eBooks Read
The Box in the Woods by Maureen Johnson
Easily my most anticipated release of 2021 & it did not disappoint! It was amazing being back with these characters even if the setting wasn’t Ellingham Academy for this one.
Highly recommend the Truly Devious series! It’s fun, mysterious, has a amazing diverse range of characters & is extremely unpredictable. I absolutely adore it and can’t wait to do another reread in the near future!
I haven’t reviewed this one just yet but I hope to get around to it once I do my reread of the whole series!
Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
I struggled a bit with this one to be honest. It wasn’t my favourite at the beginning & I really didn’t like some of the characters as they were just straight out toxic & it wasn’t really resolved for the most part.
It also felt like some things were wrapped up but a lot that wasn’t & especially for a standalone, that’s not ideal.
I can’t really say I recommend this one but if it sounds interesting to you then give it a go. It was mysterious & the reveal was unexpected so it had that going for it at least.
You can find my full review HERE!
Last One to Die by Cynthia Murphy
This one only half fits in the physically read list as I did start listening to the audiobook while flipping along with the physical book at around the 100 page mark. I was struggling getting connected with this one a little in the beginning but I think adding the audiobook really helped!
I binge read the last 200 pages in one sitting as I was so hooked! The characters were really interesting & it was super unpredictable. I loved the bit of a paranormal aspect that was thrown in too! My favourite genres are Fantasy & Mystery/Thriller so that combo was amazing for me!
Highly recommend checking this one out & the audiobook was very well narrated.
You can find my full review HERE!
The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker by Lauren James
This one was not an absolute favourite but not bad! I found it a bit hard to get into but overall it was enjoyable. Definitely a bit dark & mysterious too!
I didn’t love Harriet as a character but she wasn’t really meant to be likeable! I did enjoy her growth though. There was a good amount of diversity in this one and I enjoyed the other characters a lot!
This was super unpredictable & I did not guess the reveal until it happened and even then I didn’t really believe it! There were a lot of shocking reveals in this one which kept me on my toes.
Audiobooks
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
I wasn’t hugely fussed with this one to be honest. I couldn’t really connect with it at all or get into it fully. The plot was interesting and fairly unpredictable but the characters I found kind of bland. I think that was just my lack of connection with them though. For whatever reason I just couldn’t really get into it.
I did like the creepy setting & the book was fairly atmospheric which did help with my overall enjoyment of the book. I’m not sure I would have got through it if I hadn’t been listening to the audiobook.
I will still probably read book 2 as I am still curious as to what will happen next. Hopefully I will be able to connect a bit better to book 2! Fingers crossed.
All the Stars and Teeth by Adalyn Grace 
All the Tides of Fate by Adalyn Grace
All the Stars and Teeth & All the Tides of Fate by Adayln Grace
All the Stars and Teeth was a reread for me! I read and loved it a while ago but wanted to reread before continuing onto book 2 as I didn’t remember a tonne. Both er amazing!!
I love that this was a duology too. Quick, easy and fun to read. There is definitely not enough duologys out there!
Book 2 absolutely killed me! The ending was stunning but I was literally sobbing while listening to the ending. How dare the author do that?!
Highly recommend checking this one out & and the audiobook is really well done as well!
I was a bit nervous going into this one as I loved The Darkest Minds but really didn’t like Prosper Redding & Passenger was just meh. So I had no idea what to think going into this one. I was a little disappointed to be honest. It’s wasn’t a favourite and while it was fine I think it could have been executed a little better.
I enjoyed the characters and the plot was fine but I felt like it could have been shorter. There wasn’t even a tonne of filler in between action but it just felt very long winded and I found myself getting bored at times. This is another one that I am glad that I listened to the audiobook because I feel like if I had read the physical book then I probably would have liked it even less. Maybe even DNFd it.
Can’t say I can recommend it but it wasn’t horrible and I’m sure others would love it!
When we were Magic by Sarah Gailey
This one I picked up on a huge whim! I had just finished Lore and I was watching TikToks and this girl read out the first sentence of this book and I was so freaking curious! So I searched it on Scribd straight away and there it was.
It was definitely worth it and it lived up to it’s first line. It had some flaws but was overall enjoyable! One of it’s downfalls I think was the amount of characters and that it was hard to differentiate between the side characters. I found myself getting a bit lost and the side characters all kind of blended together into one. I don’t know if that was an audiobook issue or just the book itself though.
Overall I did enjoy the story and it was super interesting! Very girl boss kind of vibe and worth the read!
The Polar Bear Explorers Club by Alex Bell 
Explorers on Witch Mountain by Alex Bell 
Explorers on Black Ice Bridge by Alex Bell
This is such a fun & adventure filled Middle Grade series! I highly recommend this one if you need some light but also full of adventure & danger! I adore the characters. and the plots are always so action filled.
Definitely worth the read & the audiobook is very well done!
Well that is all for this months wrap up! My favourite book was easily The Box in the Woods! What was yours in July?
Dusk Angel Reads 
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