It’s time for another wrap up! I read 9 books in the month of August which is good but also not as much as usual. I also had a few books in a row this month that I didn’t love! So that was fun! I ended up reading 6 audiobooks, 2 physical books & 1 eBook in August! So, let’s jump in and chat about those books!
The Ocean Squid Explorers’ Club by Alex Bell
This is book 4 in The Explorer’s Club series & I am anxiously awaiting the release of book 5! 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.
I struggle with some middle grades as they are written towards a much younger audience which means some things are way over simplified and that affects my enjoyment of the read. This one however is definitely worth the read even if you usually read YA. The audiobooks are also really well done & I enjoy the narrator alot!
The Bright & the Pale by Jessica Rubinkowski
I honestly didn’t know what to anticipate going into this one as I have heard very little about it before beginning. I was pleasantly surprised with it. It does feature some romance but it didn’t overshadow the book too much. This one has a rich & detailed world which I really enjoyed exploring. It was full of action & was super thrilling to read. I really enjoyed the audiobook of this one & would highly recommend!
I’m also loving that this is part of a duology! There are so many fantasy trilogies or bigger around that it’s nice to find one with only 2 books! I usper keen for Wrath & Mercy which releases in 2022.
A Golden Fury by Samantha Cohoe
I’ve posted a full Spoiler Free Review of A Golden Fury, so if you were curious you can check that out HERE! To break it down though I wasn’t overly impressed with the character development of the main character but the plot & other characters were very enjoyable! This one was very fast paced & I was gripped from the very beginning.
I did receive this one as an eARC so I need to thank NetGalley & Wednesday Books for providing a copy of A Golden Fury in exchange for an honest review! I can’t wait to try out Samantha Cohoe’s next release as I see a lot of potential in this author! Fingers crossed Bright Ruined Things will be even better!
Descendant of the Crane by Joan He
This was a roller coaster but also not my favourite reads this month. I rated Descendant of the Crane 3.5 stars which is still good but I had a couple issues. One of the bigs ones was the audiobook itself. This book is super dense with information, so it’s easy to miss things in the audiobook & I think it would have been more affective reading this physically. Also the audiobook was sometimes hard to follow. This is going to be hard to explain as I don’t know the word for it but do you know when there are gaps between paragraphs within a chapter. Like when the scene is changing or sometimes POV changing. Well usually in audiobooks there is a silence between those paragraphs so you can understand that there is a gap & the scene or whatever was about to change. In this one however there was NO gap. Like it read as if it was a continuation in the sentence. This left me confused many times as one money you’re in one scene & the next you’re in a completely new place & trying to figure out what is going on… Hopefully that makes sense, but either way it was very annoying & I don’t recommend the audiobook.
Besides the audiobook I did enjoy the plot, setting & how unpredictable it was but I wanted a bit more from the characters & more details of the magic system. The characters were very 2D & the magic system wasn’t well explained & left me wanting more.
Fire with Fire by Destiny Soria
Fire with Fire was a bit of a wild ride! Firstly I ended up swapping to the audiobook half through as I was struggling a little with the pacing around the middle of the book. The audiobook was definitely the right decision for this book!
I did enjoy the plot & found it very unpredictable. The characters were very fleshed out & developed well throughout the book. I also loved the Multi POV as I feel like it’s been a while since I have read a good multi POV book. Definitely recommend checking this one out!
Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron
Cinderella is Dead was a fast paced feminist retelling of Cinderella. Oh and did I mention it’s also gay?! While I enjoyed my time reading this one & loved the message it definitely wasn’t the best book I read in August. The writing felt very lacking and the ending felt rushed to me.
This one was a fun time & I think listening to the audiobook definitely helped my enjoyment and helped me get through it. There could have been some improvement with the writing. That’s for sure but overall I had fun reading it & I’m keen to pick up Kalynn Bayron’s next book The Poison Heart. Hopefully there is some improvement in the writing with that one!
Fire Keeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley
This was NOT what I expected. To be fair I never read a synopsis or genre for Fire Keeper’s Daughter before picking up the book. Based on the name & cover of the book I expected a fantasy. Nope this is a contemporary YA mystery/thriller. So that was a shock, but obviously I wasn’t mad as I love mystery/thriller books. HOWEVER this just didn’t quite hit the mark for me. It was enjoyable, mysterious & unpredictable but it just felt lacking.
I’m not 100% sure what the reason is that I didn’t love this one. Maybe it was just that I listened to the audiobook. I’m not sure but I literally remember NOTHING about this book. It was extremely forget-able. I just had to go and read someone else’s review to remember what this was even about. Like there is not a single thing I remember from this book!! Which isn’t a great impression. This one is getting tonnes of praise though so maybe that’s just me… Also I need to mention a trigger warning for rape in this one. It was very out of no where, so please be careful when reading if that’s a sensitive topic.
The Shadow in the Glass by JJA Harwood
Did I read 2 Cinderella retellings this month on purpose? Nope as I didn’t even know this one was a Cinderella retelling! This is a very loose & also dark retelling. The Shadow in the Glass made itself out to be a lot more exciting than it actually was in my opinion. It sounds amazing but the execution was kind of meh. It was very slow paced & there is a lot of slow scenes that were a bit pointless to me. The story could have progressed a lot quicker & been more action packed without like 25% of this book.
It wasn’t necessarily bad but it was just long winded & could have been a lot more gripping. This was the authors debut, so there is room for improvements as the idea was really interesting! I do need to mention that this one does deal with some dark topics including rape, adult/minor relations, miscarriage & alcoholism as well as more! Check out the content warnings by clicking the name of the title above.
Mrs. Perivale and the Blue Fire Crystal by Dash Hoffman
This was amazing! Firstly this is the first book I ever heard of with this concept so if you know others please let me know! This book follows a 70+ year old woman who finds herself as the chosen one! She then goes on a dangerous adventure with her 6 cats & butler to save the world of Corev. It’s honestly incredible and I want more!
This one did at times read like a middle grade which makes sense as most of this authors other works are middle grade but I just wanted to put that out there for those curious. I honestly don’t think I would have enjoyed it as much if it had been written like an adult book so I’m kind of glad it was written the way it was. It made for a fun, action packed adventure story. I loved it so much and I was literally in tears at one point. I was so hooked & I want to read more like this!
Well that is all the books I read in August! Let me know what your favourite read from August was! Mine was definitely Mrs. Perivale and the Blue Fire Crystal which you could probably guess.
Dusk Angel Reads 
You must be logged in to post a comment.