It’s time for my first half of August book review post! I am sharing what I read in August so far, although I am skipping any 5 star reads to share later in the month. The Amazon links to the books I’ve read are affiliate links and if you use them and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission. If you’ve read any of these books or are interested in them, I’d love to hear about it in the comments!
Title: The Quiet Part Out Loud
Author: Deborah Crossland
Genre: YA Contemporary
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers, 6/27/23
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 3 Stars
The best part of the book for me was the cover. This book is about Mia, who sees her high school ex at a coffee shop and regrets how their relationship ended. She is staying with her best friend in her college dorm while Alfie is a freshman at another school across the city. Right when Mia tries to reach out, there is a major earthquake. She sets off through the rubble to find him.
“High school sweethearts Mia Clementine and Alfie Thanasis had a plan to escape their town for college in the east. Mia would leave her hard-core evangelical home for Sarah Lawrence College, and Alfie would have a new place to pursue his three loves: baseball, poetry, and Mia. But when Alfie got offered a scholarship to the University of San Francisco the same week the entire town found out about Mia’s mom’s affair with their church’s pastor, Mia’s world imploded and she pushed everyone away…including Alfie. Five months after the worst summer ever, Mia is crashing at her best friend’s dorm at San Francisco State, just a few miles away from the University of San Francisco, praying she never runs into the boy whose heart she broke. And Alfie is trying to make the most of his freshman year while struggling to reconcile with the abrupt ending of his first love. When Mia and Alfie’s paths cross for the briefest of moments, Mia realizes she never should have let him go and Alfie’s suppressed memories and feelings boil to the surface. But their reunion is cut short when a massive earthquake rocks San Francisco, leaving them to stumble desperately across the rubble in search of the ex they still love before the city crumbles—taking one, or both, of them with it.”
I should have DNFd this one. I just wasn’t that into either of the main characters and how they behaved. Mia’s viewpoint tells of her trek across the city while Alfie’s is about their past. There is a bit of a religion theme as Mia came from a strict Christian home. This book reminded me a bit of the Erin Hahn YA I read and of the angst written by Ashley Schumacher. If you like their writing, you may love this one.
Title: Gone Tonight
Author: Sarah Pekkanen
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press, 8/1/23
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
I have loved the books I’ve read by Sarah Pekkanen along with Greer Hendricks, so I was excited to read this solo novel as well. Gone Tonight is about a mother daughter duo. Ruth does whatever necessary to keep her daughter Catherine safe. However, Catherine starts looking into her mother’s past and inadvertently heads towards the danger her mother has been avoiding.
“Catherine Sterling thinks she knows her mother. Ruth Sterling is quiet, hardworking, and lives for her daughter. All her life, it’s been just the two of them against the world. But now, Catherine is ready to spread her wings, move from home, and begin a new career. And Ruth Sterling will do anything to prevent that from happening. Ruth Sterling thinks she knows her daughter. Catherine would never rebel, would never question anything about her mother’s past or background. But when Ruth’s desperate quest to keep her daughter by her side begins to reveal cracks in Ruth’s carefully-constructed world, both mother and daughter begin a dance of deception.”
I enjoyed the story, but I did find some of the twists easy to predict. I also thought that some things could have been easier worked out if Ruth had communicated better with Catherine.
Title: House Party
Author: justin a. reynolds (editor)
Genre: YA Contemporary
Publisher: Joy Revolution, 6/27/23
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
This book of interconnected stories is written by 10 different authors and edited by justin a reynolds (he seems to like his name written in lowercase). It’s the end of high school for the seniors and DeAndre is having a party. His house is huge and the book includes a drawing of the floor plan, as well as a drawing of the guests, which include all types. Influencers, the class clown, jocks, the school paper editor, and more. There is even a section written in graphic novel format about the artist kid. Oh, and the mom from across the street comes too!
“The biggest event of the year is happening, and you’re invited! Join us for Florence Hills High School seniors’ last hurrah before graduation.
THE LOCATION: A megamansion in one of Chicago’s wealthiest suburban enclaves
THE HOST: DeAndre Dixon, aka FHHS’s golden boy
THE GUESTS: The populars, the jocks, the artists, and heck, even that one kid
THE HOPE: All the drama ensues. Kisses are swapped between old friends, new friends, and could’ve-sworn-they-were-enemies kind of friends. Relationships get tested. Animals roam free. Secrets are spilled. Add dope music that’s thumping, and there’s a good chance the whole neighborhood will be disrupted.”
The story includes hook ups, friendships, rivalries, love stories, and put together they make for a fun read overall.
Title: Change of Plans
Author: Dylan Newton
Genre: Rom Com
Publisher: Forever, 8/1/23
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
Change of Plans is the 3rd book in a series about brothers. Each can be read individually, although the brothers and their partners do appear in each other’s books. This one is about Ryker, who is a veteran with a partial leg amputation and PTSD due to his experiences in Afghanistan. He meets Bryce, who is the guardian of her brother’s three girls after he and his wife tragically died. She is dealing with the girls’ grandparents also wanting custody of them.
“When disaster strikes and chef Bryce Weatherford is given guardianship of her three young nieces, her life goes from cooking with fire…to controlling a dumpster fire. Five‑year‑old Addison refuses to remove her fairy wings, eight‑year‑old Cecily won’t bathe, and tween June is majoring in belligerence. With all this chaos, Bryce jettisons hope for a life outside of managing her family and her new job. It’s been years since Ryker Matthews had his below‑the‑knee amputation, yet the phantom pain for his lost limb and Marine career haunts him. To cope, he focuses on his vehicle restoration business. He knows he’s lucky to be alive. Yet, ‘lucky’ feels more like ‘cursed’ to his lonely heart. When Ryker literally sweeps Bryce off her feet in the grocery store’s baby aisle, they both feel sparks. But falling in love would be one more curveball neither is ready to deal with… or is it exactly the change of plans they need?”
I enjoyed this cute and funny story with substance. I do think the love story was a little fast and the plot was a little dependent on misunderstandings, but overall I think this series has just gotten better.
Title: Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance
Author: Ruth Emmie Lang
Genre: Magical Realism
Publisher: Highbridge Audio, 11/14/17
Source: Library Audio / Purchased Print Copy
Why I Read It: Waiting on my shelf
My Rating: 4 Stars
An older book from my shelf was Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance by Ruth Emmie Lang. I had bought this one at Half Price Books and listened to it this month. This is a book of magical realism about Weylyn, who causes storms and trees to grow. He spent a portion of his childhood with wolves and we hear his story as told by those who knew him throughout his life, beginning when he meets Mary as a child. He is adopted by a family, reunited with Mary, lives alone in the woods, and more.
“Born in a blizzard, orphaned, and believed to be raised by wolves, Weylyn Grey is someone who inspires endless curiosity in everyone he’s ever met. People say that once Weylyn wanders into your world, you’ll wish he’d never leave. But what makes him different? How does he possess the ability to transform others’ lives? How does he manage to find―and create―magic in the ordinary? This is the story of Weylyn’s journey, told from the perspective of those who knew him, loved him, or were bewildered by him along the way. In this stunning and deeply imaginative debut, author Ruth Emmie Lang introduces us to a character who will live in readers’ hearts long after the last page is turned.”
This book was somewhat magical and somewhat slow moving as a character driven story. I have another book by this author to read as well!
Title: None of This Is True
Author: Lisa Jewell
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Atria, 8/8/23
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
I really liked this one and couldn’t put it down with wanting to know what was happening as it unraveled. This is about Josie and Alix, who share the same birthday but seem to lead very different lives. Alix interviews Josie for her podcast, which later becomes a Netflix series. Bits of each are shared throughout, giving tastes of what is to come. Taking a look at the title, it is clear that even if none of it is true, there is something dark behind Josie’s stories of her husband and two daughters.
“Celebrating her forty-fifth birthday at her local pub, popular podcaster Alix Summer crosses paths with an unassuming woman called Josie Fair. Josie, it turns out, is also celebrating her forty-fifth birthday. They are, in fact, birthday twins. A few days later, Alix and Josie bump into each other again, this time outside Alix’s children’s school. Josie has been listening to Alix’s podcasts and thinks she might be an interesting subject for her series. She is, she tells Alix, on the cusp of great changes in her life. Josie’s life appears to be strange and complicated, and although Alix finds her unsettling, she can’t quite resist the temptation to keep making the podcast. Slowly she starts to realize that Josie has been hiding some very dark secrets, and before she knows it, Josie has inveigled her way into Alix’s life—and into her home. But, as quickly as she arrived, Josie disappears. Only then does Alix discover that Josie has left a terrible and terrifying legacy in her wake, and that Alix has become the subject of her own true crime podcast, with her life and her family’s lives under mortal threat. Who is Josie Fair? And what has she done?”
While I was a fan of the story and how it is written, I will say that some dark themes I have found in other books by Lisa Jewell again appear here. There seems to be some victim blaming and excusal of predatory behavior which I wasn’t very comfortable with as well.
Title: A Twisted Love Story
Author: Samantha Downing
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Berkley, 7/18/23
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
Samantha Downing’s books are always a lot of fun. This one was maybe a little less twisted than I expected, and I wasn’t sure if the main characters, Wes and Ivy, were actually in love or in a toxic relationship!
“Wes and Ivy are madly in love. They’ve never felt anything like it. It’s the type of romance people write stories about. But what kind of story? When it’s good, it’s great. Flowers. Grand gestures. Deep meaningful conversations where the whole world disappears. When it’s bad, it’s really bad. Vengeful fights. Damaged property. Arrest warrants. But their vicious cycle of catastrophic breakups and head-over-heels reconciliations needs to end fast. Because suddenly, Wes and Ivy have a common enemy–and she’s a detective. There’s something Wes and Ivy never talk about–in good times or bad. The night of their worst breakup, when one of them took things too far, and someone ended up dead. If they can stick together, they can survive anything–even the tightening net of a police investigation. Because one more breakup might just be their last…”
I enjoyed the various viewpoints this was told from as it kept things interesting. It seems that Wes and Ivy intrigued people with their toxicity and multiple people began looking into their past together. Karen, a police officer, was convinced that the relationship was abusive, which has the reader wondering the same as well. This book contains violence and assault.
This post includes 7 of the books I read this month. Of these books, 6 were print and 1 was audio. 5 were adult books and 2 were YA. Genres included contemporary, thriller, rom com, and magical realism.
Have you read any of these books or do you want to? What have you been reading lately?