June Recap

The year is half over and I can’t believe it’s come and gone so quickly. The first half of 2016 has been a bit of mixed bag for me but there’s still hope for the second half of the year and I’m excited to see what it brings.

The mini reading slump I seemed to have last month is well and truly over, which you’ll probably be able to tell when you see how many books I read and reviewed this month. I got though a few books which have been on my to-read list for quite a while now, I feel like this post could be re-named ‘Series I Finally Got Around to Reading’, and a lot of them were five star reads as well.

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Vicious by V.E. Schwab

It’s no secret that I love V.E. Schwab’s work. All of her books have gone to the top of my favourite’s list, and I am eagerly anticipating the release of everything she has in the works at the moment, and Vicious was no exception. It took me a while to get around to this book; ever since I joined WordPress I’ve seen mentions of Vicious and plenty of people have recommended it to me. It was worth the wait though; the story, the characters, the world-building were all brilliantly written and Vicious has now become my second favourite of V.E. Schwab’s books/series.

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Shatter Me Trilogy

This is a series that wasn’t really on my radar until I saw it on WordPress, and I saw it everywhere so I thought I might as well pick it up—the fact that the covers were gorgeous certainly didn’t hurt. While the first book was a bit lacklustre in my opinion the series got so much better with the second, and by the time I started reading the third book I didn’t want it to end. The character development throughout the series is wonderfully done, I fell in love with Juliette, Warner and Kenji as I read their adventures.

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Destroy Me by Tahereh Mafi

Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi

Fracture Me by Tahereh Mafi

Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi

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Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series

Why did it take me so long to get around to these books? How did I not start them before now? These two questions were pretty much constantly running through my mind as I started the Percy Jackson series. I couldn’t get enough of the stories, the Greek myths given a modern twist, and now it’s over I need to get started on the second series as soon as possible. I already have all the books waiting on my bookshelves and a feeling that the Heroes of Olympus series is going to be even better than the Percy Jackson and the Olympians books.

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

Percy Jackson and the Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan

Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan

Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian by Rick Riordan

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This Savage Song by V.E. Schwab

This book was a highly anticipated release for me; it’s V.E. Schwab after all, was there any doubt I would be desperate to get my hands on it? While This Savage Song wasn’t the best of hers I’ve read, that honour belongs to the Shades of Magic series with Vicious coming in a close second, it was still a solid story. I loved reading about the monsters who made their home in Verity, the different species and how they all came to be, and I cannot wait for the next book; there’s still so much left to discover.

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A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston

This was a re-read for me; after I discovered a companion novel is being released at the end of this year I had to go back to the book that started it all. A Thousand Nights was just as amazing the second time as it was the first. The writing was beautiful, lyrical, moving, the plot and the characters grabbed my attention from the first page and refused to let go until the last. This book is more of a literary fiction one than YA but there are elements of both genres within its pages. Overall it’s a brilliant story and succeeded in making me even more excited for the release of Spindle.

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I took part in three Top Ten Tuesday topics over the course of June.

Top Ten Anticipated Reads for the Second Half of 2016

Top Ten Favourite 2016 Releases So Far

Top Ten Favourite Book BFF’s

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I featured five books as part of the Waiting on Wednesday tag.

RoseBlood by A.G. Howard

A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab

Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi

A Crown of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi

Spindle by E.K. Johnston

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I got through a lot of books during June, and hopefully I’ll get through even more in July. As it is now officially summer I’m going to make a start on my summer to-read list which is packed with YA contemporary books, each filled with travel, wanderlust and romance. I’m hoping to spend whole afternoon in the sun in my garden with a cool drink and my Kindle.