Sunday 6 September 2015

August Reading Wrap Up

Here ends another month and it has come the time for me to reflect on how well I have been reading, and I am happy to say that, for the first time in a fair few months, I can finally say that I am really quite pleased with the amount that I have read!
I have read a total of 10 books in August and have managed to complete my Goodreads 2015 Reading Challenge, which was to read 65 books. I have also managed to beat last year's number of books read, which stood at 71! I am now aiming for a total of at least 100 books to be read this year by the end of December! The last book I read in August was my 72nd, so I am well on track for achieving this!

Here are my August books...
In total, I got through 3474 pages this month, which is roughly 112 pages per day. This is a lot better than what my averages had been in the last few months, so I am fairly happy!

*****

The first couple of books I read in August were part of a sort-of-spin-off series to the Caster Chronicles Series, which I reread in July and really enjoyed. These two books focused on Lena's siren cousin, Ridley and her boyfriend Link, who, if you have read Beautiful Creatures, you will remember as Ethan's best friend.
In the first book, Link is supposed to be leaving for College; however, unbeknown to his Mother, he is actually heading off to New York with his girlfriend to pursue his dream of becoming a rock star.
All does not go according to plan for Ridley and Link though, as they soon open up secrets they had expected to be leaving behind in Gatlin...

I'm not going to say I didn't enjoy this series, because I did. But it definitely didn't live up to what I had hoped it would. The writing style in this book, for me, was not a great choice. Beautiful Creatures and its sequels were all written in first person from Ethan's POV, whereas these two books were in third person and changed the focus character every few pages. Personally, I felt that this style of writing didn't suit these books and made it a lot harder to read. For me, it didn't flow well.

Nevertheless, the storyline was good and there were certainly a few moments that I would never have expected. I had heard that Dangerous Creatures had a shock ending, but on the second-to-last page, I found myself confused as to why nothing of the sort had occurred. Then I turned the page...!
Without giving away any spoilers, that last page was nothing like any other last page I have ever read. Normally, writers try and give some kind of conclusion and resolution on the final page, even if it's in a series, but this one left my mouth hanging wide open!
I absolutely love it when authors can completely surprise me, and manage to keep the ending completely hidden away from guessing, so I very nearly awarded an extra star just for this, but due to the fact that I really didn't like the writing, and it took me so long to read, I only gave this book 3 out of 5 stars.

I don't want to say this was a terrible book; I did enjoy parts of it, but I don't think it was for me. However, if you loved Beautiful Creatures then you should definitely give this one a go, but if you didn't, this probably won't be for you. If you have not yet read any of these books and want to try them, I would definitely recommend you reading The Castor Chronicles first!


*****

Let's be completely honest here... Who hasn't heard of The Fault in Our Stars?
In the three years it has been out, it has gained so many awards and such an amazing response that nearly everybody has either read the book, seen the incredible film adaptation, or at least heard of it. And if you haven't, I have to ask... What on Earth are you doing on a book blog?!
Anyway, I first read TFiOS at the start of last year, and reread it quite a few times last year. It was actually my top book of 2014 (see the list here!), but I hadn't read it in 2015 and since the month was August (us!!!), what better time?
I'm not going to go and write a synopsis for this book because most of you will be aware of what it's about, and if you aren't, I don't even know what to say to you!
I am going to say this though:
I thought rereading this would make it easier to deal with, since I already knew what was going to happen and I could mentally prepare myself for it. I was wrong. If anything, it made it worse. I think I cried more during and after this read than any other time. 
I definitely do not regret reading it again, but I would advise that you take time to mentally prepare your emotions before doing this!

 *****

I didn't expect all that much from Jenny Han's romantic trilogy, The Summer I Turned Pretty, as, to be honest, the idea of it sounded really cheesy and I didn't think it would be my kind of book. But after loving Jenny Han's other romance books, To All the Boys I've Loved Before Duology, I thought I should give this a go, and I am so glad I did!
This book contains probably one of the most hard-core and complicated love-triangle I have ever read, possibly tied with The Infernal Devices' love triangle. Unlike in other books, such as Twilight, The Hunger Games, The Mortal Instruments (kind of), Shatter Me and most other YA books, the love triangle isn't actually much of a love triangle, as you can usually tell which person is the main interest and which is going to be the 'friend-zoned', however this trilogy was nothing like that!

Isabel (Belly) has been to the house at the beach with her Mum and brother every summer, to meet with her Mum's best friend and her two boys. Coincidentally, these are the only two boys she has ever loved:
Conrad - aloof and unavailable, but Belly has been in love with him forever.
Jeremiah - friendly and relaxed, and the only one who has ever paid her attention.

Belly is used to, as the youngest, being pushed around by the older boys, but this year, everything will change, because this is the year the boys will notice her for the first time...

Yep! Sounds cheesy, I know. As I've said, I really didn't expect much from this book and certainly didn't expect to be giving it four stars! But I fell head over heels in love with this book!
Okay, so the writing wasn't perfect and maybe Belly was slightly annoying at times (and come on... What kind of a name is Belly?!) but I found myself completely engrossed in this story and loved it to bits! I loved the sequels just as much, if not more than I had the first -  particuarly the second book, It's Not Summer Without You, as it showed off a different side to both of the boys than we had seen before.
I devoured this whole trilogy in just a couple of days, but right up until the very end, I couldn't guess who Belly would end up with. But other than it just being a complicated love triangle, this was so much more! It was funny, heartwarming, and a little sad at times. It felt like there was a hole left in me when I finished the last book, We'll Always Have Summer.

From what I can tell from the reviews, this is either a love it or hate it kind of book, and I'm glad to say I was on the 'love-it' end of the spectrum. If you're a fan of Jenny Han's other books, or just love a good (slightly cheesy) romance, I suggest you give this one a try!


*****


That's going to be all for this month's wrap up, but I hope to be back with more reviews soon! 
See you then!


Charlotte xxx 




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