Hello dear readers!

I can’t believe it’s July already!  This year has gone by so fast, and I can’t believe we’re half-way through the year.  Reading this month was weird for me.  I felt like I started and stopped a ton of books, and some of the ones I did read, I barely remember, so I don’t have much to say about some of the books I read.  And I have quite a few ARC’s to get through, so over the next few months, you’ll be seeing some longer, individual reviews come through.  I’ll still talk about them in my monthly recaps, but they won’t be super detailed.  Not that I’m super detailed in these posts to begin with, but I definitely won’t be talking about them in the same way as the other books.  Let’s get to the books I read last month!

• The Moth Girl by Heather Kamins.  I liked this YA contemporary!  Though Anna is diagnosed with a fictional illness, everything that Anna experiences is very real as she adjusts to a life-changing diagnosis.  It’s also nice to see chronic illness that’s not mental illness in a book, and I think that’s something we don’t see a lot of, especially in YA.  I loved the setting, though I’m curious about when the book takes place.  I’d say 90’s, based on the mixtapes and calling people on their home phone, and I can imagine that a mysterious illness pre-internet would be especially scary.  If you’re looking for chronic illness rep, this is a good one to check out.
• Fools In Love: Fresh Twists On Romantic Tales edited by Rebecca Podos and Ashley Herring Blake.  This YA contemporary anthology was okay.  There’s a wide variety of stories, but as I read the stories in this anthology, I found that I felt ambivalent about most of the stories.  Even though I like some of the authors featured, the two stories that I really liked were authors who were new to me: Boys Noise by Mason Deaver and Disaster by Rebecca Podos.  I love that each story focused on a different idea.  Boys Noise was one bed at the inn and Disaster was second-chance romance, but also had themes like fake dating and mutual pining.  It’s cute and great to read around Valentine’s Day, but maybe I just didn’t read it at the right time.
• Wishing Upon The Same Stars by Jacquetta Nammar Feldman.  I loved this Middle Grade contemporary!  I loved Yasmeen and her family, and I really felt for them.  I understood where her parents were coming from, particularly with some of their neighbors, but I also understood where Yasmeen was coming from as well.  She had a lot going on, from moving to bullying to racism, and I just wanted to give her a hug!  She found some great friends along the way, and I enjoyed seeing her give San Antonio a chance.
• Fit For The Throne 3: The Season Finale by S. McPherson.  I liked this Adult Romantasy.  Things ended the way I thought they would, but it was a fun read and a pretty good conclusion to this trilogy.  I had a little trouble getting into the book at first, and I had a hard time remembering who a lot of the supporting characters were.  But that didn’t take away my enjoyment of the book, and it’s a pretty entertaining series to read.  Varialla was great, and I really liked seeing her journey throughout the series.  I think she’s going to do a lot of good in this world, and I’m glad that things worked out between her and Exequiel.  There was no doubt in my mind it was going to work out, but it’s still good to see them get their happily ever after.
• Shadow City by Francesca Flores.  This YA fantasy was okay.  I read the first one a long time ago, and re-read before picking this one up.  I didn’t like it as much as I thought it would, but I loved the world.  Maybe it’s another one that I didn’t read at the right time, but maybe it’s just not for me.  It is a good sequel to the first book, and I liked Aina, who was just trying to get by.  I get why she worked with Kohl, but he is not a good guy.  Other than that, I don’t have a lot to say about this one, because I don’t have a lot of strong feelings either way.

• Finding Her Edge by Jennifer Iacopelli.  I really liked this YA contemporary!  After reading Break The Fall, I knew I had to read this one.  This book focuses on an ice-skater, and it’s definitely not as technical as Break The Fall, but it was still enjoyable as someone who watches ice-skating every few years during the Olympics.  There’s drama and romance and family issues, and I loved every second of it.  If you like cute, YA romance, this is a good one to check out!
• Lore Of The Wilds & Lore Of The Tides by Analeigh Sbrana.  Lore Of The Wilds was a re-read for me, and I wanted to re-read it before reading the ARC of Lore Of The Tides.  I’m not going to talk much about Lore Of The Tides here, since I plan on a doing a longer review in the next few days, but I will say that this is a great duology, and the world is amazing!  I also loved the characters, and I’m so excited that Sbrana is coming to San Diego for one of her bookstore stops.  This Adult Romantasy is worth reading!
• An Ocean Apart by Jill Tew.  I got an ARC of this YA dystopia, and like Lore Of The Tides, a longer review will be coming.  This book comes out in October, so that review will be coming out sometime in the next few months.  This is a world ravaged by climate change, which doesn’t surprise this Southern California girl.  It shouldn’t surprise any of us, but there are people who would find it surprising.  It’s a future I can envision, because we’re already living it to some degree, and this world was so easy to picture.  I’ve already pre-ordered this book, which comes out October 15, 2025.
• Exactly Where You Need To Be by Amelia Diane Coombs.  I loved this YA contemporary!  I was absolutely crying by the end of the book, and I loved seeing Florie stand up to her mom and take control of her life.  Though I understand why her mom acted the way she did, there were times were I absolutely hated her, starting in San Francisco and up until the end of the book.  I was glad Florie’s therapist was able to help mediate some of the issues, and advocate for her.  I was sad that Florie made it all the way to San Francisco for the live show of a My Favorite Murder-type podcast, and didn’t get to meet the hosts, but I was glad that there was an open invitation for tickets at a future stop.  I was hoping that would happen for her, and I’m glad it did.  I really felt for Florie, and she has a good friend in Kasey, and I’m glad they got to go on an epic road trip together.
• The Art Of Catching Feelings by Alicia Thompson.  I loved this Adult Contemporary Romance.  I don’t normally read sports romances, especially ones written for adults, but I saw this one of the displays at the library, and decided to pick it up.  I’m glad I did, because I loved Daphne and Chris.  There’s miscommunication and secrets, of course, but I loved seeing how both of them felt about things, and how they met!  It’s such a cute book, and the romance between them was so fun to read.  And it is incredibly sweet, if you ask me.  While Chris didn’t find out about Daphne’s hidden identity in the best way, I also understood why she kept not telling him.  I think that’s why I was glad that we got both of their perspectives.  It’s a super-cute romance, and the perfect book for summer!

That’s all for today!  A longer review for Lore Of The Tides will be coming soon, and I’m thinking about doing a mid-year recap, so you’ll be getting an extra post or two from me soon.

See you around!