August 2017 wrap up

I cannot believe August is over – where did the time go. It just literally flew by! I read 6 books in August and 4 of them were pretty great.

1. The girl who drank the moon by Kelly Barnhill 

Full review, complete with quotes is up on my book blog

From the moment I started reading and to the last page this was a solid 4 star read for me.
If I had to describe this book in one word I would say – atmospheric.

The world pulls you in, making you feel as you are there – in the book. Touching the moonlight, smelling the flowers, frolicking about in the swamp.

I will say though that this book is probably not for everybody. It’s quite different from other middle grade fantasy books – both in style of writing and structure.
Some things would take a really long time to happen, and some other ones happen too quickly. Points of view jump and differ and wave through time, and stories and memories. To be completely honest I was quite confused for the first 100 pages or so.
But somehow I was okay with that.
Magic?

2. Eleanor Elephant is completely fine by Gail Honeyman

An absolute favorite of August for me. 5 stars. Read full review with some of amazing quotes HERE . Before I get into the review I just want to say that this book was bloody brilliant. It had heart. It was full of life, and emotions. And it was moving.

“I took one of my hands in the other, tried to imagine what it would feel like if it was another person’s hand holding mine. There have been times where I felt that I might die of loneliness.”

Eleanor Oliphant doesn’t feel fictional. She feels real. Like a co-worker that won’t talk to you, or like a neighbor that you never see. But real, nonetheless.
After I finished the book I was devastated – I didn’t want Eleanor to be gone from my life yet. I felt as if I’ve came to know her over those 325 pages. I wished I could have kept reading for at least 325 more.

3. Pretty little liars by Sara Shepard

Well, this wasn’t good.
Here’s the story with this book and me.
I got a copy of it to read about 6 years ago. Read 2 chapters and dnf’d it. Because, well because it was bad.
Then years later I decided to try the tv-show. And I became obsessed. I LOVED it. (I haven’t seen the last two seasons though, so please no spoilers).
Now I decided to pick up a book again. Seeing that I loved the tv-show and hoping that I would feel differently about the book.
Well that didn’t happen.

Without the tv-show these book series are… well total garbage.
I still read it in a day though.
I guess it’s an addictive type of garbage then.

This could have been good if the writing wasn’t so horrid.
Ever heard of a comma?

The characters felt flat (and that’s coming from somebody who already knew everything about the characters).
The book makes the four of the girls sound horrible. All of their smoking, drinking and pot talks make them sound very trashy. And they are supposed to live in an elite neighborhood.

I might try reading the second one – to see if anything gets better.
But honestly, I would just recommend sticking to the tv-show.

4. Mistborn: The final Empire by Brandon Sanderson.

Full review HERE

It’s going to be very hard to say something about The Mistborn series that hasn’t been said before.
I’ve heard people say that if you are true fantasy genre fan and haven’t read this series then you have no right to call yourself that. And I have to say that I agree.
I’ve heard people calling Sanderson an absolute genius. And once again I have to agree.

I’m going to go ahead and say that I completely spoiled the ending for myself. A fool that I am I stumbled upon things I shouldn’t have and thus I knew the 2 very major things that were going to happen. If I didn’t, I would have been bowling my eyes out when they did happen, but my eyes only misted (see what I did there?) since I already knew. However, that didn’t dampened the book experience at all! Even with knowing the spoilers I was still blown away.

5. Burial rites by Hannah Kent 

For a full review please visit my my book blog

If you are looking for a fast paced, action packed, sinister novel – this book is NOT for you.
This is a novel about a woman sentenced to die. Her days are recollected and described in painful agony of everyday tasks as she waits to be slaughtered.
And I honestly cannot recommend it enough! I feel like this is such an important book to read, and I am very surprised that more people are not talking about it.

“They see I’ve got a head on my shoulders, and believe a thinking woman cannot be trusted.”

I got some very nice feminism vibes from it. I am not labeling this as a feminist book, no, but the vibe is definitely there, lurking just beneath the surface.

“No matter if you tried to do what was best. No matter if your innermost self whispers, ‘I am not as you say!’—how other people think of you determines who you are.”

6. Eliza and her monsters 

I haven’t written a review for this yet, but this book didn’t do much for me.

I know it took GR by storm, but I was pretty disappointed. Serves me well to fall into the hype. Although it did have many relatable moments.

“I’m not normally one to take advice from my fictional characters, but there comes a point in every girl’s life where she reaches a crossroads: a night alone with her sweatpants and her favorite television show, or a party with real, live, breathing people.”

 

Overall August has been pretty darn good. I discovered amazing fantasy series and have fallen in love with some  fantastic female characters. For September I am really feeling autumn vibes – so hopefully my books will reflect that .