July 2016 Wrap Up

I managed to get quite a few books read this month!

I read:

• ★★★☆☆.5   More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera
• ★★★★☆.5   The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton
• ★★★★☆      Vanishing Girls by Lauren Oliver
• ★★★★☆      This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab
• ★★★★☆      Animal Farm by George Orwell
• ★★★★★      Cracked by K.M. Walton
• ★★★★★      Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
• ★★★★☆.5   Mistborn (Mistborn #1) by Brandon Sanderson

The first book I read this month was More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera. I was really looking forward to it, as I had heard so many good things about it, and although I did really enjoy some parts of it, there were also some parts that I was not a massive fan of. I have a full review which you can find here if you would like to read more of my thoughts on it.

The next book I read was The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton. I found the greatest little new and used book store while I was on vacation so I had to pick it up when I found it for a quarter of the new price. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I loved every aspect of it except for the sad ending. I found a few parts to drag a little, but other than that I really, really enjoyed this book and I'm very glad I was seeing this around UK BookTube and that I decided to pick it up. I have a full review that can be found here if you are interested in more of my thoughts.

I then read Vanishing Girls by Lauren Oliver, and I really enjoyed it! I thought that the characters were all wonderfully developed and I found the novel to be full of suspense, action, and a lot of mystery. I really enjoyed how everything came together throughout and at the end of the book, and I loved how well the author described the characters, plot, and setting. I have not read a book by Lauren Oliver that I have not enjoyed, and I'm looking forward to more from her!

I also read This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab, and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I have yet to read a book by Victoria Schwab that I haven't loved (or at least really liked) and although I had a few problems with the book as a whole, I really liked it and can't wait for the next one. I have a full review here if you want to read more of my likes and dislikes with this book.


For my classic for the month, I read Animal Farm by George Orwell. I needed a quick read that I knew I could handle in one sitting, and this book was perfect for this because it is barely 100 pages. I enjoyed this book, but I didn't love it. I liked how each of the animals had their own personality and how different their personalities were. I also liked how well the characters of the pigs developed throughout the book, and how it was a steady growth, not an abrupt one. I know this book is meant to be short, but my only real problem with it is that I felt it was too short. I feel like a few more pages would have helped the story in its entirety.

I then read Cracked, which had been sitting on my shelf forever, because one of my best friends recommended it to me. I couldn't believe how good it was. I read the entire book in one sitting, cover to cover. It was so good that as soon as I finished it I wanted to start reading it all over again. The characters, and the character development, is absolutely amazing in this book. The whole plot, all the way throughout the book, flows so perfectly and wonderfully that it makes me frustrated that I can't write that well! Not only were the characters, development, and the plot amazing, but the book was told in two perspectives, which I normally am not a large fan of, but this book really changed that for me. This book made me really love both of the characters whose perspectives I was reading from, and it helped to show how much they had in common, as well as how different they were. I honestly feel that this book wouldn't have been anywhere near as good as it is if it hadn't been told in both characters' perspectives. The only thing about this book is that it deals heavily with depression, abuse, and suicide, in which case if you cannot read much about those topics, I don't recommend this book for you.

The next book I read was Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. I'd bought this book in the fall when it first came out, as soon as I had finished the Grisha trilogy, but I didn't read it right away because I really, really love Leigh Bardugo's writing and I didn't want to read it right away and then not have anything new of hers to read. I ended up picking it up this month because I know that the next book is supposed to come out this fall (and I REALLY hope that that doesn't change *fingers crossed*) and I figured now was the best time for me to really sit down and read it, and I was not disappointed one bit. The characters were a bit difficult to comprehend in the beginning just because I was mixing a few of them up, but very quickly you manage to figure out the quirks of each character and how they act, feel, and think. These characters are all absolutely amazing, and they all seem to be so realistic and relatable. As I was reading this book, I was able to connect with each and every single character in some way. This book also has an amazing plot, and all the twists and turns in this book were so surprising and keep you on your feet the whole time you read it. The book was written beautifully, as all of Leigh Bardugo's books are, and this book will forever be one of my all time favourites.

The final book I read this past month was Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. I've heard nothing but good things about anything written by Brandon Sanderson for awhile, from all of my favourite YouTubers. So, since I've had the book for about a year, I figured it was time to sit down and read it. It was absolutely amazing. I loved the characters, the plot, the setting, the storyline. I loved how well thought out the cities were, and how much every single character develops throughout the novel. The only reason that it wasn't a five star book for me was because something tragic happened to my favourite character...and that's all I can say about it! I really, really enjoyed this book, and I'm currently reading the second one of the trilogy, so you can tell how much I love the world!