I read 19 books in July... let's talk about it | READING WRAP UP 📚⭐️

This was incredible you guys. It was so fun to read, but yeah, also quite brain breaking.

This book was almost perfect for me. What I will say held it back from a five-star for me was just that some of it felt a little safe, like the way it was written.

I think there were some things that were done so, so well in this book, but also some things that didn't completely work for me. I would still recommend it if you're looking for kind of a fresh take on a love story or on a romance.

I don't particularly know what I got out of this. It just felt very summery, very artistic. The way things were described were, you know, interesting, beautiful to read.

And this story was just It was so wholesome. It was so cute. It was so fun to follow.

What I will say is third act conflict so annoying to me in this one. I think right off the bat, the way we started this book felt very kind of wonder-filled and childlike because we did have these sort of flashback chapters where we saw Frankie and George get to know each other as kids.

I was so excited diving in based on the premise, but it was a one star. It's actually my second one star of the year, unfortunately. I really, really did not get along with this book.

I think with some of his other books like Recursion, which I absolutely loved, it was so fun to read about, but after it was done, I didn't really expand and like think about the things I learned from that book. It was more just like a wow, that was a wild great crazy time.

Now, this book made me fall in love with romantasy to see again, you guys. You guys know I have been struggling to find a romantasy book that gives me those giddy feelings that romantasy is supposed to give you. This one did that for me.

There were a lot of the same thoughts repeating in her head over and over and over again, kind of her battling her bloodlust. I don't know, there were just a lot of repetitive thoughts that we got over and over and over again in her head that I don't think we needed to hear that many times and also the way she was flip-flopping with her husband of like, oh, do I trust him? Is he who I thought he was or is he not?

What I will say is the writing in this book was not my favorite, if I'm going to be completely honest, which surprised me because I really did love Cassandra Clare's writing in the Infernal Devices series. So that was a hump that I had to get over while reading this one, but I will say by the end of the story, I was fully into it.

So I really enjoyed her as our main protagonist, and I actually think the writing in this book was beautiful. In the end, a little bit mixed about this one.

And as we go on through the story we just explore so many interesting things about art versus imitation and copying and where that line is between like okay when is it just a soulless copy of something versus an inspiration a build upon an art that you were maybe previously just inspired by. This was definitely a really enjoyable read I feel like the more I read into the Cosmere too definitely like the more connections I see.

I read this in like one sitting. It was very fast and easy to read, but I just maybe don't think this is the particular subgenre for me.

And at first, I was kind of confused and not really feeling it. But honestly, as I continued to read through the story, I started to respect it a little bit more. I was like, okay, we're going in a different direction here and I kind of like it.

I did love seeing this different route that she went in. It was kind of like a what if story, but also it made sense. I like how Veronica Roth introduced some subtleties that led Tris to choosing a different option versus the one she chose in the original Divergent series because I was kind of hesitant, you know, I was like, why would she choose another faction versus the one she chose in the original because that would just feel so like not true to her character.

I cannot gush about the series enough. It's so creative. It's so unique.

It's fast-paced. It's perfectly paced in my opinion. At least like the first book, Vicious, perfectly paced.

I think the conclusion also, just it gave me everything that I wanted. I definitely felt very satisfied with this conclusion. I actually sobbed at the end of this book and I didn't expect that because this is not like I know I cry a lot when I read books, but this is not a series that I ever expected to cry to because as much as I love the characters, it's more just a fascinating and fun read versus a deeply emotional read for me.

The ending of this book was definitely the most exciting, but I think by that point, I was just bored of the characters, bored of the story. I didn't understand any of their actions and intentions and anything, and I feel like this book did a lot of telling not showing.