What I Read: June

What a month June has been. I had a week off work, finally got to see my nana and I finally came out of my reading slump. What started off as a quick read to beat the boredom turned into a binge read of five books that have managed to ignite my love of reading once more. 

The book that kicked it all off is one I’ve been meaning to read since I got it last year but wanted to save until Halloween. However I couldn’t resist anymore and picked it up during my week off work. Comprising of thirteen retelling such of Edgar Allan Poe’s work as well as the original tales, this book was creepy, suspenseful and overall amazing. There were a few of the retellings that I would’ve have enjoyed as a full book of their own, that I was sad to reach the end of because I’d become so immersed in them. The original tales I wasn’t too fond but I think a lot of it was due to the fact that I had read the retellings first and then the original tales. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this book and couldn’t wait to start another once I’d finished this one. 

After His Hideous Heart, I picked up Wilder Girls, another book that I’d been meaning to read since I brought it at the beginning of the year. Following a school in quarantine whose’s numbers are dwindling, Wilder Girls is a gory, suspenseful tale centred around strong female friendships and what each girl will do in order to survive. I was hooked on what lay in store for the girls as their bodies transformed, friendships were tested and how they'd survive if they survived at all. However I did find the ending to be a tad disappointing. It was a very open ending which could have easily led to a sequel but from what I've read this is a standalone with no sequel in sight yet. The characters changed, their behaviour both fitting for how they were at the beginning but also very unlike them which put me off the ending. Overall though this book was a solid four star read and I can't wait to read Rory Power's next book.

One Of Us Is Next is a book that has been sat on my TBR pile for the last year and a half. I don't know why I hadn't read it by now but I've now happily ticked it off my TBR list. Following a group of four students who are suspected for killing their fellow student during a detention one afternoon, One Of Us Is Lying is a twisted young adult thriller that gives you shock at every turn. Some of the the shocks/secrets were obvious, somewhat overused tropes in YA books but still gave great shock value to the story overall. I absolutely adore the way Karen M. McManus writes, it keeps hooked on each word and you'll find yourself saying just one more chapter even though you should've been asleep hours ago.

And of course after I'd read One Of Us Is Lying I had to pick up the sequel, One Of Us Is Next. Set one year after the end of One Of Ous Is Lying, this picks up around four more students who were only witness to the events of the first book but are now thrown deep into their own darkest secrets and webs of tangled lies. I found it harder to lose myself in this book more than I did the first. I spent a couple of days picking it up and putting down before I found myself finally immersing myself fully into it. I loved how you could see everything slotting slowly into place, how there was more to the reveal than there was in the first book. I'd like to see a third book set in Bayview with the same recurring cast of characters but doubt it's likely to happen.

And the final book I read this month is the surprise favourite of the bunch and of the year. A Throne Of Swans by Katherine and Elizabeth Corr was one I only brought because I needed another book to complete an offer. I dreaded the day it would be the last book left in my eenie meenie mo (how I choose my books) but for some reason last week I decided to bite the bullet and pick it up. And I'm so glad I did. A mix between Game Of Thrones and Swan Princess, this book follows young Princess Aderyn who's suddenly thrust into the role of Protector of her dominion after her father dies. From there she travels to her uncle's court where treachery, treason and more lay waiting to just boil over. And whilst Aderyn is trying to learn the way of the court, she's also fighting to hide her own secret. In a world where nobles can transform into birds, she is flightless and destined to die if she can not transform before her cousin's wedding. I was hooked on this book, I didn't think I'd finish it in time to feature in this post but I just flew through it. It was everything I didn't think I needed in a book this month and I'm so glad to learn that there will be a sequel that's due to be released next year.