Well fellow kids, July has come to an end, so you know what that means! It’s time for my July wrap-up. I did a lot better this month than I did last month, though I’m still one book behind on my reading schedule. That said, the overall content of what I read this month was overwhelmingly good. This month I finished (I say finished because I did read a couple other things that I either put on pause or haven’t finished yet) four books and three graphic novels. Allow me to tell you about them.
The first book I read was The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee.
As you can tell by my review, I loved this book. It follows Monty and the escapades he and his friends get into on his tour of Europe. It has lots of diversity and a wonderful main character. It was funny, but also heart-wrenching. I absolutely recommend this book and gave it five out of five stars.
The next book I read was Dividing Eden by Joelle Charbonneau.
I’m a big fan of Joelle’s Testing trilogy, so I was excited when I saw she was releasing a fantasy series. This book follows twins Carys and Andreus who suddenly find themselves the only heirs to the throne and are forced into a competition for the crown. It was unique enough, but a bit predictable and heavy-handed with the ships. I really liked the relationship between Carys and Andreus during the first half of the book, but their relationship in the second half strained incredulity. I’m going to continue the series, but I gave this one three and a half out of five stars.
The third book I read was The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas.
This book blew me away. Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, this book follows Starr as she deals with witnessing her childhood best friend murdered by a cop. It also shows how Starr alters her personality based on who she’s around. It was a beautiful story and I really liked how it utilized African American Vernacular English. Starr was so strong and I was so moved by her journey. I gave this one an easy five out of five stars.
Next I read a graphic novel. It was Wonder Woman, Volume 2: Year One by Greg Rucka.
Despite being the second volume in Wonder Woman’s rebirth series, this one delves into her backstory. It depicts her life with the Amazons and how she became Wonder Woman. It also introduces Steve Trevor. Greg Rucka did a good job depicting Diana, which was something I was concerned about going into this. I gave this comic five out of five stars.
After that I read another graphic novel called Shade, the Changing Girl, Vol. 1: Earth Girl Made Easy by Cecil Castellucci.
A part of the Young Animal side of DC (a project headed by Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance fame), this comic embraces the weird. Rather than being a genderbend of the original Shade, the Changing Man comics, this story follows Loma, a lifelong fan of Rac Shade’s who follows in his footsteps and steals his magic coat, sending her spirit to Earth in the body of a teenage girl. As she settles into life on Earth, she discovers her host isn’t the most well-liked of humans. Meanwhile, she deals with encroaching madness and officials on her planet search frantically for the missing coat. So yeah, it’s pretty weird. The artwork is trippy as hell too. Even though I ultimately didn’t love the story, I still plan on continuing the series just to see what bizarre things happen next. I gave it three out of five stars.
The sixth book I read was The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli.
This was my first Becky Albertalli book and it’ll be far from my last. I loved the writing style, but more than anything I loved Molly Peskin-Suso. The novel follows her as she watches her twin sister fall in love and she tries to navigate the dating world as a fat girl with anxiety. I love Molly so much because I was Molly. Everything she thinks, I’ve thought. Every decision she’s made, I’ve made. It was honestly mind-boggling how much Molly was like teenage me. Or even just-a-year-or-so-ago me. I loved the relationship that forms between Molly and Reid and how her relationship with her sister is explored. I gave this book a well-deserved five out of five stars.
The last book I finished was another graphic novel. It was Han Solo by Marjorie M. Liu.
The first comic I ever read was the Princess Leia comic Marvel put out recently, so it was only fitting I pick up this one. Taking place between A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back, Han accepts a rebellion mission from Leia so he can compete in the legendary Dragon Run. I wound up loving this story a lot more than I thought I would. I loved watching Han’s character development and there was some great Hanleia content. I absolutely had to give this one five out of five stars.
As I stated earlier, I did do a little more reading than this. I read about three quarters of The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon and am almost halfway into The Last Magician by Lisa Maxwell. Both of these books will be on my August wrap-up. But, overall, I’m satisfied with the amount of reading I did this month.
What books did you read this month? Let me know in the comments!
Strange Storyteller 