I cannot believe we're already over halfway through the year and in AUGUST! Absolutely bonkers to me, this year (especially this summer) is just flying by. These are all the books I read in July with some of my thoughts. It was definitely a slower month for me but I enjoyed most of the books I did end up reading!

TOP 3 READS OF THE MONTH

Can't Get Enough by Kennedy Ryan (5/5 stars) -> i am a firm believer that kennedy ryan can do NO WRONG. this was absolutely phenomenal and everything i wanted in the last in the 'skyland' series. mav and hendrix connected on so many levels, physically and mentally. the way they grew together and individually was absolutely beautiful and mav was SO DOWN BAD FOR HER!! i also adored how this book handled having an aging parent with alzheimer's and the struggles that came with that. highly recommend all the books in this series!

The Lies of Ajungo by Moses Ume Utomi (5/5 stars) -> this was such a pleasant surprise. i was not expecting an 86 page novella to hit this hard oh my godddd. the premise was so intriguing, i loved how we followed a 13 year old boy on a quest in the forever desert in search for water to bring back to his city and save his mothers life. the companions he made along the way, the revelations he had, EVERYTHING about this hit for me. i cannot wait to read the next two in the series!

Voidwalker by S. A. Mclean (4.5/5 stars) -> as a monster romance lover, this hit every box i wanted it to! this was such a fun time and i was absolutely hooked from beginning to end. fi was such a badass fmc who took no shit from anyone, and antal just gives 'looks that they could kill you but is a cinnamon roll'. their dynamic was absolutely hilarious and their banter was everything! this book was such a fun ride and i loooove my bi4bi couple. highly recommend this one when it releases this month!

EVERYTHING ELSE

Out of the Woods by Hannah Bonam-Young (4.25/5 stars) -> i absolutely ate this one up! this follows characters that you meet in 'out on a limb' which is one of my favourite romance books ever. this one also has one of my favourite underrated tropes (marriage in crisis) and it was done soooo well. i loved the couples camping retreat, it was so funny especially because both our main characters are so nature adverse lol. i loved the way they grew individually and together as a couple and were able to work through the issues they were having.

Try Your Worst by Chatham Greenfield (3.75/5 stars) -> this was such a cute sapphic cozy mystery! this is rivals to lovers with our two main characters who ALWAYS prank each other, but when someone else starts pranking them both and our two main characters must work together to figure everything out. the characters were so cute and i loved the representation in this as well. one of my only complaints is that i felt like the ending was a little underwhelming and wrapped up too quickly for my liking.

Lakelore by Anna-Marie McLemore (4/5 stars) -> i didn't know what i expected going into this, but i liked this soooo much! this book focuses so much on identity, and mental health and i felt so seen by both of these characters. the talks about therapy, ADHD, anxiety, and dyslexia were embedded with such care and it was definitely the highlight for me. i wish there was a little more depth to the fantasy aspects of the underwater world and that was incorporated more but i highly recommend this one!

When Among Crows by Veronica Roth (3/5 stars) -> this one was a little disappointing to me. the premise was so interesting and i really with this was a full length novel. i think the magic system and the way it worked was soooo incredible and so much more could be done if it we had more time. the relationship went too fast for my liking and i felt like it wasn't very necessary to the story. i didn't really understand their attraction to each other and i wasn't too connected to the characters but i am interested in reading book 2 when it comes out.

Fate of the Five by Niamh Rose (4.25/5 stars) -> this was suchhhh a great debut! this year i've been wanting to read more books by indie authors and this one was so much fun. the political intrigue, the court dynamics, and the characters were all soooo good. i loooved the potential romance set ups, especially the slow burn MM romance brewing. the YEARNING was top notch and i can't wait to see what happens in the next book! my only gripe is that i felt like there were too many pov's (there were 9) and i definitely had my favourites to read from.

The Gryphon King by Sara Omer (3.75/5 stars) -> okay wow this one was sooo good in so many aspects! i loved how there were monstrous pegasi, gryphons, and so many animals. i wish we got into the lore a little more and saw more of the pegasi specifically but i adored how only women rode them into battle. the romance setup is so intriguing because the sapphic yearning was sooo good but i also think it may turn polyamorous??? sooo intrigured about that! this was action packed from beginning to end with lots of history and i had a great time!

Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas (4/5 stars) -> don't be fooled, this definitely leans more into historical romance than horror. despite that, i had a great time with this one and i was sooo invested in the relationship! néstor and nena's relationship was so tender and i loved how you could feel the love they had for each other from beginning to end. the exploration about the United States invasion in Mexico was so brutal and i felt every emotions the characters were going through. i cannot wait to read more books from this author!

The Lure of their Graves by Laura R. Samotin (4/5 stars) -> This is the sequel to The Sins on their Bones and it did not disappoint! This duology has become one of my favourites to recommend because of it's intriguing / atmospheric setting, the top tier character work, and the mental health representation. I love how it focuses on a main character finding themselves again after a mentally / emotionally / physically abusive marriage. I felt so deeply for Dimitri and everything he was going through with his ex-husband, and how draining that is on your mind and your body. I loved the support system he had as well, you can tell that his friends truly cared about him and his well being. I highly recommend this series but look up trigger warning first!