Apologies for the fact that this wrap up is really late. I’ve been a bit overwhelmed recently! I’m back to work after being furloughed, so my routine has become quite messed up, and this mixed with my health problems have left me quite exhausted and uninspired. I’ve got a lot of blog posts, reviews and reading to catch up on, but I am hoping to at least try to begin the catch up!
I started so many books in July and really didn’t finish many of them! I think this was because I have been finding reading quite difficult, so I have been trying to flit between genres, mediums and hoping it has just been that I haven’t found the right book. I started some old favourites and am hoping that will kick me out of my bizarre slump. However this has left me reading 10 books right now, and I am feeling quite overwhelmed by them, I may have to put some on hold for now! It was a bit of a weird reading month for many reasons but I did read some excellent things!
I read:
The Song Rising by Samantha Shannon – 5 Stars
This series has quickly become one of my favourites. Shannon is an incredible writer and has created such an interesting world and filled it with engaging characters that I absolutely adore – especially Paige and Warden 9please someone let Paige sleep?). The world building is fantastic, the characters are realistic and the story gripping. Shannon is definitely a firm author of mine, her writing is fantastic, and un-put-downable I really can’t wait for The Mask Falling!
The Old Guard 1 – 3 Stars
This has a really interesting premise, seems like it’s got some good ideas, and I am looking forward to reading more but not sure if I will get to the rest soon. I’m not sure about characters yet as haven’t seen enough of them, but I’m hoping they’re similar to how they were in the film! However, I’m not really a fan of that art. Great use of shadows, and some panels are really good but I don’t like any of the faces, and a lot doesn’t feel uniform outside the colour and shadow usage. I’m extremely picky with art but it is putting me off reading it.
The Year Of The Witching by Alexis Henderson – 4.75 Stars
This book was SO GOOD! A creepy, unsettling and atmospheric read with a creepy forest, evil witches and mysterious plagues. There are a lot of uncomfortable parts in this book, as it’s a patriarchal society ruled by religious men. But Immanuelle is an amazing main character, and I loved following her journey of self discovery. I couldn’t stop reading this, and loved every spooky minute of it! There was a bit of slow burn romance and some LGBT characters which made this even better! I have a full review up on here if you’re interested!
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Vol 1 – 5 Stars
I started reading this after spending a lot of time recently rewatching the original anime. This is a bit different but obviously follows the same sort of premise. In this volume we meet the first four Senshi for the first time, as they realize their identities, start facing down monsters and get the hints of something bigger to come.
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Vol 2 – 5 Stars
This volume builds on the threads that began in volume 1, and we meet Minako, who is my joint favourite Senshi (tied with Usagi) so I love this volume for that! We find out more about Tuxedo Mask, the enemy and the Moon Princess. The manga is a lot more fast-paced than the anime, which I love!
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon – Vol 3 – 5 Stars
This volume has the end of the Dark Kingdom arc which comes to a really satisfying conclusion and gives us more information about the past lives of the princess and Senshi. It also introduces Chibi-Usa and the beginning of the Black Moon arc. There are some really interesting villains at play here and I love this arc.
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Vol 4 – 5 Stars
This follows on the arc from the previous volume, and introduces a new Sailor Senshi, who I absolutely love! We get to see more of the universe and explore space and time. This is such an interesting volume, and I really enjoyed it.
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Vol 5 – 4.5 Stars
This volume isn’t a 5 star due to some feelings I have about the ending of the Black Moon arc. I don’t like some things that happened with Black Lady (though I do understand why they happened) as they left me feeling a bit uncomfortable, so I couldn’t rate this 5 stars even though the rest of the writing was brilliant.
What was your favourite book from July?
Eldritch Fae 