Book Talk: August Wrap Up

This month I've been to Virginia (West and original), Greece (the ancient kind), the moon, and Mars (twice!), just to name a few destinations. No, I haven't been traveling again. They say those who read live a thousand lives (or something like that). I've had quite the reading month. It's my second best so far this year, trailing June by only 127 pages. I actually thought this month would beat June because August consisted entirely of novels but hey, eleven books is eleven books. This puts me at five books ahead of schedule for my Goodreads Reading Challenge! I'm setting myself up for a good rest of the year. *knock on wood*

If you haven't already, check out my previous monthly wrap ups! Want more books? Last month I posted a list of recommendations for books based off Greek mythology. Bit by the travel bug? No worries! I've got two Travelogs up covering my Mediterranean cruise from July! Here's part one and two. Ready to see what I read in August? Click the read more!

Stats:

• Books Read: 11
• Genre:
• Science fiction: 2.5
• Fantasy: 5
• Contemporary: 2
• Horror: 1.5
• Page Count: 3,125

Books:

172 Hours on the Moon by Johan Harstad 

So, you know how nobody's been to the moon in a while? There's a reason for that. Too bad it's classified. Only NASA (and the unlucky few that have seen too much) knows the dangerous secret harbored on the moon but they aren't getting much funding these days so they're willing to do anything to be in the public's good graces. In order to boost their popularity, they hold a lottery for teenagers all around the world. Three lucky teens will have the chance to spend 172 hours on the moon (roll credits!) with a crew of highly trained astronauts. It'd basically be a field trip to space. There are many points of view in this book that leave you slightly off-kilter and you never really get the full picture, which is what a good horror* should do. All you know is that DARLAH 2 is bad news. I get chills just thinking about it.  

This book was so unsettling. When I finished 172 Hours, I felt nothing more than a little off balance but the paranoia slowly snuck up on me. It really left its mark. Days later I was jumping at shadows. The more time I had to stew on this knowledge the worse it got. I read this book at around a full moon as well so that definitely didn't help anything. I felt like I was being watched... Just writing about it makes me feel uneasy. I'll have to be more vigilant.

*172 Hours on the Moon is the book that's divided into halves in the genre count.

The Forever Song by Julie Kagawa

This year has been filled to the brim with Julie Kagawa. She churns out so many books I can hardly catch up. The Forever Song is the final book in the Immortal Rules trilogy (which means I cannot divulge much about the plot) and while I'm kind of glad it's over (the Rabids were too zombie-like for my taste), I'm going to miss the characters. I read the second book in the series, The Eternity Cure, back in May and it left off on, not necessarily a cliffhanger, but a  definitely a hook. I'm happy with the way this trilogy ended. It gave me closure and puts my mind at ease. It was unsettling having to come face-to-face with the insane vampire Sarren again but karma has its ways. I was actually surprised I grew attached to Jackal. I think it crept up on me as much as it crept up on Allison. You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.

P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han

This book was so gosh darned cute. There were jealous boys and very fashionable wardrobes to go along with the adorable moments between Lara Jean and pretty much anybody else in this book. I loved that the relationships in this duology, whether it be between sisters, friends, or boyfriends, were complex and real. Like the previous book, this is a sequel so I won't be disclosing the plot. That being said, I'm not afraid to say I'm not pleased with how it ended. I wanted her to get together with the other guy because the guy she did end up with was kinda bleh. Like, Lara Jean laid out all the reasons why she shouldn't be with this guy and yet here she is. Maybe I'm just easier to sway than she is. (Or I can see logic better than she can???) (She did a gosh darned good job of convincing me.) I'm holding out hope that in her untold future she will get together with the guy I wanted her to end up with because he's such a better fit for her. Their moments together were a lot cuter than the moments with her current boyfriend, and not to mention Boyfriend has brought a lot of trouble and drama into her life??? I ship Lara Jean with Not-Boyfriend as hard as his grandma ships it. (That means I ship it a lot.) Despite my little rant, I had a lot of fun with this book. While it would've been stressful to deal with all the drama, reading about it is really entertaining. I finished this in less than a day, having picked it up the second I put down The Forever Song and finishing before I went to bed that night. The drama in this P.S. I Still Love You was of a different nature from To All the Boys I've Loved Before in that P.S.'s had more external influences. Somebody else was creating drama and stress for Lara Jean whereas in TAtBILB (pick a longer title why don't you), there was internal struggles and conflicts within the family. If you're into high school cutesy/dramatic contemporary, this duology would be a fun read for you. It's light and easy, the perfect choice for a reading slump pick-me-up.

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

There have been a lot of great reviews about this book and I finally had the chance to find out why. I'd heard that it started out slow which made me hesitant to pick it up because getting back into a reading slump was the last thing I wanted. Personally, I didn't notice at all if the pacing was slow. I really enjoy getting to know the characters I'm about to embark on a journey with so taking some time to get into the plot isn't always a bad thing. The story of the Raven Boys is very unique. If you haven't heard of it, where have you been? To keep it simple, Blue comes from a family of psychics (but she is the only one without clairvoyance) that consistently foretells she will cause her true love's death. It's not an issue until she learns about Gansey, a Raven Boy and her supposed true love. Gansey's eccentric interests lead him to Blue, with his friends, Ronan, Adam, and Noah (the rest of the Raven Boys) tagging along. Blue avoids any and all boys that attend Aglionby Academy (home of the Raven Boys) on principle but you can't fight fate. The five of them form this ragtag group that works towards finding this Glendower Gansey's so interested in. I loved the interactions within the group and there are some twists in this book that just wow. Devastating. I can't wait to pick up book two, The Dream Thieves, because The Raven Boys left a lot of unanswered questions and I'd love to see how things play out for each individual character.

Red Rising by Pierce Brown

In order for people to populate Mars, terraforming needs to occur and before even that can be set in motion, there needs to be pioneers to start mining helium-3 from below the surface. This is where the Reds come in. For generations, they've been told they are performing a critical role in the advancement of humanity. In this color coded society, where the Golds rule and Reds are the dirt underneath everybody-in-between's feet, each class is bred to excel at their role in society. Golds are gods. Reds are resilient. In a turn of events, Darrow, the youngest and best Helldiver in his colony, is presented some eye-opening and life-changing information. I don't want to give too much away because who am I to take away from the reveal and the events that follow?! I will say there's some pretty gruesome imagery that left me cringing and recoiling in horror. This book is so good. It's pretty much all about war strategy with all-encompassing themes of injustice and revenge. There were times when I thought it was going to go a certain direction but ended up surprising me (sometimes in an awful cannibalistic way) (we don't actually see the cannibalism but it's mentioned and I am going to hurl). The whole idea of this is so intriguing I'm almost sad that we won't be spending more time in that setting but it's definitely time to move on. I'm curious to see where Golden Son will take us. I'd also like to note that I really appreciated the relationship between Darrow and Eo. Not many of these young adult protagonists are married. I only wish we could've had more domestic scenes. I can't wait to get back to this world and hopefully delve deeper.  

Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix

You know the white-person-in-a-horror-movie trope where they always go back in or do some other sort of stupid thing? Yeah. That was this book. I loved that the book itself was structured like an Ikea catalog (my mom thought I was going to go buy some bookshelves or something) and had unique furniture designs with descriptions that grew more and more disturbing as the story progressed. While it did freak me out at some parts, it was hard to truly get into it because the poor choices Amy (the protagonist) made were so ????? to me. She kept going back into the horrors and I get that if she didn't the book would be shorter than it already was but come on do you have no sense of self-preservation?! I do appreciate that they showed the repercussions of such a traumatic night in the epilogue but then [SPOILER] she and a coworker go back to the same place?????? On purpose???????? Oh man. I rated this book four stars on Goodreads but it's actually a three star book. It gets an extra star because the main character is My Amy to a T. It isn't a completely terrible book and as I said before, there were parts that did horrify (and also disgust) me but I expected it to be better for how hyped it was when it first came out.

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Last month, I had Allison help me out in my Greek Mythology Recommendations post. I have to say I agree with her on every point. Miller writes in such a beautiful prose that really carries the reader throughout the story. Not once did I hit a slow point in the book. The ending doesn't come as a surprise since it is based on the Iliad but it still got me real emotional. It could've been the hormones but wow. True colors. I also loved how they would always refer to Patroclus as "Achilles' companion." It's very reminiscent of the way the media calls Kristen Stewart's girlfriend her "gal pal." The Song of Achilles tells a heart wrenching love story (which I was not what I was expecting for some reason) (probably because they're always referred to as "companions" and not "forever boyfriends") (but I digress) that grows alongside Patroclus and Achilles, making the ending that much more painful. Miller pulls you into a gorgeously spun world, sinks her claws in, and holds on you until the very end. Verdict: read this book.

Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout

If you recall, I read the first book in this series, Obsidian, last month and I was completely engrossed. I couldn't stop thinking about it so I knew I had to continue the series as soon as possible. Thank goodness they've all been released already. I don't want to divulge too much of the plot because spoilers, obviously, but there are a lot of game changers in this one. Just as with Obsidian, there was so much sexual tension between Katy and Daemon. [Mild spoilers] It was a relief when they finally started dating but I'm also slightly worried there's going to be a drop in said tension because, let's be real, it's really fun to read. [Mild spoilers over] Onyx picks up about a day or two after the events of Obsidian, making this series great for marathoning. Writing the book talk for this one is quite difficult because the events of this book relies heavily on background knowledge from the first. I will say that I finished it in less than a day. Once this book was in my hands I never wanted to let go. I can definitely see why this series is popular among the BookTube community. 

The Martian by Andy Weir

This book is in high demand these days because, if you were unaware, there's a movie adaptation coming soon. I had heard of this book before the announcement of the film but I was hesitant to pick it up because I never had much luck with adult novels. This is definitely an exception. The first thing that struck me about this book is that it is funny. Right from the very first page I was surprised by our protagonist's sense of humor and perspective of his situation. I mean, I think it'd be difficult to make an enjoyable book if all it was was a man stuck on Mars with his sorrows. If you haven't heard of this book I don't know where you've been but it's essentially about a mission to Mars gone wrong and it only gets wronger when one of the six crew members, Mark Watney, is thought dead and left to survive alone with enough supplies to last him six months (one month per crew member). Space travel takes a while so he won't be rescued until his supplies run out. Let the Hunger Games begin. Wait... 

The Martian made me realize how severely lacking my problem solving skills are. I get that he was trained for these situations, but still. I need to start thinking outside the box. There was only one time when I felt the pace starting to slow but at the end of that chapter, they brought Earth back into the equation and everything was back up to speed. It was also awesome to have some interactions with other humans because humor like Mark Watney's should not be wasted on some log entries. I also appreciated that there was a lot of science in this book but I never felt like I couldn't keep up. Weir did a great job at explaining the process without talking down to the reader. It helps that NASA would want every step of Watney's procedures spelled out for documentation's sake. It was a good format for this book. I got so into the story that I forgot there wasn't actually an American astronaut stranded on Mars. I never wanted to put The Martian down because it was so enthralling. Even now just thinking about the climax (and other tense moments) I want to scream because it was so intense. I can still feel it. Weir's writing makes you feel like you're the one in the predicament, which is probably also helped along by Watney's first hand accounts. Overall, I'm really glad Watney was the one who got stranded instead of Johanssen or Lewis because can you imagine also having to deal with your period???? On Mars???? I can barely handle it on Earth. I'd highly suggest reading the book because I really don't know if the movie's going to do it justice. I hope I eat my words. (You should read this book anyway.)

The Girl at Midnight by Melissa Grey

What an intriguing book. This is set in a world we live in but there are two races that have been hidden from the human eye. And then there's the human that's in on the secret. Echo was taken in by the Avicen when she was a young girl and had grown up surrounded by people we were essentially birds (pretty much magical humans with feathers and the coloring of whichever bird they resembled). For as long as anybody can remember, the Avicen has been at war with the Drakhian peoples, also magical beings but with a smattering of scales and the coloring of dragons. It's prophesied that only the firebird can end the war peacefully but the thing is, it doesn't exist. Well, it doesn't until Echo uncovers a clue in the form of a map. With this in hand, the Ala, the Avicen that took Echo in (and is also a member of the Council so that's convenient) sends her on a quest to find the elusive firebird. All is fine and dandy, one clue leading to the next, until she gets caught by Caius, the Dragon Prince. From here, things start getting complicated. Like Caius' sister usurping his throne and Echo accidentally committing treason. It gets pretty intense and the end was such an emotional roller coaster. For the most part, the story is told through Echo and Caius' perspectives but we get some others thrown in the mix as well. I think Dorian might be one of my favorites just because he's a blusher (blushy boy!!!). Honestly, I wasn't expecting much going into The Girl at Midnight. I'd heard good things but I didn't know if I was up for another urban fantasy set in New York. Thankfully Grey's writing allowed my mind to conjure up very vivid imagery, keeping me engaged the whole time. I'd say check this out if you're at all into urban fantasy. It won't disappoint. (I would also like to note that I ship e v e r y t h i n g.) 

A Little Something Different by Sandy Hall

I was literally squealing as I read this book. Like, out loud squealing pretty much every other page. This is a unique book not only because it's told through fourteen viewpoints (one of which is a squirrel and another is a bench), but also because none of those fourteen are the main characters. Gabe and Lea are in the same creative writing class and everybody (besides Hillary) (we don't like Hillary) can see their chemistry but the two are far too shy to even talk to each other. Over the course of two semesters, these thirteen people (I use this term loosely because of aforementioned bench and squirrel) are doing everything in their power to get Gabe and Lea (Glea? Labe?) together. It's so adorably awkward and slightly angsty I just GAH FEELS. It was a very short and quick read so ended up reading the whole thing before I got out of bed on the last day of August. I loved that nearly everybody in their lives shipped them so aggressively. I see myself in them. 

Looking back on August, I can definitely see some themes. There were books with many narrators, horror books, adult novels, and books I finished in a day. I dipped a toe out of my comfort zone this month and I was rewarded. There were definitely no duds and I'm very satisfied with the variety of books I read this month. With all these great books under my belt, I feel like I'm on a book high. Tell me about the books you've read lately! Do you have any recommendations for me? I'd love to hear all about it in the comments below! As always, don't forget to follow xo, Yvette via email (in the sidebar!) and on bloglovin!


Talk to you soon!

xo, Yvette