Honestly, since I have started my 30 Books in 30 Days Challenge, I cannot remember a single book I read in July.

• I read 10 books this month
• Genre: 5 fantasy, 2 sci-fi, 2 mystery and 1 contemporary
• Gender of authors: 8 women and 2 men
• Race of authors: 4 white authors, 3 asian authors, 2 black authors and 1 mixed race author (author has personally not specified)
• Age range: 6 adult, 3 YA and 9 middle grade
• Format: 7 paperback, 2 ebooks and 1 hardback.

Challenges

• Prompt: Low Fantasy
  • Every Heart a Doorway – Seanan MacGuire
  • The Gilded Wolves – Roshani Chokshi
  • Masters of Death – Olivie Blake
  • Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Fairies – Heather Fawcett
  • Mountains Made of Glass – Scarlett St. Clair
• Sequel Challenge:
  • Sailor Moon, Vol.2 – Naoko Takeuchi
  • Death on Gokuman Island – Seishi Yokomizo

Mountains Made of Glass – Scarlett St. Clair (2 stars)

This book started off so strong. That first chapter was so good! But the decline afterwards was quite apparent. I felt a bit disappointed as I felt the first chapter showed some incredible writing and beautiful prose which then just disappeared by chapter 2. I also felt the romance was very toxic and very rushed and the story just lacked depth.

Death on Gokuman Island – Seishi Yokomizo (3 stars)

Look a me continuing on with this series despite me saying I wasn’t going to… This was definitely better than the last two books that I read. Really engaging characters and plot with an ending I truly did not see coming. I also felt Yokomizo had a great sense of place within this work. I could truly picture the island and the post war atmosphere.

The List – Yomi Adegoke (4 stars)

What a book. This book had me on the edge of my seat the entire way through. One of the things I was most aware of was how Adegoke would handle the main topic of the book. I was interested to watch how Ola, a world-renowned feminist who has been very vocal online about calling out harassment, etc., how would she react to something that directly impacted her own personal life. I think Adegoke managed to highlight a variety of different points of view as well as add nuance to her characters and did a great job writing the complexities that come with voicing and standing up against harassment. Reading the countdown to the wedding was intense and I couldn’t look away as I watched these characters make drastic decisions left right and center. I had my own personal theory about how this book would end and I nearly got it all right but Adegoke added in one final point before I turned that last page.

Masters of Death – Olivie Blake (4 stars)

So, the biggest standout element of this novel for me was the characters. I did not hate a single character. They were all super fun, entertaining, interesting, and layered. It didn’t matter the amount of page time they got I genuinely just enjoyed every character big or small. Along with these amazing characters was some genuinely hilarious dialogue. The dialogue in this book is witty, smart, and laugh-out-loud funny. That doesn’t mean this book doesn’t have its impactful and emotional moments. Blake is still able to bring out her beautiful prose and poignant moments with just a lot more laughs in between. I also loved how Blake structured this story. This book is told through multiple POVs, multiple narration styles, and different time periods. At times you don’t know why you are meeting this character until 50 pages later. This was written in such an interesting way that I couldn’t put it down and would feel sad if my bus pulled up to my stop and I had to carry on with my day.

The Gilded Wolves – Roshani Chokshi (4 stars)

I may have actually liked this more than Six of Crows! Another great YA heist book with a diverse and dynamic cast and amazing interpersonal relationships. I preferred the alternate historical road and the story’s use of technology and puzzles. I am super looking forward to the sequel which I have ordered.

Every Heart a Doorway – Seanan McGuire (5 stars)

A book that subverted all the tropes surrounding portal fantasies and I ate every page up! Despite it being less than 200 pages, this story did more work and raised the bar higher than some of these other 500+ fantasy books I have read. Great characters, fresh ideas and immaculate execution. Loved it!

The books I did not mention:

• Vern, Custodian of the Universe – Tyrell Waiters (4 stars)
• Peril on the Atlantic – A.M. Howell (4 stars)
• Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Fairies – Heather Fawcett (I actually already have a full review up)
• Sailor Moon, Vol.2 – Naoko Takeuchi (5 stars)