In the month of June, I had quite of bit of time on my hands and managed to read 12 books! After reading A LOT of fantasy novels this year, I switched gears and practically all I wanted to read was contemporaries. So here are the books that I read and some of my thoughts and opinions on them:
The Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan - This is the sequel/spin off series to the Percy Jackson series, and this series follows the same lines but also includes Roman mythology. I loved this series so much, there's a lot of expansion on the world building from the Percy Jackson books and I loved reading about the inclusion of Roman mythology. I also loved the addition of the new characters and the character development to both the new and old characters. This is a really fun and action packed series, and I can't wait to continue on with the rest of Riordan's middle grade books.
More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera - This book is set in a world where people can undergo procedures to forget parts of their memory and follows Aaron, who is trying to find happiness after his father commits suicide. I had heard a lot of great things about this book and I enjoyed reading it but I think I went in with too high of expectations. I really enjoyed the story and the character development but I did have trouble understanding Aaron's character. Overall this was a good read and I would recommend it, because it is a really cool concept and powerful story.
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes - This book follows Louisa after she is hired to be a caretaker for Will, who was involved in an accident and became paralyzed from the neck down. I absolutely loved this book, but I also recognize that there are problems with how physical disabilities are portrayed. I loved reading about the characters and their story, I became completely submerged in their emotions and I cried a lot while reading this book. I actually started reading this around 1AM when I couldn't go to bed and ended up reading it in one sitting, finishing it around 5AM. I didn't mean to stay up reading it, but lost track of time and didn't want to stop reading.
I'll Meet You There by Heather Dimetrios - This book takes place in a tiny, California town and revolves around two characters, Skylar, who is getting read to leave and go to art school, and Josh, who came back after losing his leg in Afghanistan. I enjoyed this book a lot, I really enjoyed the characters and how their relationship developed. The writing was beautiful and I like how Dimetrios handled such a heavy topic of PTSD in this book. I just had one problem with this book that stopped me from completely loving it and that was with how drinking and driving was portrayed in this book and I hated that element of the story and I think it was completely unnecessary. I did really enjoy this book, I just wish that drinking and driving wasn't a major factor in the story.
Tonight the Streets Are Ours by Lelia Sales - This book centers around Arden after she discovers a connection to a writer's blog. Last year I read Sales book, This Song Will Save Your Life, and since then this book has been on my radar. I felt that this book was just okay, I had some trouble connecting with Arden's character and I found some of the story elements anticlimactic. I did enjoy some of the messages conveyed in this book, but overall it just wasn't my cup of tea.
The Last Boy and Girl in the World by Vivian Siobhan - This book centers around Keeley as her childhood town threatens to go underwater after some serious floods. I really liked this book, and I really enjoyed how the concept is real and scary to read about. I also really enjoyed the writing and the various relationships in this book (even though there was a bit of instalove in my opinion).
Ask Me How I Got Here by Christine Heppermann - This book is told in free verse poems from the perspective of Addie, as she learns that she is pregnant and has an abortion. I was really looking forward to the release of this book, but at the time that I first heard about this book I didn't know that it was told entirely through poems. I don't think the poetry style format fit this story, the writing was fine, I just felt that there was a lack of character growth within the story. This was a little disapoint read, I was expecting more from such an interesting concept.
You Know Me Well by Nina LaCour and David Levithan - This book centers around Mark and Kate, who had known of each other's existence from school but form a friendship after bumping into each other at a pride event. I love David Levithan's book, he is up there with some of my favorite writers, and this book did not disapoint. I really loved the characters and the journey that they go through in this story. The writing on both sides was really well done and I enjoyed the various relationships throughout this book.
And those are the books that I read in June. There's some new releases coming out this month that I'm looking forward too and I intend to continue reading some contemporary novels as well as continuing to read the Falling Kingdoms series. - Jessica
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