Books I Read in August

Last month, I did quite a bit of reading I read nine novels, a graphic novel, and a novella. So here's the books that I read and some of my thoughts and opinions on them:

The Beauty of Darkness by Mary E. Pearson - This is the final book in the Remnant Chronicles, which follows Lia, a princess who runs away from an arranged marriage and is chased by her betrothed and an assassin. I had high expectations for the conclusion of this trilogy, the second book was one of my favorite books of last year, and this book did not disappoint. I really love the characters and their story, and I am extremely satisfied with how this story wrapped up.

Nimona by Noelle Stevenson - This is a graphic novel following a shapeshifting girl who teams up with a villain. This was a really fun read, I had seen a lot of hype surround this book and I don't think it lived up to my expectations. I really loved the art style and the story was really well developed but I was hoping for a little more from the ending. I had previously listed this graphic novel in the list of book that I wanted to read this year, and I'm really happy that I was finally able to sit down and read this book.

The Fall of Butterflies by Andrea Portes - This book follows Willa, a small town girl who is sent to a prep school and is introduced to new friends and a new lifestyle. This book was not what I thought it would be, and I ended up being really disappointed by the story. I really was not a fan of the narration, the side characters, and the amount of drug use in this book. I didn't hate this book, but I also didn't take away anything from the story so I ended up giving this a 2/5 stars on Goodreads.

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli - This book centers around Simon, a closeted teen who is caught anonymously emailing another boy, by his one of his fellow classmates, who subsequently blackmails him. I enjoyed this book, it was a really short read and I liked the characters and the story. Fair warning though this book will give you serious cravings for oreos.

Air Awakens and Fire Falling by Elise Kova - These are the first two books in the Air Awakens series, which is set in a world with elemental magic, and Vhalla, a library apprentice, discovers that she is the first air sorceress in 150 years. I absolutely loved these first two books, I really enjoyed the characters and their story. There definitely are some cliche aspects in these books but I found the story completely addictive (I read both of these books in a day). This month, I also read the Tales From the Front, a novella, that takes place between the second and third book. I enjoyed the novella and it really added to the story, but it is an unedited piece of work and I found it a little confusing at times.

The School for Good and Evil Trilogy by Soman Chainani - This trilogy is set in a fairy tale world, where best friends, Sofie and Agatha are taken from their homes and one of them is put into the School for Good and the other the School for Evil, but they believe that they've each been put in the wrong school. I liked this trilogy, I found it to be a lot of fun and had a really interesting take on good vs. evil. I really loved Agatha's characterization and her story, but I absolutely disliked Sofie and throughout this whole trilogy I was waiting for her to experience some sort of character development and I don't think she really changed in the end. Overall this is a great trilogy and an excellent middle grade read.

Beastkeeper by Cat Hellisen - This is a Beauty and the Beast retelling, but in this story the female character is cursed to turn into a beast whenever she falls in love. I had a similar situation with this book and The Fall of Butterflies, with this book I was a little disappointed because I was expecting more from the story. I also didn't know that this book was middle grade when I picked it up, and I think the story would have been more successful if the protagonist had been a little older. Overall this was a good book, the premise is a really interesting take on a fairy tale retelling.

And those are all the books I read in August. September is going to be a good reading month for me with all the new releases that are coming out. I'm currently reading Empire of Storms (cue the internal screaming), afterwards I'm going to finish off the Air Awakens series, then read Six of Crows and then hopefully get to Crooked Kingdom when it comes out. That is my loose TBR pile for September, there are a couple other books I hope to get to but those are the main ones. - Jessica