Books I Read In July

I read 8 books in the month of July. This was definitely been my worst reading month this year, since I struggled with finding the motivation to pick up a book this month. So here are the books I read and some of my thoughts and opinions on them...

Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young - This is a Viking inspired novel that follows Eelyn, after she discovers that her brother alive, who she watched die five years before. I really enjoyed this book, I liked the cast of characters and the social questions this book raised. I also liked Young's execution of slow burn development, in terms of the story and the romance.

The Ascendence Trilogy by Jennifer A. Nielsen - This book follows Sage, after he is enlisted in a game to employ a false prince to his kingdom's throne. I found the first two books in this series interesting enough, but as the series continued on, I became disappointed in the lack of character development in the main character. This is a series that's been on my radar for years now, and it's one of those books that I think I would have enjoyed more, if I read it at a younger age.

Anger is a Gift by Mark Oshiro - This is a coming of age story centered around police brutality and racism. I was blown away by this book, it tackles so many hard subjects, such as; underdeveloped communities, lack of funding in schools, and undocumented citizenship. Because of these issues, the book almost had a dystopian undertone, except all of these issues are unfortunately true. I also absolutely loved the different levels of representation this book has, and I think that so many people can relate to some of these characters on some level. I did find this book a little hard to grasp at times because there is so many issues that the main characters face, that I think some of the messages about these topics was diluted. Overall, I think this a fantastic must-read, but there is a lot of explicit violence, which may not be for everyone.

Skin and Earth (Vol. 1) by Lights - This is the first volume in a graphic novel, dystopian series. I have talked a lot about Light's latest album and the tie-in-comic that she wrote and drew. When the bind up of the series was released, I knew that I would be rereading the story (disclaimer: I had previously reread each issue at least 3 times when they came out, which I think speaks volumes about how much I love this project). So as soon as my hardcover arrived, I again devoured the whole series again. I absolutely can't wait to see the direction Light's has planned for this series.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling - This was another reread of the month, I initially planned to reread the whole series, since I picked up the new US paperback covers, but I barely squeezed by the first book. I do plan to continue rereading the series slowly over the next couple of months.

Heart of Mist by Helen Scheuerer - This is the first installment in a high-fantasy trilogy, where magic is forbidden, and the heroine is captured by the king for her skill. I really liked this book, mostly I found that it sets up for the next two books, so I'm interested to see how this story continues.

And those are the books I read in July. I'm hoping that August will be a better reading month, because there are a lot of new releases that I've been anticipation and that I've been itching to get to. - Jessica