Monthly Book Review | July 2016

July was a pretty fantastic reading month for me. I read 7 novels, 5 of which I gave four or five stars.

If you pick up any of the books from this list to read, make sure it’s Jane Steele. That book was bonkers awesome, as my gals on the All the Books! podcast like to say.

Here are the reviews!

Over the Line by Cindy Gerard (★★★★☆)

This was a reread for me, but I read the novel years ago (apparently before I had a Goodreads account since I didn’t have a record of having read it). This was such a fun novel and I read it in less than 24 hours. This was a typical romantic thriller where the twists and turns kept me guessing right up to the very end. Cindy Gerard is one of the best in this genre.

The Regional Office Is Under Attack by Manuel Gonzales  (★★★☆☆)

In this novel, we follow the story of the Regional Office, which is a group of female assassins dedicated to protecting the world from annihilation, as it comes under attack due to a defector from within. The novel starts out strong but then splits off into a million different directions and became disjointed really quickly. And, in the end, I truly didn’t care whether the two main characters (Sarah and Rose) lived or died, so I guess that gives a good understanding of how I felt about the novel.

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King (★★★☆☆)

Half of this book is a memoir and half of it is a primer on writing. Interestingly enough, I enjoyed the memoir much more than I enjoyed the writing advice. I thought some of the advice was dated and common sense, though there were some fantastic points made that I’d never thought of before. Still, this is a must-read for writers, if only to learn about how Stephen King got his start in the industry.

The Perfect Match by Kristan Higgins (★★★★☆)

This was such a fun, cute read – it’s perfect for summer! In this novel, Honor has been “dumped” by her friend-with-benefits who then becomes engaged to her best friend. Heartbroken and lost, she impulsively decides to marry Tom, a cute British professor whose visa is expiring and who needs a green card immediately. Of course, this is a romance novel so we all know where this is going, don’t we? The whole let’s-pretend-to-be-in-a-relationship-whoops-we-fell-in-love trope is one of my most favorites in the romance genre, and Higgins did a great job of allowing the relationship to evolve at a natural pace.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling (★★★★★)

This is my favorite book in the series, and it remains so for many reasons. I love it because the Triwizard Tournament is just so much fun to read about. I love it because there’s so much drama and angst, and it feels so lighthearted when most of the novel feels so dark. I love it because there’s a lot of Ron action between fighting with Harry over the tournament and then with Hermione over the Yule Ball, and since Ron is my favorite character, I just loved him in all his terrible glory. I’m nervous to start the next book, but I also can’t wait!

Love in the Afternoon by Lisa Kleypas (★★★★★)

This is the final novel in Kleypas’s The Hathaways series, and I must say that I am sad to say goodbye to these characters. They were truly sensational. Through the last four books, I watched little Beatrix grow up and get in trouble. I had no idea what kind of man would be a match for her, but Christopher Phelan was absolutely perfect. Christopher was a soldier with whom Beatrix had a deceptive correspondence, as Beatrix was writing these letters as if she was her friend, Prudence, a former suitor of Christopher’s. There is so much to love about both these characters, and I could just feel how much Beatrix loved Christopher and, while I knew a HEA was imminent, I didn’t know how everything would turn out, which kept me on my toes.

Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye (★★★★★)

Jane Steele is a reimagining of Jane Eyre (a novel I’ve never read), except with a slight twist – Jane is a serial killer. Frankly, the men she offs deserve it and you’ll understand why as you dive into the book. Everything comes to a head when Jane becomes a governess at Highgate House, the home she lived in until she became an orphan, and the place she believes rightfully belongs to her. During her time there, as one does, she ends up falling for the captivating Charles Thornfield and has to decide how to tell him about her, er, problem with murder. This book was everything I want in a novel, and I’m already planning on buying my own physical copy so I can read it whenever I want. It might just be the best book I read this year!

JULY BOOK STATS

• Number of books read: 7 (2,931 pages)
• Format breakdown: e-books (4), physical books (3)
• Genre breakdown: romance (3), science fiction (1), nonfiction (1), fantasy (1), fiction (1)
• Number of diverse reads: 3 out of 7 (43%)
• Where I got my books from: Overdrive (4), a friend (1), library (2)
• Money spent on reading this month: $0 (yay libraries!)

What was the best book you read in July?