I DID IT. I am on track for finishing my reading goal (100 books in 2019, displayed as 101 because of a DNF). I decided to break this month’s round-up into two entries because dear lord, I read so many things in July.

Finished in July

Calm the F*ck Down

What I Learned: Tools for Coping with Acute Anxiety

This book is so user-friendly, considering that Sarah Knight also has medically diagnosed anxiety. Learning ways to cope is super helpful from someone who knows what it’s like.

Destroy All Monsters

What I Learned: Genre-Blending

Read my Edelweiss eARC. Came out July 2019. Miller destroyed me again with his latest book. He masterfully weaves together a contemporary and a fantasy to show two worlds full of danger which exist alongside each other, giving the opportunity to show facets of the same problem.

Impostors

What I Learned: Crisp Writing

Read an ARC I got at BookCon 2018. Came out September 2018. Westerfeld’s Uglies series was one of my favorites growing up. One of them things I probably overlooked because of my child brain at the time was just how crisp Westerfeld’s writing is. You don’t get every detail of the scenery or the action, but enough that your brain fills in all the finer details. It’s so crisp and terse, allowing the characters space to shine.

Read Cover-to-Cover in July

Wilder Girls

What I Learned: Writing Messy Girls

Read an ARC received from NetGalley. Came out July 2019. The girls in this story are so morally ambiguous, and honestly, I can’t blame them. When a mysterious Tox takes over their island, they have only each other and their classmates to depend on (the adults are quite useless in this one). Made for some excellent character work.

The Monster of Elendhaven

What I Learned: Atmosphere

Read an ARC provided by the publisher. Comes out September 2019. This book is so atmospheric and steeped in aesthetic. Imagine Yharnam, but with all the grossness of plague-ridden Dunwall, with seedy characters straight out of works like Sweeny Todd or Penny Dreadful. An absolute delight.

Teen Titans: Raven

What I Learned: Nostalgia That Works

Growing up, Teen Titans was one of my favorite series and Raven was my favorite of the quintet. With her dark powers and empathetic nature, she was such a well-rounded character. This graphic novel gives Raven all the trappings of high school, minus the bit where a demon attacks. The nostalgia really works here because it brings in new elements while sticking to the core of something that could be considered classic.

This is How You Lose the Time War

What I Learned: Epistolary Tension

Read an eARC received from NetGalley. Came out July 2019. My favorite thing about this heart-wrenching enemies-to-lovers story is just how tightly woven the plot was with the letters Red and Blue wrote to each other. It felt like rolling waves which led to the magnificent crash that was the ending.

The Need

What I Learned: Bringing Out Real Fear with Speculative Elements

Read my eARC from NetGalley. Came out July 2019. While Molly babysits her kids, there’s a stranger in the house. But the stranger isn’t entirely malicious and is simply a manifestation of Molly’s motherly anxieties. The chapters are short and also tightly woven, really ramping up the tension as we learn of Moll’s intentions.

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Part 2 which is all audiobooks comes out tomorrow! There are so many of those.

Happy reading,
Jo