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I think the last monthly reading recap I wrote was in February/March, and since then I have read three books in April and two in May so I’m excited to share what books I read in July. I didn’t read a single book in June as I was so busy, but definitely managed to get out of my reading slump in July.
None Of This Is Serious by Catherine Prasifka
StoryGraph synopsis:
Dublin student life is ending for Sophie and her friends. They’ve got everything figured out, and Sophie feels left behind as they all start to go their separate ways. She’s overshadowed by her best friend Grace.
She’s been in love with Finn for as long as she’s known him. And she’s about to meet Rory, who’s suddenly available to her online. At a party, what was already unstable completely falls apart and Sophie finds herself obsessively scrolling social media, waiting for something (anything) to happen.
None of This Is Serious is about the uncertainty and absurdity of being alive today. It’s about balancing the real world with the online, and the vulnerabilities in yourself, your relationships, your body. At its heart, this is a novel about the friendships strong enough to withstand anything.
What I thought:
I wasn’t quite sure what to make of this book whilst I was reading it. I enjoy books with a group of friends in their 20s, but I found this book quite strange. I also didn’t find the characters lovable, and they all had questionable traits so I wasn’t really rooting for anyone. I think I understand the underlying message/meaning behind the book, but it wasn’t the type of book I thought it was going to be.
My rating:
⭐⭐
Going Overboard by Portia MacIntosh
StoryGraph synopsis:
Jessa is happily cruising through life – until her boyfriend Todd dumps her, out of the blue, at a wedding, during the first dance. She doesn’t know it but just across the room, cricket superstar Brody is also being blindsided by his girlfriend, Nikki. It suddenly makes sense in the days that follow – Todd and Nikki are now together.
Jessa wants to crawl under a rock, but with her best friend’s destination wedding on a cruise to Sicily – and her ex and his new girlfriend onboard – there’s no escape. She’s hoping the ship is big enough to avoid them but, unlucky for her, a booking mix-up means she’s sharing a two-bed suite with Todd, Nikki, and the handsome but infuriating Brody too.
With no choice but to ride out the awkwardness, Jessa and Brody hatch a plan. If they can’t win their exes back, they’ll get them back – revenge – by faking a red-hot romance of their own. That’ll show them. But the better they get at faking it – and the more undeniable their chemistry – the blurrier the line becomes. Either way, there’s going to be trouble at sea because true love is never plain sailing!
What I thought:
I hate to say it, but I also didn’t really click with this book. It was a lighthearted romance book, but I feel as though the plot was lacking slightly. The book seemed to revolve around the same scene a lot of the time.
My rating:
⭐⭐⭐
Letter to My Younger Self by Jane Graham
StoryGraph synopsis:
From The Big Issue‘s popular section, this collection features 50 remarkable women writing letters to their younger selves.
What I thought:
I only realised partway through the book that all of the letters are to their 16-year-old younger self. If I had known that before I started reading, I wouldn’t have picked it up. Some of the letters were good, but others seemed a bit braggy. As I am in my mid-twenties, I didn’t find the book that useful, but I’m sure it would be better for someone in their teen years.
My rating:
⭐⭐⭐
Book Boyfriend by Lucy Vine
StoryGraph synopsis:
Jemma has lived a thousand lives through books. The only life she isn’t living is her own.
That is, until the day she finds a note from a stranger in her favourite library book. When she replies, the pair begin a longhand conversation about their love of novels that sees Jemma finally coming out of her shell. Is she ready to fall in love for the first time – with someone she’s never met?
Clara has always run away from her problems, but this might finally be one she can’t escape.
Everyone wants to know what happened to Clara in America – but Clara isn’t talking. Instead she’s focusing all her energy obsessing over a hot new actor, starring in the TV adaptation of her twin Jemma’s favourite book. Soon, Clara is reading every interview, trawling his social media, and following him to showbiz parties in the hopes he’ll notice she’s The One.
As the sisters fall hard for two men they’ve never met, it’s time to ask the question: Can either relationship survive the real world?
What I thought:
Finally a July book that I enjoyed reading, and one to tick off my books beginning with B list! I first saw this book at a bookshop in London but managed to resist, and then found it in a charity shop a couple of weeks ago for only £1.50. As you can see from the books above, I had been in a bit of a reading slump, so I was hoping for a good book. Book Boyfriend was exactly that, and I struggled to put it down. I loved the dual POV alternate chapters, and what I loved even more was that the relationship couples weren’t predictable.
When I first started reading Book Boyfriend, I liked all of the characters except Clara, so I didn’t enjoy her chapters so much. However, there is strong character development 🙂
My rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
Two Can Play by Ali Hazelwood
StoryGraph synopsis:
Viola Bowen has the chance of a lifetime: to design a video game based on her all-time favourite book series.
The only problem? Her co-lead is Jesse F-ing Andrews, a.k.a. her arch-nemesis. Jesse has made it abundantly clear over the years that he wants nothing to do with her-and Viola has no idea why.
When their bosses insist a wintry retreat is the perfect team-building exercise, Viola can’t think of anything worse. Being freezing cold in a remote mountain lodge knowing Jesse is right next door? No, thank you.
But as the snow piles on, Viola discovers there’s more to Jesse than she knew, and heat builds in more ways than one.
What I thought:
I really wasn’t expecting to like this book as much as I did! I went to the library to collect a book reservation, and decided to have a browse whilst I was there. I saw Two Can Play on the shelf, and saw that it was a fairly short book, and the blurb sounded good, so I thought I’d give it a go. I absolutely love Ali Hazelwood’s writing style, and loved The Love Hypothesis series, especially reading about women in STEM, so I knew I would enjoy the style. But wow, I loved the storyline too. I’d definitely recommend this book.
My rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
Do we share any of the same books read in July? What did you read in July?
Caroline ♡
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