My first day of junior year was this month, so I’ll definitely be reading a lot less for the rest of the school year! Hopefully I can read at least 1 or 2 books per month, but we’ll see 🙂

Stats:

• Read: 5 books
• Zero 1 stars, one 2 star, one 3 star, one 4 star, two 5 stars
• Favorite book of August: Today Tonight Tomorrow

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

I think this is one of the few books out there with a better movie adaptation (even though I haven’t seen the movie yet!). There was a lot of description of the mansions, designer clothes, and private jets– and not nearly enough humor or crazy antics. It was still entertaining, especially near the end, but I was mildly bored throughout most of the story. Rating: 3 stars

Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon

This book is one of my new favorites of 2021, and sticking to my roots, it’s a YA contemporary romance of course! I was so impressed with how these two academic rivals developed their friendship and relationship over a period of ONE day without it getting into insta-love territory! The plot was so much fun, as it was a hybrid game of scavenger hunt/Assassins which took place across Seattle. Solomon took so many creative opportunities for Rowan and Neil to become closer and get to know each other. I had such a good time reading this, and totally recommend it to anyone who likes YA contemporary! Rating: 5 stars

Gods & Monsters by Shelby Mahurin

Something that has always been a problem for me when it comes to reading series is that I love the first book, but find myself bored with the rest of the books. This was NOT the case with this book. There was still the same overarching plot/goal as always, but Mahurin managed to create interesting subplots, new dynamics, and more adventures. I don’t want to spoil anything, but *somehow* Reid and Lou go back to having an enemies to lovers relationship, which I loved. I was glad that their relationship was not left static and never left me uninterested. The found family aspect was amazing as well. This conclusion to the Serpent and Dove trilogy was very well executed, emotional, and satisfying! Rating: 5 stars

It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey

I was very surprised to find much of this book cringy and annoying. I didn’t love the writing, and I didn’t love the love interest. Even though the grumpy/sunshine trope is generally my JAM, the romance moved too fast and I wasn’t into it. The ending infuriated me the most, because it handled the main conflict poorly and had a ton of miscommunication. If you read the synopsis of this book and are interested, PLEASE PLEASE read The Simple Wild by K.A. Tucker (my review for it is linked here). It has almost exactly the same premise and is executed much better, in my opinion. Rating: 2 stars

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

This book reminded me of how great the friends to lovers trope can really be. I loved the characterization of Alex and Poppy, and how they were opposites but complemented each other so well. The flashback chapters helped me understand the history behind their relationship, and the conflict at the end was so realistic! The only thing was that I wished Emily Henry utilized the vacations to give the readers creative, specific tension-filled scenes which developed the romance- we kind of just got vague descriptions of every city they visited for the most part, which made the romance less… good. Also, the friendship was focused on much more than the romance. Rating: 4 stars