Books I read in June! Girl Walks into a Bar, Aurabel, Our Dark Duet, Spellbook of the Lost and Found, The Huntress: Sea

Well hello there, it's July how on earth did that happen?? I guess I better sort out my June reads then! I started the month with the audiobook of Rachel Dratch's Girl walks into a Bar, which was pretty funny and stuff. I went off to the seaside for a week with the sequel to mermaid novel Lorali- Aurabel by Laura Dockrill and Our Dark Duet V.E. Schwab, the sequel to This Savage Song. I've already reviewed Our Dark Duet over here. My sunny seaside break turned into a rainy sit by the fire kind of hoilday with Spellbook of the Lost and Found by Moira Fowley-Doyle, which was so magical and reminiscent of The Graces, which I read in the seaside cottage last year! I finished off the month of reading with The Huntress: Sea by Sarah Driver, and wow what a magical, lyrical, thrilling adventure! I'll get reviews of Spellbook and Aurable up soon and maybe The Huntress: Sea too!

Girl Walks into a Bar by Rachel Dratch

Aurabel by Laura Dockrill

Our Dark Duet by V.E. Schwab

(review here)

The Huntress: Sea by Sarah Driver

Spellbook of the Lost and Found by Moira Fowley-Doyle

Review! Our Dark Duet by V.E. Schwab

The second and final in the Monsters of Verity series, Our Dark Duet picks up almost half a year after Kate Harker's departure from Verity. She is now living in Prosperity, hunting monsters there, where the monster epidemic is still very much underground and mostly unknown by the population. Kate witnesses the aftermath of a an attack by a new kind of monster, and after an encounter with this strange creature, she finds herself leaving her new friends and heading back to Verity to warn them of this new danger.

August Flynn is still in Verity playing his role as a leader in the army of the divided city, after half has been completely overtaken by monsters. He is tasked with 'reaping' humans who have committed sins, sending them to their deaths and spends the book grappling with the human and monster parts of himself. He is reluctant leader, but commits to the role, forming strong bonds with his team, who respect him deeply.

I enjoyed being back in this dark, gritty, urban world. It was good to see a little of the world outside of Verity and see how the physical-monsters-born-of-bad-deeds concept could spread in different cities (I smell a spin of series?) Monsters Sloan and Alice make great baddies and there were numerous really well choreographed fights scenes. The ideas of what really makes a person fundamentally 'bad' and monstrous and what actions deserve death were really well explored and mirrored in August's conflict over whether to more human or more monster.

As ever, V.E. Schwab has created a compelling, clever, and very well paced book. Um, read it!

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review, which this was :)

Books I read in June!: The Girls, This Savage Song, Gotham Academy, Shrill, Harry Potter, And I Darken

I definitely began the month reading Emma Cline's The Girls in the glorious sunshine in the park, and ended it sheltering from the heavy winds and rain reading Kiesten White's And I Darken. Now I think about it, perfect settings in which to read each of these books! June in Scotland is just so autumnal, sigh. (So is July apparently, it has rained x1000000 today) In between these I read This Savage Song by V.E. Schwab, which was very enjoyable and monstery (full review of which can be found by clicking here), Gotham Academy for some Gotham meets Hogwarts vibes, listened to Lindy West's Shrill on audiobook, and finally got round to reading the illustrated version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone! So without further ado, it's review time!

The Girls

I saw The Girls recommended by Candice on YouTube in her review of the book, and was very intrigued- think dreamy California hippy summer vibes of 1969, murder cults included. The story is from the point of view of Evie, and is set partly in the present day reflecting on this pivotal summer of her life in 1969, where most of the story takes place- when she was 14 and drawn into a hippy cult. Based on, or drawing a lot of influence from the infamous Manson family murders, the cult in this story lives out on a ranch, with enigmatic wannabe songwriter Russell at its centre. There is sex, drugs, and petty crime, and eventually a horrific multiple murder, which Evie is thankfully not a part of. The focus of this story is not on Russell or really on the murders, but on Evie and the other girls in the cult, who she spends so much time with, especially Suzanne, who is so alluring to Evie and ultimately the reason she becomes drawn into the cult. It is fairly dark and grim in places, but so beautifully written. There is a real sense of reflection and almost remorse in the present day set chapters, with Evie clearly still struggling with how to come to terms with that summer. Certainly not a fluffy beach read, but if you are interested and intrigued by this period of recent history, I'd definitely recommend it.

This Savage Song

I love V. E. Schwab's writing, in particular her Shades of Magic series, and this book did not disappoint. Monsters! Reading the blurb, I had fully imagined another medieval-esque setting, but I was so wrong- we're deep in a future American but with whole new cities situation...

Read my full review here! It'll be worth it I promise! Just click here! Thank you!

Gotham Academy

This month's graphic novel read- a bind up of the first 4 volumes of Gotham Academy, which is essentially Batman's world meets Hogwarts. I was recommended this as Harry Potter fan, and indie comics reader, who doesn't usually love the artwork of traditional super hero comics. This is meant to be DC's attempt at indie-ing itself up and appealing to the Lumberjanes demographic of readers- and they're currently doing a Gotham Academy/Lumberjanes crossover- I approve! I'm totally sold on this, the story is great, with an awesome ensemble cast of Gotham Academy students. Olive is so cool and Maps is just great. Aesthetically it gets pretty close to a more indie-comics style, all it's missing is the 'quirk' of extra details you get in Lumberjanes bind ups, and also the physical paper quality and cover design you'd expect from a good indie comic or graphic novel. All they'd have to do is make the covers matte with some shiny bits, but pages a thicker more matte quality, and I'd be 100% sold. It would just make it feel more satisfying and like a more quality object. Buuuuuuut that's all physical- awesome story, which I'll deff be reading more of!

Shrill

I'd seen Louise O'Neil mention this book a couple times on twitter, and after Lindy featured on an episode of This American Life (and I recalled her previous appearance on the podcast, which I had super enjoyed), I was sold and got the audiobook, like immediately. Shrill is a memoir by writer, journalist and humorist Lindy West, covering her childhood as a shy, invisible fat girl to her adulthood as an outspoken, unashamed fat woman not afraid to Take. Up. Space. Her writing is at once eloquent, funny, raw, and unapologetic. I would definitely recommend this on audiobook, as it is read by Lindy herself, and she just lends such an ernest voice to her accounts of things like calling out her boss on his fat-shaming, and confronting twitter trolls head on. Great voice, great storytelling, solid message.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone- Illustrated

Ok so I'm not going to review Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone obviously, because everyone knows its a beautiful, wondering, precious masterpiece. But I can review the illustrated reading experience- Just beautiful! As expected it really brings the stories to life. The illustrations are lush, detailed, expressive pieces from full double page spreads to tiny paint splatters on pages of text. Jim Kay is an enviable illustrator and you may now see lots of Jim Kay inspired techniques in my work! When I read Harry Potter I usually have my own imagery in my head, interspersed with a bits of film imagery, and now I have these beautiful illustrations to add to all that. I am soooo looking forward to the illustrated Chamber of Secrets, and I am already slightly concerned with how much bookshelf space the whole series will eventually take up! 

And I Darken

I have loved the marketing surrounding the release of And I Darken in the UK- essentially drawing attention to lots of great fictional heroines from Buffy and Jessica Jones to Arya Stark and Hermione Granger. I absolutely loved this book and I've actually already lent it out to a pal. Set in the Ottoman empire, around the 1450s I believe, this story provides a sort of alternative history to Vlad the Impaler, creating instead Lada, born in Transylvania to a father nicknamed 'the dragon'. Lada is fierce, not beautiful, and ruthless, and along with her beautiful, sensitive, younger brother Radu, she is abandoned by her father in the Sultan's court, essentially as ransom to keep her father in line with the Sultan's rule. Together they are raised in the courts of the Sultan along with one of his sons, the eventual heir to the throne. In Lada we find a brilliant anti-princess, and an anti-prince in her brother Radu. Both use their own unique skills, be that brains or brawn, to work the royal system to their advantages. Themes of loyalty, sexuality, religion, strength and weakness are explored very artfully within this alternative historical fiction. If you love great female characters, this book is definitely for you- equally it provides a great sensitive male character.

Phew! Hopefully some of these have tickled your fancy! I'm currently finally reading Naomi Novik's Uprooted, and it is wonderful so far. Apologies for any typos or grammars issues- I may have had a couple of wines (a girl's gotta live!).

I received physical proof copies of This Savage Song and And I Darken, and an ebook copy of The Girls on NetGalley. All in exchange for honest reviews. 

Review! This Savage Song by V.E. Schwab

I love V.E. Schwab's writing, in particular her Shades of Magic series, so I was very excited to receive this book and it did not disappoint. Monsters! 

Reading the blurb, I had fully imagined another medieval-esque setting, but I was so wrong- we're deep in a version of a modern/future American but with whole new cities and real live monsters situation. Kate Harker is the daughter of the fearsome ruler of one side of the city, and August Flynn is the sort-of-son to the good-hearted leader of the other side. 

In this world, there are three types of monster who feed of human flesh/blood/souls, and each side of the city has its own ways of dealing with these monsters. Harker allows the monsters to run free under an agreement that the humans who pay for his protection will not be harmed. Flynn's side is more about keeping the monsters out entirely to keep the people safe- apart from August and his two 'siblings' who are the soul eating kind of monster (but only if those souls are bad/evil souls). 

Kate and August end up having to work together when the lines between the two ruling sides and good and evil become corrupted. Kate is an awesome character, trying to win favour with her father by being as cold-hearted as he is, whilst also dealing with some post-traumatic shock memory repression and battling with the timeless struggle of what is morally good or evil in war. August is such a vulnerable, sensitive, and morally strong character, who is battling with his own identity as a 'monster' and his loyalty to the questionable morals of his brother, while trying to figure out what his place is in their human and monster world. 

SO much identity and soul searching, all tangled up with questions of good and evil. A totally thrilling read, with very strong characters. Part one of the Monsters of Verity duology, and I have no idea where it's going, but I'm very excited. This Savage Song was out on 7th June in the UK and is out in the US 5th July.

Reviews of other books I read in June can be found HERE!

I received a copy of This Savage Song from the publisher in return for an honest review- which this is!