July, what a month you have been. We welcomed you with a day of more than 35 degrees heat, and now as we’re entering August, it’s slightly colder. This is quite usual weather for the Dutch summer, but 19 degrees is a bit too cold. This is the month of the failed monthly TBR, as I just read 2 out of 5 I set as “up next” and 1 of my possibility pile. Some of these books nearly got me into a slump unfortunately. This is too early for me, I know, I know. This slump mostly shows up in the fall. Without further ado, let’s see what this month off July has brought me!

My monthly stats

In July, I’ve read a total of 9 books, and I finished 8 off them. These are divided into 2,657 pages and 29.9 hours of audiobooks. I unfortunately had 1 DNF and this was for a book I least expected. I’ve read a mixture of both Dutch and English again, as well as a variety of genres. Fantasy, romance, romantasy; it is all represented in this month’s wrap up. Furthermore, I hauled 10 books, and I just read 1 of them. Overall, it took me 3 days to finish a book and my average rating for this month is 3.06 stars.

My read books

1. Fearless by Lauren Roberts – This is a left-over from June and whereas the first book in this trilogy was okay and the second book was really good in terms of character growth, this final instalment in the “The Powerless Trilogy” was a disaster. The plot is very repetitive, the first book nearly gets copied and repeated in its entirety all over again. It’s even more obvious that the author plagiarised other popular books by literally copy-pasting them into this one. And just don’t get me started on the characters please. 📱⭐⭐
2. What Happens in Amsterdam by Rachel Lynn Solomon – As I expected beforehand, this book was not the best. The main characters gave me the ick on multiple occasions and the story is predictable. Both plot and characters lack depth. The most interesting part for me was the atmosphere, although the portrayal of Amsterdam and the Dutch culture is a little cliché. It’s still interesting to see how foreigners who start living here as an expat view the country and its capital. This honestly got the book an extra star. 📱⭐⭐⭐
3. The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong – I have been wanting to read this book for a while. I therefore added it to the possibility pile. I was desperately seeking some depth after the previous books I’ve finished, so I decided to just go for it. Although I didn’t rate it 5 stars at all, it’s still a hard-hitting novel. I wouldn’t recommend it for the less experienced reader though as Vuong tells us a lot by not telling us a lot. You have to figure out plenty by reading between the lines. So, are you up for a literary challenge? Then this book is definitely suitable for you. If English is not your first language, you might want to read this in your mother tongue first before giving the English version a go. 📱⭐⭐⭐,5
4. The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater – The announcement and the blurb of this book made me really curious for this one. I still was a bit reluctant though because off my experiences with books by this author and them being vague. Unfortunately, the most interesting parts here are the historical facts, as the characters and plot lack depth. The magical realism part just did nothing for me, I really wonder why it’s there. 🎧⭐⭐⭐
5. Noorderlicht by Carry Slee – This is a young adult novel by one of my favourite Dutch authors whose books I devoured when I was younger. The problem with original Dutch YA compared to English YA is the age. The characters are so young and act like middle-scholars instead of 17-year-old young adults. Dutch YA would easily be classified as middle-grade on the English publishing market. In this book the characters are 14 years old and in 8^th grade. It’s middle school in the US, but high school here. Despite the characters being and acting so young, this author can be trusted to put really important, current topics and themes into their novels. This was no exception. I flew through this book in a breeze, but it didn’t grip me like the way their novels used to do when I was a (pre)teen. 🎧⭐⭐⭐
6. Blood & Steel by Helen Scheuerer – I had such high hopes for this one as many people love it. It hardly gets bad reviews. But I should have learned by now, my opinion differs. It’s not bad, absolutely not. However, it has all the romantasy elements and it feels like the author is ticking all boxes just to tick them off. I like main character Thea though because she has a mission and is determined to succeed, but I didn’t really care for the love interest or the other characters. Nor the plot. At this point, I’m not sure if I will continue this series. If ever, I won’t rush it. 📱⭐⭐⭐
   • The Pearl that Broke Its Shell by Nadia Hashimi – I have been meaning to read this book for years now. After my quite disappointing experiences with one of her later novels, I was a bit hesitant and decided to wait before picking this one up. I’m glad I did. I loved the dual timeline narrative, and this book made me SO angry for both main characters. How are men in other cultures still able and allowed to treat women like objects rather than real people of flesh and blood with feelings? This book addresses this issue in Afghan culture and the timelines are set in 1907 and 2007. Literally nothing has changed in the course of a century. More in my review that will be up soon, but this one is a strong recommendation. The ending feels a bit rushed though. 📱⭐⭐⭐⭐
7. Just Some Stupid Love Story by Katelyn Doyle – Unfortunately, the book lives up to its title because as expected, this was indeed a stupid love story. I mean, characters and plot are absolutely not elaborated well, they both stay at surface level. I rolled my eyes a lot. I understand it’s a romcom, but I’m afraid these are just not for me. It’s therefore unfair to rate it that low, because I see how and why other people might love this. I think it works pretty well as a script for a TV show or movie that takes your mind off of things. Makes sense, as the female main character is a screenwriter for romantic comedies. I just don’t understand why this one sounded appealing to me last year and why I bought it. It was on my July TBRR and I’m glad I knocked it off! 📱⭐⭐⭐
8. Heir by Sabaa Tahir – I was so looking forward to this book! Fellow bloggers whose reviews I trust all seem to love it and my earlier experiences with books by this author were also good. Admittedly, this novel started of good and interesting. The characters and the world get introduced. This duology is strongly connected to the “An Ember in the Ashes” quartet, so it’s recommended to read this series first. Otherwise, this first book in this duology is off to a chaotic start. Unfortunately, this book started spiralling quickly. I just didn’t care for both plot and characters, so I decided to put it aside for a few days. Fast forward nearly a week and I picked it up once again. Only to figure that I still didn’t care for anything and anyone. This means there is only one option left, to DNF it. I feel so bad and I didn’t expect this to happen. DNF @ 55% 🎧

My bookhaul

1. Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
2. The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong
3. Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
4. Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad
5. The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig
6. The Wind Weaver by Julie Johnson
7. Arcana Academy by Elise Kova
8. The Naked Don’t Fear the Water by Matthieu Aikins
9. De Purs Hommes by Mohamed Mbougar Sarr (Dutch edition, not translated to English and my French is too rusty)
10. Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa

So, July was actually a pretty good reading month when you take things into account. I read some more in depth and quality novels, to outweigh the books I didn’t like. I hope to be reading the rest of my July TBR in August though, because I expected myself to be in need of some lighter romances. Oh well, we shall see.

How was this month for you?