July Wrap-up

Hello, hello! I'm sure if you've been in the blogging community for a while now you already know what this type of posts is about - a simple compilation of the reads I've accomplished throughout the month. In this case, July - month of heat and beach ;) I've gotten to read a total of 5 books this past month, which is an OK amount. 

So, without further ado, let's get right into it :)

The first book I read last month was... Arena Roja, by Gema Bonnín. 

This is a young adult, dystopian-ish book set in the future. In the fictional world created by Gema, the world has turned tables and Asia is what we would call the First World, while America and Europe failed miserably. The book follows our main character Faith, a young girl who loses her mum her father after the woman discovers something terrible he is planning to do to the world. This translates in Faith being taken against her will to the decadent Europe to become a gladiator. The book takes us through the journey of Faith's forced maturation as she tries to survive in this new world, becoming the best gladiator she can possibly be in an industry where female presence is less than common. There is a bit of action, and a bit of romance, and it all makes is a very nice novel to read. I made a full review on it, which you can find here. I really enjoyed it and I gave it a 4 out of 5 :) Unfortunately, it can only be found in Spanish for the moment.

The next book I read last month is Me Before You, by Jojo Moyes.

This is an adult, contemporary read about a girl named Lou who just lost her job and comes to work for a woman whose son was in an accident and, as a result, can't move any part of his body down his neck except for one of his hands. Lou's job is to keep him company (and help him eat, as he cannot move) and remind him that life is a gift that we shouldn't waste away. It is a lovely story, definitely heart-warming. I really enjoyed it, and so I gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars :) You can read my full review here.

I also read Everything, Everything, by Nicola Yoon

This book is about a girl named Maddie who suffers from a disease commonly called bubble baby disease, which basically makes her not able to leave her home as she is allergic to everything that is outside it. A new family comes to live next door, and she befriends the all-too-insisting boy that keeps trying to contact her. She's lived in peace with her condition for 17 years, home-schooled and playing board games with her mum every night; but now she might be starting to think of all the things she can't do. I started this book with great expectations, and I was certainly surprised with the format of it - it's not just plain narration, but it contains e-mails, drawings and journal entries, which is pretty cool if you ask me ;) I really liked that. And also, the story is appealing. I wasn't expecting that plot twist! :O Click here for the full review. I really enjoyed it, and I gave it 3.5 out 5 stars.

Next I read City of Fallen Angels (The Mortal Instruments #4), by Cassandra Clare

I am reading this book as part of my 2016 Finishing the Series Challenge. It is the 4th book to The Mortal Instruments series, which for some reason I never got through to finishing. The book series (for the few that don't already know hehe) is about a girl who discovers that she comes from a family of shadowhunters As I don't want to spoil anything, I will just say that I enjoyed it as much as the previous books in the series, and I gave it a 4 out of 5 stars :)

And lastly, the last book I got to read in the month of July is Detrás de Mi Música, by Israel Moreno 

This one is a YA, contemporary novel written by the Spanish author Israel Moreno (it's only published in Spanish so far). It is set in the year 1999, and it's about a group of boys during the summer of their last year of high school who are determined to lose their virginity before the foreseen date for the end of the world - August 11th. I bought this novel because: (1) it was one of the highest on the list of the most bought YA books at Amazon Spain, and (2) I thought it was awesome that the music band the author writes about (in the story the boys decide to form a boy-band) has a playlist on Spotify that you can actually listen to whilst reading the book. I thought that was the coolest idea ever! It was the perfect combination of books and music. Or so it seemed... I ended up not liking the book at all. In fact, I gave up before even finishing it. I thought the writing was disastrous, the story shallow and with no real direction, and the characters lacked a personality. What is strange though, is that I really liked the prologue. It feels as if it was written by someone totally different... I didn't enjoy reading this book, so I gave it 1 out of 5 stars. Not the best way to finish the month :(

And this is what I've been up to reading-wise during the month of July :) Have you read any of these books?

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Happy reading! 

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