June Wrap-Up!

This month was kind of busy, but I managed to read more in June than I had in all of the previous months of 2016 put together! I'm kind of proud of that. This was also a pretty diverse month, with my usual LGBT+/Intersectionality blog theme, some children's lit, historical fiction, fantasy, and a teen romance (along with others!).

So, without further ado, here are the books!


  

In this cluster, we have my usual genre: queer people and/or intersectionality. This month was kind of hit or miss, split 50/50.

More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera was a trip. I did a full review with all of my thoughts, but in short, this was an Important Book. There were so many issues addressed, but I didn't like the simplistic plot, lack of detail, or stunningly realistic horny teenagers. 3/5

Lizard Radio by Pat Schmatz was a book most accurately described as weird as hell. Kivali is a gender nonconforming teen who goes to a mandatory government run agricultural camp that makes teenagers into good, conformist citizens. She has links to lizards in her past- she was left on the doorstep of her foster mom wrapped in a t-shirt with a lizard on it, and can connect to what she calls the "lizard radio" while in a trance state. The book tells her journey in the camp and her struggles to remain herself even while the program is attempts to reduce everything about her to an "either-or". There was a lot that wasn't explained, but has a great message. It read as a bit of a love letter to gender nonconforming teenagers, and I can definitely appreciate that. 4/5 and made me tear up a lil.

Away We Go by Emil Ostrovski was kind of a disappointment. Noah Falls goes to a school for quarantined terminally ill teenagers, and sorts out his sexuality issues along the way. It was a cool concept. The execution was not for me. It was so pretentious. So, so pretentious. I don't even want to talk about how pretentious it was, while also being awful. There was some writing that I thought was kind of shoddy. Also, the timeline was weird and skippy and hard to follow. Overall a 2/5

Gabi, A Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero features a Mexican-American teen named Gabi navigating her senior year of high school. She's dealing with the whole package: body image issues, poverty, college applications, a meth-addict father, a born-again aunt, controlling mom, and a whole host of other issues. Luckily, she has poetry and girl power on her side. There were some things about this that I wasn't a fan of, but the ending will leave you so very proud. Please read it and talk to me about the beautiful ending. 4/5 and made me laugh/made me swell with pride.

 

This month, I also started on a bit of a children's lit kick with A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. I never read these when I was younger, and I'm kind of sad because younger me would have loved this series. I'm still a little skeptical about the fact that the series is based purely off of "bad things happen to a group of kids who don't deserve it" and the straight-up child abuse in the first book was painful to read, but Snicket's wit is absolutely unparalleled. 3.5 and made me giggle.

 

Balanced by Lemony Snicket's humor was my "serious shit" pile, containing these two books.

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys turned out to be a breath of fresh air and an absolutely stunning WWII novel. The sensory detail is impeccable, and Sepetys writes an incredible cast of characters who you will love, despise, and/or never stop worrying about. This turned out to be an incredibly beautiful and touching novel, and made me cry multiple times. As many WWII novels do, it had a bittersweet ending, but a quite appropriate one. 4/5 and made me cry.

Girls Like Us by Gail Giles was another disappointment. It had a great concept- two girls age out of their school's special education program and end up in the same apartment, becoming unlikely friends. Nope. Nope nope nope. Don't read this one. Actually, read this one if you want so you can rant with me. So much went wrong here. The dialect the girls spoke in was almost exactly the same for both characters and also incredibly insulting! There's more, but I'm keeping this brief. Full review to come? 1/5

 

Because I can't just leave you with that, I also read some slightly lighter fare ranging from popular young adult to Marvel to stereotypical adolescent girl reading. Here we go!

Winter by Marissa Meyer was a shining example of how to end a series with a bang. It was so long- intimidatingly so- and very worth the long haul. None of my fears came true, with plot twists that I genuinely hadn't thought about around every corner culminating in a truly satisfying ending. 5/5 for being everything I hoped for and more.

Captain Marvel Vol. 2: Stay Fly by Kelly Sue DeConnick was so darn cute. The Guardians of the Galaxy tie-in made my day. Also, it's going to take me weeks to get over all of the cat stuff. Like, look at that cover. Is that cover not life goals? 5/5 and made me laugh.

What Happened to Goodbye was my first ever Sarah Dessen, and I was skeptical but pleasantly surprised. It wasn't totally my cup of tea, but I thought it was worth reading. There were some great life lessons and teaching moments. I was really worried that this was going to be a stereotypical cringey romance, and it wasn't! Overall a good light read about friendship, family, personal identity, and when to move on (or not) with a cute boy on the side. 3.5/5

So, that's a wrap. 11 books! Here's to a great summer with even more books.

What have you been reading this summer? Do you have any favorite books so far?