A Wrap Up: September 2017

Hi, and thanks for stopping by.

Today's post is my regular monthly wrap-up! Here's the selection of books I managed to get through this month. Please do let me know in the comments section below whether you've read any of these (and what you thought of them) and what were your favourite and least favourite books that you read this month - I'd really love to hear from you! Plus, if you enjoyed your visit, please do follow my blog - it means a lot. Anyway, on with the books!!!

Danielle r. mani’s the divine heart

3 stars

Danielle herself was so kind and generous and sent me this book to read - thank you so much, Danielle! Of course, that doesn't affect this review at all. I really enjoyed experiencing this genre, which was pretty new to me - a special sort of paranormal. I thought  the plot itself was unique and suspenseful, although it could have been longer. The plot twists at the end were really great!!

Judy blume’s forever

2 stars

Perhaps at the time this was published, it was a bit of a revolution, but reading it now in 2017, I have no clue why some people think this is a YA classic. It felt bland and a little dated in places (not in a cute nostalgic way, or at least not to me). The major issue I had with it though was Michael's character. He was pushy, in terms of sex, to the point of nearly blurring the lines of consent - if a girl says she isn't ready, or doesn't want to do anything when there are other people around, or WHATEVER quite frankly, then you STOP. Quite simple, really. 

Liz kezzler’s read me like a book

3 stars

This book was a really great story of self-acceptance and a teenage girl discovering and exploring her sexuality in a really healthy way. I thought Ashleigh as a protagonist was really engaging and sympathetic - I enjoyed reading her story, and the ending to it was so satisfying. I'm not sure the catalyst for Ash exploring her attraction to girls needed to be through a teacher - those relationships give me the ice - but it wasn't a huge issue, as it never really went anywhere dodgy.

Laurie alse handerson’s the impossible knife of memory

5 stars

This was one of the best books I read this month BY FAR. I just adore Laurie Halse Anderson's writing style. I'm going to be posting a full review here on my blog very soon, so I won't go into too much detail, but this book explored PTSD brilliantly as well as touching on friendship, family, romance and more. Simply stunning.

Megan abbott’s the fever

4 stars

I read Megan Abbott's Dare Me last year and really enjoyed it, and I felt the same way about The Fever. Megan has a really beautiful yet chilling writing style that is really unique. The paranoia and suspicion was absolutely palpable. I thought the twist, the starting point of "the fever", was really clever and I didn't see it coming until perhaps a few pages before it was properly revealed. I'm still not sure I understand why the other girls were "infected", too? Can anybody whose read it explain that to me?!

j.k. rowling’s harry potter series (1-7)

1 million stars

This is the main reason this post may seem shorter than usual - I'm fitting 7 books into this one section (four of which are seriously hefty). I make it a goal to reread this series every single summer, but I got around to it a tiny bit late this year. Regardless of the time of year, however, the Harry Potter series continues to be the BEST set of books I have ever read in my entire life. Of all of the hundreds I've read even in the last year of blogging, nothing even comes close to comparing. These books are magical - excuse the pun!!

Jennifer e. smith’s the geography of you and me

 2 stars

This book was a big disappointment for me!! The "romance" was completely lacking for me (Owen and Lucy were both quite colourless characters, without much individual, defining personality, and they were barely together at all in 340 odd pages?!). Besides that, all the travelling and moving houses and missing MONTHS of school just seemed so unrealistic to me. No contemporary romance magic here for me, unfortunately.

Victoria aveyard’s red queen

4 stars

I was going into this novel expecting to be a little unimpressed, as I've heard a lot of negative things. And whilst I think people are completely right in that it was quite cliche and full of tropes (including the dreaded love triangle) I really enjoyed it regardless. The big twist within the storyline that comes about 3/4 of the way through actually physically pained me. I did not see it coming and I felt every ounce of Mare's hurt and fury when it happened. I'm excited to get around to book number two!!


This seems so short in comparison to most months, but as I said, Harry Potter kept me VERY preoccupied, and I don't regret a single page of it! Otherwise, not a bad month's reading - The Impossible Knife of Memory by far the best of the rest mentioned here, Red Queen coming in in second place, I think. Let me know what you thought of any of these, or what you read this month.

Till next time

Katie