A Wrap Up: September 2018 Part One

Hi, and thanks for stopping by.

Are you ready for a seriously Harry Potter-heavy wrap up? I mean, between reading the last four books of the series (which is like thousands of pages worth, surely?!) I didn't have much time left for other reading, but there is some cool YA in here if you've got your eyes peeled! Let me know in the comments section down below what your favourite book of September was - I'd love to hear from you!!

Harry Potter: Books 4-7
A gazillion stars

There was no point writing the same exact thing four times and boring you all, so I'll just say it once - I reread this series every single year in the summer. It is so special to me. I laugh and sob and enjoy every single word on every single line of every single page! Okay, gushing over. On to the next...

Estelle Maskame’s Did I mention I Miss You?

3 stars

Although I enjoyed catching up once again with these characters, and Tyler & Eden's chemistry was as great as ever, I do think a third book (at least from Eden's perspective) was overkill. It just started to feel really repetitive and a little boring in places. Some interesting stuff about father-child relationships, though. I bought Tyler's story, Don't Mention It, to read recently and I'm hoping to get to it soon whilst the first three books are fresh in my memory.

Kody Keplinger’s That’s Not What Happened

3.5 stars

I've read quite a few school shooting narratives now, and all of them have been so different and interesting. This one focuses very much on the consequences of such a tragedy, the human impact and effect. Kody Keplinger's writing style is very easy to get into and through, despite such a harrowing topic. There was also some asexuality representation that I felt was very well explained (although I cannot personally speak to its accuracy. If you're interested, Maddie & Bee talk about it wonderfully on their YouTube channel).

Akemi Dawn Bowman’s Starfish

5 stars

One of my favourite books of the year by far. This was so beautifully written; I nearly always enjoy reading a book, but there are some that are just written with so much care and artistry and love that they stand out from the others. That's how I feel when I read Jandy Nelson, and it's how I felt reading this, too. The exploration of art, emotional & sexual abuse, self-discovery, first love and cultural identity was stunning and I cannot wait to read everything that Akemi Dawn Bowman goes on to write in the future, too.

Jessica Kapp’s Body Parts

 3-3.5 stars

The first half of this story was stronger than the second in my opinion; the near-futuritisic themes were interesting and unique and I was pretty invested in the world and the characters. It got a little too action-ey and predictable for me come the end, especially that painfully perfect fairytale conclusion. But fun to read, regardless!!

Emil Ostrovski’s Away we Go

3.5 stars

This was very different to what I expected... I guess I thought it would be something along the lines of Extraordinary Means, which is such an amazing story, but it was quite different. I found the set-up of the disease itself and the "schools" the infected children were sent to all quite confusing - I think the world-building could have been a lot better. I was also quite uncomfortable with how much Noah was constantly pushing Zach to engage with him romantically when it seemed so clear to me that he wasn't interested?!

Julie Murphy’s Ramona Blue 

3.5-4 stars

I definitely preferred this to the other Julie Murphy book I read last year, Side Effects May Vary. I loved that Ramona developed a hobby, because hobbies are so lacking in YA, yet so many teenagers and young people in real life have them (myself included)! I also think the way that being in financial trouble was described and developed was excellent and will hopefully be illuminating for those who have never struggled in that way.

Kayla Tirrell’s All The Things We Lost

 2 stars

Unfortunately, there was very little substance to this book for me. Things don’t actually seem to get going until about 40% of the way through and the relationship that becomes romantic is waaay under-developed in my opinion, using the fact that they were childhood best friends as a way out of spending time with the two characters, building up their relationship from scratch. I think because it’s also quite a short book, things do just feel hurried, all sprinting towards a fairytale happy ending. A shame, really.

So those are all of the books I've read in this first half of September 2018. Between Harry Potter and Starfish, I feel like I've had a great time, reading-wise at least, and I'm hoping for some more five-star books still to come before the month is out!! Keep your eyes peeled for the second half of my wrap up at the end of September/beginning of October. Thanks for reading!

Till next time

Katie