Hey y’all! I know I said I would share a book review every day this week, but I read two amazing books this week that I couldn’t put down. They were one of those reads where you ignore everything else you need to do, like laundry or unpacking. I even decided to skip getting coffee before work one day because I wanted to read one of these books until the very last minute I needed to go to work.
For August, instead of packing up everything for the big move I had last month, I read seven books. This month was a diverse genre ranging from contemporary romance to thriller to young adult. So because there were so many books read this month, I don’t want to make this too long of a blog post. Let’s get into the reviews.
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Tokyo Ever After – Emiko Jean
Tokyo Ever After is the perfect young adult crossover of The Princess Diaries and American Royals. Izumi has always struggled to fit in and feel like she belongs. One day she uncovers a piece to her puzzle, her dad is a Japanese prince. Over spring break, she decides to travel to Japan to get to know her father and her heritage. What will happen when trying to prove she’s “Japanese” enough? Will she step up to the standards she feels she needs to be at?
This book was so cute and I’m so excited that Emiko is making this book into a series. It reminded me of What A Girl Wants, when the father figure becomes so busy and want his daughter to fit in that he forgets to take the chance to get to know her. It even touches on how her father and mother were still in love with each other, but expectations and standards are keeping them apart. What I really loved about this book was the relationship building between Izumi and her bodyguard. I can’t wait for the sequel to come out in May 2022.
I read this book as an e-book through the local library.
Rating
🌟🌟🌟🌟/5
The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels – India Holton
The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels follows Cecilia, who is a Victorian lady but with a twist. She’s also a pirate who is currently being hunted by an assassin. Ned, the assassin, is smitten with Cecilia from the moment he meets her, but his employer, Captain Morvoth has another plan for Cecilia. What neither men thought out was to never underestimate a woman.
I wanted to enjoy this book so much, but there was so much out there fantasy that I couldn’t. The bone of the story was interesting, but I couldn’t get over the flying houses or the family line. I knew that when there’s a character list at the beginning of the book it would be complicated, but the family lines were almost out there in a daytime soap opera way.
I read this book as an e-book through the local library.
Rating
🌟🌟🌟/5
The Girl He Used to Know – Tracey Garvis Graves
The Girl He Used to Know follows Annika and Jonathan as college students. Annika is awkward and anxious in social settings. She doesn’t like meeting new people. She has a schedule and routine she has to follow, until she meets Jonathan. She feels comfortable around Jonathan and enjoys spending time with him. Ten years later, she sees him again and still feels the same comfort she felt all those years ago, but doesn’t know if he feels the same.
Y’all this book was everything. I read this book in one day and couldn’t put it down. I’m pretty sure I stayed up until 4 AM to finish reading it. The back and forth of the story line between college Annika and Jonathan and adult Annika and Jonathan. Jonathan is the perfect boyfriend for someone who has a lot of particular likes and dislikes like Annika, who wasn’t formally diagnosed with Autism until they meet again. As they talk through what happened all those years ago and begin to build the trust around them again, you can feel Jonathan’s hesitation to jump back into a relationship with Annika because he knows he will be all-consumed by her and especially his love for her. I didn’t realize the ending timeline until a few chapters before the date and when I realized where the storyline was leading, it made this book even more emotional. Spoiler: I did shed some tears while reading this book. This is one of my favorite reads of 2021 and. I’ve been telling everyone I know to read this book.
I read this as a large print book (it was all they had) at the public library.
Rating
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5
The Last Thing He Told Me – Laura Dave
The Last Thing He Told Me follows Hannah who thought she was having a normal day only to discover her husband of a year has disappeared leaving one note that reads “Protect her”. She immediately knows that this means his daughter Bailey, who lost her mother at a young age. To make matters worse, Owen’s boss is arrested by the FBI and Owen is now a wanted man. As Hannah begins the journey to find out what happened, she begins to learn that Owen’s identity isn’t real.
While I wasn’t the biggest fan of Laura’s previous book, Eight Hundred Grapes, this book captured my interest and took me on an exciting journey. We eventually learned that Owen and Bailey are part of the witness protection program and all the steps they have to go through to be able to conceal their true identities. This book had so many twists and turns and I needed to find out what happened to Owen and Bailey all those years ago to cause them to go into hiding. The ending also tugged on the heartstrings. I definitely enjoyed this book a lot more than Eight Hundred Grapes.
This book was my May Book of the Month and was read as a physical hardback copy.
Rating:
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5
Very Sincerely Yours – Kerry Winfrey
Very Sincerely Yours is Ashley Brooke’s August Book Club pic. This story follows Teddy, who works at a vintage toy store and feeling like her life is going nowhere after being dumped by her long-term boyfriend. She turns to her comfort show, Everett’s Place, and decides to write a letter to Everett. Everett has everything going for him in life, but something still feels like it’s missing. When a letter from Teddy arrives in his inbox, he becomes drawn to her. After getting to know each other without meeting, what happens when they finally do meet?
This book was such a cute contemporary romance with puppets and toys as the supporting characters of this story. I also loved Everett’s little sister and the sass she had as a pre-teen. This story would honestly make for a really great Hallmark movie. Teddy and Everett were so shy around each other in person, especially because there was the dynamic that Teddy already knew who Everett is before Everett knew who Teddy was. It was the perfect light read to read between the two books I read and I’m definitely moving Waiting for Tom Hanks up higher on my TBR list.
I read this book in a physical copy purchased at Barnes and Nobles.
Rating:
🌟🌟🌟🌟/5
Razorblade Tears – S. A. Cosby
Razorblade Tears follows Ike and Buddy, two fathers who are both grieving from the deaths of their sons. Their sons were murdered and they are wanting answers. Both ex-cons who are trying to keep clean, they join together to face their prejudices and the lives they used to know to get the justice for their sons that they deserve.
There is so much about this book to unpack. From both Ike and Buddy never accepting their sons being gay, to all the gang wars and the fighting. I wanted to like this book more than I did, but I just couldn’t get into the violent aspect of the book. It felt like I was reading an action novel instead of a thriller. I’m the kind of person that instead of making a book a DNF (did not finish), I make myself push through it because I do want the answers to all the questions the book builds up. The ending of the book was also heartbreaking, but was done in a good way.
This book was my July BOTM pick and was read in a physical hardback copy.
Rating:
🌟🌟🌟/5
The Heart Principle – Helen Hoang
The Heart Principle follows violinist Anna who went viral on Youtube and is now in a rut. When her boyfriend decides he wants an open relationship, she decides she will have one too. She meets Quan and after three attempts at being a one-night stand fails, they decide they are in too deep for just a one-night stand. However, when tragedy strikes in Anna’s family, she has to take on a roll that she shouldn’t and now her and Quan have to fight for not just each other, but also for themselves.
This is the third book in Helen’s series, but the first one I’ve read. I loved that the main character is a person on the spectrum and in the authors note, Helen mentions that she created this book and Anna as a fictional work based off of her life, which made it more heartbreaking and real for me. Between reading this book and The Girl He Used To Know, I felt slightly more educated on Autism and definitely wanted to do more research into it. These books are the ones leading the way to more books being written where the main character has special needs and I’m so here for it. This is a great way to people to get a better understanding of those around them who may also have special needs.
This book was my August Book of the Month pick and was read as a physical hardback copy.
Rating:
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5
Book Stats
Books Read: 7 // Pages: 2,294 // Own: 4 // Library: 3 // Non-White Authors: 3
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