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June was a BIG reading month for me. Not only did I read quite a bit but I read a wide variety of books. I read some fantasy (as per usual), nonfiction, graphic novels, and audiobooks! I’m really happy with how much I read and I hope you enjoy my June reading wrap up!

Tale of the Dragon Champion by Chris Devin

I received this book as an ARC (advanced reader copy) free of charge from the author in exchange for a review. Thank you to the author for choosing me to be an ARC reader!

This book is a YA fantasy about a young girl who is drafted in a war whose side she doesn’t even believe in. She runs into some rebels for the other side where one of them tells her she closely resembles in features, one of the royals who died at the beginning of this war. He quickly convinces her to join them and she abandons her post to fight for the other side, but really, all she wants is freedom.

The other side also soon realizes that she is one of the last dragon riders alive and her dragon has come to help. We’re then taken on a journey of war, politics, action, and adventure as our main character begins to navigate this new territory while vying for her freedom.

I will be very honest and say that I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I thought I would. The premise sounded so enticing and the first few chapters had me hooked. But then the characters’ motivations became muddled and on top of that, it was hard to keep up with all the different characters that were soon introduced. I felt that it was just too political for me and there was too much history to try and remember about the lands. Overall, it was a little too much for me and just not my cup of tea, unfortunately. 

Bloodless Ties by Katie Wismer

Bloodless Ties is the third book in the Marionettes series written by Katie Wismer. It’s an adult paranormal romance that focuses on our main character, Valerie who is a witch and is a part of the Marionettes. The Marionettes are a group of witches who serve the royal vampires that rule over different estates throughout the world. In the first book, Valerie is partnered with none other than the Prince himself of the New York estate. A romance starts to form between the two of them, although this is a slow burn so prepare yourself!

I won’t go into too much detail about this third book as I don’t want to give anything away from the first two. But we’re continuing Valerie’s story and following her through some perilous moments. The author kept me on the edge of my seat with this one! I think this one was probably my favorite thus far because we were introduced to new characters and had a location change that was interesting. I will say, a lot more questions were posed in this book that I hope she’ll answer in the fourth and final book of the series!

Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody

This is the only writing book you’ll ever need! Ok, I’m exaggerating a bit because you should read lots of writing books and refer to several. BUT, this book is like the basis for all others for me. I’ve read this book before but since I’m in the process of writing my first real book this year (visit my blog post where I talk about this goal here!) so I wanted to brush up on the basics.

This book is a great start to anyone’s writing journey. It’s also good for those who are experienced writers but are feeling a little stuck. This author takes the reader step by step through the basics of a novel’s structure. She lays out everything you need to know to begin or continue your writing journey and save the cat!

I found this book super helpful even the second time reading it through. I’ve had this idea of characters and a world for a book for so long but wasn’t quite sure what the story was. Save the Cat! has really helped me through that and plot out all the major beat points.

Shut up and Write the Book by Jenna Moreci

Can you tell I’m brushing up on all my technical skills this month? This is another great read for authors! Jenna Moreci takes us briefly through the whole process of publishing a book. From the drafting stage all the way to publishing. She really hits all the points a writer could ever need. However, she does this briefly on every topic. No matter what stage you are in the process she has a little something for everyone.

While I only needed to utilize the plotting and writing portion of this book, I still found the whole book helpful. This author is witty and stern with her advice. She gives the kick in the behind that I needed and I believe a lot of authors may need. So go ahead and shut up and write the book already!

Seek You: A Journey through American Loneliness by Kristen Radtke

Are you ready to think and mull over deep thoughts about loneliness and what it means? Then you’ll love this graphic novel by Kristen Radtke! We’re taken through a lot of factual information and statistics on loneliness specifically in America. But she also adds her own commentary on what it means and how it differs from person to person. 

I felt that I read this graphic novel at just the right time in my life too. I’d been pondering about the feelings we sometimes get. You know the one where you’re in a room full of people but feel so alone? She discusses all this and more and how COVID really affected it as well. The art is gorgeous and the story keeps you reading all the way to the end and I loved every second of it!

Release by Lucy Christopher

I was so unbelievably excited to read this book! If you’re not aware this is the second book following Stolen by Lucy Christopher. Release picks up ten years after Stolen ends and follows Gemma as she navigates the aftermath. If you’d like to read more of my thoughts and the premise of Stolen, you can find that in this blog post.

This book did not disappoint. I was a little worried it would since it’s actually been ten years since the author released the first book. However, she still packs a punch and keeps knocking the wind out of me the whole way through this book. I flew through it and never wanted to put it down. And then when I finally did finish, I just clutched it to my chest and stared into space for a good few minutes because I wasn’t sure what else to do with my emotions.

The Best We Could Do (graphic novel) by Thi Bui

Alright so this next one is basically a memoir in graphic novel form. The author takes us through her family history and the why and when her family immigrated to America from Vietnam. She tells their story in a heart wrenching way and relates it back to her current life with the family she’s now started. It’s a beautiful story that had me sucked in from the beginning and I didn’t want to put it down. She uncovers more truths about her past, some that she never even imagined could’ve happened to her family. The art is gorgeous and the story keeps you so immersed you won’t want to put it down!

Here (graphic novel) by Richard McGuire

This graphic novel is very abstract. Think of it like literary fiction but for graphic novels. The artwork is beautiful and we only stay focused on one room within a house. As we progress through the book we see little windows around the page into different time periods. We jump around from late 1900’s to present day and then all the way back to 10,000 B.C.. Obviously during that late time period there’s no house there. However, we gather from context clues that we’re still in the same location where this house will later be built.

I felt that there wasn’t an overall story throughout this book. If there was, it went way over my head. However, I still enjoyed this book and the artistic creativity of the author and artist. It was such a unique concept that I didn’t want it to end.

For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten

Ok I’m gonna be honest. I should not have read this book at this moment in time. I listened to this on audio and I realized I missed so many chunks because my brain was in and out of listening. With that being said, I’ll tell you all what it’s about but I’m gonna need to reread it when I can really pay attention.

This is a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. We are in a fantasy world where a kingdom must give up their second daughter to the wolf, while the first daughter is destined for the crown. We follow twin sisters, one destined for the wolf, the other for the crown. Red, the second daughter, is ready for her fate and has accepted it. Her sister, who is for the crown, won’t accept it and is doing everything in her power to find a loophole. When Red enters the forest to give herself up to the wolf in the woods, she finds a man instead and learns that everything she’s been taught has been a lie. 

From what I remember, I thought this was a great read. It read more of an upmarket book for me, so right on the cusp of being literary because the author’s writing still is very lyrical. It flowed so smoothly and she painted gorgeous imagery. I just wish I could’ve paid more attention to this one!

Shubeik Lubeik by Deena Mohamed

Oh my goodness, what an amazing graphic novel this was! This was originally published in three separate parts and also in Arabic. I, of course, read the English version but it was still printed from back to front, since in Arabic you’re supposed to read right to left. It took me a minute to get used to it but once you do, you fly through this book!

In this alternate version of Cairo, there exists wishes. Anyone can purchase a wish, but be careful. Some of these wishes are lower class and some are considered first class.

When you use a lower class wish you have to be super specific about what you want and even then it may not come out how you planned. For example, if I wished for a nice Porsche, I may not get what we’re all thinking. I may end up getting a tiny toy version of a Porsche. However, the first class wishes will get you more of what you want but they cost a lot more money. So in this world wishes have been around for a long time and the governments around the world have created laws governing the use of them.

These three separate stories all go together. We are following an older gentleman who owns and runs a convenience stand on the corner. He inherited three wishes and decides he needs to finally sell them. In the first section we follow a woman who buys the first wish. In the second, it’s a young boy contemplating not even using the wish he’s purchased from the man. And the third wish, well you’ll just have to read it!

This graphic novel raised some very important topics to discuss within our society. Things such as greed and classism and it had me pondering a lot of different thoughts on these topics. I absolutely loved this book and the detail the author put into even the history behind the wishes and the governing rules. It’s imbued with difficult topics but overall a wonderful read!

Ruthless Ends by Katie Wismer

Yup, I read the last book in the Marionettes series this month as well! This final book is the culmination of all of Valerie’s struggles and we get to see everything come to a head. I so wanted to love this final book. However, there were so many questions left unanswered for me.

Now because I follow this author on YouTube, she has mentioned writing a spin off series based on some of these characters. Knowing that I didn’t hold it too much against her for not answering some questions. However, had I not known that I would’ve been sorely disappointed. Overall, I loved this series and there are some characters that will probably always remain in my brain (cough cough, Cam). But I was a little let down on the ending and really hope she does release a spin off series!

Another great reading month down and the year is flying by! I’d love to hear what you read this month in the comments below or if you’ve read any of the books I mentioned in this post, what your thoughts were!

If you prefer to listen to me talk about these books, check out my YouTube video down below 🙂