June Wrap-Up (2017)

What a month! That was the month where I got the most reading done, it’s been a while since I could read all day like that and it felt really great. I haven’t dedicated as much time for reviews as I hope I would, but I finished my binge-read of a great series, plus read some amazing sequels.
Obviously I’ll try and write longer reviews for most of these when I can, especially for the ARCs!
The great number of books I read can be explained by the fact that I also read more novellas and short stories than usual, but still! Here is everything:

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1) The Murders of Molly Southbourne, by Tade Thompson
eARC from the publisher
That was amazingly weird and gory. I couldn’t stop reading once I started and needed to know what was up, in a disgusted and awed kind of way. The kind of horror story I like!

2) La Mémoire de Babel (La Passe-Miroir #3), by Christelle Dabos
Je n’ai pas adoré autant que les deux premiers tomes au début, mais la fin était sensationnelle et j’ai très très hâte pour le quatrième et dernier tome de la série! D’un 3, à 3,5 puis 4/5, ce livre n’a pas été facile à noter pour moi!
Mais j’aime beaucoup comment Christelle Dabos nous balade dans son monde.

3) Going Through The Motions (Stake Sauce Stories #1), by RoAnna Sylver 
A really nice “first chapter”, with engaging characters! 99 cents well spend! I can’t wait for the whole thing to be available.

4) Acadie, by Dave Hutchinson
eARC from the publisher
Well that was an awesome novella! I was confused for a short time because I couldn’t understand how we got from point A to point B but then realised it was a flashback. While there was some problematic choice of words, the ending was a mind blowing one which made me want to read it all over again (it’s really short) to understand better and try to look at it with a fresher look.

 

5) Last First Snow (Craft Sequence #4), by Max Gladstone 
WOW so I really loved this book, it’s actually the first book in the chronological order and it was amazing. I’m only sad that Elayne or Chel weren’t featured on the cover.

6) Three Parts Dead (Craft Sequence #1), by Max Gladstone
Already read this book 2 years ago but I felt I needed a reread to better appreciate Four Roads Cross and I was right! Dang this book was amazing. Might still be my favourite of the five.

7) Four Roads Cross (Craft Sequence #5), by Max Gladstone 
Back with Tara!! And that’s a direct sequel so I’m not going to say too much. The first half was a bit slow to get moving but then everything went in directions I wasn’t expecting. Great great book.

Here’s my review of the whole of the Craft Sequence

8) Ruin of Angels (Craft Sequence #6), by Max Gladstone 
eARC from the publisher
Book 1-5 could be seen as a season 1, and this one the start of the second season. Back with Kai and Izza from Full Fathom Five, in a totally different city. The whole cast of characters were women, all amazing in different ways. I LOVED it and am really looking foward to get a finished copy in September!

 

9) Age of Swords (The Legends of the First Empire #2), by Michael J. Sullivan 
eARC from Netgalley
I loved Age of Myth last year and gave it 5 stars. Age of Swords was even better than what I expected. I’m still trying to put into word for my final review how amazing this sequel was. The Girl Gang feel in this one was thrilling, I love the characters so MUCH.

10) The Tiger’s Daughter (Their Bright Ascendency #1), by K. Arsenault Rivera
eARC from Netgalley
I have been excited about this book since April 2016 and having a chance to read it in advance for review was almost like a dream come true. I was a bit confused at first because it is told in the form of a letter from one woman to another, recollecting their life, but I soon became very invested and couldn’t stop cheering for these amazing women. This was all so badass and magical and also : they love (romantic love!) each other so much it was amazing. I preordered a copy as soon as I finished reading. October can’t come soon enough!

11) eyes I dare not meet in dreams, by Sunny Moraine
Available here.
This short story was amazing, about the Women in Refrigerators trope and revenge.

12) Lullaby for a Lost World, by Aliette de Bodard
Available here.
I wanted to read this one because I fell in love with the cover back when it was revealed. Also I have Aliette de Bodard’s novel waiting for me in my shelf so I wanted to get a quick taste of her writing. This was a really dark but enthralling story, about revenge without mercy, and magic.

 

13) The Black Tides of Heaven (Tensorate #1), by JY Yang
14) The Red Threads of Fortune (Tensorate #2), by JY Yang
eARC from the publisher
Those novellas were really great and different from what I was expecting. The world building is really well crafted, mixing magic and technology (silkpunk), with very engaging characters. There’s also raptors and magical creatures. The first focuses on Akeha and the second on Mokoya. I have to say I enjoyed the second more, but I wouldn’t have loved it that much if I hadn’t read the first first. These novellas really work as twins, like the main characters. I also loved how these novellas explored gender and issues of class. I’m already looking forward to the third and fourth stories!

15) Strange the Dreamer (Strange the Dreamer #1), by Laini Taylor
This book was a gift for my birthday back in May from a dear friend living in the UK. I really had a good time reading it, mostly because Lazlo is a great character to follow, really kind and compassionate, in love with books and tales. I was a bit confused by the end, but really curious as to how the sequel will wrap all of this up.

16) Radio Silence, by Alice Oseman
Another book I got for my birthday, from my sister! I’d been dying to read this book ever since it was announced because I love Alice Oseman as an author. Her debut Solitaire was really good. I don’t read contemporary YA novels often, but hers remind me how great these books can be. This one deals with overachievers, fanarts and podcast, internet fame and complicated friendship. I read it in one setting and gave it 5/5 on goodreads, an amazing novel.
trigger warning: abusive parent.

17) The White-Throated Transmigrant, by E. Lily Yu
Available here
Both nice, hard and captivating, this story wasn’t my favourite but did its job in keeping me abosbed and wondering where this was going.

18) Lab Girl, by Hope Jahren
So, I know I started this memoir back in january, but I finally took the time to sit and read the last 200 pages and while I don’t read memoirs often, I can say this one will stay a favourite. I loved the voice, the geobiology facts and the wonderful friendship. I would recommend this book to everyone.

19) You’ll Surely Drown Here If You Stay, by Alyssa Wong
Available here
I read this because it won the Locus Award for Best Novelette this year. This is a horror fantasy story set in a the old west, in a whorehouse. It feature necromancy and desert magic. I loved most of it but then got really disappointed that it was another story linking an asexual character to death. This is an harmful trope.

20) Sea of Rust, by C. Robert Cargill
eARC from netgalley
This book is set in a world where the robots won the war against the humans, and focuses on a robot named Brittle, a scavenger only looking to survive the sick world. I really liked it but I was expecting a bit more maybe. I do like that it anwered all the questions I had, but the twists fell a bit flat for me.

 

21) Heroine Worship (Heroine Complex #2), by Sarah Kuhn
eARC from Netgalley
Another great sequel! I love Heroine Complex last year about an assistant to a super heroine in San Francisco and this one focusing on the super heroine herself was super great. I love the characer development in the characters and how fun this was.

22) The Epic Crush of Genie Lo, by F.C. Yee 
eARC from Netgalley
A dozen pages in this book and I already knew this was going to be a 5/5. The main character is a Chinese American girl, there are chinese folklore elements and a lot of action and fighting and I also couldn’t stop laughing and highlighting all the pages for the awesome quotes. The romance between a tall girl and a short boy (this is so rare in books, I was so happy!) was very light and made me smile a lot. There is much more to say about this but in short : look for it in August!

23) Rocket Raccoon, Volume 1: A Chasing Tale, by Skottie Young and Jake Parker
I didn’t hate this but didn’t love it either. The art was cool, the story was fun, but there were just too many things about killing your exes?? This made me a bit uncomfortable.

24) Of Sorrow and Such, by Angela Slatter
Great novella recommended to me by April-Jane!

25) I read another novel, but as of this moment I can’t yet talk about it. I’ll edit soon!

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Some numbers:
25 books
14 novels, 6 novellas, 4 short stories and novelette, 1 comic book
24 in English and 1 in French
9 from publishers

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What I posted this month:

Book review: The Traitor’s Tunnel
Book review: The secrets i keep
Book review: The New Voices of Fantasy
Book review: Raven Stratagem
Book review: Necessary Monsters
Books review: The Craft Sequence

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Currently reading:

(short story available here)