Well I guess the summer kind of got away from me, since I missed doing a wrap up post last month. But I’m back with an August wrap up! I usually talk about more than just books, but somehow I managed to read 18!! books this month, so I’m gonna just stick with a bookish wrap up this time. This month I’ve been just relaxing and taking care of a few necessary relocation related things, so I’ve had quite a lot of free time. Clearly this translated into me reading all the time haha. There were a ton of great reads! I’m going to separate my reads into different genres to make it less overwhelming for you all (and for me lol).

When you are all out of heroes, all that's left are the villains.
Black Herran was a dread demonologist, and the most ruthless general in all Essoran. She assembled the six most fearsome warriors to captain her armies: a necromancer, a vampire lord, a demigod, an orcish warleader, a pirate queen, and a twisted alchemist. Together they brought the whole continent to its knees... Until the day she abandoned her army, on the eve of total victory.
40 years later, she must bring her former captains back together for one final stand, in the small town of Tarnbrooke - the last bastion against a fanatical new enemy tearing through the land, intent on finishing the job Black Herran started years before.
Seven bloodthirsty monsters. One town. Their last hope.

Firstly, thank you so much to the lovely folks at Angry Robot for sending me a copy for review! And for including me on their tour for this book!

After I started reading this book, I realized that I don’t think I’ve really read a grimdark fantasy before? Okay I guess I’ve read Joe Abercrombie’s Shattered Sea trilogy, but that still felt a bit toned down (maybe because it’s young adult?). Anyway, I was kind of nervous. What if it’s too dark? Too gory? I was worried about liking it BUT it turns out I didn’t need to be worried. Yes, it was dark and gory and gruesome, of course. But it was also filled with humor and super interesting characters and scheming and so much more.

Thank you to Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl for hosting/organizing Top Ten Tuesday!

I love this topic!!! Rereading books is great, but often you can’t capture the same emotions and shock that you feel when you read a book for the first time. It was interesting to think about which books I’d choose, and the reasoning behind them. I wish there was some way we could actually do this though haha.

The Happy Place 5 is a monthly series where a few friends and I post 5 of our favorites books for a certain topic or theme. The name is from a Discord group that I am a part of. We created the space to have a positive environment for a handful of close friends. All of us are bookworms, and many of us are bookstagrammers and bloggers. So we decided to start a blog post series together! I’ll link my friends blogs and posts for this month’s topic at the end of this post.

Happy August! This month for our “The Happy Place 5” series, we are choosing books that we’d bring with us to a deserted island. I thought this was going to be difficult, but it turned out to be really easy for me! I was surprised. Also making this post really made me want to read all of these books like right now hahaha.

For as long as she can remember, Eden has been on the run. The open road is the only freedom she’s ever known, the only life she’s ever had. But when the road ends in a backwater town, a mysterious phone call sends her on a new journey.
Lazarus is no stranger to ghosts. Shades and spirits are his constant companions, it’s the living that set him on edge. The decision to help a troubled mage will find him taking on more than he bargained for.
Becoming a hunter was never part of Zeke’s plan.He finds himself stepping into all the dark places where horrors lurk and spirits roam free—until a job gone wrong shows him there’s more than one way to deal with a monster.
A missing friend.A chance to prove himself.A desire to keep the darkness inside at bay.Together, the three set out on the long road east, each pulled by a secret.But a powerful presence lurks in the shadows, eager to make a deal that will change their lives forever.

You know what’s amazing? That I know people who write books. I think all authors are amazing – writing a book (or fanfiction!) is a great accomplishment. And it blows my mind that I’ve been able to meet up and coming authors through the bookstagram community!! One of those is Hannah Marae, who you can find on Instagram @hannah.marae. When I heard about this book of hers, I was super excited. She offered me an advanced copy, and I’m so glad I took her up on the offer. I really enjoyed the book overall.