Summer 2023 Reads
Hello all! So excited to be back on the blog talking about books! I feel like this summer just started, and yet it’s almost over? It’s crazy how time flies.
Anyway, I wanted to dedicate this post to my recent summer reads. At the start of the year, I told myself I wanted to read fifty books by the end of the year. I’ve been tracking my progress on Goodreads, and so far I’ve read 22 books, so I’m almost halfway to that goal. I’m a little bit behind schedule, but I’m hoping I can still pull through by December. I’ve noticed myself reading the same three genres this summer—so much for variety, lol. I guess I just like what I like. I want to start reading more comtemporary fiction, as well as more translated literature. Anyone with recommendations, let me know!
The first two books to discuss from this summer stack are the two most recent Fantasy books I read—A Fire Endless by Rebecca Ross and Scorpica by G.R. Macallister.
A Fire Endless is the second book in the Elements of Cadence duology. The first book in the series is called A River Enchanted. I’ve posted about this first book on my Instagram, if you’re interested! The series is set in a fantasy world loosly based on medieval Scotland. The main character, Jack, is a bard who can sing to the gods of the island he lives on—whenever something bad happens on the island, Jack sings to the spirits to find answers. The island is divided almost equally by something called the Clan Line: on one side, the Tamerlaine clan lives, and the Breccan clan lives on the other side. The two clans DO NOT get along. Like, at all. A series of unfortunate events culminate at the end of the first book with the heirs of both clans swapping places, and going to live in the other’s domain. The problem? The love of Jack’s life is the heir to the Tamerlaine throne, and now she’s off in a dangerous and foreign place on her own. There’s a lot of magic, a lot of music, and a good enemies to friends to lovers romance. There were a few parts that I found a bit slow, but overall this was a nice way to end the duology. I’d recommend.
Scorpica was an interesting book, for sure. It’s 100% one of those fantasy books that you can tell is the first book in a series even if you went into it not knowing that. It reads a lot like a prequel, in a way. In this fantasy world, there are five queendoms: Scorpica, Arca, Paxim, Sestia, and The Bastion. There is instability between these queendoms, and each queen has her own dreams and her own agenda. As we get to know each queen and the land she rules, we are also clued in to what is certainly supposed to be the main plot of the novel—there is an evil sorceress who is bitter about the way she was sent (almost killed) into exile, and she’s planning revenge, i.e. she wants to destroy the five queendoms and unite them all under her. But the catch? She literally sucks. We start off feeling bad for her, but she’s literally a psychopath. She kills people and she’s generally just a bad person, although she thinks she's the only good guy around. I certainly thought this first book did a nice job of setting up the plot for the second book, and the third book after that. My biggest issue has everything to do with the plot and the pacing of the novel. For the first 200 pages, this book is a lot of vibes but not a lot of action or explanation. I was pretty confused as to what the heck was happening for a while. Once I did catch on, I was satisfied, but I think this book would be just as fun and exciting with 100 less pages in it. I could tell it was meant to be background world building on the authors part, but it wasn’t needed. I am really interested to read the second bool to see how things unfold farther. Overall, I’d give this book a 3/5. It was good, but could have been better for sure.
I also satisfied my greek myth retelling appetite with Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes. I LOVED this one. The narrative voice is very witty while still being very serious, and I found it to be really unique in a very not-cringy way. This is a retelling of the myth of Medusa and Perseus, and it centers Medusa as the main character. Anyone already familiar with this myth knows what happens to Medusa in the end, and I though the fragility and tragedy of that fate was handled really well in this book. The author portrays Medusa not as a monster, but a victim of her unfair circumstances caused by callous and disgusting men. I found it heartbreaking and immensely profound.
The Many Daughters of Afong Moy and The Hundred Loves of Juliet both served as my Magical Realism fix this summer. I am always hesitant to use the term “magical realism” when talking about books set in realistic settings with magical elements. I feel as though the term really should be reserved for the subset of magical fiction created by powerhouse Latin American writers like Ursula Le Guin and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, but in this case I don’t really have another name for what these books are. The Many Daughters of Afong Moy is a wonderful novel that spans decades, and really shows us how our actions (or refusal to act) can affect people in the future. It’s a really interesting discussion on generational trauma, and the people who made us who we are. Having the strength to break the cycle of destruction is a huge feat that should be acknowledged more than it is. The Hundred Loves of Juliet was a really cool book, as well.I suppose it is a reimagining of Romeo and Juliet, but I see it more as a continuation of their story. An epilogue, if you will. It poses the question: what if Romeo didn’t die with Juliet like Shakespeare said he did? And, conversely, what if Juliet finds her Romeo again and again throughout history, but dies and get riencarnated before they can get a chance to have a happy ending? This book was daring in it’s idea, and I thought it was executed pretty well for the most part. The narration was really well done, abeit a bit cliche at times, and overall the story was sound. I would’ve liked if certain parts were fleshed out more than they were, but for a romance novel, I actually liked it. That’s saying a lot. I do not read romance often.
The last book I recently read was How High We Go In The Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu. I’d describe it as Science Fiction first and foremost, but has elements that feel very realistic. This book was brilliant, but fair warning—it’s one of the saddest books I’ve read. The entire premise revolves around a pandemic, so if that’s a no no for you due to recent events, I would skip this one. That being said, the pandemic setting really gave this book heart and depth. It explores the crazy things people do when faced with the inevitability of their own death, and the deaths of people they love. There is A LOT of death in this book, children included. It spans years, and it really gets into the gritty details of love, hate, memory, and legacy. I cried probably five different times, but it was worth it.
Alright, I think that’s all for now. These posts always end up being wayyyyyy longer than I think they will be. If you read all the way to the end, thank you! You’re a real one.
Fashionably Yours,
Hanna