1. The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren (Romance) - I devoured this sweet romance in under 24 hours. I loved both Jess and River. I liked the inclusion of Jess' daughter, Juno, and how important she is to her. I enjoyed the DNA match aspect of the story. Jess and River had a lot of chemistry (or biology) from early on in the book. This was a light and quick read, with some good emotional parts as well.
2. Things We Lost to the Water by Eric Nguyen (Literary Fiction) - Overall, this was a good read. It took a while for me to be fully invested in the characters. Around Part 3, I became more invested and read the last few parts of the book much quicker than the beginning. I think this book offers a good perspective on the life of immigrants coming from Vietnam after the war there. I enjoyed the perspectives of Huong, Tuan, and Ben. This book jumps around in timeline so we get to experience the story of these characters over many years.
3. Half Sick of Shadows by Laura Sebastian (Fantasy) - I am not super familiar with the details of Arthurian mythology, other than a few of the main characters and the sword in the stone story. I had not actually heard of Elaine, our main character here. This was an enjoyable read, and once I reached the last 100-ish pages, I couldn't put it down because I had to know how the story would end. This story weaves together the present day, prophecies of the future, and flashbacks to the past. The format was always very clear on what timeline we were reading. I liked the complex friendships and love shown between Elaine, Morgana, Gwen, Lancelot, and Arthur.
4. Skye Falling by Mia McKenzie (Contemporary Fiction) - I think the best way to describe this story would be heart-warming. Skye is a character that can be described as a mess. She has complicated relationships with her family and friends, and doesn't like to let herself get too close to people, because she's afraid of getting hurt. I enjoyed reading about her getting to know, Vicky, the result of her egg donation, and Vicky's aunt, Faye. This story overall was more about character development than plot, and I liked it that way. Skye grew significantly from the beginning of the book, which was good to see.
5. The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris (Contemporary Fiction) - I enjoyed most of this book, especially the relationships and dynamics between Nella, Hazel, and others at the publishing house. The only thing I did not like about the story was the ending, because it felt way too far-fetched for my taste. I would have preferred the book stay more focused on the interrelationships at the office. Overall, though, this was a great story, page-turning, and hit on a lot of interesting topics. This felt like a very realistic dive into the challenges of the publishing industry.
6. Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid (Historical Fiction) - This was a good, quick read. I found it very gripping, and enjoyed the format of the 24-hour story, with backstory interspersed throughout. I liked all four of the Riva kids, especially Nina, who had been through a lot for someone her age. The story of their mother, June, and Mick was sad. Mick was not a very sympathetic character. I think this story was so compelling for me because I cared about the characters and had to know how everything would turn out for them.
7. Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata (tr. by Ginny Tapley Takemori) (Contemporary Fiction) - I have recently made it a reading goal of mine to read more books that were translated to English, and this is the first Japanese novel that I have read. This was a short, quick read. It was basically a character study of Keiko, a character who didn't fit in with the "norms" of society. I felt for her and did not like some of what her so-called "friends" said. I think the story had an interesting message and was a worthwhile read.
8. Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams (Contemporary Fiction) - When I was about 4 chapters into this book, I wasn't super comfortable with it, and put it down a bit while reading some other books. I picked it back up on a whim and continued where I had left off and flew through the rest in under 24 hours. I'm glad I came back to this story. Queenie is a mess at the beginning of the story, and I enjoyed seeing her path to recovery. I liked the strong support system that she found in her friends and family.
9. Seven Days in June by Tia Williams (Romance) - I enjoyed the relationship between Eva and Shane in this book and felt the emotions in the story were well done. I liked reading about Eva's relationship with her daughter, Audre, as well. This book dealt with some serious topics, including Eva's chronic pain from her migraines.
10. Meet Me in Paradise by Libby Hubscher (Romance) - This is not as light of a romantic comedy as it appears to be on the cover, but I was prepared for this from reading reviews. Much of this was a good sister story. A good portion of the story was sad as well. I won't give the details of why, but there was definitely a heartbreaking portion of the novel. I liked overly responsible Marin and her risk-taking younger sister, Sadie. I loved reading how much the two sisters cared about each other. I also enjoyed reading about Lucas Tsai, who could shows Marin around the island of Saba, and could potentially be her match.
11. God Spare the Girls by Kelsey McKinney (Literary Fiction) - I devoured most of this book in a span of a few hours. I enjoyed getting to know Abigail and Caroline. Their relationship as sisters read as complex and well-drawn. I felt sad for them as they dealt with the repercussions of their father's affair. This story is about family, love, faith, and consequences. I do not know how I feel about the ending. It was a complicated one, and a bit of an open ending. I would have liked some more pages after it to continue the story.
12. The Damage by Caitlin Wahrer (Thriller) - This was a very twisty and surprising book. There were multiple things that happened near the end that I did not expect at all, up through the last chapter. The chapters were short, which kept me hooked and turning pages quickly to know how everything would resolve. The characters in here were complicated. The book deals a bit with what the right thing is morally in certain situations.
13. Shoko's Smile by Choi Eunyoung (tr. by Sung Ryu) (Short Story Collection) - This was a lovely short story collection, translated from the original Korean. These stories were mostly about relationships that had been fragmented. Some of them had more open endings, and I would have loved to see some of them expanded into longer stories or novellas. My favorites were the longest two stories, "Shoko's Smile" and "Hanji and Youngju." The characters in these stories felt developed and complex.
I also have a couple of books that I started in June that are almost finished but not quite, so those books should make it into my July wrap-up.
