JULY READS

Thanks in part to another Discord Readathon, I was able to get through a number of reads this month. 

1. THE CREW


This was a wild and surprising 5/5 ride

This ended up being so much more than what I was expecting. I loved the dark, wacky humor mixed with more serious themes and tons of video game easter eggs sprinkled in throughout.


2. The Fear of Moncroix


5/5 for an awesome professional resource

I've always been a bit of a sucker for a good vampire story and boy did this one deliver on a tightly woven, blood-sucking tale. I especially appreciated the more fantastical elements that were worked in and enjoyed the little twists/changes to vampire lore. 

3. Seasons of Albadone


A dark, yet enchanting 4/5 read

This one was definitely not for the faint of heart, but there is still a lot of fairy tale intrigue to keep an air of enchantment present throughout these four tragic tales. There's the start of something really special here when it comes to the worldbuilding and lore of this fantastical setting and I think I will be returning to it at some point to see what other tall tales the authors have to tell. 

4. Of Blood and Fire


This was a somewhat underwhelming 3/5 adventure for me

In many ways, this indie darling was "just okay" for me. It certainly accomplishes what it sets out to do in terms of being truly indistinguishable from a traditionally published fantasy novel, but that wasn't necessarily such a great thing for me although I can definitely appreciate all of the carefully constructed worldbuilding and high degree of polish that Cahill put into this. 


5. The Fall


This was another 3/5 that was largely just dragged down by breakneck pacing

A ton of people were positively blown away by this novella, but again, I failed to fully connect with this highly popular series. I'm generally someone who appreciates fast pacing, but I found this to be a bit too much of a good thing in that regard. The story is told from four very interesting perspectives and covers a super interesting point in this world's history, but it all blasted by much too quickly for me to feel fully connected or invested in anything or anyone. 


Going into August, I will be prioritizing books by Andrew and Patricia Meredith that I have been putting off in favor of doing read alongs. I may try to continue with Cahill's THE BOUND AND THE BROKEN series if I have time at the end of the month, but I kind of feel like I keep getting burned whenever I prioritize these more popular indie series, so this time, I'm going to push works by lesser known authors to the top of the pile, especially since I think I will like them more. 


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