Here is my July reading recap! Managed to read through three books this month, two of which I rated five stars. Overall, not a bad reading month for me. Almost capped out at two but I was adamant to have a third book in there to round things out and I’m glad I did as it’s one of my favorites for the year so far. Check out my thoughts on what I read in July below:
Along Came Amor by Alexis Daria – read my full review here!
The Lies Always Told by Ambar Cordova – I wanted to like this book more than I did. I don’t think the story is bad but it’s just not for me. Truthfully, I only finished it because it’s the pick for book club and I wanted to finish it to discuss it with the group. The Lies Always Told is a combo of small town, friends to lovers, miscommunication (or rather, lack thereof) romance with many spicy scenes sprinkled throughout. The main characters are Gus Zabanas, a rich entrepreneur who doesn’t date due to his health issues, and Nellie Thompson, former child “genius” who just graduated from college/grad school and is starting her adult life. Gus is part of Nellie’s sister Cara’s friend group, though Gus’s and Nellie’s moms are longtime friends, so they’ve been in each other’s lives since childhood. Nellie is 21, with Gus at 26 so while he is older than her, the age gap isn’t a big deal. However, Nellie’s age is brought up a lot where she’s seen as “so young” and that is true to a point.
One of the things I didn’t like about the story is how her age was constantly brought up and how Nellie kept trying to act more like an adult as a way to push back. Because of her intelligence, Nellie was ahead academically where she finished grad school at the same time her peers were graduating with their bachelor’s. As a result of this, she felt like she was both ahead and behind and didn’t have a group she fit in with. In Nellie’s efforts to push back on the “young” claim, she acted like an immature brat. Both Nellie and Gus had communication problems that could have been easily solved with conversation. Without spoiling anything, another thing I didn’t like about the book was the last ~20%. Events occur that affect Gus and Nellie that I feel could have been left out of the story. The events brought them together, which made me feel like it could have been a trauma bond at that point, but I would argue that there could have been another way to finally bring them together. The book is written in dual POV where both characters are consumed by each other; very little happens outside of their thoughts about each other where I struggled to stay connected to the story.
Sounds Like Love by Ashley Poston – I’m a big fan of Ashley Poston’s books and of her use of magical realism and this was no exception. Sounds Like Love is the story of Joni Lark, a successful songwriter who is stuck; she seems to have lost her creative energy and can’t continue to write. She goes home for the summer, happy to be surrounded by family and their family business at The Revelry, the small town’s music venue, hoping to be inspired but things have changed. That is, until she hears a melody in her head, among other things. What she doesn’t expect is who the melody is connected to and that he can hear it, too. Will Joni finally break her creative block and get this song out of her head?
Sounds Like Love is honestly a perfect summer read. You’re immediately transported to Vienna Shores, which just feels like summer based on its description but also of the rest of the characters in the story who bring the town and the story to life. Joni and Sebastian’s connection, literally, is so interesting but a unique way to foster intimacy between them to help them both get through their inner turmoil – mostly because there is nowhere to hide. I could have easily read this book in a day as it was an easy read and kept me engaged the entire time. The use of magical realism is one of my favorites in Poston’s books so far, and we get a little cameo from characters from one of her other books as well. Overall, one of my favorite reads for this year!
