July Wrap Up

In the month of July I read a total of 4 books. 2 of which I have already wrote reviews on which I'll link to in due cause.

The first book I read in the month of July was Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard. Red Queen is the first book in a young adult, fantasy series. The novel is set in a land divided by the colour of Blood. Reds are seen as commoners who are ruled by the elite Silver who possess god like powers. The story joins a Red, Mare Barrow, who lives in a
poverty stricken village. A twist of fate brings our main character in front of a Silver Court. Faced with the people she hates the most. The King fears her and hides her in plain view. This turns Mare against all she has believed and known changing her fate and her families fate for good.


I gave Red Queen a 5/5 stars. This was because I really enjoyed aspects such as the land the book is set in. As well as this, the writing allowed me to form my own opinions on multiple characters within the book. The book always threw out some surprises I did not see coming which kept me engaged with the storyline. Making me want to read more.

One downside to this book was some of the events that happened in the story I predicted. This was only in a few areas however, I did guess a chunk of the ending of the book which left me a bit disheartened.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to get back to reading fantasy. This is the reason why I picked up Red Queen.

Review: http://livingontheborderlinebooks.blogspot.com/2015/08/red-queen-by-victoria-aveyard-is-first.html

The second book I read was Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn. This novel is an adult crime/thriller which follows a young reporter, Camille Preaker, who has been sent to report on the disappearance of a young girl from her home town, Wind Gap. Once there Camille soon realises she is going to have to look deep into her turbulent family life to really progress with the reporting on this shocking case. With another girl disappearing the situation becomes dire to find out who is taking the young girls and why commit such a crime in a quiet, remote town.

I gave this novel a 3/5 stars. Some aspects of Sharp Objects I really enjoyed such as Camille Preakers background story. This was covered extremely well with relevance to present events in the book. As well as this the book had a great twist that I did not predict or even see coming. This was a pleasant surprise to me.

One of the main issues I had with this book is the lack of excitement and thrill I got from the storyline. Considering the book is quite short there are times where the storyline falls flat and nothing is happening in the novel of any importance or excitement. At some points I found this novel boring until it picked up again which is something you don't expect from a book with only 323 pages.

The third book I read in the month of July was The Martian by Andy Weir. The Martian is a sci-fi adult book. The story joins the main character, Mark Watney and his crew receiving news from NASA a freak sand storm is heading there way and they have to evacuate. However, between the Habitat (in which the crew life in) to the spacecraft something happens to our main character which makes the crew believe he is dead. This results in the rest of the crew leaving him behind on Mars.

I gave this book a 5/5 stars. It has become one of my all time favourite books. It got to the point where I had difficulty picking up another book after completing this one because I loved it so much. I really enjoyed the elements of companionship, survival and hope in this book. Mark Watney's determination and humour is really up lifting.

One of the main difficulties I had with The Martian is the high use of scientific jargon used. However, after another perspective comes into play, working through the jargon becomes a lot easier. You adapt to it as the book goes on. In the end you need to know the science behind the book so you understand the future cause and effect.

Review: http://livingontheborderlinebooks.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-martian.html



The last book I completed in the month of July was Mosquitoland by David Arnold. This is a young adult, road trip themed novel. We join the storyline with the main character Mim Malone. She overhears her mother is unwell. As her parents split up in the recent past, Mim Malone takes it upon herself to travel across states to be reunited with her sick Mother. She hops on a Greyhound bus and off she goes. Throughout the story, Mim Malone, hits much adversity as well as, making new friends along the way.

I gave Mosquitoland a 3.5/5 stars. I really enjoyed the elements of companionship and strength of our young main character throughout this read. The author covered the importance of goals very well in this novel which I admired.

Some downsides of this novel was I thought the background stories of the other characters who feature heavily in this book were lacking. This was disappointing for me.

If you're expecting a happy, roadtrip read this book is not for you.

Review: http://livingontheborderlinebooks.blogspot.com/2015/07/mosquitoland.html

That's all I read in the month of July. I hope you enjoyed this wrap up.