Another month is over, so we want to tell you about the books we read last month. Was June a good reading month? Did we find any new favorites? Keep reading our June wrap to find out!
Candyce
In June I read 21 books (9 paperbacks, 6 eARCs, 3 hardcovers (special editions), 2 eBooks, and 1 audiobook). Over half of my books were physical reads and I’m very happy about that. My reading still isn’t completely what it used to be, but we’re getting closer to being back on track.
Boundless – Cynthia Hand
After having the Unearthly trilogy on my shelves for almost 10 years, I can finally say I completed the trilogy. I’m actually sad it took me so long to read these books. They were actually a lot of fun. I will say that Boundless was my least favorite of the three, but it was interesting to see everything wrapped up.
Our Rogue Fates – Sarah Glenn Marsh
Our Rogue Fates was a book I was really excited to read. I’ve loved a couple of the YA books this author wrote. Unfortunately, I didn’t love this one at all. It felt like we were just dropped into the story and I was really confused. I also didn’t really feel the connection between our two main characters and it makes me very sad.
Love Song – Elle Kennedy
Love Song is one I just randomly picked up one evening and I’m so glad I did. This book was so much fun. I loved Wyatt and Blake’s romance as they were both trying to figure out what they wanted to do. Also, the cameos from the characters we’ve come to know and love from Elle Kennedy’s other books had it hard for me to put this down. I laughed, cried, and swooned. Love Song was just the book I needed.
Us Against You – Fredrik Backman
I read Beartown in 2023 and it’s a book I think about often. So I decided it was finally time to sit down with Us Against You. Fredrik Backman has a beautiful way with words and even though there are quite a few POVs, his story is seamless. There is tragedy but also some beautiful moments. I really want to pick up the final book of the trilogy soon.
Us Dark Few – Alexis Patton
Us Dark Few proves to me again that I’m really in my dystopian (romance) era. People now live underground after radiation poisoning made it impossible to stay on the surface. In all honesty, how this happened could easily actually happen and that’s scary. The world, politics, and characters were all very interesting. While it’s clear that there will be a romance, we’re definitely getting time with them before it takes over some of the story. I need the sequel!
The Night Bus – Tessa Bickers
I wasn’t expecting a story about two people who keep seeing each other on the bus to also get very emotional, but it did. This book is filled with unexpected connections, figuring out who you are and what you want, love, standing up for yourself, and following your dreams.
Startup Hell – Caitlin Rozakis
While I’m not in the corporate world myself, but I love a cozy fantasy. Starup Hell had some laugh out loud moments and hit in all the feels a few times as well. I do think that the ending was wrapped up a bit too quickly though. Other than that, I had a great time reading this book.
Starsight – Brandon Sanderson
After really enjoying Skyward, I was excited to hop into the next book. I will say that I didn’t love it just as much as the first book but I think it’s setting up a lot for the rest of the series. This was close to 500 pages and it didn’t feel like that at all. I’ll be reading the novellas before I pick up Cytonic later in July.
Rumors & Whiskey – Victoria Wilder
The Bourbon Boys was such a surprising trilogy and I had a great time. So I knew I’d need to read The Whiskey Women. Rumors & Whiskey started off a bit confusing, but once I understood what was going on, I was hooked! Wyn & Julian are such interesting characters and I loved their story.
Star Shipped – Cat Sebastian
Star Shipped seemed like it had everything to become a book that I loved, but I ended up really disappointed. We didn’t get any real time with the show these two are on, I didn’t feel chemistry/tension, there wasn’t much plot, and I really needed dual POV.
The Swan’s Daughter – Roshani Chokshi
Roshani Chokshi always writes beautifully and that was once again the case with The Swan’s Daughter. Her writing is beautiful and I loved how she slowly gave us the information we needed for this world. Demelza was an interesting character and I enjoyed reading about her journey in becoming her own person. That being said, I felt like the story stayed a bit on the surface and I felt more of a friendship than romance between Demelza and Arris.
Fallen City – Adrienne Young
Fallen City is a book that’s intrigued me since I heard about it. This fantasy is told in two timelines: before and now. I appreciated this, because the build up to the end really worked this way. Slowly learning things really kept the tension going. The romance was one I was curious about and it didn’t take over the story. I’m definitely interested in the sequel to see how this all plays out.
My Brilliant AI Boyfriend – Stella Hayward
My Brilliant AI Boyfriend sounded like a really cute and it definitely started out that way. I did appreciate the discussion of AI in this book and I could relate to the main character in a couple of ways, but that’s where it stopped for me. For me I think that this book was just trying to do too much and that made it not make sense to me.
Every Borrowed Beat – Erin Stewart
Every Borrowed Beat is a YA book I received an eARC of last year and just now got around to. Oops! I’m so glad I finally picked this up. Our main character just received a heart transplant after really thinking she wasn’t going to survive. The guilt and realization that you have a whole life ahead of you can be hard to deal with. Add in a little romance, friendships, and life not always going the way you think and this was just an amazing story.
Tropesick – Lauren Okie
Tropesick was a book I was really looking forward to and I was so grateful to have received an eARC. Our two main characters don’t expect to ever see each other again, but a ghostwriting job brings them back together. I enjoyed switching between the past and the present as well as seeing some tropes come to life. I’ll always love a little magical realism in romances.
Lies Between Us – Jessica Goodman
Lies Between Us is a YA murder-mystery that I was curious about. When a teenager dies in this small town the investigation kind of takes over everyone’s lives. I enjoyed that we got three POVs (all of the sisters) and little glimpses of what happened the night this boy dies. This was a pretty fast read and I had a few theories and one proved to be right. All in all, I did enjoy my time with Lies Between Us, but the ending was just a little underwhelming.
In Every Possible Way – Alicia Thompson
Romances with a bit of magical realism are ones that I tend to love, so I was very excited about In Every Possible Way. This book exceeded my expectations and even though it was kind of a case of instalove, it did really work for this book. I could read hundreds of books like this and never get sick of them.
Hopeless Necromantic – Shiloh Briar
Hopeless Necromantic was such a breath of fresh air. I had so much fun with this story. Our main characters are a necromancer and a demon. That’s definitely not a combination you expect! They go on a quest together and learn a lot about themselves, but also find each other. Ben definitely stole the show for me though.
The 2000s Made Me Gay: Essays on Pop Culture – Grace Perry
I saw someone read this on a booktube video and I was intrigued. I’m not queer myself, but I do enjoy pop culture and how it can influence our lives. The author takes different TV shows, music, and different events to examine how these influenced her life and figuring out her own sexuality. I knew about most of the things Grace talks about and that made it interesting. I do think I would’ve loved this a little bit more if it focused just a tad bit more on her life instead of just on the surface. It was definitely an interesting read though.
Give Me More – Sara Cate
I’ve been meaning to read more of this series after really enjoying the first book. Give Me More is one I had on my phone to read. I want to say it was free at one point. That being said, Give Me More is very spicy and has three people trying to figure out what they are to each other. And someone trying to come to terms with feelings they never expected to have. For a story like this, I will say there was quite a bit of communication and that’s something I really appreciated.
Radiant – Cynthia Hand
So I finished the third Unearthly book at the beginning of the month, but didn’t even notice there was a 2.5 until after that. While I wish I would’ve read Radiant before Boundless, I’m glad I still picked it up. It gave us a little more background on Angela’s part in the story. I’m really glad I read this series.
Isabelle
I read 7 books this month and almost all of them were rereads… If we would count fanfiction, I would add a ton more stories, but I wouldn’t even know where to start with those haha. So let’s take a look at those 6 books.
The Mistake – Elle Kennedy
After watching Off-Campus I wanted to continue reading the series. I had read The Deal a while ago and now I finally read The Mistake. Since the books have been taken off of Kindle Unlimited I’m not sure yet when I will be reading the rest of the series.
Crown of Midnight & Heir of Fire – Sarah J. Maas
The Throne of Glass series was my go to audiobook series when I couldn’t sleep and I got pulled in more and more again. I read both Crown of Midnight and Heir of Fire and they were just as good as the first couple of times. Maybe I’ll do a reread of the ACOTAR and CC series after this one, so I’ll be ready for the newest ACOTAR books.
All for the Game 1-4 – Nora Sakavic
I’m not sure what triggered this reread, it might have been a TikTok video to be honest, but I once again am speeding through the series. These books are so addictive and I adore the characters. I am beyond excited for the next release and I hope we’er getting book 6 really soon.
So that’s everything we read in June! Do we have any books in common? Or what was your favorite book in June? Let us know in the comments. We’d love to hear from you!
