June Wrap Up // The month I felt like a BAWSE

I can’t believe yet another month has passed! Half of 2017 is gone. June was a good month though and I’m really proud of my accomplishments this month. It was super busy with finals and other school work, but I managed to keep up my blog and even guide it more into the direction I want!

This was a really good reading month! Although I was very busy I managed to read nine books! I’m really happy with that!

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas ( ACOTAR #2)

Goodreads – my review

I started the month with this amazing book. I had high expectations, because everyone keeps raving about it and I’m glad to say I wasn’t disappointed at all! I was amazed by this book! I loved it! It has become one of my favourite books. I love the world, the plot, the characters, the romance,… I have a review up that contains both my non-spoiler and spoiler thoughts. I’d recommend you check it out! Obviously, I gave it five out of five stars.

The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli

Goodreads – my review

The next book I read was this great one by Becky Albertallli. She remains one of my favourite authors! I picked this book up because I adored Simon VS The Homo Sapiens Agenda and I wanted to read more by her.  This book was very diverse and it was done right. I loved that! It was funny and relatable. I absolutely loved Reid, the main love interest. He’s the kind of guy I’d fall for in real life. Overall I’d highly recommend it. I gave it four out of five stars!

Animal Farm by George Orwell

Goodreads

Then I finally finished this book. I started it back in May and I was committed to finish it this month. So I did. I can’t say I enjoyed this book, but I do think it’s an important read that has every right to be a classic. It teaches a good lesson. It really made me think about society. I believe this book is appropriate in any moment of time, because let’s face it, it’s human nature to seek power. It was interesting to see how Napoleon kept using words as a weapon. He and his henchmen manipulated the other animals on and on again and while as a reader you could see through it, the animals didn’t. In the beginning of the story the Seven Commandments are written and you can slowly see how the are altered. I thought the story’s ending was really good. Overall I think this story is very powerful and thought-provoking. Four out of five stars.

We should all be feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Goodreads

Up next is this tiny book. Although it is a mere 50 pages it still holds a very thought-provoking and important message. For that reason I think everyone should read it. I definitely agree with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the author. Feminism is so important and it’s about all women, not only those who are white. We should definitely all be feminists and I most highly recommend for everyone to read this, especially since it so short. I gave it five out of five stars.

A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas ( ACOTAR #3)

Goodreads – my review

This book was absolutely fantastic. I loved it! It has joined the other books on my favourite shelf along with the previous book, A Court of Mist and Fury. I’m absolutely in love with this world and story. The characters are amazing and so is the romance. I’m finding it hard to express my love for this book, so I’ll keep it short and just say READ IT!! Seriously, I highly recommend it and obviously I gave it five out of five stars! For my more in-depth thoughts, please check out my review.

The Elite by Kiera Cass ( The Selection #2)

Goodreads

This was a re-read and I’m sad to say I regret my decision to pick this book up again. I used to love this book, its characters and swoon-worthy romance. This series cheered me up last time I read it. (I read it just after my first surgery.) The Elite was always my least favourite of the series, but I still loved it. Unfortunately this time was very different. I couldn’t deal with the love triangle and I was so annoyed by America I couldn’t even ship her with Maxon anymore. I didn’t want to ruin my good memories of this series even more so I decided to DNF it at 80 pages.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Goodreads

After absolutely loving ACOWAR and being so disappointed in The Elite I decided to re-read this book to avoid getting into a reading slump. I’ve re-read this book countless times and I still love it! I knew it wouldn’t disappoint me. I love the suspense and the plot. I forgot how much I love Collins’ writing style! She writes her characters amazingly! The story is about so much more than just the fight to the death, especially in the later books. It’s partly about politics. It scares me how close our society is to becoming like Panem and you really notice similar patterns in our world.

The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

Goodreads

I loved this book. I finished it in a day. It was the perfect read for this time of year. It was fun, sweet and adorable. I loved Natasha and Daniel. Their romance was so cute and lovely to read about. It was a severe case of insta-love though, but I found that I didn’t mind. I really liked the short chapters from other POVs too. Those have left me wondering though. What happened to the train driver? etc. But in a way it’s nice to be left wondering. I also really liked the ending even though it was super open and know I’m left wondering what will happen. I would recommend! Five out of five stars.

Ketchup Clouds by Annabel Pitcher

Goodreads

I picked this book up because I was intrigued and I must say I enjoyed it. It’s the first book I’ve read consisting of just letters and I liked it. I was hooked rather quickly and really curious to see what happened. One thing I really liked about the story was the main character’s sister, Dot. She was so adorable and it was interesting to see how she saw the world being deaf and all. I’d give it four stars if it weren’t for the girl-on-girl hate and the very questional behavior of the main character, Zoe. When I say questional behaviour I’m not referring to the thing Zoe feels guilty about. I’m referring to other things. In the end I gave it three out of five stars. It was okay.

Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley

Goodreads

I really enjoyed this book! The overall bookish vibe was amazing! The cover, the bookstore, the letter library, the book references, the book discussions,… It makes my bookworm heart so happy. I really liked the writing style. It was beautiful and lyrical in its descriptions, but when the characters spoke they sounded like normal teenagers. I really liked Rachel as a character. I had some trouble in the beginning with Henry, but I quickly grew to love him too. I shipped them right from the start. I also really liked George, Martin and Cal. I loved the addition of the letters from the letter library! It really added something to the book. I loved the sub-plot of Frederick’s story, George and Martin, Lola’s band, George and ‘Pytheas’,… I think when it comes to the side-characters, the diversity is done right! Lola is lesbian and it’s mentioned when she says Hiroko isn’t her girlfriend and that’s it. It’s not a big deal at all and she is simply accepted. I loved that. The same thing goes for Martin’s moms. They were driving past them and he simply waved and said to the others that the two ladies were his moms and that’s that. I would definitely recommend this book! I gave it four out of five stars.

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You might remember I set myself a TBR this month. I think it’s fair to say I succeeded. I read all the books except for The Elite and The One by Kiera Cass. Since I DNF’ed The Elite I think that’s kind of logical, so I don’t think I failed. I’m proud of myself!

Speaking of being proud of myself, I’m already 14 books ahead of my Goodreads goal for the year! I’ve now read 43 books.

This was also a good month on a personal level. June is the last month of the school year in Belgium, which means finals. I’m proud to say I got through them quite well!

I also donated my hair to Think Pink this month. Think Pink is an organisation against Cancer. One of the many things they do is make wigs for people who need them. I’m really happy I’ve donated. My hair’s now rather short and perfect for the summer, which is a good plus! Here’s a selfie so you can see how short my hair is.

I also joined Twitter this month! My username is @brilliantlybook because @brillianltybookish was too long. You can follow me if you want 🙂

This month was a great month for my blog in my opinion. Even though I had so much work I posted regularly and I even have a blogging schedule now! In terms of posts I’m also happy since it’s going more and more into the direction I want.

So here’s an overview of all the post this month:

Reviews:

The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli // diverse, romantic and funny

A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas ( ACOTAR + ACOMAF + ACOWAR )

Discussion:

Technology in YA // Let’s talk!

Tags and awards:

Fight like a YA girl tag // We need these empowering ladies

Self-love:

What do you love about yourself? // Self-love

Recommending an amazing blog! // Self-love

Seasonal:

Top 5 books of 2017 so far // these are all so amazing!!

How diverse have I read ? // Mid-year check up

My 2017 TBR // Mid-year check up

Other:

[ LOGOPHILE ]

June TBR // My first ever monthly TBR

I have a blogging schedule!

Thank you!

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So that’s it for this month! I hope you enjoyed my overview of June! See you next time!

Sending you lots of love and support,