I know, I know. It’s definitely not summer anymore. We’re two weeks into October, and I’m clearly a slacker.

Just kidding. I’m back in grad school, and it’s taken over MY LIFE! Oh man. This is the first time since school started in August that I’ve been able to sit down and write something that isn’t an essay.

This week has also been the first week I’ve had time to read something that’s not a textbook! And it feels sooo good! How I’ve missed reading for my own personal enjoyment instead of reading so I could write an analysis later.

Anyway. Over the summer, I took a much needed break from school and decided it was the perfect time to read some series I had been dying to get my hands on. I then came up with the idea of “The Summer of Series,” where I would read four series over the course of the summer: The Darker Shade of Magic trilogy by VE Schwab, the Mistborn trilogy by Brandon Sanderson, the Grisha series by Leigh Bardugo, and the Seven Realms series by Cinda Williams Chima. If you’d like to see my post on “The Summer of Series” where I go into more depth,  feel free to go here.

I have to admit I was a little too ambitious with the amount of reading I had planned. In my mind, I was going to have all this free time in the summer, so reading four different series was going to be a breeze.

Ha!

I was so wrong.

Did I end up finishing any of the series I started?

Nope.

To be fair, I DNF’d one series, and I almost finished the Shadow and Bone trilogy, but then school started, and now we’re here! Yay…

Here are the books I actually managed to finish over the summer (try to hold back on the applause):

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Genre: YA fantasy

Summary: Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.

My rating: Four stars

Check out my review here.

 

 

Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim

Genre: YA fantasy

Summary: Project Runway meets Mulan in this sweeping YA fantasy about a young girl who poses as a boy to compete for the role of imperial tailor and embarks on an impossible journey to sew three magic dresses, from the sun, the moon, and the stars.

My rating: Three stars

Check out my review here.

 

Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

Genre: YA fantasy

Summary: Hunted across the True Sea, haunted by the lives she took on the Fold, Alina must try to make a life in an unfamiliar land, all while keeping her true identity a secret. But she can’t outrun her past or her destiny for long.

My rating: Four stars

Review to come! This series is like comfort food.

 

Crown of Coral and Pearl by Mara Rutherford

Genre: YA fantasy

Summary: For generations, the princes of Ilara have married the most beautiful maidens from the ocean village of Varenia. But though every girl longs to be chosen as the next princess, the cost of becoming royalty is higher than any of them could ever imagine…

My rating: Four stars

Review to come! I received this book as an eARC from Netgalley, and I devoured it. Now that I have the physical copy from the library, I want to reread it and see if my thoughts have changed.

One thing I will say, though. If you plan on picking this up, don’t read the full summary on Goodreads or inside the jacket cover unless you want all the major plot twists spoiled.

DNF

Here’s the series I didn’t finish:

The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima

Genre: YA fantasy

Summary: Times are hard in the mountain city of Fellsmarch. Reformed thief Han Alister will do almost anything to eke out a living for his family. Meanwhile, Raisa ana’Marianna, princess heir of the Fells, has her own battles to fight. She wants to be more than an ornament in a glittering cage. She aspires to be like Hanalea—the legendary warrior queen who killed the Demon King and saved the world. But her mother has other plans for her…

Five Chapter Chance: Barely passed

The main issue I had with this book is nothing happened in the first nine chapters. The plot wasn’t going anywhere! I heard the first book in this series was slow, but I had no idea it was THIS slow. Not only were there entire chapters that didn’t add to the narrative at all, but each chapter switched between Han and Raisa way too soon. There just wasn’t enough of anything to keep me interested.

Wrap Up

There you have it: my summer wrap up.

I’m hoping that as this semester starts winding down, I’ll have more time for reading and reviews. Until then, though, my reviews are going to be a bit sporadic.

What have you been reading lately? Let me know in comments!