Hey, everyone! This June I read nine things, which I’m happy with, but I hope I can do better in July! I tried to get through a lot of ARCs I had that are releasing this summer, but what kind of reader would I be if I didn’t have an impromptu reread of Harry Potter?

➽ Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Harry Potter #1) by J.K. Rowling – ★★★★★
Always and forever will this entire series be five stars. With the release of the 20th anniversary editions, I couldn’t resist giving one of my most beloved books a reread. Plus, honestly, it was the perfect way to start the month. Also, this is one of the most beautiful books I now own.

➽ The New Voices of Fantasy edited by Peter S. Beagle & Jacob Weisman – ★★★
I love supporting under-hyped books and authors, so I was very thankful to have been sent an ARC of this; however, I quickly found out that the word “new” was used very liberally. I didn’t let that influence my rating, but it still felt a little bad, I’m not going to lie. I did an in-depth breakdown of each of the short stories in this collection, with individual ratings, in my review! My personal favorite in the whole collection is, hands down, The Husband Stitch by Carmen Maria Machado. I am in awe of this story and its utter perfection. One of the best feminist works I’ve ever read in my life, and one of the most powerful pieces of art, too. If you can only read one short story of these nineteen, please pick this one. It’s life changing and so very important.

➽ Godblind by Anna Stephens – ★★★★★
I loved this, and it was nothing short of grimdark fantasy perfection. This is a wonderful debut, set in an incredible new world that is centered around the worship of many different gods. We get a lot of amazingly different points of view, while exploring and dealing with some very heavy topics, some of which we don’t normally get to see in high fantasy. I loved this, and I hope you all pick it up and give it a try this year!

➽ The Goblins of Bellwater by Molly Ringle – ★★★
I buddy read this with Jules ❤, and we both really enjoyed it. I thought the writing in this was so enthralling; I couldn’t help but also be completely captivated by this forest inhabited by magical creatures. Yet, in this story, the goblins that are terrorizing this community are for sure not the sexy kind, but the humans that live in this community make up for that. If you’re looking for a fast paced, well written, romantic, sexy read, then this is for sure something you should pick up.

➽ The Dragons of Nova (Loom Saga #2) by Elise Kova – ★★★★
Be still, my heart! This series is only getting better and better. I loved The Alchemists of Loom when I received my ARC of it in 2016, and this sequel doesn’t disappoint. Steampunk, political intrigue, romance, death duels, betrayals, gunslinging, technology, magic, and freakin’ dragons! This is truly a unique gift to the YA genre and if you pre-order The Dragons of Nova before the release (July 10th, 2017), you can and get a bunch of cool swag AND help unlock more tiers to get even more swag! The information on submitting your receipt can be found HERE! (Please, I’m desperate for that poster!)

➽ Nyxia (The Nyxia Triad #1) by Scott Reintgen – ★★★★★
Now this book I think is going to explode and become one of the most popular YA Sci-Fi series to drop in 2017. This book also feels a bit like a mixed hybrid of The Hunger Games, Ender’s Game, The 100, Divergent, but, in my opinion, it does it way better and more realistically and much more emphatically. It also stars a diverse cast, which I absolutely loved, and it never pulled away from important issues. This book talks about our health care system in the United States and how far we still need to come. This book talks about Systemic poverty in America is real and the system keeps people in that demographic over and over and throughout generations. This book talks about stereotyping and profiling, and how we treat others based of that. And this book talks about how it’s okay to be broken, and it’s okay to heal in your own way, and that you’re never alone no matter how alone you feel. This book was amazing, and I expect to hear nothing but good things about it. I also buddy read this with Solomon & Elise ❤.

➽ The Hating Game by Sally Thorne – ★★★★
Oh my good sweet Lord, this was such a cute read! Like, this is literally the fluffiest, cutest, sweetest, summer time read and it was exactly what I needed at the time. I was also in complete shock that this was a debut novel, because this is one of the best romantic contemporaries I’ve ever read! Also, it was so very funny, like, laugh out loud like a crazy person funny. Seriously, this was so much fun and I loved it so very much!

➽ Senlin Ascends (The Books of Babel, #1) by Josiah Bancroft – ★★★★★
This book was unlike anything I’ve read before! It’s mystery after mystery, surprise after surprise, whimsical new steampunk world after whimsical new steampunk world. I was so addicted, and I never wanted this book to end. I just started Arm of the Sphinx today, and I’m not sure what I’m going to do once I finish that!

➽ Valley of Embers (The Landkist Saga, #1) by Steven Kelliher – ★★★★
This was a fun and different read about a village of people who have essentially barricaded themselves inside, but demons are slowly starting to trickle inside! The people in this valley also can develop powers based on where they dwell. It’s really different, fun, and I really enjoyed it. This is another self published work that truly is a hidden gem.

Yeah, I went a little ARC crazy in June, but that was totally the plan, so I’m pretty happy with my reading! I am looking very forward to July being a little slower and a lot more relaxed, and I’m very much anticipating some much needed buddy reads with some of my best friends! I hope you all enjoyed seeing everything I read in June and I wish you all the best in July. Happy reading, everyone!

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