Books of July, Part One

I read twelve books in July, which was a terrific reading month for me.  Twelve book reviews in one post is a lot to get through, so I am going to break up my reviews into Part One and Part Two.  Here is my rating system:

5 Stars- amazing, incredible, highly recommend, will be thinking about this book for a long time
4 Stars- really good, thoroughly enjoyed, recommend
3 Stars- good, enjoyed it, entertaining
2- just ok, meh, maybe someone might like it, but wasn't for me
1- not good, did not enjoy, do not recommend

I Was Told It Would Get Easier by Abbi Waxman. This was an entertaining book. The plot concerns a mother and daughter who are taking a week-long organized bus trip to check out potential colleges. Jessica is a lawyer for a big firm that doesn't seem to promote women as often as they do men. She is threatening to leave the firm if the woman she has been mentoring does not receive the promotion she deserves. Her 16-year-old daughter Emily is trying to figure out what she wants to do with her future and also her place in her present world. The story was clearly influenced by the recent college admissions cheating scandals, which figure into the plot of the story. The relationship between mother and daughter was full of snarky dialog, but all conflicts are resolved eventually. Chapters alternate between both main characters, so the reader gets a good sense of what is motivating each of them. Three and a half stars.

Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore.  This book wins the prize for the most innovative plot device. I have never read anything quite like it. Oona is an 18-year-old girl attending a New Year's Eve party. At the stroke of midnight, she passes out and wakes up in the body of her 51-year-old future self. The book was described as The Time Traveler's Wife meets What Alice Forgot. Every year from then on, at the stroke of midnight, Oona passes out and wakes up in another year of her life. She is living her life, but totally out of order. It was a totally unique concept, and I have to say I did get caught up in Oona's mixed-up story. Three and a half stars for this one too.

Home Before Dark by Riley Sager. If you love a creepy thriller, this might be for you. Maggie has a career restoring old homes and is shocked when she inherits Baneberry Hall, a rambling Victorian estate she lived in briefly with her parents when she was a child. She and her parents moved out of the house in the dead of night due to what seemed to be supernatural events. Her father later wrote a best-selling book on their experience. Maggie moves back into the house, planning to renovate it and sell it for profit. Of course, weird things start happening and Maggie begins to think maybe her dad's book wasn't pure fiction. Head's up if you don't like snakes, just sayin'. Fours stars.

The Girl With the Louding Voice by Abi Daré. This book was simply excellent. 533 ratings on Amazon and it is rated five stars. The story is about Adunni, a poor Nigerian teenager whose drunken father marries her off to the local taxi driver at the age of 14. The taxi driver is decades older than Adunni and has two other wives. All Adunni ever wanted in life was to attend school, become a teacher and help girls find their "louding voice" and be heard and recognized. She goes from one impossible situation to another. She runs away from her abusive husband and finds herself sold as a housemaid to a wealthy Nigerian woman and her husband. She is little more than a slave there and is treated abominably by her "employers". Adunni is forever helpful, forever hopeful and always certain that things will get better. She is one of the best characters I have ever met in a book! She never gives up no matter how dismal the odds are. She is determined to be heard and to spread the word that every single person is important. Loved it. It is only $12 on Amazon for the hardback.  Five big stars.

A Burning by Megha Majumdar.  I did not enjoy this book at all. Set in modern day India, told through the eyes of three characters. The corruption, the unfairness, the poverty, the cruelty, the lies individuals told to hurt others….It was all just too much for me. As far as the writing goes, the characters were two-dimensional tropes, the broken English was hard to wade through, and the plot was predictable. I had just finished The Girl With the Louding Voice just before starting The Burning, and the contrast between the two books was dramatic. The Girl With the Louding Voice was so well done and I was extremely sympathetic to the main character. The Burning was so flat and lifeless in comparison. Sorry. Not for me.
Two stars, barely.

Well Met by Jen DeLuca.  Would you believe that this book is the first in a series about characters who work at a Renaissance Faire? It turns out that novels in this genre are a thing. I found the book to be fast and fun for the most part. It was fluff, but entertaining. Emily is getting over a bad breakup and is spending the summer in the small town of Willow Creek helping out her older sister and niece. Her sister is recovering from an automobile accident and her teenaged niece needs an adult to volunteer with her to participate in the summer Renaissance Faire. The main character, Emily, was a bit frustrating for me at times and I wished I could give her a shake more than once. Great secondary characters and a slow-burning romance. The sex was a bit more "open door" than I care for. Please, I do not need to be in the bed with these people. Overall, I enjoyed the descriptions of the Faire and all that goes into producing one, and the characters were pretty relatable. I would read the next book in the series. Three and a half stars.

Check back tomorrow for the other six books for July.