Summer used to mean more reading time for me, but in recent years, that pattern seems to have reversed. Which makes sense: I’m away from home more often, doing more social things—and I’m ABSOLUTELY not sad about that, haha. Still, that made July a slightly quieter reading month. Not so much in the number of books read, but in the total number of pages.

I also finished a powerful, epic fantasy series, and my mind clearly needed some time to process that. As a result, I mainly reached for shorter or lighter books afterward. After a few of those quick reads (or attempts at them), I decided to take the plunge with some serious sci-fi. I didn’t finish it in July, but because I still needed some lighthearted, mindless reading material in the evenings, I also read some lighter works in the meantime.

The result? In July, I read over 1,000 pages fewer than my average for the first six months of the year – and even more than 1,600 pages fewer than in June!

I ended up finishing 7 books in July, totaling 1953 pages. This brings the average book read in July to 279 pages/book.

After the mighty epic fantasy, it was hard to find a book that could match it. That’s why it was a month of highs followed by lows. The star ratings fluctuated from 2 to 5, with every possible option in between, with a DNF thrown in for good measure. This brings the average book read in July to exactly 3.0 stars.

I also tried to cross some old bookbox bookss off my list, which always helps diversify the target audience. So I read another YA book, but I mostly stayed within my own category, with 7 adult books.

Reading audiobooks in July proved difficult, so I only read e-books (4) and physically owned books (4).

For genres, I alternated between 3 genres: horror (1), romance (2), and fantasy (5).

For language, I stuck with English again and didn’t read a single book in Dutch.

Below is the list of books I read in July and my star rating.
Click the link to jump to the blurb and my review! As always, be aware that both the blurb and the review may contain spoilers, especially if they are sequels in a series! Sometimes I also hide spoilers behind a foldout!

Gwynne, John – Wrath (The Faithful and the Fallen #4) ★★★★★
Len, Vanessa – Only a Monster (Monsters #1) ★★
Enright, K.M. – Mistress of Lies (The Age of Blood #1) (DNF)
Kingfisher, T. – Thornhedge ★★★★
Atwater, Olivia – Ten Thousand Stitches (Regency Faerie Tales #2) ★★
Kennedy, Elle – The Deal (Off-Campus #1) ★★
Goss, Theodora – Red as Blood and White as Bone ★★★
Hendrix, Grady – Ankle Snatcher ★★★

Gwynne, John – Wrath (The Faithful and the Fallen #4) ★★★★★

Genre: Fantasy

Events are coming to a climax in the Banished Lands, as the war reaches new heights. King Nathair has taken control of the fortress at Drassil and three of the Seven Treasures are in his possession. And together with Calidus and his ally Queen Rhin, Nathair will do anything to obtain the remaining Treasures. With all seven under his command, he can open a portal to the Otherworld. Then Asroth and his demon-horde will finally break into the Banished Lands and become flesh.
Meanwhile Corban has been taken prisoner by the Jotun, warrior giants who ride their enormous bears into battle. His warband scattered, Corban must make new allies if he hopes to survive. But can he bond with competing factions of warlike giants? Somehow he must, if he’s to counter the threat Nathair represents.

His life hangs in the balance – and with it, the fate of the Banished Lands.

You could already read my review for this epic finale here.

Len, Vanessa – Only a Monster (Monsters #1) ★★

Genre: Fantasy

It should have been the perfect summer. Sent to stay with her late mother’s eccentric family in London, sixteen-year-old Joan is determined to enjoy herself. She loves her nerdy job at the historic Holland House, and when her super cute co-worker Nick asks her on a date, it feels like everything is falling into place.

But she soon learns the truth. Her family aren’t just eccentric: they’re monsters, with terrifying, hidden powers. And Nick isn’t just a cute boy: he’s a legendary monster slayer, who will do anything to bring them down.

As she battles Nick, Joan is forced to work with the beautiful and ruthless Aaron Oliver, heir to a monster family that hates her own. She’ll have to embrace her own monstrousness if she is to save herself, and her family. Because in this story . . .

. . . she is not the hero.

When Fairyloot announced their special edition for the third and final book in this series, I decided it was high time I picked up Only a Monster. When I got this book in my Fairyloot box back in 2022, I was convinced this would be my kind of story: a dark, monstrous fantasy with time travel and a sweeping romance. I was so certain I’d love it that I even bought the Fairyloot edition of the sequel without hesitation. But for the last book in the series, I didn’t want to spend the money without confirming my anticipation.

Unfortunately, the result was disappointing.

The concepts are promising—time travel mixed with morally grey characters and an exploration of what it means to be a “monster.” But the execution fell totally flat for me. The writing came across as clumsy and repetitive, with words like “monster” and “hero” hammered in to the point of sounding childish. The supposed darkness never truly landed either; “monster” is such a heavy label, and it didn’t match what the characters were. It felt so heavy handed.

On top of that, the characters lacked depth and chemistry. I never felt any real emotion or connection between them, and so much of the story unfolded with convenient solutions rather than genuine struggle or growth. It was especially frustrating that the main character had been called a monster by her family her whole life but somehow never thought to ask why—a detail that seemed designed to keep the reader in the dark rather than something that made sense for her personality.

For a book I expected to be immersive and thrilling, it instead came across as underdeveloped and unsatisfying.

I did briefly consider continuing with book two, if only because I already own that matching Fairyloot sequel. But the truth is, I couldn’t be bothered. Even trying the audiobook on Storytel didn’t work out, since the narration grated on me. At this point, I’m calling it quits.

In the end, Only a Monster drove home an all-too-familiar lesson: I really need to stop buying special edition sequels purely out of FOMO and aesthetics, without having read the first book.

Enright, K.M. – Mistress of Lies (The Age of Blood #1) (DNF)

Genre: Fantasy

FATE IS A CRUEL MISTRESS

The daughter of a powerful but disgraced Blood Worker, Shan LeClaire has spent her entire life perfecting her blood magic, building her network of spies, and gathering every scrap of power she could. Now, to protect her brother, she assassinates their father and takes her place at the head of the family. And that is only the start of her revenge.

Samuel Hutchinson is a bastard with a terrible gift. When he stumbles upon the first victim of a magical serial killer, he’s drawn into the world of magic and intrigue he’s worked so hard to avoid – and is pulled deeply into the ravenous and bloodthirsty court of the vampire king.

Tasked by the Eternal King to discover the identity of the killer cutting a bloody swath through the city, Samuel, Shan and mysterious Royal Bloodworker Isaac find themselves growing ever closer to each other. But Shan’s plans are treacherous, and as she lures Samuel into her complicated web of desire, treason and vengeance, he must decide if the good of their nation is worth the cost of his soul.

DNF @ 100p

The opening was promising — Shan killing her father made for a bold, explosive start, and the Eternal King’s ritualistic introduction had real potential. But everything that followed quickly fizzled out for me.

The writing style was my biggest hurdle: rambling, lofty, and overly vague. Despite the abundance of words, nothing was described with real clarity, and the prose seemed more concerned with sounding clever than telling a compelling story. It ended up feeling passive, repetitive, and ultimately frustrating.

Shan herself didn’t help; for a character who supposedly wants to build a better world, she seemed to look down on everyone else with contempt, which made her hard to root for. The dialogue also felt forced, and the narrative never managed to hold my attention.

In the end, I found myself able to set the book down mid-sentence and forget all about it. After days of avoiding it, I decided to call it: DNF.

Kingfisher, T. – Thornhedge ★★★★

Genre: Fantasy

There’s a princess trapped in a tower. This isn’t her story.

Meet Toadling. On the day of her birth, she was stolen from her family by the fairies, but she grew up safe and loved in the warm waters of faerieland. Once an adult though, the fae ask a favor of Toadling: return to the human world and offer a blessing of protection to a newborn child. Simple, right?

But nothing with fairies is ever simple.

Centuries later, a knight approaches a towering wall of brambles, where the thorns are as thick as your arm and as sharp as swords. He’s heard there’s a curse here that needs breaking, but it’s a curse Toadling will do anything to uphold…

T. Kingfisher did it again — taking a classic fairytale and giving it a fresh, unconventional spin that worked beautifully. Her characters come alive so quickly and vividly, feeling real with surprisingly few words. The story is at once heartwarming and a little eerie, perfectly blending sweetness and charm with dark fairytale horror. I just love her style so much.

Atwater, Olivia – Ten Thousand Stitches (Regency Faerie Tales #2) ★★

Genre: Romance

Regency housemaid Euphemia Reeves has acquired a faerie godfather. Unfortunately, he has no idea what he’s doing.

Effie has most inconveniently fallen in love with the dashing Mr Benedict Ashbrooke. There’s only one problem; Effie is a housemaid, and a housemaid cannot marry a gentleman. It seems that Effie is out of luck until she stumbles into the faerie realm of Lord Blackthorn, who is only too eager to help Effie win Mr Ashbrooke’s heart. All he asks in return is that Effie sew ten thousand stitches onto his favourite jacket.

Effie has heard rumours about what happens to those who accept help from faeries, but life as a maid at Hartfield is so awful that she is willing to risk even her immortal soul for a chance at something better. Now, she has one hundred days – and ten thousand stitches – to make Mr Ashbrooke fall in love and propose. . . if Lord Blackthorn doesn’t wreck things by accident, that is. For Effie’s greatest obstacle might well prove to be Lord Blackthorn’s overwhelmingly good intentions.

On paper, Ten Thousand Stitches should have been a perfect fit for me: a blend of historical romance and fairytale retelling, with a maid at the center of the story and a fresh twist on Cinderella. I do appreciate the idea of reimagining faerie stories in this way, but in execution it just didn’t work for me.

Much like the first book in the series, this one left me feeling detached — though here even more so. The pacing dragged, the romance never sparked, and I found myself uninterested in characters who felt flat and unmemorable. The story leaned heavily on repetition, and while I can see the attempt at building themes, it never came across as engaging.

At the end of the day, it was incessantly “okay,” but never more than that. After finishing this second installment, I no longer feel invested enough to continue with the series.

Kennedy, Elle – The Deal (Off-Campus #1) ★★

Genre: Romance

She’s about to make a deal with the college bad boy… Hannah Wells has finally found someone who turns her on. But while she might be confident in every other area of her life, she’s carting around a full set of baggage when it comes to sex and seduction. If she wants to get her crush’s attention, she’ll have to step out of her comfort zone and make him take notice…even if it means tutoring the annoying, childish, cocky captain of the hockey team in exchange for a pretend date. …and it’s going to be oh so good!

All Garrett Graham has ever wanted is to play professional hockey after graduation, but his plummeting GPA is threatening everything he’s worked so hard for. If helping a sarcastic brunette make another guy jealous will help him secure his position on the team, he’s all for it. But when one unexpected kiss leads to the wildest sex of both their lives, it doesn’t take long for Garrett to realize that pretend isn’t going to cut it. Now he just has to convince Hannah that the man she wants looks a lot like him.

I picked this up as a light break from The Three Body Problem (spoiler for next month’s reads) after hearing @BeccaandTheBooks rave about it. I ended up finishing it quickly — it’s undeniably fast-paced, funny at times, and easy to read. But for every bit of entertaining banter and spice, there were just as many frustrating choices. The handling of rape as an offhand plot device felt careless and uncomfortable, and some story elements — like the bizarre genocide paper assignment — were downright baffling. Add in cliché tropes, a nonsensical third-act breakup, and an abrupt ending, and the result was equal parts good and bad.

Overall, it worked as a brainless intermezzo, but not much more. Maybe I’ll reach for the sequels someday as a palate cleanser, though with low expectations.

Goss, Theodora – Red as Blood and White as Bone ★★★

Genre: Fantasy

Red as Blood and White as Bone by Theodora Goss is a dark fantasy about a kitchen girl obsessed with fairy tales, who upon discovering a ragged woman outside the castle during a storm, takes her in–certain she’s a princess in disguise.

This short story starts with a classic fairy tale vibe and pleasantly surprised me with its unexpected setting. The first half was enjoyable, though predictable, but the second half felt rushed, more a list of events than a story with impact.

Hendrix, Grady – Ankle Snatcher ★★★

Genre: Horror

Obey the rules. It’s the only way to survive the night in a short story about what hides in the dark by the New York Times bestselling author of The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires. Marcus grew up believing his father killed his mother—then blamed it on the boogeyman under the bed. Always leave the lights on, his father warned, or the boogeyman will get you. Marcus still heeds the superstition, especially when he invites his new girlfriend over.

Is Marcus haunted by a creature or has he just inherited his father’s murderous delusions? The night will tell.

Grady Hendrix’s ‘Ankle Snatcher‘ is part of Creature Feature, a collection of devilishly creepy stories that tingle the spine and twist the mind. They can be read or listened to in one petrifying sitting.

A deliciously creepy little story that kept me hooked, though the ending felt a bit weird and flat.