Read in August 2025
August turned out to be another rather modest reading month, with even fewer finished books than in July. Still, I ended up with a slightly higher page count.
I wrapped up the hefty sci-fi I mentioned back in July and filled the rest of the month with some lighter picks, such as a fantasy romance by a beloved author and a YA fairytale retelling that had been languishing on my shelves for far too long.
In the end, I read 5 books in August, amounting to 2066 pages. That brings the average August book to 413 pages per book.
All the books I started in August, I also finished within the same month, with ratings ranging between 2 and 4 stars. This brings the average August read to 3.4 stars.
As for target audience, I read 2 Young Adult books and 3 adult books.
There wasn’t much variation in reading format either: 1 audiobook and 4 physically-owned books. For some of those, I also had access to the e-book version, which came in handy while travelling or reading away from home.
Genre-wise, I stuck to 3 main genres: sci-fi (1), mystery (1), and fantasy (3).
Below is the list of the books I read in August, along with my star ratings.
Click on the link to jump to the blurb and my review! As always: please be aware that both blurbs and reviews may contain spoilers, especially for sequels in a series. Sometimes I’ll also hide spoilers behind collapsible sections or blacked-out text.
- Liu, Cixin – The Three-Body Problem (Remembrance of Earth’s Past #1) ★★★
- Kingfisher, T. – Paladin’s Grace (The Saint of Steel #1) ★★★★
- Lim, Elizabeth – Six Crimson Cranes (Six Crimson Cranes #1) ★★★★
- Kubica, Mary – When the Lights go Out 🎧 ★★
- Lim, Elizabeth – The Dragon’s Promise (Six Crimson Cranes #2) ★★★★
Liu, Cixin – The Three-Body Problem (Remembrance of Earth’s Past #1) ★★★
Genre: Sci-Fi
Four decades later, Beijing police ask nanotech engineer Wang Miao to infiltrate a secretive cabal of scientists after a spate of inexplicable suicides. Wang’s investigation will lead him to a mysterious online game and immerse him in a virtual world ruled by the intractable and unpredictable interaction of its three suns.
This is the Three-Body Problem and it is the key to everything: the key to the scientists’ deaths, the key to a conspiracy that spans light-years and the key to the extinction-level threat humanity now faces.
The Three Body Problem is one of those books that feels more like an idea than a story. The concepts are clever, imaginative, and at times downright sinister. Liu’s vision is unique, and I really like the direction the series seems to be heading. But this first installment often read more like a long introduction, a careful set-up for what’s to come, than a book that stood solidly on its own.
Where it faltered for me was in the execution. The writing felt lifeless and choppy, very wooden and cold. The characters never came alive. They didn’t behave like real people with emotions or logic, but rather like vehicles for the ideas Liu wanted to explore. As a result, the emotional side stayed on the surface, and the pacing dragged. Even when things were explained in detail, I kept wondering how characters could possibly know so much based on their slow, limited communications.
It’s also a very science-heavy read. While I could appreciate the depth and imagination behind the explanations, I often wasn’t in the right headspace for it and ended up feeling a bit like a dumbdumb along the way. On top of that, I suspect I would have gotten more out of the historical backdrop if I had gone in with a better understanding of the Cultural Revolution.
All in all, this was a fascinating, idea-driven book with moments of brilliance, but it never quite blew me away the way I hoped. I’ll continue the series, but I’m treating this one as a stepping stone. A promising but uneven start.
Kingfisher, T. – Paladin’s Grace (The Saint of Steel #1) ★★★★
Genre: Fantasy-Romantiek
Stephen, a broken paladin, spends his time knitting socks and working as a bodyguard, living only for the chance to be useful. But that all changes when he saves Grace and witnesses an assassination attempt gone wrong. Now, Stephen and Grace must navigate a web of treachery and poisoners, while a cryptic killer stalks one step behind.
OMG, this was so freaking cute! You know, despite the gruesome decapitations, rotting corpses, and power-hungry cults. Only T. Kingfisher could write about violent deaths and creepy cults and sinister plots, and still somehow make the whole thing feel warm, fuzzy, and cozy.
At its heart, this is the story of two imperfect people finding love in the midst of chaos. I love the balance Kingfisher strikes between genuine tension and lighthearted silliness.
Our protagonists are weird, broken, and endlessly endearing. I grinned and sighed my way through their awkwardness and longing, each convinced the other couldn’t possibly feel the same.
“Still. If we limited loving to just the sane, undamaged people, the next generation would have about three people in it and presumably humanity would die out shortly afterward.”
What struck me most was how real they felt. The novel captures so beautifully how “ordinary” people can appear devastatingly beautiful in the eyes of those who love them:
“She glared at him, then broke into a grin. It was a broad grin, showing a crooked front tooth, and it made her very briefly beautiful.” .”
And then there’s Stephen, our steady, reliable, socially awkward paladin AND knitter. My little knitter heart melted instantly. His quiet hobby is both hilarious and touching, absolute gold. Honestly, the world needs more heroes who wind down by knitting socks. My favorite passage has to be:
“ “He wished that he could break out his knitting, but for some reason, people didn’t take you seriously as a warrior when you were knitting. He’d never figured out why. Making socks required four or five double-ended bone needles, and while they weren’t very large, you could probably jam one into someone’s eye if you really wanted to. Not that he would. He’d have to pull the needle out of the sock to do it, and then he’d be left with the grimly fiddly work of rethreading the stitches. Also, washing blood out of wool was possible, but a pain.”
And yet, something held me back from giving this five stars. For all its heart, humor, and uniqueness, I came away wanting more. It felt like the story stopped just a little short of what it could have been.
Still, Paladin’s Grace is utterly charming, uniquely heartfelt, and brimming with Kingfisher’s signature mix of sweetness and shadow. A cozy fantasy romance with just enough bite to keep you on edge.
Lim, Elizabeth – Six Crimson Cranes (Six Crimson Cranes #1) ★★★★
Genre: YA Fantasy
Shiori’anma, the only princess of Kiata, has a secret. Forbidden magic runs through her veins. Normally she conceals it well, but on the morning of her betrothal ceremony, Shiori loses control. At first, her mistake seems like a stroke of luck, forestalling the wedding she never wanted. But it also catches the attention of Raikama, her stepmother.
A sorceress in her own right, Raikama banishes the young princess, turning her brothers into cranes. She warns Shiori that she must speak of it to no one for with every word that escapes her lips, one of her brothers will die.
Penniless, voiceless, and alone, Shiori searches for her brothers, and uncovers a dark conspiracy to seize the throne. Only Shiori can set the kingdom to rights, but to do so she must place her trust in a paper bird, a mercurial dragon, and the very boy she fought so hard not to marry. And she must embrace the magic she’s been taught all her life to forswear–no matter what the cost.
Back in 2021, when I still had my FairyLoot YA subscription, I received Six Crimson Cranes. At the time, I knew I would love it. It promised a lush fairytale retelling with imaginative twists, a fresh setting I hadn’t explored much before, and the promise of that magical mix of familiar and new. And yet it still became my oldest unread bookbox book. And I can’t for the life of me understand why I waited so long to pick this up!
This was exactly what I had hoped for: fun, epic, rich, and utterly engrossing. From the very first chapters it pulled me in and kept me hooked.
And that ending! I adored how the twist played with expectations only to completely upend them. What started out feeling like a cozy, sweet retelling grew into something deeper, filled with heart and personality.
Of course, it’s still YA, which means a few things resolved a little too neatly or weren’t explored in as much depth as I might have liked. But that didn’t stop me from loving the ride. I’m just annoyed at myself for letting it linger on my shelf for so long before finally diving in.
Six Crimson Cranes is lush, fun, and brimming with the kind of magic that makes me remember why I love fairytales in the first place.
🎧 Kubica, Mary – When the Lights go Out ★★
Genre: Mysterie
Jessie Sloane is on the path to rebuilding her life after years of caring for her ailing mother. She rents a new apartment and applies for college. But when the college informs her that her social security number has raised a red flag, Jessie discovers a shocking detail that causes her to doubt everything she’s ever known.
Finding herself suddenly at the center of a bizarre mystery, Jessie tumbles down a rabbit hole, which is only exacerbated by grief and a relentless lack of sleep. As days pass and the insomnia worsens, it plays with Jessie’s mind. Her judgment is blurred, her thoughts are hampered by fatigue. Jessie begins to see things until she can no longer tell the difference between what’s real and what she’s only imagined.
Meanwhile, twenty years earlier and two hundred and fifty miles away, another woman’s split-second decision may hold the key to Jessie’s secret past. Has Jessie’s whole life been a lie or have her delusions gotten the best of her?
For the Aeldia yearlong readalong in August, I needed a book with the word “light” in the title. None of the options I had lined up were really calling to me, until I stumbled across When the Lights Go Out in my audiobook app. I’d read one Mary Kubica novel before, which wasn’t exactly a success, but I figured I’d give her another chance. This one sounded intriguing, after all.
Alas… this was another letdown.
On the plus side, I’ll admit it read very quickly. The story pulled me in and I wanted to know where it was going. Kubica does know how to build suspense and keep her readers enthralled. Up until a certain point, I was fairly invested, even if the writing sometimes grated on me (repetitive, inconsistent) and the characters didn’t always behave in believable ways.
But then came the big reveal. And what in the actual most juvenile, contrived, cliché plot twist was that? It made the whole book collapse under its own absurdity. All the tension that had been built up so effectively just fizzled into something ridiculous.
So, while the pacing was quick and the suspense well-crafted, the payoff ruined it. Two books in, and I think it’s safe to say Mary Kubica just isn’t for me.
Lim, Elizabeth – The Dragon’s Promise (Six Crimson Cranes #2) ★★★★
Genre: YA Fantasy
Princess Shiori made a deathbed promise to return the dragon’s pearl to its rightful owner, but keeping that promise is more dangerous than she ever imagined.
She must journey to the kingdom of dragons, navigate political intrigue among humans and dragons alike, fend off thieves who covet the pearl for themselves and will go to any lengths to get it, all while cultivating the appearance of a perfect princess to dissuade those who would see her burned at the stake for the magic that runs in her blood.
The pearl itself is no ordinary cargo; it thrums with malevolent power, jumping to Shiori’s aid one minute, and betraying her the next—threatening to shatter her family and sever the thread of fate that binds her to her true love, Takkan. It will take every ounce of strength Shiori can muster to defend the life and the love she’s fought so hard to win.
I dove into The Dragon’s Promise with high hopes after adoring Six Crimson Cranes, and at first, it truly delivered that same heart and magic. I loved getting to explore the world of the dragons, and part of me honestly wished we could have stayed there longer. The realm was so rich and intriguing that leaving it so soon made the shift in story feel a bit jarring.
The writing, though, remains beautiful and engaging. Lim’s world is vast, lush, and full of promise (no pun intended). I can easily imagine many more stories hidden in its corners. But in this book, it sometimes felt like there was simply too much packed in. Side plots piled up, the pacing became chaotic, and it reminded me a little too much of Unravel the Dusk with its “too much in too little time” energy.
One of my bigger struggles was with Shiori herself. In Six Crimson Cranes, her restraint, even if it was enforced by the curse, forced her to think before she acted, which I really admired. Here, it felt like she was making up for lost time with one quick, thoughtless decision after another. It frustrated me more than once.
And then there’s Seryu. I was so excited for more dragon content, but he barely got any page time, and when he did, he didn’t feel like the same character I had loved in the first book. He was flatter, less likeable, and ultimately underwhelming.
In the end, I couldn’t help but feel that this duology really wanted to be a trilogy. There was enough story here to breathe and expand, but cramming it into just two books left the sequel uneven and overcrowded.
That said, I still enjoyed the ride. The ending was satisfying, and I’d happily return to this world if Lim decides to revisit it. I just didn’t love this quite as much as its predecessor.
