It’s August, which in my mind might as well mean fall. Yes, the temps are still lingering between 85-95 degrees and we’re still spending our weekends in the pool, but the backpacks have started popping out at the store and I’m feeling the Gilmore Girls energy in the air. One way I can feel the season shifting is in my reading habits. I’ve mentioned before that I’m not much of a summer reader, and in the past week or so, I’ve started to pick up the pace a bit more to satisfy my craving for cozy, brisk days. Let’s get into the six books I read in July!
1. Sounds Like Love by Ashley Poston
Ughhh I’m upset about this one. Ashley Poston is one of my absolute favorite romance authors, and after reading the synopsis of this book, I was SEATED for another home run from my girl. Something must be in the air this year, because with the exception of Emily Henry’s Great Big Beautiful Life, I’ve been pretty underwhelmed by the new releases from my favorite romance authors. Despite having a great premise, this book fell so flat for me for a number of reasons:
Unrealistic dialogue: A major pet peeve of mine is when authors write conversations between characters as if they were aliens trying to mimic a human conversation. I am one of six kids and not once in my life have I referred to one of my siblings as “bro” or “sis” in conversation. No one does this. Why are we still writing it into our books? This book was littered with examples of this kind of cheesy dialogue and I found it distracting and annoying.
Underdeveloped setting: Again, this one was particularly annoying to me because I grew up going to the Outer Banks for vacation every year. OBX is a special place with such a specific character, but the way the author wrote it had me questioning if she’s ever even been there.
Boring side characters: With the exception of one, the side characters of this novel might as well have not been included at all. They were largely irrelevant to the plot and had no satisfying development over the course of the novel. From the same author that wrote the aunt in Seven Year Slip, the townspeople in A Novel Love Story, and the funeral home-owning family of The Dead Romantics, it was disappointing to read such a half-baked cast.
I still love Ashley Poston’s work and will continue to read what she puts out, but I wonder if this book-a-year pace is serving the authors in this genre (and other genres for that matter—I’m looking at you, Rebecca Yarros). Nearly all of my favorite authors move on a slower release schedule, and the work they’re producing is proof of how valuable that percolation period is for a book. Anyway, no one is sadder about it than me, but I gave Sounds Like Love 2 stars. Womp womp.
2. Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
After feeling a bit underwhelmed by Sounds Like Love, I went looking for a strong recommendation to reset. Several of my go-to BookTubers and IRL book friends had raved about Dark Matter, and I’d been itching for a good sci-fi ever since reading Project Hail Mary last year. I’m happy to report that Dark Matter delivered. I buddy-read it with my sister-in-law, brother-in-law, and husband, and my sister-in-law made a great point: if I’d read this back when it was released in 2016, it probably would’ve blown my mind. But in the years since, the themes have been thoroughly explored—especially in the MCU and other media—so it didn’t quite pack the same punch. Still, I couldn’t put it down. The pacing was tight, the plot was gripping, and I (famously oblivious) didn’t see a single twist coming. I gave it 4 stars.
3. Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld
After reading Romantic Comedy and Eligible, I’ve come to expect a lot from a Curtis Sittenfeld novel. That said, this book was published more than a decade before either of those, so I’m not holding it to the exact same standard. The premise was right up my alley—normal, middle-class girl attends an elite New England boarding school—but the execution didn’t quite land for me.
The biggest issue? It just felt too long. Sittenfeld captures adolescent angst with real precision, and there are some sharp observations about race, class, and body image throughout. But many of those moments get buried in chapters that drag or meander by the end. I found myself wishing for a tighter edit to drive the themes home more effectively.
I didn’t love it, didn’t hate it—so it lands at a 2.5 star rating from me.
4. The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
With Katabasis, Kuang’s newest novel, set to release at the end of August, I wanted to round out her catalog before it drops. I’ve already read Babel and Yellowface, and while I’m not sure I’ll finish the entire trilogy in time, I read the first book in July—and loved it.
Kuang’s writing is razor-sharp, and her thematic work is so layered and subtle that I found myself wishing I were back in a college lit class, unpacking every chapter with fellow symbolism nerds. This one is loosely based on the Sino-Japanese War and follows a phenomenal antiheroine. I love a morally gray protagonist, and trust me—Rin delivers.
As usual, I gave Kuang’s novel 5 stars.
5. The House of My Mother: A Daughter’s Quest For Freedom by Shari Franke
I always find memoirs tough to rate since you’re essentially passing judgment on someone’s life story. And if you land a book deal, it’s safe to assume your story is compelling enough to warrant a read, so in a way, the genre vets itself.
That said, I have a weird fascination with both Mormonism and the world of family vlogging, so this one definitely hooked me. I think it’s wild that it’s still legal to profit off the exploitation of children online, and I hope stories like Franke’s continue pushing the conversation and legislation in the right direction.
The book was definitely interesting, but not quite life-changing like Educated (my all-time favorite memoir), so I landed at 3 stars.
6. Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
This one had been sitting on my BookTuber-recommended TBR for a while, and I finally used my audiobook credit on it in July. In hindsight, I kind of wish I’d read it at a different time since reading it so soon after The Poppy War cast it in an unfair shadow. I think with a bit more distance between the two, I might have rated it higher.
Two things tripped me up, and honestly, I think both are more on me than the book. First, the pacing felt off. I was surprised by how quickly the action kicked in within the first few chapters, and the story kept moving at a breakneck speed I wasn’t quite ready for. Second, while the novel explores important themes around race and class, the treatment felt more overt compared to the subtler approach in The Poppy War.
Had I gone into this book with its YA label at the forefront of my mind, I think I’d have been less distracted by these elements. Of course a novel aimed at much younger readers would lean into a faster pace and more direct thematic writing. The premise of this book is incredibly unique, and I know I would’ve devoured it in high school. I do plan to finish the series, just maybe not with the same urgency I feel for Kuang’s trilogy. I gave Legendborn 4 stars.
Those are my July reads! August has been moving a bit slower, since I’ve been working toward my goal of reading more classics in 2025, but I’m really enjoying what I’ve picked up so far. Not sure if I’ll pop back in before the August recap, but we shall see.
Hope you’re soaking up these final weeks of summer. I’ll be over here pretending it’s fall.
Until next time,
Juice
Adding The Poppy War to TBR now