Hi everybody, and welcome to my August wrap up!

August has been good – the weather has cooled off and the month has seemed to fly by faster because of it. I did manage to read a few good books, but highlights this month definitely happened on the music and movie front (Gee, what could it be? This is not predictable AT ALL…) Oh, and I got accepted for my first blog tour for one of my favorite authors so I’m pretty pleased overall <3

When It’s Real by Erin Watt

When It’s Real was a fun and fluffy read featuring one of my favorite tropes: the fake dating trope. Add a relationship between a famous pop star and a normal girl and this was actually a quite enjoyable read. My only downsides were that the love interest was quite arrogant at first and it took me a while to warm up to him and the fact that I already forgot a lot about it as soon as I finished it.

Rating: 3,5 stars

Starry eyes by Jenn Bennett

I loved Starry Eyes and would highly recommend if you love any or all of the following: contemporary YA, friends-to-enemies-to-lovers, glamping, camping, banter, stargazing, survival tips, adorable families, diversity, family focus and/or the highs and lows of friendships. Also, sex positivity and safe sex rep! The list goes on and on. Or just trust me and give this book a try – you won’t regret it!

Rating: 4,5 stars | Check out my full review

CatWoman: Soul Stealer by Sarah J. Maas

Though this books has been getting some bad reviews, I actually quite enjoyed it myself. I loved Sarah’s Selina Kyle, I loved the setting and backstory we got, and I ADORED the friendship between Catwoman, Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn.

Rating: 4 stars | Check out my full review

Vicious by V.E. Schwab

Vicious has been on my TBR for ages, but with Vengeful coming out soon I just had to read it now. And it lived up to my expectations, because I loved the twisted characters, the flashback-filled plot and the darkness of the writing. Not a full five star read, because I did feel like something was missing though I can’t say exactly what. But I felt the same about Schwab’s first Shades of Magic book and then the sequels blew me away so I have high expectations for Vengeful!

Rating: 4,5 stars

TOP TEN TUESDAY

• 7 August 2018: Contemporary Elements I Want More Of In The Fantasy Genre
• 14 August 2018: Ten Awesome Book Bloggers You Need To Check Out
• 21 August 2018: Ten Tips and Tricks To Beat That Terrible Reading Slump
• 28 August 2018: Back To School – Favorite High School & College Romances

Quote It Wednesday

Well, just last month I admitted I’ve been going through some major cases of crushed self-confidence due to some toxicity, and this month most of my playlist embraced the act of loving yourself, going your own way and not listening to voices. It was meant to be and it helped me so much so here’s to the power of music!

SOME OF MY FAVES THIS MONTH:

BTS – Idol

“Keep on chit-chatting, saying this and that
I do what I do, so you do you
You can’t stop me lovin’ myself”

Well, let’s start with the obvious one, shall we? It’s no secret I’m a huge BTS fan and this comeback was something I’ve been heavily anticipating. So when I first saw the music video, the upbeat tempo and lyrics of loving yourself made me cry. The music video is a bit too colorful and chaotic for me, but it does fit the song so nicely. Now I’m even more bummed I’m missing out on them live in October, but I am super grateful for them for having been my constant strength this past year.

Stray Kids – My Pace

“There’s no need to rush, my pace
Don’t compare yourself with others
It’s okay to run slower
Just follow my lane, my lane
Take it easy
Just look ahead and run”

Though I love me some BTS, I’ve been equally in love with Stray Kids this month. Their latest album is just amazing from start to finish, and the upbeat My Pace has been my soundtrack for weeks now. I’ve had the “nanananana” bit in my head pretty much constantly, which hasn’t been too bad 🙂

Stray Kids – Voices

“Ya, cut the useless thoughts, do everything as you like
Ya, don’t get fooled, you know they’re wrong, please do it your way
Please stop now
I’ll take it easy
‘Cause I don’t have to care about everything
There’s so many voices”

This song. This choreography. These lyrics. Bang Chan singing “There’s so many voices.” while leading the group into a dance break. I AM IN LOVE!

Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes

“Mama said don’t give up, it’s a little complicated
All tied up, no more love and I’d hate to see you waiting
They say it’s all been done but they haven’t seen the best of me
So I got one more run and it’s gonna be a sight to see”

I’ve been in love with this song for a while already, but this month the music video came out so my obsession has been refueled!

Bring Me The Horizon – Mantra

“Before the truth will set you free, it will piss you off
Before you find a place to be, you’re gonna lose the plot
Too late to tell you now, one ear and right out the other one
‘Cause all you ever do is chant the same old mantra”

And the there’s something completely different, but I’ve been equally in love with this month and that is the new Bring Me The Horizon song. Disliked it at first listen and weirdly enough fell in love with it at second listen.

TV

My Girlfriend is a Gumiho

After my Lee Seung Gi kdrama of last month (A Korean Odyssey), I threw it back to some old school Lee Seung Gi with the lovely My Girlfriend is a Gumiho. In this drama, a man accidentally frees a gumiho, a legendary nine-tailed fox. In gratitude, the gumiho saves his life and sticks close to him which leads to some funny antics. Though it’s not my favorite kdrama, I still highly enjoyed this one. It was fun seeing some gumiho mythology and the romance was pretty cute even if it took me a few episodes to get into it.

Movies

Avengers: Infinity War

I FINALLY SAW THIS, YES! Since I’m so late to the party, I’ve been spoiled on lots of things already, but I still managed to enjoy the movie overall and was still surprised by things too. But… now I need a sequel. Like now, okay? Please and thank you.

To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before

THE MOVIE EVENT OF THE MONTH, POSSIBLY THE YEAR! I am so, so happy that this not only lived up to my expectations, but exceeded it in every way. I may even like this movie adaptation more than the book? It was so cute and reminded me of all the things I used to love in high school movies. It was lovely, adorable, funny, romantic and stayed true to the characters. I already watched it three times #noregrets

Things that made me happy this month:

• All the great music that really managed to lift my spirits.
• Friends being super supportive when I needed them. Love them.
• Bat watching at night with my best friend.
• My husband baking a Japanese cheesecake, which was delicious! He also made me a delicious poké bowl and got me yummy waffles. I like food, okay 😉
• Getting accepted to be a tour host for the blog tour for Annette Marie’s new book ‘Three Mages and a Margarita’. Come check out my post on October 15th!
• The To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before movie release which was just too cute.
• Finally getting slightly cooler and more tolerable weather.

THINGS I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT MONTH:

• We get the key to our house! Then renovation work can begin. Not sure yet how this will affect my blogging schedule but we’ll see.
• Wildcard by Marie Lu comes out and I can’t wait!
• The release of Sierra Burgess Is A Loser on Netflix – will we continue our streak of great teen movies?
• Dance classes start again, which has me happy cause I’m dying to get moving again!
• Fall Season! So basically, Halloween season, woop!

HOW WAS YOUR August? WHAT DID YOU READ? WHAT DID YOU LISTEN TO AND WHAT DID YOU WATCH? AND WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR September?