Hi everybody, and welcome to my June wrap up! My June was pretty great at first: I did a lot of reading, got approved for some ARCs on Netgalley (after a long time of my review ratio being too low), blogged regularly and even had weekly review posts up. And then… at the beginning of this week I caught a stomach bug and I haven’t done much else other than sleep it off all week. So I’m sorry to be behind on posts and commenting and reading again, but that’s okay – I’m feeling better by now and will catch up with everything in due time 🙂
In the meantime, here’s my June wrap-up!
Meet Me At The Lake by Carley Fortune
Fortune’s debut last year, Every Summer After, was one of my favorite reads of the year. I was super excited for Meet Me at the Lake because of that, but unfortunately… I struggled with it. I just couldn’t get invested in the romance and I didn’t even like the characters that much. It was just not a book for me.
Rating: 2,5 stars
Love Quest by Camilla Isley
Love Quest is a story that caught my eye because of the fun, colorful cover and the blurb promising enemies-to-lovers on a jungle expedition in search of a lost city of gold. And it delivered! This was a really fun, quick read that I finished in a day. I had a few issues with it as well, but overall it was still a highly enjoyable read.
Rating: 3,5 stars | Read full review
The New Guy by Sarina Bowen
I enjoyed this hockey m/m romance between the two “new guys” on the team, one a hockey player and one a trainer. I also loved the dual POV and the fact that one of them was also a single dad. The characters were loveable and the romance was steamy.
Rating: 4 stars
War by Laura Thalassa (The Four Horsemen #2)
I’m making my way through The Four Horsemen series and while I’m enjoying it overall, I also had the same issues with War that I had with Pestilence: the story starts off strong but then it’s a lot of repetition, and the ending feels super sudden. I also wasn’t a fan of the turn the plot took near the end (keeping it vague to avoid spoilers). I will definitely still continue the series, but I do hope books 3 and 4 will feel more fresh.
Rating: 3,5 stars
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
Overall, I can only jump on the hype train and highly recommend this book to anyone who likes slow-burn fantasy romance with deadly schools, grumpy dragons, underdog heroines, amazing friendships and powerful magic. I’m already impatiently awaiting book two, coming out in November.
Rating: 5 stars | Read full review
Wait For It by Mariana Zapata
Yes, I finally continued my Mariana Zapata backlist binge with Wait For It. This story features Diana, who I got to know and love as Van’s best friend in The Wall of Winnipeg and Me. And I loved this sooo much, it’s definitely in my top 3 fave Mariana Zapata books! I loved Diana and her 2 nephews and I was obsessed with the (very Mariana Zapata-esque) slooooow-burn romance between Diana and her neighbour, Dallas.
Rating: 4,5 stars
Top Ten Tuesday
Book Covers That Feel Like Summer
Bookish Wishes: Books I Wish Were Available Now Already
Books On My Summer 2023 TBR
Most Anticipated Books Releasing During the Second Half of 2023
Can’t Wait Wednesday
The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon {Can’t Wait Wednesday}
WWW Wednesday
WWW Wednesday: 7 June 2023
WWW Wednesday: 21 June 2023
My playlist in June was pretty diverse, which is just how I like it 🙂
CHINCHILLA – Little Girl Gone
I discovered this song on TikTok, and it caught my attention because it’s such a fierce, badass, powerpop song, and those are my kryptonite.
Stray Kids – S-Class
Halsey & SUGA – Lilith
I watched the final season of a new favorite and rewatched the first season of an old favorite 🙂
Never Have I Ever (Season 4)
I binged the final season of Never Have I Ever in just 2 days. It was the perfect ending. I sobbed my eyes out with all the emotions during those last 2 episodes. And I laughed a lot too. I really enjoyed this teen show and I felt like they left it off at the perfect place for Devi, her character arc throughout the 4 seasons has been amazing. I’ll miss this show, that’s for sure.
Veronica Mars (Season 1 Rewatch)
My husband and I decided to start a new rewatch of an old favorite show we both watched, and it’s Veronica Mars’ turn! We’re about halfway through season 1 and oh boy, I forgot just how GOOD this show was! (Side note: I have not yet seen the revival series, but I have read *that* spoiler and I think this rewatch will stick to the original 3 series and maybe the movie and stop there so I can keep living in my own little world when it comes to this show)
June was HOT. Like, that’s all I remember of this month – a heatwave that made me stay inside as much as possible. Well, the heatwave AND the invasion of mosquitos outside. So while I’m still “Yay, summer!” I also admit that inside has been the place to be.
Things that made me happy this month:
- Had a date with my BFF – we caught up, had lunch and went shopping for office supplies (don’t judge, I totally splurged on some pastel markers and it MADE MY MONTH)
- My godchild had her first sleepover at our house and it went great! I didn’t sleep one bit due to nerves, but I’m glad it went well so maybe next time I’ll be (a bit) more chill.
- I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but I have started doing a few workouts from home again. It’s not a fixed routine just yet, but I’m still happy I did something and hopefully I’ll get back into a real fixed routine soon.
- A few quiet weekends: I started coloring and find it super relaxing!
THINGS I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT MONTH:
- I want to watch the new season of The Witcher and I’m also excited for the new season of Good Omens!
- I have a friend date and a family date planned, so that’s nice.
- Some more ‘breathable’ temperatures so we can do some nice walks and bike rides.
How was your June? What did you read? What did you listen to and what did you watch? What are you looking forward to in July?
I am sorry you had a bug last week but I’d say we are truly in sync with our taste in books as I loved Fourth Wing but War and Meet me at the Lake were disappointing for me too!
Thanks Sophie! Haha, great that we are in sync with our taste in books though 😀
I’ve finally ordered Fourth Wing. Hopefully it’ll end up as a 5 star rating for me too! 😀
I hope you’ll love Fourth Wing too, Stephanie! 🙂
I love summer but not a fan of heatwaves either! It has cooled down here a little though and I’m for it!
Hope your July is awesome 🙂
It cooled down a bit here too, though they’re predicting another heatwave coming soon so I’m enjoying every minute of the cooler weather right now 🙂 Hope you’ll have a great July too!
My June started out great too, then went crazy and I didn’t quite recover. I think I still did okay with reading, but I was sick for two weeks as well, so feel your pain with the stomach bug and getting behind! Hopefully we both have a healthy July!
Oh sorry to hear you were sick for two weeks! Indeed, let’s hope for a healthy July for the both of us 🙂
Glad to hear you’re feeling better! I watched Never Have I Ever too – such a great ending to the series! We read a couple of the same books, but I ended up DNFing Love Quest. And I can’t wait to read Fourth Wing. Glad it lives up to the hype!
Thanks! Never Have I Ever was indeed such a great ending! I get the Love Quest DNF’ing, there was a scene at the beginning that had me itching to DNF as well… Hope you’ll enjoy Fourth Wing!
Yes! Her recording him without his consent and showing her friend, him having such a negative and condescending view of women – they both bothered me.
I’ve seen similar reviews about Meet Me At The Lake. Not sure if I’ll end up giving it a try, even though it’s in my TBR.
I hope you’ll have better luck with Meet Me At The Lake if you decide to try it!
Ugh, I’m sorry you got sick but glad you’re feeling better now! I don’t like hot weather either, so hoping you get some more temperate weather soon!
Thanks! Yes, I definitely prefer the temperate weather 🙂
I think that is a smart move regarding VM. I watched all of it and now hate Veronica Mars, I can’t even rewatch.
Never Have I Ever was so cute.. I loved it. Looking forward to The Witcher though not sure I will continue to watch once Henry Cavill leaves.
Oh that’s a pity that you can’t even enjoy a VM rewatch anymore! I’m definitely staying away from the revival.
I feel the same about The Witcher, I may give it a try but it won’t be the same at all.
I’m loving that you read and loved some of my favorites this month!
Glad we have some faves in common 🙂
Sorry to hear you were sick, Lindsey! The stomach bug sounds miserable. Hopefully you’re feeling much better now. Hooray for a Zapata book! I wouldn’t call Wait For It by favorite but it’s still up there. I really hope to read Fourth Wing this month!
Thanks Tanya! I’m feeling much better now 🙂 Hope you’ll love Fourth Wing!
I’m glad you’re feeling better! Hopefully the weather cools down for you. I can’t stand being hot. It gives me rage.
Thanks! I definitely relate on the heat-rage! 🙂
I don’t know about those breathable temperatures as this weekend its 29 again, I cry. Though this storm today wasn’t fun either.
This weekend was a bit much but luckily it’s less hot today and tomorrow already at least…