JULY⤏ RECAP

FOR THE MONTH OF 

JULY

A fairly decent month of audiobooks...still, no finished eBOOKS...I did finish one eBook, sort of, by listening to it instead...so not actually, I had read it up to 40% or so.  17 audiobooks in total.  5-Star stand-outs were Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo and The Liar's Daughter by Megan Cooley Peterson.  The Lying Woods by Ashley Elston was just shy of 5 Stars, with 4¾ Stars.  Honorable Mentions to The Stranger You Seek by Amanda Kyle Williams, I Killed Zoe Spanos by Kit Frick and Truel1f3 by Jay Kristoff...all at 4½ Stars.

MY MONTHLY RECAP IS AS FOLLOWS⇢

17 TOTAL AUDIOBOOKS

(10,793 MINUTES)

5,984 PAGES (CONVERTED TO PAGES FROM KINDLE VERSION)

THE BOOKS⇣

CLICKING THE GRAPHIC TAKES YOU TO MY REVIEW

AUDIOBOOK ￮ THE LYING WOODS ￮ BY ASHLEY ELSTON

THE DETAILS⇣

￮ WITH AUDIO PERFORMED BY ADAM VERNER & STEPHEN DEXTER

￮ SLOW-BURNING SOUTHERN CHARM

￮ A LITTLE TWISTY KNOT OF A MYSTERY

￮ YA-TEEN LIFE

￮ TOLD IN ALTERNATING TIMELINES WITH TWO POV'S

￮ PECAN TREES...I LOVE ME SOME PECANS

MY REVIEW IN ONE SENTENCE⤏ Such an interesting little mystery set in small-town Georgia, that really surprised me with its genuine characters and they're true to life struggles. 

FINISH DATE 07/01

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AUDIOBOOK ￮ THE STRANGER YOU SEEK ￮ BY AMANDA KYLE WILLIAMS

THE DETAILS⇣

￮ WITH AUDIO PERFORMED BY ANN MARIE

￮ KEYE STREET #1

￮ SERIAL KILLER MYSTERY

￮ SUSPENSE THRILLER

￮ GRAPHICALLY DEPICTED SCENES THAT WILL MAKE YOU DO A HARD FLINCH

￮ A REALLY LIKABLE & RELATABLE PROTAGONIST 

MY REVIEW IN ONE SENTENCE⤏ This one keeps you guessing throughout the book...and I thoroughly enjoyed this listening experience...but I did have some reservations about the ending.

FINISH DATE⤏ 07/03

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AUDIOBOOK ￮ ASH WEDNESDAY ￮ BY ETHAN HAWKE

THE DETAILS⇣

￮ WRITTEN & NARRATED BY ETHAN HAWKE (THE ACTOR)

￮ TWO POV'S

￮ REALISTIC MIXED WITH A SORT OF PULP FICTION

￮ SOME GENUINELY HEARTFELT MOMENTS

MY REVIEW IN ONE SENTENCE⤏ This book is full of moments, heartfelt ones, juvenile ones, and some that are just scattered with rambling delusions...when you put all these moments together you are left with a story that has heart and even depth...when you dig deep enough.

 

FINISH DATE⤏ 07/05

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AUDIOBOOK ￮ THE RIVER AT NIGHT ￮ BY ERICA FERENCIK

THE DETAILS⇣

￮ WITH AUDIO PERFORMED BY JOY OSMANSKI

￮ RIVER-RAFTING ADVENTURE

￮ GONE WRONG...WAY WRONG

￮ SINGLE POV

￮ I THINK I HEAR A BANJO PLAYING...

￮ SOMEWHAT HORROR-IF-IC

MY REVIEW IN ONE SENTENCE⤏ The River At Night has top-notch action (once it gets going anyway), a Deliverance-themed storyline, and...unfortunately, not so likable characters.

FINISH DATE 07/08

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AUDIOBOOK ￮ ASHLORDS ￮ BY SCOTT REINTGEN

THE DETAILS⇣

￮ WITH AUDIO PERFORMED BY REBECCA SOLER, ANDREW EIDEN, LAUREN FORTGANG, & NEIL HELLEGERS

￮ UNTITLED DUOLOGY #1

￮ YA FANTASY

￮ FEATURING ALCHEMY/MAGIC

￮ A RACE TO THE FINISH LINE

￮ 3 MAIN POV'S PLUS 1 AT THE VERY END

￮ WHY WAS ONE POV IN SECOND-PERSON AND THE REST IN FIRST???

MY REVIEW IN ONE SENTENCE⤏ I really feel this has the potential to be a great story...it just needs to fill in some of the blanks because I was left feeling confused about some of the elements at play here.

FINISH DATE  07/10

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AUDIOBOOK ￮ THE CURRENT ￮ TIM JOHNSTON

THE DETAILS⇣

￮ WITH AUDIO PERFORMED BY SARAH MOLLO-CHRISTENSEN

￮ A LONG SLOWBURN MYSTERY 

￮ WITH AN ICY COLD ATMOSPHERIC SETTING

￮ COMPLEX CHARACTERS WITH MULTIPLE POV'S

￮ SOME MOMENTS OF SUSPENSE/THRILLS

MY REVIEW IN ONE SENTENCE⤏ This book was a slow burn, meticulously told, eerily atmospheric to the point of melancholy, with characters that you felt you actually knew at the conclusion of the book.

FINISH DATE⤏ 07/11

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AUDIOBOOK ￮ THE ARCHIVED ￮ BY VICTORIA SCHWAB

THE DETAILS⇣

￮ WITH AUDIO PERFORMED BY PIPER GOODEVE

￮ THE ARCHIVED #1

￮ FANTASY MIXED WITH THE REAL WORLD

￮ A VERY UNIQUE CONCEPT

￮ YOUNG ADULT (heavy on the Y)

￮ DEALING WITH THE LOSS OF A SIBLING

MY REVIEW IN ONE SENTENCE⤏ This has one of the most unique concepts that I've found in YA fantasy...a library or Archive, if you will, for the dead...with Keepers that keep them in.

FINISH DATE⤏ 07/13

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AUDIOBOOK ￮ THE GIRLS WEEKEND ￮ BY JODY GEHRMAN

THE DETAILS⇣

￮ WITH AUDIO PERFORMED BY EMILY ELLET

￮ LOCKED-ROOM MYSTERY

￮ REUNION OF GIRLFRIENDS

￮ MIXED WITH SOME ROHYPNOL

￮ DRAMA, JEALOUSIES & BLOOD ON THE WALL

￮ SAN JUAN ISLANDS SETTING...BUT IT DIDN'T REALLY FEEL LIKE IT

MY REVIEW IN ONE SENTENCE⤏ A mix of the hangover and your favorite locked room mystery, where everyone has a reason to want the missing/presumed dead to be offed.

FINISH DATE⤏ 07/14

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AUDIOBOOK ￮ BURN OUR BODIES DOWN ￮ BY RORY POWER

THE DETAILS⇣

￮ WITH AUDIO PERFORMED BY LAUREN EZZO

￮ HORROR THAT FEELS SLIGHTLY SUPERNATURAL-ISH...WELL, MAYBE?

￮ YA-ISH

￮ A DASH OF CHILDREN OF THE CORN

￮ A DASH OF THE MURDERS OF MOLLY SOUTHBOURNE

￮ MIX IT UP WITH SOME PFAS-LIKE KNID OF SHIT...

MY REVIEW IN ONE SENTENCE⤏ What do you rate a book that completely baffled you...do you give high marks or low marks...I went with the middle of the flipping road, standing next to a cornfield, confused as hell...3 stars all the way.  

FINISH DATE⤏ 07/15

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AUDIOBOOK ￮ THE LIAR'S DAUGHTER ￮ BY MEGAN COOLEY PETERSON

THE DETAILS⇣

￮ WITH AUDIO PERFORMED BY MELISSA MORAN

￮ REALISTIC FICTION

￮ TWO TIMELINES --SAME POV (BEFORE & AFTER)

￮ A RAW, ENTRANCING LOOK AT LIFE IN A CULT

￮ BEFORE:  FROM THE BRAINWASHING TO THE ABUSE

￮ AFTER:  ADJUSTING TO NORMAL LIFE

MY REVIEW IN ONE SENTENCE⤏ You can tell that this book is well researched...it felt so realistic, an absolute triumph of a story.

FINISH⤏ DATE 07/16

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AUDIOBOOK ￮ CROOKED KINGDOM ￮ BY LEIGH BARDUGO

THE DETAILS⇣

￮ WITH AUDIO PERFORMED BY ROGER CLARK, JAY SNYDER, ELIZABETH EVANS, FRED BERMAN, BRANDON RUBIN, KEVIN T. COLLINS, LAUREN FORTGANG, PETER GANIM

￮ SIX OF CROWS #2

￮ YA-ISH FANTASY

￮ SET IN THE GRISHA-VERSE

￮ A RESCUE, AND A FLEECING

￮ WITH THIS INTRIGUING CREW OF SIX + ONE

￮ SOME MORE SUBTLE ROMANCE

￮ DEAR LEIGH BARDUGO: YOU FREAKING KILLED ME WITH THAT THING YOU DID NEAR THE END???

MY REVIEW IN ONE SENTENCE⇢  I highly recommend this duo for its spectacular characters...fleshed out so thoroughly that you feel like you actually know them, I loved them all...but Matthias and Nina are still my favorites.

FINISH DATE⇢ 07/18

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AUDIOBOOK ￮ I KILLED ZOE SPANOS ￮ BY KIT FRICK

THE DETAILS⇣

￮ WITH AUDIO PERFORMED BY JAYME MATTLER, JENNI BARBER, DAN BITTNER, INÉS DEL CASTILLO, JONATHON DAVIS, GIBSON FRAZIER, MADELEINE MABY, SONEELA NANKANI, JACKI SANDERS, CANDACE THAXTON, & JESSE VILINSKY

￮ PODCAST-STYLE MIXED WITH ALTERNATING POV'S

￮ FULL-CAST NARRATION

￮ YA MURDER MYSTERY

￮ ALTERNATING TIMELINES -THAT CAN GET A TAD CONFUSING

￮ TWISTY-TURNY REVEALS

MY REVIEW IN ONE SENTENCE⇢ This story both starts and ends with a confession...everything in between is a twisty, oft-times confusing, drug and alcohol-infused, with secrets slipping out everywhere kind of murder-mystery with an illuminating podcast to help pull it all together.  

FINISH DATE⇢ 07/21

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AUDIOBOOK ￮ SPARROW ￮ BY L.J. SHEN

THE DETAILS⇣

￮ WITH AUDIO PERFORMED BY MICHAEL PAULEY

￮ CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

￮ WITH A LITTLE SUSPENSE

￮ ALTERNATING POV'S (HERO & HEROINE)

￮ TOLD BY ONLY ONE (MALE) NARRATOR

￮ SEXPLICIT --WITH A SIDE OF PAIN=PLEASURE

MY REVIEW IN ONE SENTENCE⇢  An okay-ish, sorta mobster-ish romance...meh

FINISH DATE⇢ 07/23

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AUDIOBOOK ￮ THE LIFE THAT MATTERED ￮ BY JEWEL E ANN

THE DETAILS⇣

￮ WITH AUDIO PERFORMED BY ANDI ARNDT & PAUL WOODSON

￮ THE LIFE SERIES #1 OF 2

￮ CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE WITH A TWIST

￮ W/A HINT OF SUPERNATURAL/THE UNEXPLAINED

￮ A ROMANCE THAT FOCUSES ON LIFE MORESO THAN ACTUAL ROMANCE

￮ TWO POV'S --HERO & HEROINE'S 

￮ ENDS IN A SERIOUS CLIFFHANGER

MY REVIEW IN ONE SENTENCE⇢ The Life That Mattered is small parts Aspen Extreme, Final Destination, Vice Versa, and The Last Song that's been melded, molded, and mashed-up into something completely original.  

FINISH DATE⇢ 07/26

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AUDIOBOOK ￮ TRUEL1F3 ￮ BY JAY KRISTOFF

THE DETAILS⇣

￮ WITH AUDIO PERFORMED BY ERIN SPENCER

￮ LIFEL1K3 SERIES #3

￮ YA DYSTOPIAN

￮ ACTION PACKED

￮ I ROBOT MEETS MAD MAX WITH A DOLLOP OF WALL-E

￮ STILL MORE LEMON FRESH THAN EVE

￮ SO MANY POV'S --THAT I COULDN'T KEEP TRACK OF THEM ALL

MY REVIEW IN ONE SENTENCE⇢  The indelibly written themes coupled with characters that are so very likable they feel like friends make this a trilogy that's not to be missed.

FINISH DATE⇢ 07/27

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AUDIOBOOK ￮ THIS LIGHT BETWEEN US ￮ BY ANDREW FUKUDA

THE DETAILS⇣

￮ WITH AUDIO PERFORMED BY EMILY ELLET & GREG CHUN

￮ UNLIKELY PENPALS

￮ A JAPANESE AMERICAN BOY --ALEX MAKI

￮ A FRENCH JEWISH GIRL --CHARLIE LEVY

￮ WWII BACKDROP --LOTS OF WAR SCENES

￮ INTERNMENT CAMP FOR JAPANESE AMERICANS

￮ JEWISH CONCENTRATION CAMPS

MY REVIEW IN ONE SENTENCE⇢ If you like stories based on WWII then you should really read/listen to this...it gave me some Between Shades of Gray vibes...although it didn't quite deliver the feels that BSOG did, it really shined from an educational point of view.

FINISH DATE⇢ 07/29

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AUDIOBOOK ￮ THE GUEST LIST ￮ BY LUCY FOLEY

THE DETAILS⇣

￮ WITH AUDIO PERFORMED BY JOT DAVIES, CHLOE MASSEY, OLIVIA DOWD, AOIFE MCMAHON, SARAH OVENS, & RICH KEEBLE

￮ ISLAND SETTING OFF THE COAST OF IRELAND 

￮ SIX SEPARATE POV'S

￮ SLOW-BURNING MYSTERY

￮ EVERYONE HAS SOMETHING TO HIDE

￮ UNLIKABLE CHARACTERS WITH SCANDALOUS SECRETS

￮ NOT FOR ME...BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN IT COULDN'T BE FOR YOU.

MY REVIEW IN ONE SENTENCE⇢ Despite the narration having separate narrators for each POV and being well written...I still could not connect with this very oh-so-slow-burning story at all...and I tried all the way to the end. 

FINISH DATE⇢ 07/30

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BEST COVER OF THE MONTH GOES TOO...