Hey, y’all! Today I have a blog post filled with some reading recommendations for the summer. I read some great books this past month since the semester ended and I wanted to share them with you all. Summer is my best reading season just because I have more time to allot towards reading. Hopefully this post will give you few new books to add to your summer reading list!
The Bride Test by Helen Hoang
I raved about The Kiss Quotient last summer when it released, and now I’m going to do the same for the Helen Hoang’s second book, The Bride Test. The Bride Test follows Esme Train and Khai. Esme is a half Vietnamese woman living in Ho Chi Minh City when she meet a wealthy older woman that convinces her to come back to America with her and marry her son. Enter said son, Khai Diep, who has “no feelings” and is convinced that he cannot love anything. Esme makes it her mission to seduce Khai and make him fall for her, but she only ends up falling herself for a man convinced he cannot return her affection.
I loved this book. I read it in less than 24 hours because I literally could not set it down. Helen Hoang has a way of writing that is addictive, and you won’t feel like you’ve had enough until the book is finished. And honestly, you’ll be left wanting more after that! Similar to The Kiss Quotient, The Bride Test features Autism representation through Khai’s character. This book is endearing, funny, and a must read for the summer!
I Wanna Be Where You Are by Kristina Forest
I Wanna Be Where You Are is the perfect summertime read. This books follows Chloe, an aspiring professional ballet dancer who goes behind her mother’s back to a ballet audition. It’s supposed to be a fast turn around trip a few states away until her neighbor and nemesis, Eli, decides to tag along with his dog, Geezer. As with any road trip novel, hijinks ensue and a budding romance flourishes where there was once hate. I really enjoyed this one! I hadn’t read a Young Adult contemporary book in a while, and I Wanna Be Where You Are was the perfect book to re-introduce me to the genre. The characters felt so tangible in this book, and the conflict didn’t seem forced or out of place as it sometimes does in most road trip stories. The characters took an unexpected journey together by car, but also through their emotions towards their families, futures, and each other. If you’re not a huge romance fan, this book takes more of the slow burn path, and lets it all build up. I was grinning ear to ear by the end. And did I mention how beautiful the cover art is?
The Raven Cycle Series by Maggie Stiefvater
Not a book this time, but a series. I finished The Raven Cycle series by Maggie Stiefvater just last month and boy was it a ride. I didn’t binge all the books back to back, but I did listen to the fourth and final book, The Raven King, on audio and had an out of body experience. It was AMAZING. The audiobooks for this series are magical, atmospheric, and immersive. You’ll never want to leave this world, mark my words. It’s the perfect summertime binge, if you’ve yet to read them. And even if you have, give the audiobooks listen just for the experience. The Raven King became my new favorite in series (replacing The Dream Thieves), just because it’s the only one in the series that I listened to. If you’re unfamiliar with The Raven Boys, the story follows Blue Sargent, the daughter of a psychic, and The Raven Boys of Aglionby Academy, Gansey, Ronan, Adam, and Noah. Gansey, our pioneer of the group is searching for an old Welsh king called Glendower, and the series follows their journey. It’s a wild ride in the most beautiful, and subtle way, and you might be confused for half of it (like I was), but somehow it all just seems to work. You’ll be falling for these band of characters in no time.
And that’s it, folks! Happy reading!
XOXO,
city of deja 