I didn't think I'd read quite so many books in August, despite it being summer and me having ample time to read. I'm glad to say I found several new favourites during this month, with the medal going to In Memoriam by Alice Winn, which ripped my heart out of my chest (then put it back, but the hole is still gaping).
One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston: New to New York City, August meets Jane in the subway, finds out that Jane is stuck in the subway and in time, and embarks on a quest to free her and send her back to the 1970s.
This book was fun and heartwarming, with vibrant queer characters and a cute sapphic romance. I didn't expect to like it so much when I started reading it, but it's now one of my favourite books of the year.
To Sketch a Scandal by Jess Everlee: Matty, inspector in London, takes an art class in the hopes of proving that the teachers are part of a art fraud ring. Warren takes the same art class to try and divert his family's attention from his not-quite-legal post at a gay club. The two meet there, and romance ensues.
I was very impatient to read the fourth book in Everlee's historical series, and it became my favourite. I was instantly attached to the two protagonists, and their romance was delectable!
A Murder of Rogues by Joe Heap: Cascabel disguises herself as a man to enter Oxford and prove women are just as capable as men when it comes to higher education. She is soon blackmailed and embroiled in a murder investigation, and discovers several things about gender along the way.
I read this book as an ARC, and while the premise of the story is great, the execution felt a bit rushed. A lot was happening at once, and the author didn't take the time to properly develop the characters or the plot.
The Earl Meets His Match by T.J. Alexander: Per his father's will, Christopher must marry before his 25th birthday, lest he lose his title and inheritence. The problem is that a marriage could expose his transness. Along with his new, very attractive valet, Christopher departs for London and sets out in search of a wife capable of keeping his secret.
This was a cute romance, and I loved the themes and discussions about trans-identity. However, the characters and their romance lacked sufficient depth for me to truly love this book, and the romance took too long to even start.
The Maiden and her Monster by Maddie Martinez: When Malka's mother is wrongfully arrested and accused of a crime she didn't commit, Malka sets out to find the true culprit: the monster who resides in the forest. There, she discovers that the plot to oppress her people is deeper and darker than she could have imagined.
With immersive worldbuilding inspired by Jewish culture and history, a plot about oppression and resistance, and a sapphic romance, this book was enjoyable to read from beginning to end.
In Memoriam by Alice Winn: Sydney Ellwood and Henry Gaunt have been friends for years, friendship and love intertwined in an impossible tangle not even they can parse out. When war calls Gaunt to the front, Ellwood joins him.
I don't have words to describe how it felt to read In Memoriam. It's one of my favourite books of the year for certain, and it's also safely on my list of favourite books ever. This book is a blow and a hug at once, it's about youth and war and love and pain. I'm never going to recover from reading it, but I'd give anything to experience it again for the first time.
What Is This Feeling? by Robby Weber: Teddy and Sebastian are forced to room together during a school trip after Teddy's best friend is unable to come on the trip. The scavenger hunt organised during the trip to New York is Teddy's chance to meet his favourite artist, but Sebastian is at first unenthusiastic and uncooperative, and risks jeopardising Teddy's dream.
This was a wholesome, funny, and upbeat novel. The characters were refreshing and amusing, and the plot (both the romance and the scavenger hunt) was engaging and adorable. It's very much YA, but I do love teenage antics every once in a while, and this book was just dramatic enough without being too much.
Cursed Under London by Gabby Hutchinson Crouch: After having been assaulted and left for dead, Fang and Lazare both find out that they are very much not dead, yet unable to pinpoint what sort of undead they are exactly. Together, they set out to identify what happened to them, and get entangled in a bigger plot.
Zombies Marlowe and Shakespeare was not something I expected to find when opening this book, yet here we are. This pretty much describes the rest of the book: it's fun, it plays right into common tropes of fantasy literature without being too much, and on top of that it has incredibly loveable characters. My only issue with this is that it was too short and thus a bit rushed.
Death in the Spires by K.J. Charles: Jem is forced to quit his post after a letter accusing him of his best friend's murder is sent to his employer. His best friend has been dead for ten years, with the murderer unknown, and Jem is done letting it dictate his life. He returns to Oxford, the place where it all started, and dives into what happened ten years ago in their friend group of seven, once nicknamed 'The Seven Wonders'.
K.J. Charles strikes again! Death in the Spires feels like it was written just for me: a historical murder mystery with a queer main character, set in a dark academia setting. Charles writes amazing characters and relationships as always, and obviously knows her way around different genres. I loved the two-fold narration between past and present, and I had a lot of fun trying to parse out the truth about Toby's murder. My only grievance is that I wish the ending and the reveal had been a bit grander and more climactic than it was.
Murder Takes the High Road by Josh Lanyon: Ben's idea to go on a tour with his ex-boyfriend and said ex's new boyfriend isn't his best idea, even if the tour is for fans of his favourite mystery author. His roommate is as charming as he is mysterious, and when a traveller on the tour dies, Ben investigates.
This was a fun read, and I had a great time trying to piece together the clues that were given to the reader along the way. I love how intertwined everything proved to be at the end, but I wish the ending had been a bit more climactic or dramatic. The characters were nice too but I found them a bit flat and didn't get as attached to them as I usually do with good novels. Similarly, the romance was cute, but I didn't care that much for it.
