I have been doing my book reviews on Instagram but it’s time to bring them to my blog as well! I only read 3 books in July instead of the usual 4 as I started Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler and gave up halfway! I thought it was so boring and the story did not appeal to me!
Anyways, these are the three books I read in July!
Icebreaker by Hannah Grace ⭐⭐⭐
This is your typical young adult romance following the enemies to lover trope. Nate, captain of the ice hockey team, meets Anastacia, a figure ice skater, when a misunderstanding results in the two teams sharing an ice rink.
I loved the dual POV! I honestly believe that all romance novels need dual POVs as we get both perspectives especially when they admit their feelings for each other. It was extremely spicy so it’s not an ideal romance novel for young readers!
I would give it a very low 3 star because it kept dragging and going on forever. I skimmed through some parts because the writing was lacklustre and tried to be 50 Shades of Grey dupe (college version)!
My main complaint is that the characters had similar names so it was hard to keep track of who is who in the first 100 pages! I only got comfortable with knowing the characters halfway because Anastacia had already moved in with Nathan. I also did not like that the book introduced so many side characters because they were all underdeveloped especially when Nathan’s sister was introduced.
To avoid any spoilers, I would say that I hated the ending because it indirectly glorified what happened between Anastacia and Nathan.
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah ⭐⭐⭐
I really expected this to be a funny memoir but I barely laughed which disappointed me as Trevor Noah is a funny comedian. Trevor Noah writes a memoir detailing his life growing up in South Africa during apartheid. In Born a Crime “Trevor Noah shares his story of growing up in South Africa, with a black South African mother and a white European father at a time when it was against the law for a mixed-race child like him to exist.”
I loved that before each chapter there was a preface documenting the historical facts of what the chapter will discuss. I feel like these chapters made the memoir sound a little bit academic and something you would read in your history class! I would recommend the memoir if you want to learn how apartheid affected family structures in South Africa.
Boys & Sex: Young Men on Hookups, Love, Porn, Consent, and Navigating the New Masculinity ⭐⭐⭐
This is a sequel to Girls & Sex: Navigating the Complicated New Landscape by Peggy Orenstein! Similar to Peggy’s earlier work, her latest book examines boys and their experience with sex education and how that translates into their sexual lives. I love that this time round there was mention of same sex relationships and how parents can help support their queer kids when it comes to navigating sexual relationships! I would recommend to parents with sons especially when it’s time to educate them about consent!