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June Wrap-Up

Hi everyone! Today I’ll be talking about all the books I read in June. Much to my surprise, I read 12 novels, two of which were carry over books from May. I also completed my goodreads reading challenge of 25 books, which I never thought would be possible! Anyways, let’s get right into it!

Novels I Read

(ARC) We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This by Rachel Lynn Solomon: (4.5 out of 5 stars) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ This was my first Solomon book, and will definitely not be the last! You can read my review here.

Once Upon an Eid by A Collection of Authors: (5 out of 5 stars) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I loved this so much!! It’s incredibly joyful and educational. I l highly recommend it. Review to come!

(ARC) Rumaysa by Radiya Hafiza: (4.75 out of 5 stars) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ This was a huge surprise, but in the best way possible. If you love fairytale retellings, than this is a must read! Review to come!

(ARC) One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston: (1.75 out of 5 stars) ⭐⭐ After hearing such great things about the book, I was super excited when I got around to reading it. But One Last Stop was such a disappointment. Feel free to read my review here. –Buddy read with the amazing Calliope!

Black Brother, Black Brother by Jewell Parker Rhodes: (3.5 out of 5 stars) ⭐⭐⭐ This was both fast paced and educational! Which I’ve come to know is my favorite combination.

Some Girls Do by Jennifer Dugan: (3.25 out of 5 stars) ⭐⭐⭐ I’ve been meaning to get into Dugan’s writing for quite a while now. And well, this was just okay. Review to come! –Buddy read with the amazing Calliope!

A Taste for Love by Jennifer Yen: (4 out of 5 stars) ⭐⭐⭐⭐ A Taste for Love was such a surprise! I adored this one immensely. Review to come!

The Passing Playbook by Isaac Fitzsimons: (3.5 out of 5 stars) ⭐⭐⭐ I enjoyed my time reading this one, but it wasn’t very memorable.

Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry by Joya Goffney: (3.5 out of 5 stars) ⭐⭐⭐ Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry was one of my most anticipated releases of 2021, and well, it was just meh. I loved the witty banter and lists, but nothing stood out to me unfortunately. Review to come!

May the Best Man Win by Z.R. Ellor: (4 out of 5 stars) ⭐⭐⭐⭐ This was the most conflicted rating I’ve ever given. The main characters weren’t likeable at all, but it was such a whirlwind of emotions. Review to come! –Buddy read with the lovely April @ Booked Till Midnight!

Your Heart My Sky by Margarita Engle: (3.5 out of 5 stars) ⭐⭐⭐ Your Heart My Sky is an incredibly heart wrenching story told in verse. I learnt a lot about Cuba in the 1990s, which was great! However, the ending was too unclear.

Graphic Novels and Manga read

Blue Lock Volume 12 by Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yusuke Nomura: (4.25 out of 5 stars) ⭐⭐⭐⭐ This volume was really interesting! However, it didn’t stand out as much as the previous ones.

Blue Flag Volume 6-8 by Kaito: (4.75 out of 5) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ This series is incredibly eye opening and emotional, so I’m sad to see it end. My only complaint is that some questions where left unanswered. Nevertheless it’s still such a great manga that I highly recommend!

Moriarty the Patriot Volume 2 by Ryōsuke Takeuchi and Hikaru Miyoshi: (3.5 out of 5 stars) ⭐⭐⭐ While I admired certain concepts, others didn’t make much sense and seemed unnecessary. It’s still a great series though!

Spy x Family Volume 2 by Tatsuya Endo: (4.25 out of 5 stars) ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Spy x Family is such a cute and fun series! And this volume definitely proved that statement.

A Sign of Affection Volume 3 by Suu Morishita: (4.75 out of 5 stars) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I really enjoyed this volume! It was super relaxing to read, if that makes sense. 😆

Shortcake Cake Volume 8 by Suu Morishita: (4.25 out of 5 stars) ⭐⭐⭐⭐ I think I put the wrong picture but essentially, this volume was really gripping!

Sugar in Milk by Thrity Umrigar and Khoa Le: (4.5 out of 5 stars) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ This was such a stunning story with beautiful art. It was like a warm hug!

The Floating Field: How a Group of Thai Boys Built Their Own Soccer Field by Scott Riley, Nguyen Quang, and Kim Lien: (5 out of 5 stars) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I LOVED this!! It’s an incredible picture book with a beautiful message. I definitely recommend it!

Total Number Of Books Read: 24

Total Number Of Posts Published: 8 

Average Rating: 7/10 or 3.5 out of 5 stars

I didn’t have enough time to hop over on the blogsphere last month. So if I missed any of your posts, feel free to link them down below!

First, let’s recap! Last month I said I’d read four novels, read three netgalley ARCs, and drink more water. Luckily, I read over four novels, and got through three of my Netgalley ARCs! Did I drink enough water though…Maybe?

Some of my goals for July include…

  • Finish two netgalley ARCs
  • Read 10 novels
  • Drink lots of water

And that’s a wrap! I hope you enjoyed reading about my June in books, I’d love to know about yours too! If you’d like, you can read last month’s wrap up here. Have a lovely day!

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One Last Stop | An ARC Review

Hiya! Today I’ll be reviewing One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston. Enjoy!

**I received an advanced readers copy via Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

(Synopsis from goodreads)

For cynical twenty-three-year-old August, moving to New York City is supposed to prove her right: that things like magic and cinematic love stories don’t exist, and the only smart way to go through life is alone. She can’t imagine how waiting tables at a 24-hour pancake diner and moving in with too many weird roommates could possibly change that. And there’s certainly no chance of her subway commute being anything more than a daily trudge through boredom and electrical failures. But then, there’s this gorgeous girl on the train. Jane. Dazzling, charming, mysterious, impossible Jane. Jane with her rough edges and swoopy hair and soft smile, showing up in a leather jacket to save August’s day when she needed it most. August’s subway crush becomes the best part of her day, but pretty soon, she discovers there’s one big problem: Jane doesn’t just look like an old school punk rocker. She’s literally displaced in time from the 1970s, and August is going to have to use everything she tried to leave in her own past to help her. Maybe it’s time to start believing in some things, after all.

The original premise of One Last Stop excited me. However, it never really stood out as something out of the ordinary. A time travel love story is something I see a lot within the science fiction genre. I was actually quite interested to see how the plot would be executed. On top of that, I was very eager to read the book due to all the hype surrounding it. Unfortunately though, One Last Stop fell extremely flat. 

Saniya, how could you?! Yes, yes, I know, it’s a popular book and I am very happy for the author. No one wanted a 2> star review for One Last Stop. But, this was dare I say, not my up of tea. Allow me to explain myself…

Let’s start with the characters. Our two MCs August and Jane felt very two dimensional, and had an even more superficial relationship. Aside from Jane liking punk rock music, the two seemed to have no personality. Because of this, I was unable to root for them. 

Luckily, I enjoyed reading about Myla! She was eccentric and book smart, which is one of the best combinations possible if you ask me. The other side characters didn’t keen my interest at all though. Thus when almost 80% of the book was August interacting with the side characters, I couldn’t bring myself to care about their conversations. Furthermore, I also felt as though there were too many people being introduced into the story. Henceforth why I quickly became overwhelmed as more characters were introduced. 

In addition, the dialogue was one aspect I had a tough time with. August and her roommates seemed to talk about rather pointless things that added nothing to the plot. I would have been completely fine with this if the dialogue was actually amusing or intriguing. However, the snarky remarks came off as odd and unfunny instead. 

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The writing is where I had another huge issue with. There was an abundance of rambling that added nothing but ~length~ to the story. The chapters were also incredibly long, and it felt like a chore to push through the book. The time travel aspect also made absolutely no sense at all. This led to me being confused and uninterested.

Overall, One Last Stop was an unenjoyable read for me. The story dragged on way too much, and the jokes just weren’t funny. Despite disliking the book, I recommend this to all the Casey McQuiston fans out there!

Age Rating: 16 and up

TW: Drinking, depression, anxiety, familial death, familial estrangement, missing persons

Final Rating: 3.5/10 or 1.75 stars

⭐⭐

Have you read One Last Stop? If so, what did you think of it? Have a lovely day, and thank you for reading!

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