End of the Month Wrap Up June/July

 Here is my once again late End of the Month Wrap Up. Starting in August, I'm going to try to go back to the one a month format. It just feels like the days are passing by so quickly and before I know it, it's the end of the month and I am never ready. Like already we are half way through August and I have to start getting my wrap up for this month prepared. Anyway, for June and July, I was able to make a video wrap up as well, if you'd like to see it, it is already up on my Tik Tok. I'll link it below. So this is going to be a mash up of the books that I read in June and July, I will try to keep them in order by the month I read them. So the first 9 books are for June and the remaining 8 are for July! Here we go!!

 

Favorite Character - Ildiko/Catarina: For June, my favorite character was Ildiko from the Wraith Kings series. I loved that she was so open minded and didn't allow her circumstances to define how she took in what happens to her. Instead of being mean and hating that she was being married off. She was open to Brishen and allowed for them both to end up in a happy relationship that grew into love. For July, my favorite character was Catarina from Watch Me Burn. She was a bad ass who definitely was out here terrorizing our MMC for awhile. I liked that she was someone who was strong and knew how to handle herself. Though once she got close to Aaron, she showed a different side to herself that only he was allowed to see.

Best Cover - Radiance/The Butcher of the Bay part 1: For June, the best cover was Radiance. I loved how the couple look in the illustration. I mean, it allows us to see the obvious difference between the two while also allowing us to highlight how amazing they look together. Brishen is strong and a handsome man in his own right, while Ildiko shows her ability to trust and be vulnerable with him. Showing that with just the cover art was perfection! For July, the best cover was The Butcher of the Bay part 1. I really like the model that was used for Illi. I love the post and just the raw feel of the picture. When you read the book you realize that Illi is a good man who just so happens to also have no problem slicing and dicing people. He is a man amongst men in this book and I think that comes across perfectly with this cover.

Best Voice Actors - Wraith Kings series/Natural Born Killers: For June, I put the Wraith Kings series here for best voice actors. I really enjoyed listening to the VA for this series. I'm American, so her accent was perfect, for allowing me suspend reality and dive into the world that these characters live in. For July, it was Natural Born Killers. I love a good dual narration and we got that with this book. I think both VA's did a great job of bringing their characters to life.

Top Baddie - Brishen's Mom/The Dads: For June, Brishen's Mom takes the cake here. She was a menace when we meet her in book one. She tries to kill Ildiko and makes no apologies about it. She is definitely a woman that you don't want to mess with. Then in the second book, she is only there for a small amount of time but her actions end up affecting everyone in this world in a negative way. I mean she almost kills every person in her nation. It was crazy! None of the other big bads can top her kill count for June. For July, it's the dads of the guys in Natural Born Killers. I mean, over some super petty stuff, we find out that they killed some pretty important people to our MCs AND were ready to kill their own children. LIKE........What kind of parents are you?! Seriously!! Both of these months can be summarized simply as parents behaving badly. Extremely bad.

Spiciest Book - Entwined With You/God of Ruin: For June, the spiciest book was definitely Entwined With You. Gideon and Ava, have been scorching the pages for every single one of their books. I think the only time they lost this category was when I was reading The Wolf Hotel series. Even then, they were neck and neck with each other. If you haven't been introduced to Gideon Cross, then take this as your sign to pick up the Crossfire series...T O D A Y. For July, it definitely went to God of Ruin. Landon King, you dirty, dirty man. I really love everytime Rina Kent gives her unhinged characters a chance to shine. They definitely do not miss out on the opportunity to do exactly that!

Best Storyline - A Cage of Kingdoms/God of Ruin: For June, this goes to A Cage of Kingdoms. I really love how the characters have entwined themselves with the characters that we know and love from the first few books in the Deliciously Dark Fairtales series. It feels so seamless! The way that this story gets told was just really great in my opinion. I am sad to move away from these two as the MCs but I can't wait to see what else comes from this series. For July, I once again have to give it to Rina Kent. I mean, the way that this series is able to weave the events together so that we get another perspective is very nice. Especially since Landon has his hand in just about every pie, seeing things from his eyes was definitely a nice touch. Can't wait to see how things go in the remaining two books!

Author of the Month - Grace Draven/J Bree: For June, I gave this to Grace Draven because once I was done with the first two books in the Wraith Kings series, I was so sad about leaving that world. I fell so hard for the characters and everything that the world had to offer. I didn't want to let them go. I'm glad that we get a book 3 and I can't wait to explore the romance between the characters in that book. For July, I gave this to J Bree. This one was kinda hard because Rina Kent was in her bad with God of Ruin but I really enjoyed The Butcher of the Bay. It was a great introduction to this duet and I can't wait to read book 2 and jump into some spice with Illi and Odie.

Book of the Month - A Game of Fate/God of Ruin: For June, I really loved A Game of Fate. I didn't think that getting the story from Hades perspective would be such a game changer but it definitely was. I really loved seeing things that were happening on his end and I can see why there are those out there who prefer the Hades series. I mean, it just seems that much more fantastical compared to the OG series. Which is not a knock on that one at all. Persephone just has a lot more angst to her story than Hades does. For July, God of Ruin almost took the entire cake for me. Rina Kent for me is at her best when she is telling the story of her unhinged characters. God of Malice and God of Ruin are the top books in this series so far for me. God of Wrath is definitely holding strong in second/third place for me. If you haven't checked out any of these books yet then you definitely should. These series have been such great reads! Highly recommend!