With the end of the school year and the beginning of summer, I thought I’d merge the two since June didn’t give me much time to read but July definitely did! I wanted to read a lot of romance and just live a little vicariously through these books and I of course had to include a lot of LGBTQ+ books since it was Pride Month in June. So, without further ado, here goes!

Gulliver’s Travels is a book about a man named Gulliver who travels around the world to fantasy lands of all sorts. First he goes to a place called Lilliput where everyone there is essentially human but really tiny, like only six inches in height. They treated Gulliver like a god and were very accomodating. Gulliver also had to help them with a neighbouring land who was an enemy of Lilliput.

The second land he went to, called Brobdingnag, was the complete opposite: everyone there were huge: something around 60 feet tall. Again, Gulliver was accomodated for and was well respected, but since he was small compared to the Brobdingnags, he couldn’t do much.

In all honesty I didn’t end up paying much attention to the end of the book because it was almost the same thing just different font, so to speak. Another new land with another new people, and not much plot just explanations, infodumping of how everything worked.

I gave this book a 3 stars because I really enjoyed the first half but then the second half was pretty boring.

This is a book about a girl named Eli, who isn’t quite human. She may look human, but she was actually made by witches to hunt ghosts.

One day, she’s supposed to be dealing with a ghost but ends up just murdering a living man, and now she’s worried she’s going to be unmade. Teaming up with humans who know just a little too much about the witch world and who have some special plans of their own, Eli learns a strong message about what makes you human, what makes you alive.

I give this book a 4/5 stars. It didn’t hook me as much as I thought it would but it was a great read nonetheless and I greatly enjoyed it.

This book is a reread but it’s the first time I’m writing about it here on my blog. I LOVE IT.

This is a masterpiece of writing, philosophy, romance, existentialism, coming-of-age, self-acceptance and personal growth… I cannot say enough good things about this book.

It’s about two Mexican-American boys, one named Aristotle (but he goes by Ari) who lives with his mom, a professor, and his father, a Vietnam war veteran. Ari has two older sisters who have already moved out, and an older brother in prison that his family doesn’t talk about. He’s bit of a loner, doesn’t trust anyone very much and isn’t ready for adulthood.

Dante, on the other hand, has two very loving parents, lives in a safe household, and is a very optimistic, loving boy.

When the two meet at a community swimming pool, Dante starts teaching Ari to swim and the two of them become fast friends… and even more.

5/5 stars. Beautiful writing, an incredible plot, amazing characters, and lots of great life lessons while not being preachy or moralising, set in Texas, 1970s. Will recommend to just about anybody. Do look up content warnings though.

Ophelia After All is a book about a girl named Ophelia Rojas, a Cuban-American high school girl. She likes boys, Cuban food, and her garden of roses.

But then as prom season rolls around, she meets Talia, and the two friend groups start slowly merging. Ophelia finds herself falling for Talia, and doesn’t know really how to deal with this newfound sexuality: after all, she’s always thought she was straight.

This is a book about self-discovery and acceptance, and it’s very cutely written with characters you can’t help but love. And a surprise at the end of the book (or at least my copy)? Two playlists that match the vibes of the book. If this book wasn’t already a 5/5 stars, that made it even better.

I won this book the second time I won the Ghost Story Contest, and it was the first book I annotated. (I didn’t actually write in it, I just put sticky notes. I can’t handle writing in a book with ink or graphite.)

Zora Novak already lives a pretty troubled life. Her mother is gone (likely dead, but there wasn’t any body or anything when Dasree Novak ran away into the Addamsville woods, so as far as we know she could be alive). Her father is in prison. Her older sister and her boyfriend are essentially in charge of raising her and getting enough money to support the family in their small town of Addamsville.

To make matters worse, Addamsville has ghosts in it. Not everyone can see them, and most think it’s just a hoax for tourists to come and be spooked (“ooh, haunted small town”). But Zora can see them. A while ago, a special kind of ghost called a firestarter, burned down a house and killed some people. Zora went to help, but ended up losing two of her fingers in the process.

So after more firestarters arrive on the scene and start causing drama, people are accusing Zora of arson, who now has to team up with her rich cousin Artemis to solve who is actually doing the murders. And to add to the problems, a film crew is in Addamsville to shoot a silly ghost-hunting show.

This book is 5/5 stars, I normally don’t read mystery, much less murder mystery, but I really enjoyed this one and it was pretty tame. (Also as a side note, Zora is canonically asexual and it’s the perfect kind of casual representation we love to see!)

This book follows the story of Liz Lighty, a girl living in a small town in Indiana where the one thing that almost everyone is obsessed with in school is prom season. It’s been the highlight for generations. Liz, living with her grandparents and sick younger brother, wants to go to Pennington for university and is relying heavily on getting a certain scholarship.

She doesn’t get it.

Now she has to run for prom queen, because whoever wins gets money, so she’s not completely without hope. Except Liz had zero intention of running before this catastrophe, and she’d almost rather do anything else. But at this point, it’s worth a shot.

Liz’ campaign goes pretty well, but there’s soon a bit of a catch. She starts falling for her competition, a new girl named Mack. Will this hurt her chances of winning in this small high school… or boost them?

This was a 5/5 star read, with a satisfying ending and a plot that just keeps you hooked from page 1 till the end.

Morgan: star track athlete, forced to move out of her Catholic School after coming out as a lesbian.

Ruby: following her mother’s footprints being a pageant queen, but doesn’t want to be. She prefers working on her 1970 Ford Torino.

Both fall for each other, but while Morgan wants a fresh start at her new school, Ruby isn’t ready to come out. How will they resolve their issues? Will the relationship survive?

This was a great book. The ending is satisfying, the writing is easy to follow and it keeps you hooked, but the only reason I’m giving this a 4/5 stars is that I felt there were a lot of issues that could have been avoided, and some parts made me really annoyed. But overall it was a great book!

Yes, I reread RW&RB because I heard of the movie coming out, as I assume a lot of people did. Sue me.

If you’re new and want to know my opinions on it, you can find that information here.

It’s almost time for Maggie Gonzalez to find a date for her younger sister’s quinceañera, but there are three problems.

One: Her on-and-off boyfriend, Matthew, who he’s still kinda-sorta friends with.

Two: Her best friend Amanda, who Maggie has been crushing on essentially forever.

Three: The new girl, Dani, who’s cute, and Maggie’s starting to develop new fun feelings.

For her end of year art project, Maggie decides to make a collection of private Instagram posts (her medium of choice being photography, of course) to decide on a date. What could possibly go wrong?

This was a 5/5 star read. I loved how it presented the problem of ‘too many feelings for too many people’ and didn’t make it a horrible cliché. Maggie herself even expresses concern about it, and about her friend’s boundaries. And while the issues definitely show up throughout the book, it’s resolved in a respectful and satisfying manner.

I also didn’t think I was going to enjoy the friends-to-lovers arc (I’m an enemies-to-lovers girl myself) but it was very well-written.

Part of the Shadowhunter Chronicles, this book tells the tale of Magnus Bane and Alec Lightowod on vacation in Europe… until they get word of a cult called the Crimson Hand that Magnus may or may not have started by accident, and said cult is wreaking havoc. What a way to have a vacation.

I gave this book a 4/5 stars because while the world is great and I love the Shadowhunter Chronicles, this one didn’t hit as much as I thought it would. I’m also reading it for the second time so maybe that affected my rating.

Xiran Jay Zhao is a wizard with words. I am still reeling with awe from having read this book.

Wu Zetian wants revenge for the death of her sister in a Chrysalis, a metal monster that is piloted by men to defeat Hunduns, invaders of the land of Huaxia. When the Chrysalises go to fight, the men essentially suck up the spirit energy from the girls and use that to kill Hunduns, but that ends up killing the girls, called concubines, as well.

When Zetian enlists, she ends up taking over her Chrysalis and killing the male pilot instead of the other way around, she gets the title of an Iron Widow. She is now piloted with one of the most powerful yet controversial pilots, Li Shimin, nicknamed the Iron Demon.

In a Hunger-Games-esque series of events, the two of them have to work together to defeat Hunduns and maybe, just maybe dismantle the sexist system along the way.

A sci-fi retelling of the story of the real Wu Zetian, the first female Chinese Empress, this book is everything I wanted it to be and more, infused with feminine rage and power. I am in love with this book. 5/5 stars. Do look up content warnings for this book, however.

Final Ranking:

5/5 stars: 

• Aristotle And Dante (Benjamin Alire Sàenz)
• Ophelia After All (Raquel Marie)
• Now Entering Addamsville (Francesca Zappia)
• You Should See Me In A Crown (Leah Johnson)
• Red, White, and Royal Blue (Casey McQuiston)
• Just Your Local Bisexual Disaster (Andrea Mosqueda)
• Iron Widow (Xiran Jay Zhao) ❤ ❤ ❤

4/5 stars:

• The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass (Adan Jerreat-Poole)
• Some Girls Do (Jennifer Dugan)
• The Red Scrolls of Magic (Cassandra Clare)

3/5 stars: Gulliver’s Travels (Jonathan Swift)

I noticed I was reading a lot of books about intersectionality, unintentionally, but then as June and July went on, I decided to seek out books that had intersectionality in them. Intersectionality is a concept that is basically when a person fits into two marginalized groups and has different types of discrimination. For example, Liz Lighty (You Should See Me In A Crown) is black, poor, and a member of the LGBTQ+ community. Ari and Dante are Latino boys who are also gay.

It’s important to read stories from people who have different lived experiences. That way you can get to understand people better and open your mind to different worldviews. I’m not an expert, but books are a great way to learn and share stories.

Let me know how your summer is going and how your reading or writing is going, down in the comments below, and don’t forget to check out my novel, Scarred!

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Life is a story. How will you write yours?

Until next time,

Catherine Khaperska