August Wrap-Up

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Remember how I said “It can only go up from here!” last month, when I was in a massive reading slump? Well…it kind of did? But also not really. Both my reading and personal life are a mess that I’m desperately trying to get back on track. But I did celebrate my birthday and went on a mini holiday, so it’s not all bad! And I had so much fun with blogging in August, too! without further ado, let’s get into my August Wrap Up!

The Books I Read in August

How We Fall Apart – Katie Zhao

This is the book that got me out of a month-long reading slump.

How We Fall Apart is a fast-paced dark academia thriller with an Asian cast, dark secrets and ambitious students that will stop at nothing to secure the top grades.

It was one of my most anticipated releases of the year and I’ve done my share of screaming about it as part of Katie’s street team. As always, with anticipated books comes the fear of them falling short. Luckily, I absolutely loved How We Fall Apart and immediately went on to read Katie’s other work because I needed more.

I’d like to shout out the wonderful audiobook version, narrated by Natalie Naudus! I follow Natalie on TikTok and when I found out she’d be reading this book, I did a little happy dance. Her performance is great and really made the story come to life, so if you’re looking for your next audiobook…this might be it.

I also wrote a series of posts inspired by this book earlier this month and it was so much fun! In case you missed them, you’ll find the links to them in my little “Posts I Wrote” Section.

Related: My Review of How We Fall Apart!

Tokyo Ever After – Emiko Jean

This book felt like a hug and some really good candy.

I already knew I would love this book after reading some great reviews. But oh wow, Tokyo Ever After was absolutely delightful.

Izumi, the main character, finds out that the father she doesn’t know is actually the prince of Japan, making her a princess. Trying to fit into royal life and rules, identity struggles and romance ensue…

This took everything I enjoy about the “girl finds out she’s a princess trope” and made it better. Izumi is funny and headstrong and watching her grow more comfortable and confident was awesome. Her relationship to her Japanese heritage and American upbringing and how to reconcile those two was heartwarming and at times sad, but ultimately incredibly empowering. And I even enjoyed the romance!

A full review for this will be up soon (let’s hope I remember to link it here lol)

If you’re looking for a book that’ll make you laugh and feel all warm and fuzzy, Tokyo Ever After is it.

Posts I Wrote

I had so much fun with my posts in August, and it seems you liked them too! This month, my blog hit 800 views for the first time ever! That’s huge for me! It really makes me so happy to see that people are enjoying the work I do and choosing to spend time reading it. Here are all the posts I wrote in August!

• My Ultimate Study Playlist and How to Create Yours – Sinclair Prep Study Tips #1
• Reflecting on One Year as a Book Blogger
• How to Study Efficiently and Ace Your Exams – Sinclair Prep Study Tips #2
• How to Study Without Sacrificing Your Mental Health- Sinclair Prep Study Tips #3
• Audiobook Review: How We Fall Apart by Katie Zhao

Posts I Loved

As always, here are posts by other bloggers that I loved this month!

• Sumedha over on The Wordy Habitat wrote a brilliant post all about 8 Blog Maintenance Tasks To Do Regularly and even provided some checklists in her resouce library!
• Kat figured out if she and Sebastian Stan are compatible readers in the latest instalment of her very funny series! (seriously, reading those posts brings me a lot of joy and I love the commitment to reading the books, I could never!)
• I also really loved Reads Rainbow’s recommendations for Books with Ace Protagonists and almost all of them went straight onto my wishlist.
• Kal over on Reader Voracious restarted her Reading Around the Globe series and I’m so excited for the coming posts!

Some Closing Words

My August ended with a much needed weekend getaway to the Netherlands (because they actually have the closest ocean from where I live in Germany!). I am very much convinced I need to move to a seaside town and be a writer and own a cat at some point in my life. What’s not to love about that vision? Unfortunately, real life always comes back to haunt me and I am now back in the mess that is adult life, ugh. The rest of the year is going to have a lot of work and deadlines, most pressingly my dreaded biochem exam at the end of September. Please send all your good vibes as I’ll be crying over metabolism stuff I don’t understand.

How was your August? Any 5-star reads or new favourites?

I hope you have a lovely day,

If you like my work and would like to support me, you can buy me a coffee!