Monthly Monkey Mini Review – July

monthly mini reviews version 2

Well hello! This is me coming at you live for the first time in weeks and I gotta admit it feels a little strange- I’m pretty out of practice I guess. But I thought you ought to know, from the monkey’s mouth, I’M ALIVE (not much of a drama queen, am I?) Anyhoo, you might have noticed that I had a lot of content up after my whole “I’m off” post, partly cos I had a lot of reviews to catch up on, although mostly cos I stress blogged before I left. Now though, I’m pretty busy (I promise to give details when I’m done) and *shock horror* haven’t been reading much 😦 I still have plenty of ideas for content, yet I’ve decided to take a proper break while I try to figure out a schedule for when I can post… so bear with me! Okey dokey, preamble aside, I have only two books to review for July:

city of brass

City of Brass– I really wanted to like this a lot more, but this got far too confusing and felt overlong. There was just so much information flying about over warring tribes and I struggled to keep up with the overload of world building- which was an especial pity, because a lot of that was beautifully written. I still ended up with way too many (irrelevant to the plot) questions like “why do they hate each other again and what the hell is going on?” And when I couldn’t connect this with the overall story, I wondered why it was included at all. Too much of the plot felt meandering anyway and that didn’t help. Nahri, the main character, initially delighted me with her antics and trickster charade… but all too soon it transpired it was little more than an act, for I couldn’t connect this character with her later impossibly innocent nature. As for the other lead, Ali didn’t grab my attention and was lost for way too much of his narrative. Again, we’re told he’s this pious and it didn’t quite match up with how he appeared in the story. It’s not a bad book per se, it just didn’t live upto any of the promise.

Rating: 2½/5 bananas

hand-drawn-bananahand-drawn-banana half-a-hand-drawn-banana

always-and-forever-lara-jean-9781481430487_hr

Always and Forever– I found Lara Jean’s final book really relatable- especially the part (*spoiler alert*) where she didn’t get into the college of her dreams. That kind of disappointment will ring true with a lot of readers no doubt. Overall, I preferred it to the second book, as the focus on growing up made it feel more necessary, yet it still didn’t quite capture my heart the way the first did.

Rating: 4/5 bananas

hand-drawn-bananahand-drawn-bananahand-drawn-bananahand-drawn-banana

So yeah, part of the purpose of doing this blog was to tell you all I’m not gonna be about… again! In the meantime, have you read either of these? Did you like them? Let me know in the comments!

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46 thoughts on “Monthly Monkey Mini Review – July

  1. thebookwormdrinketh says:

    Aww… Too bad City of Brass was a little lacking. Glad that you’re alive though!!! We missed you!! (even though you were still KIND OF around, it’s great to have you back in the….. Print? In the live print?? I don’t know how to phrase that… Good to have you back! 😂😂🍻

    Liked by 3 people

  2. Beth (Reading Every Night) says:

    Oh I’m really sorry you didn’t enjoy The City of Brass. That’s actually a favourite of mine and I pretty much cannot wait for the second book to be released, but I get it’s not for everyone and I will admit I struggled a little to really get into it at first.
    I still need to read Always and Forever (hopefully I’ll get around to it before the Netflix adaptation is out) so I’m glad you enjoyed that one at least! 😀
    Great reviews.

    Liked by 2 people

  3. lucindablogs says:

    You’re alive!!! I was starting to think you’d been abducted by an international rare animal smuggling ring or released into the wild or something.

    Top marks for coining the phrase “stress blogging”! I need to do some of that, I’m so behind in my reviews.

    Hope you’re ok, miss you monkey features!

    Liked by 3 people

  4. raistlin0903 says:

    I haven’t read any of these (but coming from me that is not a huge surprise I guess.
    I’m glad to hear you are still alive though…and I hope you are doing well. No worries about taking things slow: I always enjoy reading your posts, and they are always worth the wait…😊😊

    Liked by 1 person

  5. Carolina @fictionologyst says:

    Ahh that’s too bad you didn’t like TcoB because that’s one of my fav book ever. But I’m totally understand why. I’m a muslim and I’m struggle to read it too because the worldbuilding is quite confusing. But I finally understand it in the end and I love it so much.

    Liked by 2 people

  6. Anushka @ Going Through Books says:

    I’m sorry you didn’t like City of Brass much – I’ve heard so many rave reviews of it – but never picked it up because I’m not too interested. Also, that’s good news about ALways and Forever, Lara Jean! I never read it, I figured it had been too long since I read the first two books and wouldn’t be able to follow it or be as invested in the new book now.

    Liked by 2 people

  7. Marie says:

    Oh that’s too bad you didn’t fall in love with City of Brass, I’ve been hearing so many great things about that one. But we can’t all love the same books now, can we, the world would be boring otherwise 😉
    I’m glad you enjoyed Lara Jean, I loved that bittersweet, beautiful ending to the series overall ❤ ❤
    It's good to see you here, welcome back – and take your time with everything, we'll always be here waiting 😀 ❤ ❤

    Liked by 2 people

  8. Norrie says:

    Just the covers of those Lara Jean books make me feel so nostalgic! I don’t know what’s going on with me lately, but i really enjoy reading about teenagers in contemporary setting, and i keep sighing and remembering my own teenage years… 😀

    Liked by 2 people

  9. Winged Cynic says:

    Hmm, I’d been wanting to read City of Brass, but I have admittedly heard similar things about its story meandering and the characters not being as compelling. Maybe I’ll read it? I think it’ll be years later when I’m in the mood, but fingers crossed I’ll enjoy it more. Great review! 🙂

    (Also, do take your time with your break. Blogging can be pretttty stressful even when one is doing it for fun, so enjoy your time off. Cheers! ❤ )

    Liked by 1 person

  10. dragonsandzombies says:

    Oh yes, I hear you! ‘City of Brass’ left me pretty undecided. I have since made up my mind to continue with the series, but I was so confused a lot of the times and I didn’t dig Ali at all. And some of the characters’ actions just didn’t add up.

    Like

  11. Samantha Duffy says:

    I agree COMPLETELY with you about Lara Jean. I was absolutely in love with the first book. The second one kind of disappointed me, and while I didn’t love the last one like I loved the first one, I definitely preferred it to the second.

    Liked by 1 person

  12. Sarah says:

    I’m so glad you’re still among the living! 😄 And don’t worry about taking a break, we’ll all be waiting for you when you find more time for blogging again. 😉 In the meantime enjoy a lovely summer!

    Ugh – I can’t stand it when a book falls short front expectations and am sorry that City of Brass was a disappointment for you. More luck next time! 😉💕

    Liked by 1 person

  13. Lashaan (Bookidote) says:

    Sooo interesting to see City of Brass being over-descriptive. I could’ve sworn people were only seeing greatness in that title. Nice to see someone who thought otherwise. I look forward to hearing what’s going on with you though. Stay safe, girl. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  14. Zoie says:

    I really need to get around to reading Jenny Han’s books! I’ve heard so many good things about them, but I’m going to save them for when I’m in the mood for contemporary books… which will probably happen when school starts and I hit a wall of stress. Contemporary books are one of the best genres of books to help with destressing 😊 Great post!

    Liked by 1 person

  15. Sophie @ Blame Chocolate says:

    I’m sorry to hear these were a bit of a disappointment… I’m really looking forward to City of Brass, I’ve heard great things about it, but not so interested in Lara Jean. Feels a bit too much like Anna and the French Kiss series and I think I’ve outgrown those types of novels, unfortunately T_T

    Like

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