Reader, it’s September. It’s officially back-to-school season, the leaves are starting to change colour, and it’s time for a monthly wrap-up. August was still a slow reading month for me, but not nearly as bad July. I did successfully complete my N.E.W.T’s, enabling me to pursue my chosen career of Wandmaker (wouldn’t it be cool if I actually could?), and I ended the month with a grand total of 10 books read. So let’s talk about those right now.
1. The Saint of Dragons by Jason Hightman
This was my first read for the N.E.W.T’s readathon, earning me an A in Herbology with its green cover. It follows the adventures of Simon, a seemingly orphaned schoolboy whose life is turned upside down when a man claiming to be both his father and a dragonhunter turns up to collect him. The man, Aldric, reveals that Simon is descended from the legendary St.George, and is destined to kill dragons. This book suffered mainly from the fact that there were a lot of cool ideas behind the dragons, but zero cool ideas behind our protagonists, creating a deeply imbalanced story. When every single villain is more charismatic and fascinating than the hero, there’s a problem. And though the idea behind dragons hiding as humans was fascinating, it wasn’t really explored in the amount of depth such an interesting idea deserved. It wasn’t a bad book per se, but besides the dragons, it was a rather bland one.
Final Grade: B
2. The Star of Kazan by Eva Ibbotson
This book was my E in Herbology, a book between 350 and 390 pages (this just squeaked in at 388). It follows Annika, whose mother left her in a church when she was a baby, and who was found and raised by a cook and a housemaid who work for three absent-minded professors in Vienna. But it’s when Annika’s real mother, a rich aristocrat, returns to claim her that adventures start happening. I used to read a lot of Eva Ibbotson when I was a kid, and even though I hadn’t read this one before, the style and plot and the themes and the whole British-ness of it all felt very familiar and nostalgic to me all the same. This was mainly a good thing, although the plot did end up being quite predictable to me. But it made me feel so warm and fuzzy, I just couldn’t be angry that I knew exactly what was going to happen by, like, page 20. The mystery wasn’t what drew me in; it was the comfort of familiarity that Eva Ibbotson brings.
Final Grade: A-
3. Darke by Angie Sage
Yes, I am still reading this series, just like, super slowly. This one was a step up from what I felt was a lacklustre Syren. All of the characters were included believably, and Marcia was able to prove why she’s ExtraOrdinary Wizard, and almost everyone else got a chance to shine in the crisis (except for Sarah and Silas, who prove once again why they are the most useless of all parents and characters). I also quite enjoyed Simon’s redemption arc; it’s more complex than what the main characters are going through, and he’s certainly grown on me since the first few books.
Final Grade: B+
4. Enchanted by Alethea Kontis
And moving on through the N.E.W.T’s, we come to my “O” book for Herbology, a book with a flower on the cover. This book was not quite what I was expecting. The description sold it as a Frog Prince retelling, and I was there for that. But within 50 pages, it was a Cinderella retelling, on page 200 or thereabouts it became a Bluebeard retelling, and by the end of the book it was a Jack and the Beanstalk retelling. That’s an awful lot of changes within 300 pages; one could develop whiplash trying to keep up with all that. It was cute enough, I guess. The romance was insta-lovey, but, you know, fairy-tale, and the personalities of each character being based on their names was interesting, but I did have two major issues. First, is the Prince’s lack of communication that was so stupid, other characters in the book pointed out on multiple occasions how stupid it was. The only reason that happened was so that we could have 300 pages of book instead of 5, and if your story is that thin, you’ve got a problem. The second issue is my realization upon further reflection that Sunday is a fairly superfluous character. The actual interesting conflict is about Wednesday, and she doesn’t actually really participate in the climax of the story. Actually, the only important thing she really does is kiss a frog, so, progressive feminist story this ain’t.
Final Grade: B
5. Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian
Ohmigod, this book. Wow. I had high hopes going into it, because it had a lot of my favourite tropes in it: princess rising to save her kingdom from a corrupt overlord, faking damsel in distress, fighting with wits, pirates … all of my favourite things. But even with that high buildup, this book totally blew me away. It was intense, it was action-packed, it was suspenseful, it was unpredictable … it both subverted tropes that I don’t like and fully utilized tropes I do like. Theo was an awesome main character, powerful without being unbelievable, conflicted about her actions yet still ruthless enough to get things done. By the end, I was on the edge of my seat, no clue what was going to happen but beyond excited to find out. I cannot wait to get my hands on Lady Smoke; this has all the makings of a new favourite trilogy.
Final Grade: A+
6. The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis
And I finally did it. I finished this series. Man, was it a let-down. I’d forgotten how bad this book is. It actually starts off fairly interestingly, with the evil ape and the fake Aslan; it could have been a fascinating rumination on the nature of faith and doubt; C.S. Lewis was fully capable of writing something like that. Instead, it’s this. Halfway through, it just straight-up turns into the Book of Revelations, and at that point, why am I bothering with Narnia? I could just read the Book of Revelations! But in this story, we’re hit with the fact that every major character except one dies horribly, except for Susan, who likes lipstick, so is forced to be the sole survivor left to soldier on without her parents, siblings, or close friends. Which is so cruel. As an adult, I can see what Lewis is trying to do in terms of his religious allegory, even if he executed it terribly, with the result being he seems like a sexist evil man who wants to pointlessly torture Susan because she likes traditionally female things. As a child though, I just thought that he was nasty and sexist, and since this book is intended for children, that’s got to count against it too.
Final Grade: C
7. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
This is by far my favourite of the Harry Potter books. This is the moment when J.K. Rowling’s writing really hits that exceptional level she maintains for the rest of the series, and it also marks a turning point into the darker, more mature later books with our first death of an innocent at Hogwarts. I think the plot is the best in this book, with a nice balance between hijinks at Hogwarts and the Triwizard Tournament, I think the mystery is developed best in this book over the others, I think the wizarding community has gained that lived-in quality that makes these books so compelling, and there’s also the Yule Ball, which is one of my favourite Ron/Hermione couple moments. So, basically everything to love and nothing to quibble with. The best of the best.
Final Grade: A+
8. King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo
This was my final book for the N.E.W.T’s magical readathon, earning me my “A” in Charms, allowing me to pursue my chosen career of Wandmaker. This was also the July Booksplosion book of the month, but I didn’t have time to read it in July, so it served double duty. I have actually read this book before, and I have a full review posted here, so go ahead and check that out.
Final Grade: A+
9. Fyre by Angie Sage
I did it, I finally finished this series! Every month, I kept saying I would, this time I finally did! I am so proud of myself! That being said, I found this pretty anticlimatic as the end of the series (honestly, Darke did a much better job at resolving things). This just felt kind of unnecessary, and though it was enjoyable enough, it didn’t feel like there was quite enough story to maintain 700 pages. Regardless, I’m done now, and despite some missteps, I am glad that I read the whole series (though once again, Silas and Sarah Heap are useless).
Final Grade: B
10. Who Won the War? by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
One of my favourite series of all time is the Boys vs Girls books, so when looking for something to read under 150 page to gain a “E” in Charms, I decided to pick up the last book in the series again. I’m so glad I did. These books are funny and charming and very realistic to the way children think. They never favour one side over the other either, keeping things balanced all the way up to a pitch-perfect ending. Basically, I need to reread the whole series now.
Final Grade: A+
And there you have it, those are all the books I read in August. For September, I’m working on The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater, which is so awesome. I’m also planning on reading Looking For Alaska by John Green, because I’m still a month behind on my Booksplosion reading. Hopefully, I’ll pick up The Soul of the Sword by Julie Kagawa, which was released in June and yet, I still haven’t read it. This could mean a Shadow of the Fox reread is on hand too. And, of course, I’m still working my way through the Harry Potter series; hopefully, I will have finished at least Order of the Phoenix by October. And then there’s all those wonderful textbooks. It’s going to be a busy month.
That’s all I’ve got for you today, you guys should let me know in the comments what you read in August, and I’ll see you on Saturday.
Until the next time.
The Phantom of the Bookshelf 