Reading Wrap-Up August 2019 | Book Review and Discussion

I’ve never done a reading wrap-up post before, but I’ve got more into books again this past month so I thought it’d be nice if I tried to keep up with a monthly book series where I review the books I’ve read that month? I’m not sure if I’ll be reading as much for pleasure once I start back at uni, but we can give it a go! Please let me know in the comments if that’s something you’d be interested in. 🙂 Here is my August reading wrap-up!

I’ve read 4 books throughout August (a lot for me!), but two of the books are in one big book so I’ll be reviewing them as if I’ve read 3 – if that makes sense?!

The Evidence Against You – Gillian Mcallister (422 pages):

For the first appearance in my reading wrap-up, I’ll be reviewing ‘The Evidence Against You’, a psychological thriller. My lovely friends bought me this book for my 21st birthday, and I was so grateful to receive it! I thought it was super thoughtful as reading is my biggest hobby (other than blogging), so clearly a lot of though had gone into it – especially considering the genre is my favourite! It’s a crime drama, and it was The Sunday Times Bestseller. I’ve never actually heard of the author myself, but she has another book coming out in 2020 too (there is an excerpt of the book at the end of this one, which is cool!)

This book was a bit slow at parts, and seemed to go back and forth quite a lot. I found myself getting a little bit bored of the repetitiveness, which doesn’t happen often to me when reading a crime drama. It was almost as if Mcallister was trying to create suspense, but it just wasn’t working for me.

However, the book got a lot better towards the end when the answers started unravelling and there was a huge shock. Yep – this is one with a twist! The book transformed from a little boring to an undeniable page-turner the closer you got to the end, trying to figure out the answers.

I absolutely loved the fact that this book had really short chapters, as for some reason that always makes it easier for me to read a book. If the chapters are ages, I feel like I’m just waiting for the chapter to end so I can BREATHE.. Anyone else feel this way or am I actually just completely weird?

I don’t want to give too much away, but Elizabeth (Izzy) English’s life changes when her father comes out of prison after 18 years. Convicted of killing Izzy’s mother, he is put away for life but released after 18 years. He spends his freedom continuously trying to convince Izzy he’s not to blame for the murder – but what should Izzy believe? Everyone in her life is telling her he’s guilty, and he’s telling her he’s innocent. Does she go with her head or her heart?

Overall, I would recommend this book. However, it’s definitely not close to the best crime drama I’ve read.

I’d give this book 3.5/5 stars. It would have been 3 but, like I said, it got way better towards the end!

Norweigan Wood – Haruki Murakami (386 pages):

Murakami is one of my all-time favourite authors, so it’s no surprise I LOVED this book. From start to finish, it took me into a brand new world in the city of Tokyo. This book taught me so much about Japanese culture, leaving me way more culturally informed and educated than I was when I first opened the book.

As always, Murakami has a way of writing 2 whole pages about a tree and then abruptly describing a death of another character. Murakami effortlessly captures the love between the two main characters Watanabe and Naoko, beautifully protraying the ups and downs of love in a university setting.

I would 100% recommend this book to anyone who likes to feel relaxed whilst reading a book and wants to be taken into a whole new beautiful world. I really enjoyed reading this in the bath after a long, hard day.

I’d give this book 5/5 stars. I really enjoyed it.

1Q84 – Haruki Murakami (805 pages):

This is known to be Murakami’s most popular and best book, so when my brother bought me it as a present for Christmas I was absolutely thrilled! As soon a you open the book,you are faced with mystery after mystery in the year of 1Q84. I thoroughly enjoyed this whole book, and the ending honestly left me speechless with an empty pit in my stomach. This book is so beautifully written and will leave you not being able to put it down.

This book is actually 2 books in one, but I count it as one book due to them overlapping onto each other so effortlessly. There’s no way I could have read book 1 without picking up book 2.

If you’d like a full review of this book just let me know, because no words in a short review could articulate how incredible this book is.

I’d give this book 4.5/5 stars!

Have you read any of these books? What is your August reading wrap-up? Let me know down below in the comments!

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