Rapid Fire Reviews, July Edition {BONUS POST!}

Hello everyone! Welcome to the second ever edition of Rapid Fire Reviews here on Purely Olivia. 🙂

Though I didn’t have the best reading month in July, an upside is that every book I read was a book I was reading for the first time- meaning, no rereads! That’s a pretty big accomplishment for me. You might as well call me the Queen of Rereads.

So, to comemerate commemorate (I just spent quite a few minutes trying to spell that, until Google finally helped out) that occasion, I am going to be doing Rapid Fire Reviews of each book I read in July!

By the way, this post is a bonus post! I wasn’t going to post today, since Tuesday is my blogoversary and I’ll be having a big post about that, but I decided to write this up anyway. 🙂

In case you’re new to this kind of review, it’s just as it sounds. I’ll share the title, author, and page count of the book I read, as well as a link to the Goodreads summary. Then I’ll briefly review it and give it a rating. Let’s begin!

Title: Dancing Shoes Author: Noel Streatfeild Page Count: 368 (summary)

This book is part of a series that’s an oldie but a goodie. I was especially intrigued by Dancing Shoes since I myself am a dancer. The story, about two orphaned sisters who are adopted by their aunt and forced into her dance troupe (*deep breath*), was told well and kept me fairly hooked. However, I felt like I could predict how all the pieces would fall into place, and that’s what stopped me from giving it five stars.

Title: Percy Jackson’s Greek Heroes Author: Rick Riordan Page Count: 387 (summary)

Percy Jackson’s Greek Heroes, along with its partner, Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods, are basic mythology retold from the hilarious, well-loved perspective of Percy Jackson. I found this one at Target (of all places) at a cheap price and snatched it up! I think it’s great that mythology is being told in such an entertaining way. My only complaint is that there weren’t enough comments from Percy about the other characters we know and love (Annabeth, Jason, Nico, etc.). 😉

Title: Close to Famous Author: Joan Bauer Page Count: 250 (summary)

Joan Bauer’s books are always short and sweet, leaving me feeling satisfied. In Close to Famous, the main character Foster and her mother flee to a small town after her mother’s boyfriend abuses her. As they deal with the pain from that, they must also begin to fit into their new home and build new relationships. I thought this was the perfect light realistic fiction read- especially for summer.

Title: As Simple As It Seems Author: Sarah Weeks Page Count: 192 (summary)

This book was good. It’s unlikely I’ll reread it, but I also don’t regret reading it. It was a light, realistic fiction book following the story of Verbie, a girl who wishes she could just be somebody else. When she meets her new neighbor, Pooch, she decides to pretend to be someone she’s not- and she may make a friend in the process. I mostly read this book because it was on my TBR, though I’m not sure why it was on there in the first place. Still, it was overall pretty good.

Title: Worlds Collide Author: Chris Colfer Page Count: 480 (summary)

This was the sixth and final Land of Stories book. I won’t talk too much about it, because I don’t want to spoil anything if you haven’t yet read the series! However, I highly recommend this series for any fantasy/fairytales lovers and urge you to read it. 😀

Title: Everything, Everything Author: Nicola Yoon Page Count: 307 (summary)

Disclaimer: this book has been on my TBR since before it became famous. 😉 (If you didn’t know, it has been made into a movie recently.) I haven’t seen the film, but I definitely loved the book. It was enthralling (I read it all in nearly one sitting), well-written, and perfectly followed the adventures of Madeline, a girl with SCID who can never leave her house. It was romantic and sweet and I overall enjoyed it.♥

Title: All the Light We Cannot See Author: Anthony Doerr Page Count: 531 (summary)

I had heard a lot about this book. It’s set during World War 2 (an absolute favorite setting of mine), and the author weaves together the past and present of two teenagers who are affected by the war. There’s blind, French Marie-Laure, whose father is taken prisoner, and German solider Werner. It’s so intriguing to watch as their worlds collide. All the Light We Cannot See is beautifully written, and my only complaint is that it took me a few tries to get into it.

Title: Hope Was Here Author: Joan Bauer Page Count: 186 (summary)

I enjoyed Hope Was Here. It was on my TBR for a long time- as are so many short, touching MG realistic fictions. It had a lot of good things going for it: the story behind Hope’s name, the plot, etc. What made me give it only three stars was the fact that, until the very end of the book, I didn’t feel like I knew Hope. Even though the story was told from her perspective, I felt as if I didn’t really know her character.

I hope you enjoyed a peek into what I read this July! What did you read in July? Have you read any of these books, and what did you think about them? See you in the comments.

P.S. Tomorrow is my blog birthday- prepare for a giant post all about it!

P.P.S. This post accidentally got scheduled a half day early. If you saw it on Sunday, hey, you got a sneak peek! 😉