Welcome to the August book review! At the end of each month, I review the books I’ve read. Enjoy!

The Book: All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

The Category: YA

In Three Words: Bi-Polar teen suicide.

Biggest Takeaway: I semi-enjoyed this book at first; the main characters were engaging and I liked the road trips they took while trying to complete a “class project” that turned into much more. But then the book turned very message-centered, almost preachy. It was an important message, but I felt a little bludgeoned on impact. This book taught me not to let theme completely overtake other elements of the story.

The Book: The Girl Who Chased The Moon by Sarah Addison Allen

The Category: Literary fiction

In Three Words: Magical Southern town.

Biggest Takeaway: I realized about three chapters in that I’ve read the book before, probably when it came out 5 years ago (before I started writing about what I read). I’d completely forgotten it. It was beautifully written with a charming setting and fun plot twists, the kind of book I love to read. But it didn’t stick with me last time, and it’s not sticking now, either. What does make a book “sticky?” That’s a question for another blog post.

The Book: Eight Hundred Grapes by Laura Dave

The Category: Literary Fiction

In Three Words: Winery family implodes.

Biggest Takeaway: I read an earlier Laura Dave novel, The First Husband, and disliked it. I couldn’t pinpoint why until I tried this one. The characters, settings, relationships are all well-described, but the emotional content of the books didn’t match up for me. I never connected with the characters. I know a lot of people enjoyed this book, though, so don’t let my lack of connection turn you off from trying it.

The Book: The Woman Who Stole My Life by Marian Keyes

The Category: Women’s Fiction

In Three Words: Paralyzation changed future.

Biggest Takeaway: I love reading British and Irish authors; they’re much more open about romantic relationships. This was probably the most original “meet-cute” I’ve ever read: a patient with Guillain-Barre syndrome (an extremely rare condition that paralyzes the entire body) falls for her neurologist by communicating with eye blinks.

The Book: Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

The Category: Biography

In Three Words: WWII American POW

Biggest Takeaway: This book was so hard for me to read that I had to finish it. Hillenbrand put me right into that plane crash, that raft floating in the Pacific, that interment camp in Tokyo… and it was horrifying. I don’t read books about the Holocaust as a rule because I can’t distance myself from the stories enough, but I think I have to change that rule to all WWII books. This book was so good that it was making me depressed in real life, and I couldn’t even abandon it- I had to finish so I could get to the happy ending.

Did you read any of these books, or plan to do so in the future? If so, please share your thoughts here!