Every month I read some books and then at the end of said month or the start of the next, I write an article about all of the books I read with short summaries of those books and then summarising which was my favourite. Guess what I’ve done this month? Yep, the same.
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This month I read two books which were indie-published and three that weren’t The two that were Indie-published were kindly sent to me by either the author themselves or the publisher who published them.
Two of the other books, Wool and The Atlas Six had been recommended to me by those on social as some great reads. To put it simply: one was and one wasn’t. You can keep scrolling to find out my summary thoughts on all of the books I read in May 2023.
High Wire by Kam Majd
“I must say High Wire may well be the best thriller I’ve read all year. It’s a high-intensity, fast-paced thriller filled with characters who you’ll absolutely love. There is some slightly cringy dialogue but in general, it’s a very mature, well-developed story and plot with a lot of action that wouldn’t look out of place in a high-end action movie. If you’re into planes, thrillers or mysteries, then I can guarantee you’ll enjoy this book!”
Read my full review here | Pick up a copy from Amazon
Wool by Hugh Howey
“Was Wool worth the overwhelming hype I’d heard from it? It felt like it was going to be for the first third, but as it progressed it slowed down and the surprises and action slowed to a pace of walking. I’ve been told the series really kicks off in the second book which is the best of the trilogy and so I’m going to presume people were referring to the series as a whole as being great. Wool will satisfy any and all dystopian science-fiction fans – it ticks all the right boxes for lovers of these genres and opens up a deep world which will leave you interested in finding out more.”
Read my full review here | Pick up a copy from Amazon
The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake
“The Atlas Six came with a lot of hype. It has a fantastic premise and a delightfully attractive front cover, plus it does start off strong. But, it just then completely falls apart. After some initial action sequences, there’s then absolutely nothing that happens for ages until Blake tries to round everything up towards the end. Even then it feels like the final few chapters were written with no real direction but to have a sequel possible. The Atlas Six is one of the lowest ratings I’ve given a book on my blog because it was just so dull and way too serious. I hear the sequel is worse, so this may be the end of this series for me already.”
Read my full review here | Pick up a copy from Amazon
Breathless by Amy McCulloch
“Despite its attempts to be a unique thriller, Breathless still ends up being fairly generic and formulaic. McCulloch does an impressive job with her knowledge of mountaineering and there is one character who I actually enjoyed our protagonists’ interactions with. But in general, the plot was predictable, had no real pace, and did nothing new and our main protagonist was about as formulaic a protagonist in a thriller as you can get, unfortunately. If you like mountaineering and killing, Breathless might be for you. If you’re looking for a great book today, this won’t likely be it.”
Read my full review here | Pick up a copy from Amazon
ReInception by Sarena Straus
I’ve not yet written my review of ReInception but in short: I really liked this. ReInception is set about a hundred years in the future when society has integrated a technology called ‘ReInception’ which allows people to have bad habits removed. However, this technology has been abused with parents removing unwanted personality traits from their children. Leandra is our protagonist and she sets out to destabilise the people who are in control of everything and it forms a wonderful Cyberpunk/technology gone wrong story that has my inner nerd obsessed throughout.
Read my full review here | Pick up a copy from Amazon
In summary…
This month wasn’t my most productive month for reading, likely due to the fact I had to read some actual physical books this month. However, it was still a great month for reading with only The Atlas Six being the big disappointment really. In fact, The Atlas Six may be one of the lowest reviews I’ve ever given on my blog. It was so utterly dull for so long throughout and had so much potential that I think a lot of my negative thoughts about it are a disappointment.
However, it’s great to see the likes of High Wire and ReInception as two of my favourite books of the month. Both were great fun to read and showed off the absolute best of authors writing their first novel out of pure joy and taking the time to curate it perfectly.
What was your favourite book this month? Have you read any of the same books above?
