A Round Up of What I read this month!
Hi Everyone! It’s me again! Though I’m currently on hiatus, one thing I always love writing is my monthly book round ups. No matter how I’m feeling about reading or blogging, I never get tired of talking about the books I’ve read. I’m not fully back just yet, but I do plan to post a couple of times this month, so please bear with me.
I didn’t read as many books this month as I had expected, but I did enjoy quite a few of them. Every book I picked up left me with plenty of thoughts and lots to discuss with my friends. There were no 5-star reads this month, although one book initially earned 5 stars before I reflected on it further and settled on 4 stars instead. I’ll discuss that later.
In total, I read 7 books: no 5-star reads, but 3 solid 4-star reads. There were a couple of mixed bags and one reading challenge attempt as well. So, here’s how the month of June went.
Completed Books (in chronological order, Notable in italics)
Finished
- Score (Hollywood Renaissance Book 2) – Kennedy Ryan
- Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
- School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan
- Coming Home by Kennedy Ryan
- Long Shot by Kennedy Ryan
- Kin by Tayari Jones
- Left of Forever by Tarah Dewitt
Highlights
Score was a big highlight of the year for me. I love Kennedy Ryan, and I almost always enjoy everything she writes because of the care and thought she puts into her stories. On the first read, I absolutely devoured the score. I loved every second of it. It was heartfelt, emotional, fun, and sexy—everything you want and expect from a Kennedy Ryan book.
However, the more I sat with it, the more certain aspects began to fall flat for me. As far as romances go, I don’t think this is her strongest work. The relationship felt very lust-driven, and at times a little one-sided in terms of devotion and emotional care. I appreciated the bi representation, but some elements of it felt a little shallow in execution. That said, I thought the bipolar representation was beautifully handled and incredibly authentic. That really felt like the heart of the book. It doesn’t come close to Reel for me, but it was still a hugely enjoyable read.
Left of Forever took me far longer to read than it should have—but that’s entirely on me, not the book. It had a slightly slow start, but I really enjoyed it regardless. I love a second-chance romance, especially when the reconciliation is initiated by the man. This book captured so many of the best parts of falling in love for a second time: the lingering attraction, the angst, and all the buried pain and unspoken emotions.
As I’m writing this, I still haven’t actually finished it yet, but I refuse to carry this book into July—so by the time this post goes live, it will absolutely be finished.
TBR Update and 2026 Reading Challenge
I only picked up 3 books from my TBR this month, which, considering how this month went, is actually quite impressive. Is this déjà vu? I’m pretty sure I started last month’s round-up in a very similar way.
I really wanted to finish Till the Well Runs Dry and All Things Fall Apart, but I just couldn’t do it. Reading simply hasn’t been a priority lately—I could barely finish the books I had already started, let alone begin new ones. I also decided to DNF one of them, but I’ll expand on that in my TBR update, which I will be doing.🤞🏾
The School for Good Mothers started incredibly strong, and I was immediately intrigued and deeply affected by it. But by the end, I was honestly just ready for it to be over. It gradually felt less like a story and more like some strange documentary. I loved the premise, and at its best, it delivered some really sharp social commentary on what it means to be a “good mother.” However, somewhere along the way, the story seemed to lose its heart and the emotional core of its message. It became quite monotonous and, at times, dull.
Funnily enough, the other two TBR books I read this month were 2026 releases, so we get a bit of a two-in-one update here.
Yesteryear also landed firmly in mixed-bag territory. It was a fun read, but also a very frustrating one. As far as the social commentary goes, I felt like it really tied the line, and despite the story clearly being satirical, I had quite a few issues with the execution. I have so many thoughts about this book and would love to do a proper review. Whether that happens depends entirely on my state of mind, so consider this my accountability note. I won’t say too much here, but I do hope to come back with a full review.
I also read Kin, a beautiful and deeply moving story about womanhood, friendship, and motherhood—one I thoroughly enjoyed. Tayari Jones really disappointed me with An American Marriage, but she absolutely redeemed herself here with Kin.
The final read was, of course, Score, which I’ve already touched on.
2025 Booker Prize
I may end up putting this challenge on pause while I’m in a bit of a reading slump and not picking up much at the moment. I definitely want to return to it later in the year, but right now I can’t guarantee I’ll complete it.
Mixed Bag
I also reread Long Shot by Kennedy Ryan with my friends, and it’s honestly wild how much your perspective can change with time. You can absolutely love a book the first time around and then come away with a completely different experience on a reread.
Granted, I first read this book at 21, with a frontal lobe that was nowhere near fully developed. Now, at 26 and nearly 27, so much of this story felt deeply problematic in ways I either missed or overlooked the first time. As brutal and painful as this book is, I still appreciated the realism of the domestic abuse storyline and how thoughtfully it explored so many difficult realities: the escalation of abuse, how terrifying and dangerous it can be to leave, and how systems so often fail survivors while protecting abusive men.
My biggest issues, however, lie firmly with the MMC, who is clearly positioned as the knight in shining armour we’re meant to root for, yet comes across as deeply misogynistic and unpleasant in his own ways. The only real difference between him and Caleb is that he isn’t abusive. August, to me, felt like the other side of the same coin.
I hated the way he spoke to Iris, the way he inserted himself into her life while fully aware she was in a relationship—however awful that relationship was—and the entitlement and aggression he carried throughout so much of the story. I also found Iris frustratingly naive at times.
There was so much here that I disliked that I genuinely struggled to believe I had loved this book on my first read. That said, it also really highlighted how much Kennedy Ryan has grown as a writer. She has come leaps and bounds, because I genuinely can’t believe this is the same author who gave us Reel.
This is my pledge to get people to reread books they once loved just to be safe.
I think that’s it for this round up! Short and sweet. As I mentioned earlier, my hiatus is still ongoing, but I will try to post my TBR update as well as at least one review this month. I’m just not sure when exactly it will be released. Thank you all for bearing with me on this journey. I’m hoping for a better July as far as reading is concerned, and I hope to be back as soon as possible with my regular posting schedule and a renewed appetite for books. In the meantime, please continue to explore In Novel Company. There’s a plethora of recommendations and reviews to keep you occupied till my return.
Do continue following me on GoodReads and Fable to see what I’m trying to read🤣.
Thanks for reading, and see you next time! ✨
Signed,
