With the summer kicking in, getting to spend more of my free time doing some of the older passions that were missing in my life lately, I tend to spend a lot less time reading than I planned.
However, I am happy that June's recap is not going to be missing, as I actually managed to cut down two more titles from my TBR, as well as have one of these readings that will surely get in my top 3 this year, so I believe it was a good month after all.
I actually had very few hopes that I'd manage to finish reading a book this month for various reasons, but nothing turns out more unexpected than getting my hands on some books that made me feel that my time invested in these was fully worth it. So let's get started!
- Lights Out (Into Darkness, #1)
by Navessa Allen ★★★★☆
I kept postponing reading this book, especially because I wanted to have the whole trilogy translated into my native language so I can read all books in a row, but after becoming so popular on BookTok and seeing so many divided opinions on whether it's worth the popularity or not, I thought it was finally the time to begin my reading session.
Sadly, I'd lie by saying that it was one of those books you can't leave before you finish because that was obviously not the case for the first half of the book, especially.
I loved the game and teasing between Ally and Josh, although some situations were a bit cringe for my taste, but the overall story and plot twists saved the book at the end of the day.
I am aware some people said that it's not worth reading due to the spoiler written on the front cover of the book, but I didn't find it like that after reading everything. I'd actually like to take this moment and encourage you to form your own opinion whether a book is worth being read or not, instead of making your decisions based on what others say on the internet, because personally I had other expectations after reading that 'so named' spoiler on the front cover of the book, which also made me not consider it a spoiler anymore.
Lights Out by Navessa Allen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
- Caught Up (Into Darkness, #2)
by Navessa Allen ★★★★★
Despite having a good start of the series with reading the first book and already enjoying it more than I thought, "Caught Up", the 2nd volume of the trilogy did not disappoint either.
First, I've got to observe Josh and Aly from a different POV, being quite absent in the overall story but having very meaningful roles whenever they popped up, because this book followed the life story of Junior, Aly's cousin.
I won't lie, I quite hated Junior in the first book, not having one of the best entries in the story, but this book showed a different perspective with a hard personal life when it comes to being a child born in a Mafia family.
Lauren, instead, the 2nd protagonist of the book, was the best part of the story. I won't get into details about what her role was because I don't want to reveal any spoilers, but what I know for sure is that I loved the 2nd book more than the first one, and I can't wait for the 3rd one to be released in my country.
Caught Up by Navessa Allen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
- The Passengers
by John Marrs ★★★★★
Generated with ChatGPT since I've read it on my Kindle and I don't own the real book
As I thought it would be about time to explore more of some other genres than Dark Romance, which kept me busy a lot lately, I finally gave a chance to a new book written by John Marrs.
I'm not sure whether you are familiar with John Marrs or not, but he's often compared with the writings of Freida McFadden, not because they follow the same genre of books, but more like what they make you feel while reading their masterpieces.
The book I picked from John Marrs this time was released in 2019, and its main action is developed around how powerful AI is and how quickly it can turn into lethal weapons if a hacker manages to break through. From constantly being followed with the help of all the gadgets that more or less are part of our lives, to a life that is more and more controlled by AI, which is now implemented in pretty much anything out there, our lives are not ours anymore. Or at least not as much as we think.
So, despite being a scary read since AI wasn't even as dangerous in 2019 when this book was published compared to what we have in 2026, it also felt like a book that kept me on the edge of my seat to find out sooner what was going to happen next and who would survive from the 8 passengers that were prisoners in their cars fully driven by AI. Definitely a book that gets in my top best reads this year.
The Passengers by John Marrs
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Check out my previous monthly recaps:
- August Recap: 9 Books That Kept Me Hooked
- September Recap: What I've Read Last Month?
- October Recap: My Best Reading Month Yet
- November Recap: The Good, The Cozy, and The Unexpected
- December Recap: The Books That Closed My Year
- January Recap: New Year, New Books
- February Recap: Books That Stole My Attention, Not My Heart
- March Recap: From Thrills to Cozy Corners
- April Recap: Smut, Thrills & Bad Decisions
- May Reading Recap: The End Of My Reading Slump
- June Reading Recap: Chaos, Obsession & Unexpected Turns
Gabriela Travels is a Curator for Worldmappin and Hive Gaming communities, but also the FOUNDER of "Festival Mania" who started this community from the passion of attending various festivals and with the purpose of encouraging more people to explore festivals all around the world and share their experiences. At the same time, Gabriela is an independent Graphic Design Freelancer since 2019 completing over 600+ orders in this time and collaborating with various businesses and people from all over the globe. Additionally, Gabriela has her own corner on the internet since 2017 where she writes various articles for her blog, the most popular being the travel ones (350+ articles written on this field), but also approaching other topics as well, like game and book reviews, lets plays, movie and series reviews, photography posts, cooking recipes and more, boosting the total number of articles written to 850+ blog posts. Gabriela is also a gamer since she was 11 years old and gaming remains one of her biggest passions along with traveling, owning a YouTube channel for each of the two.
~ @GabrielaTravels ~
