What I Read ♥ July 2024

At the beginning of July, I participated in a mermaid readathon which I wrote a post about here. I read ten mermaid/ocean-related books and smashed my Goodreads reading challenge goal! Following the readathon, I decided to continue reading books related to mermaids or the ocean and managed to read 3 more books (all 3 stars), finishing off with a total of 13 books, a new personal best!

If I’m being honest, as much as I enjoyed participating in the mermaid readathon, afterward I didn’t feel like reading. I basically forced myself to read many books quickly, so I replaced my free media time with books instead of YouTube, Netflix, podcasts, etc. So, even though I was reading a lot of books I was behind on the rest of my favorite entertainment. I’m not saying I won’t do another readathon because I loved the community aspect of a readathon but I think next time I’ll try to plan out my time better and take a break afterward. I love reading and never want it to feel like a chore or competition because that wouldn’t be fun.

Make sure to follow me on Goodreads to be updated on what I’m reading and on StoryGraph if you’re curious about my book statistics.

My star reading scale
★★★★★/5 – Loved it! Would reread and recommend it to others.
★★★★/5 – Kept me entertained. I would reread.
★★★/5 – Didn’t love or hate but would recommend to others.
★★/5 – Did not enjoy it and probably skimmed through most of it.
★/5 – I hated it and regret wasting my time with this book.
DNF – Did not finish. This will probably be rare because I like to finish every book I start.

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant ★★★/5
Seven years ago, the Atargatis set off on a voyage to the Mariana Trench to film a “mockumentary” bringing to life ancient sea creatures of legend. It was lost at sea with all hands. Some have called it a hoax; others have called it a maritime tragedy.

Now, a new crew has been assembled. But this time they’re not out to entertain. Some seek to validate their life’s work. Some seek the greatest hunt of all. Some seek the truth. But for the ambitious young scientist Victoria Stewart this is a voyage to uncover the fate of the sister she lost. Whatever the truth may be, it will only be found below the waves. But the secrets of the deep come with a price.

I really wanted to love this book as it had such a strong beginning but I felt it ran a bit too long to the point that I started skimming through the last third. I also felt like the male charaters were written poorly, I’m all for strong powerful female lead charaters but there needs to be a balance, all the men can’t be self-absorbed and dumb, and all the women can’t be heroes. The epilogue was also very disappointing and unnecessary, It felt like it was just thrown in there for the sake of a follow-up but I think there are so many unanswered questions that the epilogue didn’t have to be so obvious.

You can purchase Into the Drowning Deep here


Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield ★★★/5
Miri thinks she has got her wife back, when Leah finally returns after a deep-sea mission that ended in catastrophe. It soon becomes clear, though, that Leah is not the same. Whatever happened in that vessel, whatever it was they were supposed to be studying before they were stranded on the ocean floor, Leah has brought part of it back with her, onto dry land and into their home.

I didn’t know too much about Our Wives Under the Sea going in, only that a few of my favorite bookstagramers were reading this book at the same time so I got curious and it was available on Libby so I went ahead and gave it a read. Again, I really wanted to like this one but It was an unusual read. I normally enjoy reading odd books but this one was underwhelmingly strange, if that makes sense. I felt a lot of weird things happened throughout the book but we never got answers to the main issue which was frustrating.

You can purchase Our Wives Under the Sea here


All the Murmuring Bones by A.G. Slatter ★★★/5
Long ago Miren O’Malley’s family prospered due to a deal struck with the Mer: safety for their ships in return for a child of each generation. But for many years the family have been unable to keep their side of the bargain and have fallen into decline. Miren’s grandmother is determined to restore their glory, even at the price of Miren’s freedom.

A spellbinding tale of dark family secrets, magic and witches, and creatures of myth and the sea; of strong women and the men who seek to control them

I’ll start by saying that this was a beautifully written gothic novel. I loved the main character who was brave and took risks instead of following a path forged for her by her grandmother. However, this story goes all over the place toward the second half which I enjoyed! After reading a couple of reviews on All the Murmuring Bones, I felt like I had the opposite experience as others and preferred the second half over the first half as I felt the first half was a tad bit slow and boring. Also, don’t expect a lot of mermaid talk as it’s not really a focal point in this story.

You can purchase All the Murmuring Bones here

Have you read any of these books? What did you read in July?