Liberty Reads

I write laidback reviews and share my love of books. CR: Vengeful by V.E. Schwab.

[libertyreads]

A Pinned Post

Places to find me--

StoryGraph

GoodReads

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Pucks & Pages Stuff

Amazon Wishlist

[what-even-is-thiss]

Where’s the YA protagonist teen girl and her two boyfriends that are supposed to save us from this mess anyways

[what-even-is-thiss]

The dystopia books lied. The teen throuples aren’t coming to save us.

[what-even-is-thiss]

Save me teen dystopia love triangle

[what-even-is-thiss]

Teen dystopia love triangle save me

[ebookporn]

Joe Lennon (@lennoncartoons)

[swallowthekn1fe]

"They tried to kill eachother!!" oh my godddd that was only a couple of timessss and they were literally flirtingggg shut uppppp

[libertyreads]

July 2026 Wrap Up--

My library decided to be temperamental with me for the month of July so there were changes to the reading plans as the month went along. But it was a decent reading month nonetheless. I had to substitute out Every Vow You Break by Peter Swanson for The Heirs for my NetGalley Rejected Me Challenge because the library decided it was no longer going to offer the ebook. I had to suggest it to the library for the month of August's NetGalley Rejected Me Challenge (no worries, I've already downloaded it and it's ready to go now). I wasn't planning on reading Hell Bent for the month of July but it was a book I had suggested to the library back in October or November. Right after I read Ninth House. And they didn't let me have it until July. It happens just not the best timing. I still prefer using my library over buying all the books I want to read, but it was kind of a pain this month when it came to my ebooks. Let's get to what I read.

Comics/Graphic Novels--

Novellas/Short Stories-- 1. Do You See What I See? by Peter Swanson (NetGalley)--4.25 stars.

2. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen (Library)--3.25 stars.

Novels-- 1. Rites of the Starling by Devney Perry (Library)-- 3 stars.

2. Season's Reaping by Sylvain Johnson (NetGalley)-- 2 stars.

3. Glorious Rivals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes--4.5 stars (original rating).

4. Vicious by V.E. Schwab--5 stars (original Rating).

5. The Heirs by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé (Library)--3.25 stars.

6. Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo (Library)--4.25 stars.

7. Ruinous Ends by I.V. Marie (Library)--3.25 stars.

My average star rating for the month of July was 3.64 stars.

I saved $106.69 by using my library instead of purchasing books in the month of July. Which means that the library has saved me $1,131.84 for the entire year so far. If I keep borrowing at this pace, I'll end the year at roughly $2,000 saved this year.

[soft-lovely]

minimalistic books

[volumes-and-vines]

It rained and rained, and I could not sleep for the sound of it against the bedroom window. Perhaps an ancient and forgotten god was pouring glass beads out of tired clouds, and I the only one awake in the world to watch them fall.

Beth Brower ~ The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vol. 2

[wonderstruck]

If you see this you’re legally obligated to reblog and tag with the book you’re currently reading

[huntingteeth]

"ilya wanted to tell shane that it had been one of the best days of his life. it had been awkward, sure, but ilya felt that, if he hadn't quite been already, he would be welcomed into shane's family, and that was no small thing. in fact, to ilya, who had barely been welcome in his own family, it was huge (319-320)."

ok well what if i cried about this book, what then

[alextbphotography]

Q2 reading wrap-up! my top three favorites are: The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, and To Clutch a Razor by Veronica Roth 🍂 // all photos are mine 🌙

[not-equippedforthis]

'sincerity and innocence of purpose of an iceberg drifting into a major shipping lane' is by far one of my favourite character introductions to date

[unidentifiedspoon]

network effect.png

[academic-vampire]

No, you don’t understand… I need to read every single book ever written

[animentality]

[apocraphelion]

[libertyreads]

Book Review #81 of 2026--

Ruinous Ends by I.V. Marie. Rating: 3.25 stars.

Read from July 25th to 27th.

So, apparently, this review came out as one stream of consciousness instead of a well thought out and crafted review. I apologize for that ahead of time.

I immediately borrowed this one from the library following its release earlier this month. I had read the first book, Immortal Consequences, in January and was so excited to read the next one when it came out later this year. I say all of that to say that I truly enjoyed the first book but ended up giving it a 3.75 star rating because of the ending. It was actually sitting well higher than that in the middle when August was being unhinged and I was there for it. And I think part of the reason I was excited for this one is that book one set up a lot of things so I felt like I had a lot to look forward to. But then it just didn't pan out the way I expected or wanted. Everything gets wrapped up all nice and neat into a bow for all of our characters except for one. And between that and the pairing off that happened...it just left me wanting more. There IS one couple that I was so excited about still even though I just complained about people getting paired off. The ending for August and Wren is so exactly the kind of thing that makes my brain go feral that I couldn't help but love their ending. I'll keep that vague enough to not spoil too much there.

The main things I disliked from this one besides it not living up to its potential are: 1) how derivative it felt, 2) the deus ex machina of it all, and 3) the unaddressed plot holes. I know that everything comes from something, nothing is new, etc. But I could match up around five different YA books to things that happen in this one. Multiple scenes per YA book. So, it felt a little lacking there. There is a big event that came out of nowhere that saves the day. I can agree, support, enjoy where the author decided to take the novel, but how we got there was so convenient. There were quite a few plot holes in both books that took me out of the story. They're mostly questions of how magic works or how something impacts the magic system so it doesn't really drag down the book too much for me. It's just something I noticed and didn't love.

Overall, this was such a fun duology to read. I almost wish I had read these back to back instead of separated by several months. I think it would have helped my enjoyment some.

[beemovieerotica]

please say sike

[cheese-sample-official]

[flannelunderpants]

[xenocelsus]

I mean.... you don't have to write descriptions. But there's a word for that: a script. Congrats you're not a novelist, you're a very inefficient playwrite who writes plays that go on for several hours. Go pitch it to netflix.

[ghostingfee]

on chapter 20 of northanger abbey and is tilney just coming up with all this off the top of his head. i would be like woah you're an insanely good oral storyteller dude. the sensory details the imagery the pacing. all this while driving a cart.