As a book blogger, I do try to make sure I have variety in the things I post – however, when I get busy, I tend to write far more reviews compared to other blog posts. So this month, I’ve read three books for my Beat the Backlist challenge, and I thought I’d try writing three smaller reviews in one blog post! This will just be some of my thoughts on what I liked and didn’t like about books I have read recently (along with my star rating), and as pictured, today I will be discussing Unboxed by Non Pratt, Lying About Last Summer by Sue Wallman, and Blame by Simon Mayo.
Unboxed by Non Pratt
At the start of the month I read Unboxed by Non Pratt – I’ve been wanting to read this book all year, especially after reading Truth or Dare in March and falling totally in love with it. This book is under 200 pages, and I devoured it in one sitting. I was so impressed with Non’s ability to tell such a beautiful story in just 140 pages – the emotions of all the characters was palpable, and I thought the story flowed brilliantly. I also loved the friendship between the characters, especially as they had all become vastly different people, and it was lovely to see it all tie together at the end!
Lying About Last Summer by Sue Wallman
Another book I’ve been meaning to read all year, Lying About Last Summer was a book I’d heard great things about. I loved how, as well as the thriller aspect of the story, as Skye tries to uncover who’s sending the threatening texts, her grief is explored in great detail; Skye forgiving herself was as crucial to the story as uncovering the mysteries that layered this book. Combine that with the fact that we don’t actually find out what happened last summer for ages, and I was hooked!

Blame by Simon Mayo
I finished this book just yesterday, and I’d say my opinion is mostly positive. I love the idea behind this book – it sounds like the basis for a really good, gritty futuristic story. And actually, I loved the contemporary setting of the book, and how the world-building seemed eerily plausible. However, at the same time the events in the story were quite far-fetched, and I thought the plot perhaps had too many elements to it, making it unnecessarily complicated. Overall, I did enjoy Blame, but towards the end I personally felt that the plot weakened.

So there we have it – three recent reads I have enjoyed at different degrees. Please let me know any of your own thoughts, and if you like this form of reviewing!
Unboxed is definitely such a beautiful story! I too was impressed with Non’s ability to fit so much emotion and action in such a short amount of pages! I haven’t read any other books by her but I will be picking some up soon!
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If you loved Unboxed, I would 100% recommend Truth or Dare – it’s one of the best books I have read this year!
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It’s on my bookshelves right now so I will be picking it up ASAP!
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Backlist challenge is a great idea. 🙂 I have too many books still on my shelves.
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Non Pratt is one of my absolute favourite YA authors! Really enjoyed these short and snappy reviews.
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Thank you! She’s one of my favourites too! X
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