August is always a month of escape and reading for me, so I was delighted to spend some time away and get stuck into plenty of stories. This month, I read 26 books, including all of my TBR, and you can check out my thoughts on these in my recent read recaps (#123 and #124). I was also incredibly lucky to receive some fantastic books and treated myself some too.

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Reviews:

• Murder High, Predatory Natures & The Dead Husband Cookbook
• A Murder of Rogues, Artificial Wisdom & Girls of Dark Divine
• The Wicked Lies of Habren Faire, These Dreaming Spires & Empty Heaven
• A Theory of Dreaming
• Her Many Faces

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Haul:

Thank you to Nina Douglas and Penguin Random House Children’s for sending me Moth Dark by Kika Hatzopoulou and Roar by Manjeet Mann. Also, thank you to Penguin Michael Joseph who sent me a fantastic proof package for The Exes by Leodora Darlington and surprised me with The Lucky Winners by K. L. Slater.

The lovely team at Tor UK sent me The Maiden and the Monster by Maddie Martinez, while HarperFire sent me A War of Wyverns by S. F. Williamson. Vintage sent me You Are The Detective by Maureen Johnson and Jay Cooper & Electric Monkey sent me Empty Heaven by Freddie Kölsch.

Scholastic sent me Bury Your Friends by Benjamin Dean and Enter The Endgame by Triona Campbell & Gollancz sent me The Poet Empress by Shen Tao.

Finally, I treated myself to copies of Dark Island by Daniel Aubrey, Katabasis by R. F. Kuang and These Mortal Bodies by Elspeth Wilson.

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Netgalley Haul:

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• The Woman From Bookclub by Carrie Hughes
• The Othello Club by J. D. Pennington
• Warning Signs by Tracy Sierra