Jen Ryland Reviews

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My Favorite End of Summer Reads of 2021

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Summer is drawing to a close. What should you read to enjoy a last few summer feels before facing fall? Check out My Favorite End of Summer Reads 2021!

My Favorite End of the Summer Reads of 2021

My Favorite Summer Reads of 2021!

The past two summers have been challenging. Lockdowns, virus variants, and mask-wearing took the place of carefree holidays in the sun. Here’s hoping that summer 2022 is much better!

But here we are at the end of summer 2021. There are a few short weeks left of summer, and I believe in trying to make summer lemonade out of a summer that’s been a bit of a lemon.

My criteria for My Favorite Summer Reads of 2021:

  1. YA or adult books with a summery feel (beachy, romantic, and/or featuring a fun setting)
  2. Books that are fun to read
  3. Titles that are out an available NOW

That’s it. So……

What Are My Favorite End of Summer Reading Recommendations for 2021?

If you want romance with the chance to vicariously travel:

woman looking at the map

XOXO by Axie Oh. This cute YA romance about a normal girl who falls for the member of a Kpop group doesn’t take place in summer. But it features both romance and travel (between Los Angeles and Seoul) and I guarantee it will put a smile on your face! You can read my review of XOXO here.

Tokyo Ever After by Emiko Jean. If you’re looking for a charming rom com with a secret princess plot line, travel, and a heartwarming story of family, second chances, look no further. This YA romance takes place in the Pacific Northwest and Japan. You can read my review of Tokyo Ever After here.

If you love escapist princess romance books in general, check out my list of YA Books Featuring Royal Romance!

If you love family drama and want a book that makes you feel like you’re at the beach:

photo of woman leaning on wooden fence

Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid. This adult book has the escapist feel of a 1980s beach book (maybe because it’s set in the 80s). It’s a fun read filled with family drama and set on the beaches of Malibu! You can read my review of Malibu Rising here.

The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller. I’m not always a fan of “book club books.” But this adult book about a middle-aged mom caught between the secrets of her past and her present featured a detailed and interesting family history and a richly described setting that worked for me. There’s not a lot of plot here, but I really enjoyed this one. If you’ve read it, come join my Spoiler Discussion for The Paper Palace.

If you’ve had it with all things sad and serious and just want to smile:

two young women having fun while looking at a laptop

Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto. Okay this comic cozy mystery is COMPLETELY unrealistic and very silly. But Dial A for Aunties also made me laugh more than most books I’ve read recently. A young wedding planner who works with her meddling aunties suddenly has a dead body to contend with.

Finlay Donovan is Killing It by Elle Cosimano. This comic adult mystery, about a hot mess of a divorced mom who accidentally becomes a contract killer, is completely implausible but very amusing.

If you want a seriously escapist book to transition you into fall 2021:

people wearing backpacks

In My Dreams I Hold a Knife by Ashley Winstead. In My Dreams I Hold a Knife features more drama than plot and a very toxic friend group. This adult book about a group of friends looking back on the murder of one of their own ten years ago is entertaining but short on depth. Check this one out if you don’t mind unlikeable characters!

How We Fall Apart by Katie Zhao. A Pretty Little Liars meets I Know What We Did Last Summer homage set in Manhattan, this YA mystery accurately portrays the pressures of high school and the class issues at an elite school. However, it also features a soap-opera-worthy conclusion.

Read any of these? Have thoughts or a recommendation of other end-of-summer books? Talk to me in comments!

Review of How We Fall Apart

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Do you love YA mysteries set at private schools (or any schools)? Then you should definitely check out my review of How We Fall Apart, a YA mystery that really kept me guessing!

What Is How We Fall Apart About?

How We Fall Apart by Katie Zhao.

To be published on August 17, 2021 by Bloomsbury YA.

Thanks to the publisher for providing an advance copy for review.

Synopsis: Nancy Luo is shocked when her former best friend, Jamie Ruan, top ranked junior at Sinclair Prep, goes missing, and then is found dead.

Nancy is even more shocked when word starts to spread that she and her friends–Krystal, Akil, and Alexander–are the prime suspects, thanks to “The Proctor,” someone anonymously incriminating them via the school’s social media app.

They all used to be Jamie’s closest friends, and she knew each of their deepest, darkest secrets. Now, somehow The Proctor knows them, too.

The four must uncover the true killer before The Proctor exposes more than they can bear and costs them more than they can afford, like Nancy’s full scholarship. Soon, Nancy suspects that her friends may be keeping secrets from her, too.

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Review of Ace of Spades

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I love Dark Academia so I couldn’t wait to read Ace of Spades, a new YA Dark Academia book. What did I think? Did it live up to my strict Dark Academia standards? Check out my review of Ace of Spades!

Review of Ace of Spades

What is Ace of Spades About

Cover Ace of Spades

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé.

Published on June 1, 2021 by Feiwel and Friends. Thanks so much to the publisher for providing an advance copy for review. I read this book in May 2021.

Synopsis: When two Niveus Private Academy students, Devon Richards and Chiamaka Adebayo, are selected to be part of the elite school’s senior class prefects, it looks like their year is off to an amazing start. After all, not only does it look great on college applications, it officially puts each of them in the running for valedictorian. Shortly after the announcement is made, though, someone who goes by Aces begins using anonymous text messages to reveal secrets about the two of them that turn their lives upside down and threaten every aspect of their carefully planned futures. As Aces shows no sign of stopping, what seemed like a sick prank quickly turns into a dangerous game, with all the cards stacked against them. Can Devon and Chiamaka stop Aces before things become incredibly deadly?

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Review of The Project by Courtney Summers

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That feeling when you’ve been a fan of an author forever and 2021 brings a new book! Check out my review of The Project by Courtney Summers

Review of the Project

What’s The Project About?

The Project by Courtney Summers. To be published on February 2, 2021 by Wednesday Books. Thanks to the publisher for providing an advance copy for review.

Synopsis: Lo Denham is used to being on her own. After her parents died, Lo’s sister, Bea, joined The Unity Project, leaving Lo in the care of their great aunt. Lo knows there’s more to the group than meets the eye. She’s spent the last six years of her life trying—and failing—to prove it.When a man shows up at the magazine Lo works for claiming The Unity Project killed his son, Lo sees the perfect opportunity to expose the group and reunite with Bea once and for all. When her investigation puts her in the direct path of its leader, Lev Warren and as Lo delves deeper into The Project, the lives of its members it upends everything she thought she knew about her sister, herself, cults, and the world around her—to the point she can no longer tell what’s real or true. Lo never thought she could afford to believe in Lev Warren . . . but now she doesn’t know if she can afford not to.

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Review of The Project by Courtney Summers

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Review of What She Found in the Woods

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What She Found in the Woods was a genre-spanning book that took a while to get going, then had me hooked. Check out my review of What She Found in the Woods.

What She Found in the Woods by Josephine Angelini. To be published on December 1, 2020 by Sourcebooks Fire.

Synopsis: Running from a scandal at her New York private school, Magdalena heads to her family home to recover under the radar.Over-medicated and under-confident, she’s fearful she’ll never escape her past.Until she meets Bo out hiking. Wild, gorgeous and free, he makes her believe she might finally be able to move on. But when a mutilated body is discovered in the woods, Magdalena realises she can’t trust anyone.

Review of What She Found in the Woods

Have you ever completely changed your mind about a book? I was about to DNF this one. It started out as a girl who got kicked out of her private school for some undescribed scandal and heads to visit her grandparents, bottles of pills in tow. It was taking a while to get going and I wasn’t all that invested.

Then I went on Goodreads and a friend whose opinion I trust said she found the book really different … and good. So I kept reading.

What She Found in the Woods was one part Girl, Interrupted (psychiatric hospital) one part Girl on a Train (impaired and unreliable narrator) one part Deliverance (horror in the woods.) With a romance.

Magdalena (referred to in the story as both Magda and Lena) has been sent to her grandparents in the Pacific Northwest after a stint in a psychiatric hospital. She’s on multiple medications and has been writing in her journal as a way to make sense of everything that’s been happening. Slowly, we get the story of what brought her to this point.

That might actually be enough story for one book, but … there’s more. Lena starts volunteering at a women’s shelter, one where the residents are mysteriously disappearing. She also starts taking long walks in the woods, where she meets Bo, a boy who lives there with his family, completely off the grid. Is there a reason his family is hiding?

Slowly, the threads of Lena’s past and present start coming together as she tells the reader more and more about what happened to her, and becomes more and more involved with Bo and the women at the shelter.

What She Found in the Woods was much darker than the typical YA thriller, and much more complex. (I’m not surprised; Josephine Angelini has written some pretty elaborate YA fantasy with time travel and mythology and dual timelines.) I did eventually guess who was responsible for the murders, but it took me some time to figure it out.

If you are a thriller lover like I am, consider trying this – it was a wild ride and definitely unique!

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