It’s time for my first half of July 2026 book review post! I am sharing what I read in July so far, although I am skipping my 5 star reads to share later in the month. The Amazon links to the books I’ve read are affiliate links and if you use them and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission. If you’ve read any of these books or are interested in them, I’d love to hear about it in the comments!
Title: Calling Me Home
Author: Laurin Becker Macios
Genre: YA Contemporary in Verse
Publisher: Holiday House, 5/19/26
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 3 Stars
Calling Me Home by Laurin Becker Macios is a YA book in verse about a high school graduate who travels in Europe, meets a guy, and gets pregnant. The story moves between Jenny’s return to NYC for college and the aftermath of finding out she’s pregnant and her trip through Europe.
“Jenny Campbell, recent high school graduate, has spent her unrooted childhood planning for a future she can control: NYU, marketing major, big-city life. But first, a carefully mapped solo backpacking trip through Europe. Only, the trip doesn’t stay on the map. As she travels between countries and memories, Jenny begins to loosen her grip on the life she’s scripted. She works at a bookshop in Greece, treks through the Balkans on overnight trains, falls in something-like-love in Rome. At summer’s end, Jenny returns to the States ready to launch her New York City future. And then, she learns she’s pregnant. Choosing to end her pregnancy, Jenny tries to keep her plans—but finds she may no longer be the person meant to live them.”
I appreciated the focus on Jenny’s mental health and coming of age. I thought there should have been more attention given to the way she was pressured into sleeping with the guy she falls for and validation that pressure can still be like assault. I didn’t fully connect with the verse style this time but I did like the descriptions given of her time in Europe.
Title: Breathless
Author: Amy McCulloch
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Random House Audio, 5/3/22
Source: Publisher – Print, Library – Audio
Why I Read It: Backlist
My Rating: 4 Stars
From my 26 in ’26 list, I listened to Breathless by Amy McCulloch, a thriller that takes place in the high altitude of Nepal. It is about Cecily, a journalist and novice mountaineer who is on a trek to the summit in order to secure an interview with a world famous climber. When people start dying, Cecily suspects a murderer is in the group.
“Journalist Cecily Wong is in over her head. She’s come to Manaslu, the eighth-highest peak in the world, to interview internationally famous mountaineer Charles McVeigh on the last leg of a record-breaking series of summits. She’s given up everything for this story—her boyfriend, her life savings, the peace she’s made with her climbing failures in the past—but it’s a career-making opportunity. It could finally put her life back on track. But when one climber dies in what everyone else assumes is a freak accident, she fears their expedition is in danger. And by the time a second climber dies, it’s too late to turn back. Stranded on a mountain in one of the most remote regions of the world, she’ll have to battle more than the elements in a harrowing fight for survival against a killer who is picking them off one by one.”
This was a tense one! Not only in the survival story of being in high altitude and cold temperatures but with the possibility of a killer stalking the group. I admit I figured out who the culprit was from an early point, but I enjoyed this listen.
Title: Into The Blue
Author: Emma Brodie
Genre: Literary
Publisher: Ballantine Books, 4/7/26
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 3.5 Stars, Rounded up to 4 Stars
Into The Blue by Emma Brodie has been well liked by many, but it was just okay for me. It felt like a mix of Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Romantic Comedy. It is about AJ, who as a teen is friends and then more with Noah, until he disappears. While they are teens, they take acting lessons from Noah’s aunt. They are later reunited and then continue to cross paths as time goes by.
“In the summer of 2000, AJ Graves dreams of writing for Saturday Night Live; instead, she’s stuck working in a video rental store, with slim odds of escaping her small Massachusetts town. Then in walks Noah Drew, the enigmatic and intense scion of the Drew acting dynasty, and her life changes forever. Despite wildly different upbringings, the two forge a deep, cosmic bond, first as friends, then as acting partners—until one day, Noah disappears without a word. Seven years later, in New York City, AJ is shocked to find herself cast in the same intergalactic TV production as Noah, by then a well-known Hollywood heartthrob. As their on-screen characters grow closer every day, the lines between reality and acting begin to blur. Unable to stay away from each other, AJ and Noah are forced to confront the truth of what happened years ago—and the devastating secret that will send their lives careening apart, even as fate continues to draw them together.”
I thought this book was a bit too much. I was able to predict exactly why Noah left AJ in the past before it was revealed. I think this plot point could have been focused on a bit more. Instead, it was a lot about acting together, where they are supposedly psychically connected. They are able to communicate through performing scenes but not through every day communication. When they are together, all they seem to do is sleep together. I thought this was a sad story, and it was also cringey in many ways, including lines like this: “Pleasure spilled from both of them like so many broken washing machines.” Things I did like – Noah and I share a birthday, he had a very loyal dog, and the end pages are really pretty.
Title: If Not You
Author: Ellen O’Connor
Genre: Rom Com
Publisher: Berkley, 9/15/26
Source: Traveling ARC
Why I Read It: My turn
My Rating: 3.5 Stars, Rounded up to 4 Stars
If Not You by Ellen O’Clover was on my list of anticipated books to read because I loved her previous book. For some reason, this one wasn’t quite as good for me. It is about Mattie, who absolutely hates Campbell, her former co-intern at a copy writing advertising job. They were competitive then and she has held a major grudge. Now, they are both assigned to attend a month long trip to two resorts in order to compete for an account.
“Mattie French has always known how to tell a good story. It’s why she stopped at nothing to land her dream career as a copywriter at a scrappy independent advertising agency. In fact, if it weren’t for one person, Mattie would probably be the most-talked-about rising star in town. Campbell Porter is a senior copywriter at Chicago’s slickest agency. Absurdly talented, incredibly aware of it, and the bane of Mattie’s existence since they were interns together, Campbell is always just…there, with his golden-boy smirk and the familiar gaze that never fails to taunt her across a crowded room. Mattie would love nothing more than to avoid Campbell forever. But when their agencies are pitted against each other to compete for a luxury resort account, it’s her chance to prove she can beat him—and earn the promotion she covets. During the month of travel required for the pitch, Mattie and Campbell are thrown together as fierce competitors and, slowly, as unexpected witnesses to each other’s hidden wounds and softest parts. As their trip barrels toward its final pitch, Mattie is forced to confront the increasingly obvious truth: the story she’s crafted for her and Campbell over the years might need a new ending.”
I thought the enemies part of enemies to lovers went on for a bit too long here, making the change over less believable. There were some flashbacks to Mattie and Campbell’s earlier crossing of paths. I liked their family back stories, and I really liked Mattie’s best friend Ava and her fiance Lev – I might like to read a book about them!
This post includes four of the books I read this month. Three were print books and one was audio. Three were adult books and one was YA. Genres included contemporary, thriller, literary, and rom com.
Have you read any of these books or do you want to? What have you been reading lately?
