August 2019 TBR // ARC August

Although I’m sad that July is over, I’m excited to be taking part in ARC August this year. ARC August is an annual reading challenge hosted by Octavia and Shelly @ReadSleepRepeat. The aim is to read as many ARCs as you can during August and take part in challenges (if you want to).

I’m aiming to read some of the ARCs I got from YALC that will hit the bingo card challenges below.

---

Sanctuary // Release date: 6th August // The small Connecticut town of Sanctuary is rocked by the death of its star quarterback.

Daniel’s death looked like an accident, but everyone knows his ex-girlfriend Harper is the daughter of a witch – and she was there when he died.

Then the rumours start. When Harper insists Dan was guilty of a terrible act, the town turns on her. So was his death an accident, revenge – or something even darker?

As accusations fly and secrets are revealed, paranoia grips the town, culminating in a trial that the whole world is watching.

Bingo card challenges: Finish 1 2019 release
Finish 1 “Author I’ve read before”

That Asian Kid // Release date: 29th August // Despite his hard work and brains, Jeevan, is doing badly in his GCSE English literature class. His teacher, Mrs Greaves, dislikes him intensely and Jeevan is convinced that he is the victim of racial prejudice. Can he stand up for what’s right?

When he comes upon her in the woods outisde school in a compromising situation with another teacher, Jeevan can’t help but film the scene on his phone. With this secret new ammunition at his fingertips – dare he upload it to social media?

Bingo card challenges: Finish 1 ARC
Finish 1 ARC that does not have a picture of a girl on the cover

The Girl the Sea Gave Back // Release date: 3rd September // For as long as she can remember, Tova has lived among the Svell, the people who found her washed ashore as a child and use her for her gift as a Truthtongue.

Her own home and clan are long-faded memories, but the sacred symbols and staves inked over every inch of her skin mark her as one who can cast the rune stones and see into the future. She has found a fragile place among those who fear her, but when two clans to the east bury their age-old blood feud and join together as one, her world is dangerously close to collapse.

For the first time in generations, the leaders of the Svell are divided. Should they maintain peace or go to war with the allied clans to protect their newfound power? And when their chieftain looks to Tova to cast the stones, she sets into motion a series of events that will not only change the landscape of the mainland forever but will give her something she believed she could never have again–a home.

Bingo card challenge: Finish one “new to you” author

Frankly in Love // Release date: 10th September // Frank Li is a high school senior living in Southern California. Frank’s parents emigrated from Korea, and have pretty much one big rule for Frank – he must only date Korean girls.

But he’s got strong feelings for a girl in his class, Brit – and she’s not Korean. His friend Joy Song is in the same boat and knows her parents will never accept her Chinese American boyfriend, so they make a pact: they’ll pretend to date each other in order to gain their freedom.

Frank thinks fake-dating is the perfect plan, but it leaves him wondering if he ever really understood love – or himself – at all.

Bingo card challenges: Finish 1 romance/contemporary
Finish 1 debut author’s ARC

Into the Crooked Place // Release date: 8th October // The streets of Creije are for the deadly and the dreamers, and four crooks in particular know just how much magic they need up their sleeve to survive.

Tavia, a busker ready to pack up her dark-magic wares and turn her back on Creije for good. She’ll do anything to put her crimes behind her.

Wesley, the closest thing Creije has to a gangster. After growing up on streets hungry enough to swallow the weak whole, he won’t stop until he has brought the entire realm to kneel before him.

Karam, a warrior who spends her days watching over the city’s worst criminals and her nights in the fighting rings, making a deadly name for herself.

And Saxony, a resistance fighter hiding from the very people who destroyed her family, and willing to do whatever it takes to get her revenge.

Everything in their lives is going to plan, until Tavia makes a crucial mistake: she delivers a vial of dark magic—a weapon she didn’t know she had—to someone she cares about, sparking the greatest conflict in decades. Now these four magical outsiders must come together to save their home and the world, before it’s too late. But with enemies at all sides, they can trust nobody. Least of all each other.

Bingo card challenges: Finish 1 fantasy
Finish 1 ARC that has dragons/magic/elves/fairies
Meet your Arc August goal (if I read all five of these books)
Start and finish two ARCs between August 1st and 31st

---

The two finished copies I want to read this month are The Devouring Gray, which I’ve been slowly making my way through for a while, and Sorcery of Thorns, because I promised Connie @ConnieReads I’d try and pick it up on audio.

---

What are you reading this month? Are you excited for any of these books?