Google Play Samples: June

I thought I wouldn't have a post for this month, but then I sat through two family functions in the second half of the month and completely destroyed that thought.

When you're looking through books on Google Play, you can touch the little three dots on the right of the title, and there's a "download sample" option. The samples are actually close to 40 pages in irl copies, so they're really good! They're great for getting you into the story and creating tension by stopping in the middle of a sentence.

The books below aren't listed in any specific order. Books that are starred after their TBR number were ones I added to my Goodreads after reading the sample.

Wake by Amanda Hocking, TBR #1228

Everland by Wendy Spinale, TBR #1496

Draw the Line by Laurent Linn, TBR #1556

Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch, TBR #1654*

Gena/Finn by Kat Helgeson, TBR #1339

Spark by Holly Schindler, TBR #1655*

The Language of Stars by Louise Hawes, TBR #1656*

Passenger by Alexandra Bracken, TBR #1098

Wither by Lauren DeStefano (see below)

Wink Poppy Midnight by April Genevieve Tucholke, TBR #1340

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, TBR #1096

The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black, TBR #974

The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi, TBR #1341

Torn by Amanda Hocking, TBR #1657*

Elusion by Claudia Gabel, TBR #782


I read Wither back in 2013, and I downloaded the sample to see if I wanted to re-read it. I'm kind of interested in finishing the series since I never made it past Wither. I think it'll depend on if I can find the books at the library.

I didn't really have plans to read Torn based on my feelings for Switched, but I couldn't add it to my Google samples shelf without adding it as a TBR, so we'll see what happens. I don't think it'll hurt to read it.

All in all, I did find some really good books! I'm especially hyped for The Darkest Part of the Forest and The Star-Touched Queen. I'm also hoping to buy Gena/Finn because of the good price on Amazon Prime, and reading the sample definitely helped me cement that decision. (Now if I can only get around to actually clicking "purchase" ...)

I definitely think browsing around Google Play and downloading samples is a really helpful way to kill time. These books got me through waiting for the bus at least once, as well as two long social events, and it's definitely pushing me into motion. I'm gonna see if the web version of Google Play is any more user-friendly, because the mobile interface isn't very conducive to downloading a whole bunch of samples at once. (Though they probably don't want you to do that in the first place. Oh well.)

Have you read any of these books? I'd love to hear about them!