This ReadAThon is pretty simple. First, pick a goal. I will be aiming for 7 books, but you can choose as many or as little books as you wish. Next, grab a jar, or cup, or hat, it really doesn’t matter. Something you can put names into. For the next step, you can do this one a few ways. Option 1 is to put all the books on your TBR (physical, eBook, audiobook, whatever you wish) into a hat. Option 2, you can pick some of the books you are most looking forward to and put them in a hat. Or you can also put the books that fit another challenge/ReadAThon you’re participating in and put them in the jar Option 3, (this is what I will be doing), get a 2nd jar, in 1 jar put all the physical & eBooks books on your TBR into it and in the 2nd jar put all the audiobooks on your TBR. Lastly, pick a name out of the jar and read that book, then pick another name and read that book and continue until you either hit your goal or run out of time in the ReadAThon.
Extra Info
You can choose to pull the number of names you choose for your goal out of the jar prior to the ReadAThon or pull them out as you go.
Use the hashtag #TBRJarRAT so I can see what you’re up to (also if it is on Twitter or Instagram then you can tag the @TBRJarRAT page too.
So, some of you may have a few books from the same series still on your TBR. Join the club. So if this is the case, you can either choose to only put the 1st book (or the book you are up to) in the TBR jar OR you can put it in as the full series. So if you pick up that name, then you have to try and read all the books from that series that you have on your shelf. This ReadAThon is very customisable, so do whatever fits you.
Some of the links on my blog are affiliate links. This does not change the price of your purchases, however, I receive a small commission if you use any of those links to make a purchase! Which I highly appreciate!
The Fantasy JourneyAThon is over here in Australia so here is my Wrap Up! I completed all 10 challenges for the ReadAThon which I’m super happy with! I had to make some changes from my TBR throughout the ReadAThon but I still worked out 10 books for the 10 challenges! I’ll be going in order of the
Stats!
Read but didn’t count for a challenge!
Firstly I finished 2 books that I had started prior to the ReadAThon. Shadow Frost by Coco Ma was the physical book that I was reading & I read the last 169 pages of this one during the ReadAThon! You can check out my full spoiler free review HERE!
The other book I finished during the ReadAThon was Solitaire by Alice Oseman on audiobook! I listened to the last 140 minutes of Solitaire during the ReadAThon. While Solitaire was enjoyable it’s not my favourite Alice Oseman book I’ve read so far!
Next, I read Legend by Marie Lu on audiobook. I had Prodigy, book 2, on my TBR so I had to read Legend first! I found Legend enjoyable but nothing amazing and the very predictable romance was just meh…
Next I started As She Ascends by Jodi Meadows. I am reading this as part of a ReadALong, so I only read to Chapter 10 during the ReadAThon as I needed to read to Chapter 10 by Sunday. So I read 144 pages of this one during the ReadAThon!
I also started listening to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on audiobook during the ReadAThon. Originally I was going to use it for one of the challenges but unpredictably we had to make a quick trip to another town on the last day, so I simply ran out of time to finish it. So ended up reading something else for that challenge instead. But I did listen to 729 minutes of this one!
Challenges completed!
Read a book with a bird on the cover
For the first challenge I read Prodigy by Marie Lu on audiobook. This one I enjoyed even less than the first book in the series. The world and plot is interesting enough but it was pretty predictable and the romance is just so damn tropey & predictable!
Read a book with witches/wizards
For the next challenge I read Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on audiobook. I was originally going to read this physically but I was busy and the audiobook turned out to be easier as I just didn’t have time to physically read. Of course I love this one as it’s a reread of my favourite series!
Read a book with scarlet on the cover
Shadow of the Fox was the next audiobook I read. This one was quite good, I ended up rating it 4 stars. It was a really interesting world & plot but it wasn’t an absolute favourite.
Read a book with a tree on the cover
The next book I read was The Woods: Vol 1 which is a Graphic Novel. This is a Sci-Fi and I found it super interesting and I will definitely be continuing this series!
Read a book under 300 pages
Next I continued on with Volume 2 of The Woods. As I said I was super curious so I continued the series!
Read a book with a beautiful cover
Originally I was going to read A Million Junes by Emily Henry as it has a gorgeous cover but I ended up reading the start of the synopsis and as it compared the book to Romeo and Juliet I took that one straight off my TBR. I am not a romance fan and think Romeo and Juliet is one of the stupidest books I have been forced to read… So instead I listened to the audiobook of A Thousand Beginnings and Endings which is an anthology of retellings of Asian Myths and Legends. For the most part I enjoyed this book, of course being an anthology I didn’t enjoy every story but for the most part I enjoyed it!
Read a book with a dark theme
The next book I physically read was The Devouring Gray which for this challenge has a heavy theme of monsters & death. So it definitely fits! I quite enjoyed this one and I still need to write my review, so keep an eye out for that one!
Read a book with multiple POV or Authors
Next I read another Graphic Novel which was Volume 1 of Misfit City! I am super keen to continue this one as it hooked me from the very beginning.
Read a book with magic
So next I read another Graphic Novel. Firstly, I was going to read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix for this challenge but I ended up being busy on Monday, so I didn’t have time to finish the audiobook as its 29 hours.. So at the end of Day 10 I picked up The Wicked + The Divine: Vol 7 instead as it also features magic. This was probably my least favourite of the series so far. It was back and forwards through time and was pretty confusing..
Read a book set in the real world
Lastly I read I Am Change by Suzy Zail which is set in modern day Africa, so it fits the real world challenge. You can find my review for I Am Change HERE!
Did you participate in Fantasy JourneyAThon. How many challenges did you complete? What was your favourite read?
Purchase any of the books mentioned from BOOK DEPOSITORY! World Wide FREE shipping and awesome prices? Can’t say no to that!
Aussie? Want quick shipping? Awesome prices? Want to be able to utilise AfterPay? Then try BOOKTOPIA or even ANGUS & ROBERTSON!
Some of the links on my blog are affiliate links. This does not change the price of your purchases, however, I receive a small commission if you use any of those links to make a purchase! Which I highly appreciate!
They told her that her body belonged to men and her mind didn’t matter. They were wrong.
“What if I don’t want to marry?” Lillian held her breath. She had never said the words out loud. “Not want to marry?” Her aunt frowned. “What else would you do?”
Set in a Ugandan village, Lilian has learned to shrink herself to fit other people’s ideas of what a girl is. In her village a girl is not meant to be smarter than her brother. A girl is not meant to go to school or enjoy her body or decide who to marry. Especially if she is poor.
About the Book
Inspired by the stories told to the author by young Ugandan women. Timely and salient – the rights of girls and women in African countries are only now being exercised. A moving story of one girls struggle. 200,000 million girls in developing countries don’t have the opportunity to go to school. Their education is disrupted by poverty, child marriage, gender based violence and cultures which favour boys’education. I Am Change highlights the issues that these young women face. Through Lilian, Suzy Zail gives readers a connection and a meaning to the young women’s stories.
This is for all the girls who have been whistled at on the street or groped behind classrooms… For anyone who’s hidden bruises or been visited by the cutter or been asked to stay back late after class. For girls who said “No” to a boy who heard “Yes”, and for all of us who’ve been told not to dream big.
I’m not sure how long this review will be because I am struggling to put my thoughts into words about this book!
This book is amazing! This is a book like The Hate U Give that needs to be shared & read because the message is so freaking important! I learnt so much about the culture around Uganda by reading this book. I’ll be honest, I didn’t know much about any of the African cultures at all, so while I can’t say I’m happy to have learned from this book because it’s not happy at all I’m glad I read it and learned these things. But it’s definitely not happy, it’s scary and heartbreaking and makes me furious honestly. But, it’s important, so it needs to be learned.
Obviously I can’t speak for the representation in this book but based on everything the author did to create this story I hope it’s accurate. This is such an important story that needs to be shared. It’s also empowering & inspiring. It makes you think about how freaking lucky you are to have no experienced that. It’s brutal and I recommend caution going into this book because the author does not sugar coat anything to make it an easy read. It’s a hard book to get through but it’s one that everyone needs to read. There were times where it was hard for me to think that this is a book set in present day. I wanted to believe that this is how it used to be and that things are better now but they aren’t! This is the type of thing that could be happening to a young Uganda girl RIGHT NOW!
The characters were also so well written! I fell in love with Lilian as a MC and I just wanted to bundle her up in my car and protect her from the shit she had to endure. And same with most of the girls in this story. There are characters I wanted to save, characters I wanted to slap sense into and characters I wanted to hang for their actions. I couldn’t help falling into & being wholeheartedly investing in their story.
That’s about all the words I can put right now as it’s still fresh and hard to process at this point. But I encourage every single one of you to go and purchase this book, or borrow it from your library, or whatever means you need to take to get this book & then read it! Or if for whatever reason you aren’t able to purchase the book and the library isn’t an option then please enter the Giveaway below.
Make sure you go and check out everyone else’s posts for the Tour aswell! You can find them all linked on the Aussie YA Bloggers post!
Giveaway
Firstly I would like to note that this Giveaway has nothing to do with the Blog Tour or the organisers of the Tour. I am doing this by my self and under my own free will. This Giveaway is not going to run like they usually do on this blog. I will not be picking one winner & there is no time frame or specific rules to this giveaway (except that Book Depository must ship to you to enter). I will be simply sending out books to random people that enter when I can afford them. I won’t be notifying people if I’m sending it your way, you will just get a surprise in the mail. This giveaway is for the people that can’t get a hold of this book on their own for whatever reason but genuinely want to read this book. So please only enter if you intend to read the book.
I am also not responsible for any shipping fees or taxes that occur after the purchase of this book. So be mindful when entering.
How to enter:
Simply send me an email to duskangelreads@yahoo.com with the subject line ‘I Am Change Giveaway’ and include your name & address in the email. That is all you need to do. I would also appreciate that if you enter and then end up purchasing the book yourself to just email me and let me know that you no longer need the book so I can purchase it for someone that still needs it instead.
Some of the links on my blog are affiliate links. This does not change the price of your purchases, however, I receive a small commission if you use any of those links to make a purchase! Which I highly appreciate!
We are 2 weeks into NEWTs Magical ReadAThon & Beat the Bingo ReadAThon so here is another update to see how I’m doing so far!
Stats
Firstly here is some stats! Again I’m using Caz’s ReadAThon Tracker !! So far I have completed 15 of the NEWTs Challenges including 5 of the 7 Challenges that I specifically need to complete to obtain the Magizoologist Career. For Beat the Bingo I have completed 11 of the challenges.
Day 7 to 14 is shown in this second screen capture. left side is Audio minutes listened to & right is pages read. The yellowy columns are the total pages/minutes & the white is the progress that day.
My Bullet Journal
In this Tracker I track both Audio & Books by converting the minutes to pages and combining that with books.
Pink is physical reads, Purple is audiobooks & Teal is Graphic Novels.
Books Read & Challenges Completed
If you didn’t see my Week 1 Update then check that one out too as I won’t be repeating those books.
This one is a super quick and cute Graphic Novel! Heartstopper: Vol 2 fulfils the Care of Magical Creatures Exceeds Expectation challenge to Read a book under 300 pages. I didn’t use this one for a challenge of Beat the Bingo.
Solitaire by Alice Oseman was an audiobook I listened to. Its definitly not my favourite Alice Oseman book but it wasn’t bad. I just preferred I Was Born For This & Radio Silence a lot more. This one fulfils the NEWTs Defence Against a Dark Arts Acceptable Challenge to Read a book with black under the dust jacket.
Shadow Frost was the next book I read and this one was an eARC I had from NetGalley. If you want to check out the review you can find it HERE! Shadow Frost fulfilled the NEWTs Charms Acceptable challenge to Read a book you think has a gorgeous cover.
I Am Change I read in one day! It was so freaking good. This one I read for a Blog Tour and my review will be up on the 19th. I Am Change fulfilled the NEWTs Herbology Outstanding challenge to Read a book with a flower on the cover. As well as the Beat the Bingo challenge to Read a book with a plant on the cover.
Next I listened to the audiobook of Legend by Marie Lu. Legeng fulfilled the NEWTs Divination Acceptable challenge to Read a White Book. This one is a big greyer than white but oh well. Also for Beat the Bingo this one fulfils the Read a Sci-Fi Book challenge.
This is the second book to Legend, Prodigy by Marie Lu. I also listened to this one on audiobook. Prodigy fulfils the NEWTs Care of Magical Creatures Outstanding challenge to Read a book with a bird on the cover as well as the Read a book with a blue cover challenge for Beat the Bingo ReadAThon.
The Woods Vol 1 is the first volume of a new Graphic Novel series I have started. So far this one is interesting and I’m keen to see where this goes. The Woods: Vol 1 fulfils the NEWTs Charms Exceeds Expectation challenge to Read a Comic/Graphic Novel/Manga as well as the Beat the Bingo challenge to Read a Graphic Novel.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was the next audiobook I listened to. Of course I loved this one as it’s a Reread. This one fulfilled the NEWTs History of Magic Outstanding challenge to Reread a Favourite as well as the Reread a Favourite challenge of Beat the Bingo.
Shadow of the Fox was the next audiobook I listened to. Shadow of the Fox fulfils the NEWTs Arithmancy Outstanding challenge to Read a book that’s longer than 350 pages. As well as the Beat the Bingo ReadAThon challenge to Read a book with a red cover
Lastly I read Vol 2 of The Woods which made me even more curious about where this series is going! This one fulfilled the NEWTs Transfiguration Exceeds Expectations challenge to Read a book that’s not the first in a series.
Currently Reading
I am also Currently Reading As She Ascends by Jodi Meadows. This one doesn’t fulfil any of the NEWTs of Beat the Bingo challenges as this is for a ReadALong and we won’t be finishing it until September. Incase you wanted to join I’ll leave the info below.
Have you read any of these books? What did you think about them? How are you progressing for the NEWTs ReadAThon?!
Purchase any of the books mentioned from BOOK DEPOSITORY! World Wide FREE shipping and awesome prices? Can’t say no to that!
Some of the links on my blog are affiliate links. This does not change the price of your purchases, however, I receive a small commission if you use any of those links to make a purchase! Which I highly appreciate!
So, it’s been a while since I have posted a Haul on here! So I thought I would share some of the books I have picked up recently!
Purchased Books
Purchased Graphic Novels
Received Books
I Am Change by Suzy Zail I received from Walker Books as part of a Aussie YA Bloggers Blog Tour! Keep an eye out on the 19th for my review. Fawkes I got in an exchanged with a mate where I sent her Caraval by Stephanie Garber.
eARCs/ARCs/Review Copies Received
The Long Call by Ann Cleeves I received unsolicited from Pan Macmillan Australia. We Are Blood and Thunder by Kesia Lupo I received from Bloomsbury Australia. The rest I also got through NetGalley.
Well I think that is all the books I have to share!
Have you read any of these books? What did you think about them?
Purchase any of the books mentioned from BOOK DEPOSITORY! World Wide FREE shipping and awesome prices? Can’t say no to that!
Some of the links on my blog are affiliate links. This does not change the price of your purchases, however, I receive a small commission if you use any of those links to make a purchase! Which I highly appreciate!
Title: Shadow Frost Series: Unknown Author: Coco Ma Genre: YA Fantasy Publication Date: October 1st, 2019 Pages: 400 (Hardcover) Publishers: Blackstone Publishing Rating:
Goodreads Synopsis
IN THE KINGDOM OF AXARIA, a darkness rises.
Some call it a monster, laying waste to the villagers and their homes. Some say it is an invulnerable demon summoned from the deepest abysses of the Immortal Realm. Many soldiers from the royal guard are sent out to hunt it down.
Not one has ever returned.
When Asterin Faelenhart, Princess of Axaria and heir to the throne, discovers that she may hold the key to defeating the mysterious demon terrorizing her kingdom, she vows not to rest until the beast is slain. With the help of her friends and the powers she wields — though has yet to fully understand — Asterin sets out to complete a single task. The task that countless, trained soldiers have failed.
To kill it.
But as they hunt for the demon, they unearth a plot to assassinate the Princess herself instead. Asterin and her companions begin to wonder how much of their lives have been lies, especially when they realize that the center of the web of deceit might very well be themselves. With no one else to turn to, they are forced to decide just how much they are willing to sacrifice to protect the only world they have ever known.
That is, of course… if the demon doesn’t get to them first.
From young author Coco Ma comes a dazzling new tale of adventure, power, and betrayal, weaving together a stunning world of magic with a killer cast in an explosive, unforgettable debut.
Okay, so I’m not going to follow my usual format. I don’t know why but I just haven’t been feeling the structured review writing lately. So let’s just jump in.
Firstly, I will talk about my 2 dislikes of this book and the reason I didn’t rate it 5 stars. Trust me, I loved this book but these 2 things were irritating. Firstly we have the romance between Asterin & someone else that I won’t name because spoilers. This romance was a very typical, predictable romance and kinda insta lovey. When the second character first got introduced I guess there would be a romance straight away and I was not wrong. I however thought it could of been a good opportunity for a Hate to Love situation but they only showed dislike for eachother for about 3 seconds and then it was all over.. So the author missed that chance.
Now for the second reason I didn’t like this book, which is the character Orion. He rubbed me the wrong way from the very start of this book. His overly jealous personality really freaking irritated me. Then there was the romance he is apart of later in the book….
I can’t say more without spoilers but I want to explain, so if you don’t want to be spoiled for anything then don’t read the next section that is in italics.
Soas I said his jealousness pissed me off. It was constant when Quinlan was around and felt very possessive in most situations. Which I did not like. If I was Asterin I would have kicked him to the curb well before this. In the beginning I assumed the jealousness was because he was in love with Asterin, which came across a few times as true but THEN… Bringing in Harry and all of that is completely abandoned. Talk about Insta love! He meets this dude and then instantly stops with the love sick crap towards Asterin and the jealousy shit towards Quinlan… I just don’t get it. Like at all. This character in my opinion just wasn’t written very well, his actions constantly contradicted each other and as I said he came across as possessive at times, which I’m not a fan of in any situation. Of course this may have been fixed for the release of the finished copy, as I did read an eARC but I was not a fan!
Well that’s the dislikes out of the road and now for everything I liked! Firstly, the Characters in general (excluding Orion) and the POV. At first the POV was a little disorientating. We jump between POVs with each chapter and occasionally within a chapter and in the beginning it was a tad hard to follow. The author does not include names at the start of the chapters but the character’s name is usually in the first sentence of the chapter, so it was relatively easy to figure out whose POV we were reading from. After getting used to the frequent changes I actually really enjoyed it! Throughout the book we follow the POV of nearly 10 characters or more which allows you an insight into not only what the main characters are doing but also the bad guys.. Each character felt like they had a unique voice within their POVs section, except for maybe the ones we only see one chapter of POV from. But I think overall it was done quite well and I enjoyed it.
The characters themselves we all very well developed and grew throughout the book which I really enjoyed! They were all written very well excluding Orion and even the ‘bad guys’ were written very well even if they aren’t nice people. Asterin suffered from the kinda typical trope of having more power than most so she has to go and defeat the villain but in this situation it did work and everything fell into place and made sense in the end. I really enjoyed Rose’s character as well! She was a badass and I really enjoyed reading from her POV. I also really liked Luna! She developed so well throughout the story and I 100% agree with her choices at the end of this book! Quinlan was also kinda typical… Extremely attractive, powerful and there to save the day of course… He was an enjoyable character but he definitely fit the mould of most YA male characters. Then we had Eadric who was probably the character that grew the most throughout the book. He was kinda the Dad figure of the group and I really enjoyed his personality and the way he developed.
The next thing I loved was the world & magic system. Both of which are very fleshed out and detailed! I loved learning about this world and the magic system. It was so interesting even if the magic system was not the most unique I’ve seen it was still very solid. I just enjoyed how much it was thought out! There was reasons for everything and it wasn’t like some magic systems where you just have to accept that this is how it works and that there isn’t a why involved… The world was really interesting too and I would love to learn more about the other kingdoms in this world. Which hopefully we will get in book 2!
Lastly we have the plot itself to talk about because it was intense! There were only 1 or 2 places where I guessed a plot twist/plot point but even then I was so into this book that it didn’t annoy me, I just wanted to know the how! Besides those couple I guessed this book was unpredictable! There were so many twists and turns that just kept me hooked the entire time and I loved the rollercoaster ride this book took me on! I do however want to yell at the author a lit for that cliff hanger! How dare you!!
So, overall I really enjoyed this one! It had a couple flaws in my opinion but I enjoyed the ride it took me on. I loved most of the characters and I can’t want to see where they go next. Also that cliffhanger!! I need to know what happens next!!!!!!!! I can’t wait for book 2 but it’s going to be a bit of a wait I would say. There are no details released yet as Book 1 isn’t even released yet…
Thank you to NetGalley & Blackstone Publishing for providing me an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!
You can pre-order a copy for yourself at any of the links below.
You could also use my affiliate links for Book Depository if you would like to support this blog!
Some of the links on my blog are affiliate links. This does not change the price of your purchases, however, I receive a small commission if you use any of those links to make a purchase! Which I highly appreciate!
So Fantasy JourneyAThon starts in 2 minutes as I’m writing this sentence. Originally I planned to film a TBR video for my Channel but It has been a crazy couple days and I just haven’t had the time to film & edit! Now the ReadAThon has started and my TBR still isn’t up, so here it is!
Firstly I am on Team Gryffindor and I will be earning points throughout the week by participating in the Instagram & Litsy Challenges as well as reading!
My TBR
Read a book with a bird on the cover
This is the second book to Legend by Marie Lu, which I haven’t actually read. I planned to read it before the ReadAThon but haven’t got there. So I will also be aiming to read Legend this book!
Read a book with witches/wizards
This is of course a reread for me and I can’t wait. I’ve been really enjoying my physical reread of this series!
Read a book with scarlet on the cover
This one is an audiobook that I have had on my TBR for way too long! Finally picking it up and fulfilling this challenge!
Read a book with a tree on the cover
This one has a whole Wood on the cover, so I think it fits. This is Volume 1 in a new to me Graphic Novel series and I can’t wait to dive in!
Read a book under 300 pages
This is the other Graphic Novel I have in my TBR and I’m keen for this one too! It’s also super short so fits this challenge!
Read a book with a beautiful cover
This one definitely fits this challenge as this cover is beautiful! This is a cover read for sure as I know nothing about this book! This one is also an audiobook I will be listening to.
Read a book with a dark theme
I don’t know much about this one but I have it on my physical TBR and it looks super dark and creepy!
Read a book with multiple POV or Authors
This is my next audiobook and this is an anthology. So not only does it have multiple POV but it also has multiple Authors!
Read a book with magic
This is the last audiobook on my tbr! I keep hearing good things about this one and apparently it has magic, so I’m in!
Read a book set in the real world
This one I need to read for a Blog Tour which is happening soon, so I chose it for this challenge! It is set in our world so it fits this challenge!
Are you participating in the Harry Potter edition of Fantasy JourneyAThon? What team are you on?!
Purchase any of the books mentioned from BOOK DEPOSITORY! World Wide FREE shipping and awesome prices? Can’t say no to that!
Aussie? Want quick shipping? Awesome prices? Want to be able to utilise AfterPay? Then try BOOKTOPIA or even ANGUS & ROBERTSON!
Some of the links on my blog are affiliate links. This does not change the price of your purchases, however, I receive a small commission if you use any of those links to make a purchase! Which I highly appreciate!
