“You have read 59 books of your goal of 50!” – Goodreads
- https://moreblminfo.carrd.co/
- https://getinformed.carrd.co/ This is an incredible carrd with information and resources about many of the issues the world is going through right now!
- I find Twitter an extremely useful tool in finding information about these injustices and ways to help. As well as Change.org for petitions!
The Kpop ReadAThon was created by Noura over at theperksofbeingnourablog here on WP and her Twitter is @NunuKz (which is where there is a thread all about the prompts etc.). The official dates were 15th June – 15th July and I decided to keep going until I finish all the teams!
It has been pretty good for my reading slump, however, since I’ve been picking up more dramas and striving to finish them in a week or so, my reading has dropped ㅠㅠ
For round three I chose TWICE and you can check out my tbr here if you’d like~ And Monday became the Twice day each week and I ended up making a lot more posts than I had anticipated. I enjoyed making them and I’ve become a Once, so that’s great for me ♥ And they’re currently having a comeback!
My favourite Twice related post was my favourite Twice Collaboration Stages. It was nice to see different genres of music and concepts in these collaborations that we don’t see the girl’s doing often. Jihyo and Momo sharing the same stage as Taemin is iconic! ♥
I started this “round” of the readathon on the 18th of August… and it’s near the end of October… wow 😅
Wrap Up
HAPPY HAPPY: Siege & Sacrifice; Charlie N. Holmberg
- This fulfilled the prompt – Genre you love or by an author you love
- Finished: 19.10.20
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I enjoy Holmberg’s writing, and I started the Numina trilogy in round 1 and I’m really happy that I’ve now completed it ♥
I won’t say much about the plot, but the overarching plot is that Sandis escapes her master’s lair when she discovers his plan to use them as a vessel for an extremely strong ancient spirit, rather than the ones he summons into them to deal with his business associates. Sandis then meets Rone, a skilled thief with an ancient treasure that might be the answer to evading her master’s hunt for her.
In Siege & Sacrifice, I really enjoyed learning more about the lore and history of the Noscon’s – ancient people of Dresberg – and how it linked to the Numina. Sandis and Rone’s portions are easily distinguishable and both characters are well written. There are also several side characters who surprised me in this final book – I’m looking at you Comf senior!
Overall, the plot is fast moving, but I would have liked to spend more time on certain things. The actual battle against Kolosos could have been longer and more in depth as it seemed rather rushed. It felt a little too easy for our leads to accomplish things during the book. This is also something I’ve noticed in Holmberg’s other books as well.
The Numina trilogy is a ride and I would highly recommend it if you like the occult and great characters.
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR: City of the Snakes; Darren Shan
- This fulfilled the prompt – Book that has been on your TBR for a long time
I’ve decided that I will be DNF’ing City of the Snakes for now. I’m going to try to pick it up after I’ve finished the books in my next round, but at the moment I’m not interested in it. I’ve started the book and I was enjoying being back with Capac, but then we returned to the main character of book 2 and his voice/the writing wasn’t working for me for some reason…
CHANGING: Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race; Reni Eddo-Lodge
- This fulfilled the prompt – Read your least read genre
- Finished: 27.08.20
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I tend not to gravitate towards Non-Fiction and to be honest before this the ones I read were from my degree and then I only read chapters or articles. This was recommended to me by a friend of mine and I’m so thankful that she did ♥
I’ve lived a very sheltered life in a mostly white town and my knowledge of racism is generally in the lens of the United States. This book is so important for British people as the discussion of race is more often than not swept under the carpet here. Otherwise it’s used to push a right wing agenda and put the white majority in the “victim” box.
This was incredibly eye opening, both in the present circumstances and in this country’s history. I know we sucked, but wow.
FAKE & TRUE: Dead Until Dark; Charlaine Harris
- This fulfilled the prompt – Pick a book from your favourite genre and a book from your friend’s favourite and have someone pick your next read
- Finished: 20.10.20
- ⭐⭐
Serious question: was I supposed to like any character?
Sookie is annoying, dumb and I don’t think she made a single nice comment about a woman. She slut shamed constantly. And on the other hand we have Bill who has no personality. He’s not romantic at all, instead he’s pushy and several times didn’t respect Sookie’s boundaries.
The plot in itself was fine. A typical vampire comes to town and falls for the odd girl that everyone has a crush on and is special in some way, but with a twist that vampires have made themselves public. There is an added element of mystery because of several murders in the small town, which I wish we’d spent so much more time on! I was even surprised by the plot twist concerning them.
This is also classed as erotica, but the sex scenes were godawful! And they were made even worse by the often cringey and weird dialogue (which was the case for non sex scenes as well).
I think I had more fun hating the characters and I think going forward with this same energy, until they become likeable (if that even does happen), will be the way to go!
BREAKTHROUGH: Unravel the Dusk; Elizabeth Lim
- This fulfilled the prompt – A popular or hyped book
- Finished: 9.9.20
- ⭐⭐⭐
Unravel the Dusk is the second book in The Blood of Stars duology. I chose this book for this prompt because I was so hyped to get to it after I read Spin the Dawn in my last round. However, I was left with a lot of mixed feelings.
I loved the first book, and if this wasn’t Spin the Dawn’s squeal I think I’d like Unravel the Dusk more. Does that make sense?
I didn’t think there was anything majorly wrong with this book. Everything flowed together and felt relevant to the characters choices. I enjoyed Maia’s internal struggle and her need to protect her family, Edan and ultimately her entire country. I don’t know if it was a pacing issue, or that it started a bit slow considering how fast paced it later became, or that I listened to the audiobook for this one, but it wasn’t as good.
The thing I loved so much about the first book was the different tasks that Maia had to complete in the tailor competition and then subsequently the quest and relationship building events of the second half. There was still a lot of journey elements, but it didn’t feel as magical somehow. For the plot of Unravel the Dusk I wished we could have seen more of Lady Sarnai. A lot of plot and character exploration obviously centred on Maia and Edan which was fine – I love both those characters and it’s also only a duology so only so much can be put in – but I loved her so much! Lady Sarnai deserved more development and not to have the one thing she cared about taken. I’m still upset about that.
Another problem was that there was never a moment that I felt something bad would happen to Maia. Or anyone immediately around her to be honest. And it was without a doubt obvious how it would all turn out. There was barely any tension, which meant I wasn’t as invested as I should have been.
I normally talk about the things I’ve treated myself with after completing the round, however, I won’t be doing that here. I did buy some things, but pre-emptively and mostly because I was feeling down and did some retail therapy 😅
One purchase I will talk about, simply because everyone should have the chance to learn about and listen to Taemin ♥ Earlier this year he came out with his 3rd album – Never Gonna Dance Again: Act 1. It’s stunning and I highly recommend his music and watching his performances, it’s pure art ♥ I don’t normally do this, but I pre-ordered the album and got the 2 version bundle from YesAsia.
Check out the title track Criminal here!
I will be continuing with this Kpop ReadAThon, but it’s going to be a little different. My post all about that will be up on Wednesday if you’d like to see what my 4th round will look like and the books I’ve chosen to get to next!
Thanks for reading! I hope you’re having a lovely day & staying safe ♥
DramaRambles 🌸 