War Games Read-A-Thon || Wrap Up

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“4 books ahead of schedule” – Goodreads~

The War Games read-a-thon was created by Aaron over at Booked and Busy. There were three paths that each has three different character archetypes with 5 prompts for each.

The Light Path is led by Allana from The Awkward Book Nerd. The Grey Path is led by Nicole from Nicole & Her Books and is the path I’ll be going down. And, last but not least, The Dark Path is led by Aaron. The Twitter for this read-a-thon is @wargamereads.

This is a month long read-a-thon, but I wanted to try to complete all the prompts for The Grey Path, so extended it to April for myself. In March I posted my first update and I was so proud of myself… and then April happened. I ended up going into a reading slump ㅠㅠ… For my full tbr, check it out here~

The Thief

I completed this archetype in around 3 weeks and like I’ve said, I was proud of myself! I’ve gone through my thoughts in this post, so I’m going to just show what I read for the prompts and my ratings:

  • read a book that features an orphan: The Dark Days Pact; Alison Goodman ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • read a standalone: The House in the Cerulean Sea; T.J. Klune ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • read a new to you author: The Mythic Dream; Eds. Dominik Parisien & Navah Wolfe ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • read a middle grade or young adult: Bleach vols. 13-14-15 (bind up 5); Tite Kubo ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • read a book with a dark cover; Melmoth; Sarah Perry ⭐⭐

The Rebel

I only got to 3 books in this archetype, and I read them in the latter half of March. While writing this, I’m currently 40% into City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare. I won’t finish it (I have around 8hr left of the audiobook and that’s at 2x speed), but I’ll definitely get it done in early May. I tried to start Stolen by Kelley Armstrong, but I just wasn’t in the mood for it.

The Good Immigrant; Ed. Nikesh Shukla

  • Prompt: read a book under 300 pages
  • Finished: 27.03.21
  • Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Good Immigrant is a collection of essays by 21 Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic voices (BAME). It explores the experiences of why these authors/public figures or their families chose to immigrate to the UK and what they face here.

Every single author is eloquent in sharing their intimate thoughts and experiences with being immigrants in Britain. A very important read.

⚔⚔⚔

Bleach vols. 16-17-18 (bind up 6); Tite Kubo

  • Prompt: read a graphic novel or manga
  • Finished: 18.03.21
  • Rating: ⭐⭐⭐.5

These books follow Ichigo, whose ability to see ghosts magnifies when he is forced to take on the responsibility to protect his city against Hollows. His new Grim Reaper powers came from Rukia, when he absorbed it all so he could save his family from a Hollow.

There were aspects that I really enjoyed, such as Kenji and Ichigo, learning more about Rukia’s past and the fast paced action. However, there is such an overload of characters, especially minor ones… I don’t know who a lot of these people are or who they are connected to…

Also, wanted more Ichigo.

⚔⚔⚔

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd; Agatha Christie

  • Prompt: read a book that’s part of a series
  • Finished: 24.03.21
  • Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This book is the 4th book in publication order in the Poirot series. In a peaceful English village, Poirot is called upon to solve a complex case that involves the death of a widow and her fiancé.

Going into this knowing nothing is a perfect way to read The Murder of Roger Ackroyd! What I will say is that I loved the way that Poirot brought up Hastings a few times. In his first conversation with his new neighbour he basically tells him that he misses his idiot friend. Hasting’s probably felt that burn all the way over in South America 😂

This is my favourite Poirot novel so far.

The Lost Heir

Due to not finishing the previous archetype, I shouldn’t have read any books from this one. As I had the audiobook for Mortal Engines and it’s just under 300 pages, I tried to see if this could bring me out of my reading slump and it has.

Mortal Engines; Philip Reeve

  • Prompt: read a book that starts with the first letter of your last name
  • Finished: 26.04.21
  • Rating: ⭐⭐.5

Mortal Engines is set in a world where cities move and London has been slinking in the shadows for years. Within it’s walls, plans are being made and carried out to get London back to the top of the food chain.

In my rating, the .5 is for this book getting me out of a reading slump due it’s fast paced nature. As well as having a good audiobook.

This book was mostly just okay. The concept of moving cities is really cool, I just think that the book doesn’t go into as much depth as I would have liked. There is so much to unpack with all the events that happen, but they go by so quickly. And in a lot of ways this is the case with the characters as well. We meet some interesting people, but they either die or don’t stay around for long (or both… mostly both). I would like a whole book simply on the Stalkers, as well as Anna Fang’s life.

The female characters in this book – Hester, Kate and Anna – were all great. I love them, and Reeve’s is a monster. I felt that they were, for the most part, there for the benefit of the male characters. And Tom in particular, who wasn’t all that likeable. The language used to describe them, especially Hester, made me uncomfortable at times. Yes, it’s part of Tom’s character, which he’ll grow out of *roll’s eyes*, but could he not call Hester ugly every 2 seconds?!

The only men in this book who deserve rights are my baby Bevis, Khora and Mr Pomeroy.

Overall, an interesting concept with a lot of action, but not a lot of substantial world or character building

I did make a to watch list to go with each prompt as well, and while I did watch several dramas this month they weren’t from this list. I completed One Spring Night, which was wonderful! And I’m currently watching Clean With Passion For Now, Vampire Detective and Extraordinary You~

This read-a-thon was based on star ratings making the points system – and in the end I gained 360 points. I was going to reward myself if I got in the bracket of 600-750… so instead I’m going to go on a month long book buying ban.

Have you enjoyed any of the books I read? Are there any of the books that I didn’t get to that I should read soon?

Thanks for reading!

I hope you’re having a lovely day and staying safe ♥

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