2022

Remember to stay up to date with the world, listen to those facing atrocities and help spread awareness/donate where you’re able to.

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I don’t know if this is counted as cheating because it’s reading which shouldn’t be taken that seriously. Reading isn’t an Olympic sport and a lot of the time we need to chill out more!

Which is to say that I am breaking rules today 😂 #rebel

I was in a slump in April and for some reason I kept thinking that this month had 31 days. It doesn’t. I think because I assumed the May bank holiday (today) was the 1st and that’s where my dumb brain just stayed. And let me tell you, the 1st of May was a good reading day for me. I’m counting it as April – none of the books I finished yesterday will count towards the Dart Attack prompts obviously.

I’m also taking liberties with the Lee Hi prompts and changing the books to make myself feel better ♥

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A reminder of the prompts:

Check out my TBR post here if you want to see what books I was actually meant to read~

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Cemetery Boys; Aiden Thomas

prompt: read a book with a flower on the cover

rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can’t get rid of him.

When his traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his gender, Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free.

However, the ghost he summons is actually Julian Diaz, the school’s resident bad boy, and Julian is not about to go quietly into death. He’s determined to find out what happened and tie up some loose ends before he leaves. Left with no choice, Yadriel agrees to help Julian, so that they can both get what they want.

_Goodreads

This has been on my tbr for several months and I finally sat down yesterday morning and finished it!

I think the story is important as it’s about Yadriel – trans boy – written by a trans author and celebrates a culture and community that is often appropriated and discriminated against.

It was an okay book, a solid 3 stars. I really liked the characters, but the plot could have been a lot more fleshed out. There were a lot of instances where we’re basically fed what is going to happen and it felt forced and unnatural… and totally obvious! The bad guy was right there from the start, there were no twists and a lot of the problems were resolved basically instantly.

It was a fun, easy read for the most part, so I am happy that I got to it.

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Lore Olympus Volume One; Rachel Smythe

prompt: read a book in a different format than usual

rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Experience the propulsive love story of two Greek gods—Hades and Persephone—brought to life with lavish artwork and an irresistible contemporary voice.

Scandalous gossip, wild parties, and forbidden love—witness what the gods do after dark in this stylish and contemporary reimagining of one of mythology’s most well-known stories from creator Rachel Smythe.

_Goodreads

I’ve seen ads for Lore Olympus a lot over the years and now they’ve compiled the episodes into a physical book I wanted to read it.

I decided to give it a go as the art style is quite pretty and so are the vibrant colours. I’ve put it in this prompt because I don’t read coloured graphic novels/webtoons in general. I really like black and white manga and comics because a lot of the time I find the colours distracting and ugly.

However, the colours in Lore Olympus make sense and really elevate the story and vibrance of the Greek mythology.

Trigger warnings for sexual assault, coercion and drugging. There is a content warning at the beginning of the book from the author which is great and includes toxic relationships, mental abuse and trauma.

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Gumiho; Kat Cho

prompt: read a book in a duology

rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Eighteen-year-old Gu Miyoung has a secret–she’s a gumiho, a nine-tailed fox who must devour the energy of men in order to survive. Because so few believe in the old tales anymore, and with so many evil men no one will miss, the modern city of Seoul is the perfect place to hide and hunt.

But after feeding one full moon, Miyoung crosses paths with Jihoon, a human boy, being attacked by a goblin deep in the forest. Against her better judgment, she violates the rules of survival to rescue the boy, losing her fox bead–her gumiho soul–in the process.

With murderous forces lurking in the background, Miyoung and Jihoon develop a tenuous friendship that blossoms into something more. But when a young shaman tries to reunite Miyoung with her bead, the consequences are disastrous . . . forcing Miyoung to choose between her immortal life and Jihoon’s.

_Goodreads

This has been on my tbr for a while as well and I tried to get it done in April, but this was another I completed yesterday.

Gumiho was fun and quite fast paced. I mostly had a problem with Mi Young and Ji Hoon as they were kind of boring and annoying. They had some cute moments but it felt very rushed. Mi Young’s struggles just weren’t interesting to me. I was way more interested in her mother Yena and how she behaved as a Gumiho.

I did like how Mi Young loved K-drama’s and how Gumiho read as a drama and included some staple tropes of the medium. And the twists near the end were done well, but again they mostly revolved around Yena and not Mi Young…

I really liked Somin and I’m interested to read Dokkaebi as I believe it focuses more on her and Junu~

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girlxoxo Monthly Motif Reading Challenge

Pride and Prejudice; Jane Austen

prompt: read a book that has a movie or TV adaptation made based on it

rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Of course, my slump didn’t stop me from reading Pride and Prejudice! I always have a great time going back to the Bennet’s and reading all about their shenanigans ♥ I also watched the 2005 film with Keira Knightly and Matthew Macfadyen. I think the scenery is stunning in this adaptation (the clothes not so much) and of course our mains chemistry is top tier!

I have been doing okay with the girlxoxo monthly motif challenge, I haven’t completed February yet, but it’s an easy prompt that I can make up soon.

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Extra

Heartstopper Volumes One + Two; Alice Oseman

rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Charlie, a highly-strung, openly gay over-thinker, and Nick, a cheerful, soft-hearted rugby player, meet at a British all-boys grammar school. Friendship blooms quickly, but could there be something more…?

_Goodreads

In April, series one of Heartstopper dropped on Netflix and it was super cute and honestly a perfect adaptation. Having the author so involved – Alice Oseman wrote the script – needs to happen a lot more. I saw a lot of people reading the books because of it and then both my friends were saying how they were reading them and I caved. Yesterday I re-read the first two volumes (I didn’t want to get into the sad parts). 5 stars for everything!! ♥

Charlie is super sweet and Nick is absolutely adorable! And the host of side characters are really diverse and great (apart from Harry obvs).

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I hope you had a good reading month in April.

Thank you for reading!

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