I’m lowkey (read: highkey) proud of myself because I also was able to complete my O.W.L’s Magical Readathon this month! If you want to read what my TBR was for this readathon, here is my post, so check that out before you read on!
So, I decided for my O.W.L’s, that I was going for the career of Librarian (how obvious am I, I know) so this meant that I needed to read and complete five books to correspond to the five subjects/challenges.
I read A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer for my Ancient Runes exam, and this challenge required me to read a ‘retelling’. I was super happy to be able to finish A Curse So Dark and Lonely, because it’s been on my TBR since it came out! I rated it a 4 out of 5 stars, overall, because although I enjoyed it – I found that it suprised me with how much I did, the pacing was a little too slow for me, especially in the beginning. I also felt that communication would have worked wonders for Rhen and Harper’s overall relationship. Especially considering that I didn’t feel as though their relationship was able to actually develop into a romantic relationship – there was no real connection? Though the story was slow, their relationship was not a slow build because it kind of lacked that portrayal of them getting to know one another in a meaningful way. Though I did enjoy the fact that at the end, Harper does not proclaim her love for Rhen, but her capacity to love him.
For my Arithmancy exam, I needed to read a book that was written by more than one author and I chose While You Were Reading by Ali Berg and Michelle Kalus. I actually wrote a full-length review already, so check that out here, but my overall thoughts was that this was a good book but not a great one. It won’t be a book that I re-read and I would only recommend it to people who show an interest in it, I guess? I think there are way better romances out there that are actually fantastic, so why waste time on a mediocre one.
I read Ransom My Heart by Meg Cabot for my Defence Against the Dark Arts exam which required me to read a book that had a title that started with the letter ‘R’. If you read by initial TBR announcement, you would know that I was intending to read Radio Silence by Alice Oseman for this prompt instead. But my puppy decided to rip it to shreds so I wasn’t able to read it and I couldn’t get a copy from the library in time – so I went with the only book on my shelf (other than Romanov by Nadine Brandes which was a flop) that began with the letter R. This book was a dissappointment to me, only because I remember that it was one of my favourites in highschool and I would constantly re-read it. As an adult, it did not slap as hard as I remembered and it was honestly kind of annoying? The main characters, whose names escapes me because it was not at all memorable, were extremely two-dimensional and so very boring. Even the plot was boring. Just meh. I gave it 3 out of 5 stars, I think, only because it reminded me of my youth.
Re-reading Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling was honestly the highlight of my month. I read this book for my History of Magic exam which required me to read a book that was published at least 10 years ago. It was as magical as I remembered! It was my first ever re-read of the series, and I’m thinking that each month I’m going to tackle one book from it because it made me so happy. Obvsiously, I rated it 5 out of 5 stars.
The last book I read for this readathon was Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson and this was for my Transfiguration exam which requried a book with sprayed edges. I think I’ve already gushed about this book enough, and the reasons why I rated it 4 out of 5 stars, so if you want to see my initial reaction to after reading it, check out my Reading Rush Day Six and Seven Check-In.
WOOHOOO!! I’m so happy I did this! I am aiming for completing my NEWTS in August, so I will be posting an official TBR for that this week sometime! I’m also thinking of doing the CramAThon that is taking place in August, so I’ll let you all know.
Thank you so much for being awesome and for all the support. If I haven’t been as active on Twitter, especially, it’s because my thesis is kicking my ass and I’m a stressed little bean.
Until next time, happy reading!
All the love,
Allie
xx
✨ 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓵𝓲𝓫𝓻𝓪𝓻𝔂 𝓸𝓯 𝓪𝓵𝓮𝔁𝓪𝓷𝓭𝓻𝓪 ✨ 