The Goodreads Summer Reading Challenge is completed!
11 individual challenges, 8 categories, all completed from July 1st to September 14th.
The first three achievements are related to how many books were read during the challenge. The first achievement is for 1 book read, the second 3 books read and the third 5 books read.
Now I'll take you on a deep dive into the other categories.
For the Community Picks category I decided to read "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng. I'm not usually a fan of literary fiction but this book gripped me from the start. I was always excited to read the next chapter. The social commentary was very well done. I definitely recommend. I rated it 4.5 stars.
For the Challenge Faves I read "Heated Rivarly" by Rachel Reid. It was actually a coincidence that I was reading this series during the summer challenge and that this book specifically was part of a category in the challenge. After watching the TV show I wanted to read the books, I started with the first book in the series and I'm currently in the forth. I actually enjoyed this book way more than I thought I would. Cutesy, romantic, spicy romance isn't really my thing. I feel like most of the time the plot is predictable, boring, and most spice scenes aren't well written but this series, along with some other books, have slowly been changing my mind. I gave it 4.5 stars and thought it was miles better than the first book in the series. I definitely recommend if you're in the mood for easy, fun stories.
For the Chart Toppers category I read "My Husband's Wife" by Alice Feeney. I was intrigued by this book as soon as I saw a review for it. The plot seemed crazy and I just wanted to know what the heck was going on. I was very much ready to give this book 5 stars until the last few chapters. I had fun reading this book but the crazy plot twists gave me the ick. This book made me feel the same thing I felt when we found out who A was in Pretty Little Liars. You're surprised for a second but then you start thinking that it doesn't make much sense. I like intelligent mystery thrillers where when the plot twist comes you think "omg how did I not think of that, it was right in front of me" instead of a confused "what just happened". I ended up giving it 4 stars.
For the category of Staff Shelves I chose "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë. I had a lot to say in my review of this book. I was told by multiple people that this book was romantic, whimsical, giggling kicking my feet type story. It was far from that. I didn't find it romantic in the slightest. One thing I always encounter in these older novels is that people just insult eachother left and right. And that's seen as normal and even flirting at times? I don't get it. I also don't understand how they fall in love so quickly, barely knowing eachother. I wish I had known what happened to Bessie after her aunt died. I ended up giving this book a 2 star rating out of respect for the classic that it is.
For the Worlds Away category I decided to read "Somewhere Beyond the Sea" by TJ Klune, the sequel to "The House in the Cerulean Sea". I loved the first book and this second book was even better in my opinion. It wasn't as cozy cutesy as the first one but it was better written. It was stressful at times, enfuriating even. The romantic moments between Arthur and Linus and the relationship they have with the children was very healing for me. It's also a good metaphor for what's going on in the world right now, we're going through sad and scary times but seeing how these characters deal with everything gives me hope we can do it too. I gave this book 4 stars.
For the category Fact or Fiction I chose "The Berry Pickers" by Amanda Peters. This was one of the best books I've read this year. I loved how the author was able to write such an emotional book without being disrespectful or making me feel like she was using bad situations and pain for entertainment. I was able to relate and feel the emotions the characters were feeling even though I've never been through what they went through. The entire time I was so scared the ending was gonna be bad but it was great. I gave it 4.75 stars.
For the Literally Summer category I read "Just for the Summer" by Abby Jimenez. I was so excited to read a book by Abby Jimenez because I had heard such great things about her but had never picked up one of her books. I was very impressed. I thought this was gonna be a cute fluffy romance but it sent me through a loop. It had deep topics about mental health and how it's not a pretty thing but it also had cute and romantic moments. It didn't swipe me off my feet but I'm very intrigued to read more books from the author, maybe even others in this series. I rated it 4 stars.
For the Summer Encore category I decided to read "Field Guide for the Formerly Villainous" by Autumn K. England. I was a bit disappointed by this book but it was entirely my fault. I had never read anything classified as cozy fantasy and I thought it was gonna be something I'd like but I found it incredibly boring. It was a very cute story and I did feel emotionally attached to the characters but the story itself was very meh. I think this would be the perfect book to read after a heavy emotional book to unwind and relax the senses but as it is, I didn't love it. I gave it 3 stars.
And this was my summer challenge. Did you complete yours? Have you read any of these books yourself, if so, what did you think of them? I can't wait to see what the fall challenge brings.
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