Chased By My Imagination: September Wrap-Up.

Friday, 30 September 2016

September Wrap-Up.

So I didn't quite manage all seven of my planned reads, which is pretty usual for me actually. On average I tend to manage about five books a month, and that's exactly what happened this September! There have been some great reads this month though, so I'm glad to have managed what I did!

'The Gospel Of Loki'; Joanne M. Harris. I felt so much conflict while reading this book because while I did like it, I was expecting to love it and was, in turn, disappointed when I didn't. The unreliable narrator, characterisation of Loki and reinterpretation of some pretty famous Norse Myths was really cool to read. However, I wasn't a fan of the constant modern references and in the end, it was just a retelling with not a whole lot of fresh or exciting thrown in. 3.5/5 Stars.
'Harry Potter & The Cursed Child'; J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne & John Tiffany. I waited until I'd watched the play before letting myself read this, and that was definitely the best way of doing it. Unless you're familiar with reading scripts or have experienced it live, you're not going to appreciate this format nearly as much. I have some reservations about the slightly fanfiction nature of the plot but the characters were really well rendered, the world-building as magical as I remember and it deserves four stars for Scorpius Malfoy alone! 3.5/5 Stars.
'The Star-Touched Queen'; Roshani Chokshi. This book was by far my favourite read of the month. Chokshi just did such an amazing job with the writing, world-building, plot and characters too! She really has an amazing talent when it comes to visual imagery too and I felt completely transported into the setting she chose. Not only that, but Chokshi packed this book with so many references to Indian Mythology and folklore. 5/5 Stars.
'Dark Tide'; Jennifer Donnelly. The third book in this series, and it's the one that has really sold it to me as a series to invest myself in, so it's a shame that book four will be the finale! Still, 'Dark Tide' has great character development and interesting plot action to keep any reader happy. Sure, the new romances felt pretty rushed but I could forgive it because everything else had improved so much! 4/5 Stars.
'Fearless'; Tim Lott. This book has received a fair amount of negative reviews, but for me it only brought nostalgia. I read it when I was younger and remember really liking it, so it was nice to relive that! I also really enjoyed that despite it's Dystopian setting, there were a ton of Fairy Tale references and tropes that made it something extra special and magical. 4.5/5 Stars.

This month I have read three books for Pretty Deadly Review's Backlist Challenge, bringing my yearly total so far to thirty five. This month's reads were:

- 'The Gospel Of Loki' by Joanne M. Harris

- 'Dark Tide' by Jennifer Donnelly

- 'Fearless' by Tim Lott

This month I have read one book for Falling For YA's Netgalley & Edelweiss Challenge bringing my yearly total so far to thirteen. This month's read was:

- 'The Gospel Of Loki' by Joanne M. Harris

This month I have gained sixteen points for Novel Heartbeat and Writer Grrl Reads' Prequel & Sequel Challenge, bringing my yearly total so far to sixty. This month's reads were:

- 'The Gospel Of Loki' by Joanne M. Harris (+2)

- 'Harry Potter & The Cursed Child' by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne & John Tiffany (+12)

- 'Dark Tide' by Jennifer Donnelly (+2)

This month I have read two books for [un]Conventional Reviews' New Releases Challenge, bringing my yearly total so far to twelve. The books I read were:

- 'The Star-Touched Queen' by Roshani Chokshi

- 'Harry Potter & The Cursed Child' by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne & John Tiffany