Estimated Reading Time: 3min

The first in this series did great, the second was a flame out, but what about the third? I’m reading books from Booktok and Booktube while throwing out my normal reading rules. I don’t usually like explicit scenes or darker themes, certain trigger/content warnings put a book out of the running, but we’re ignore those rules and trying out these books to see if they’re worth it.

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross

Wasnt expecting a war between “gods” and that is not something I was interested to read. The conflict of fighting journalists was resolved before the end of the book…. it was the whole reason I came and I wasn’t interested to see the new direction of the story afterwards. Didn’t finish this one.

Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman

Ridiculous, horrendous, hilarious. The idea is so preposterously amazing that I absolutely loved it. Even amongst the dark, very intense moments and ideas, the humour made it enjoyable. Something that would otherwise be horrible, somehow is now incredible. I now officially want a cat to win and rule the world… yup.

Sounds Like Love by Ashley Poston

A bit slow to start for me but once it got going, I had a lot of fun. Hearing someone else’s thoughts until you write the song that plagues you both was such a fun idea. Part Music and Lyrics, this was laced also with dementia and family history.

The Do-Over by T.L. Swan

While some of this book was genuinely hilarious, I thought Christopher was the most insufferable, selfish, entitled, un redeemable asshole that didn’t deserve jack!
I don’t understand why she liked or chose him. He had literally zero redeemable moments. In fact, the idea that he was semi nice to a kid on the streets of Spain was NOT enough. He was a dick regardless. The story really was a love story between him and this kid because he didn’t do squat for the woman he supposedly loved, but then when this kid needs him, he’s willing to change it all. Nope. Why did she even bother with him? He didn’t have any character development or emotional intelligence upgrades. He started as an ass, and he ended as an ass. I wasn’t rooting for him whatsoever and she deserved better.

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

I loved the style that this book was in, loved the way The story unfolded, Just everything. I dont normally read something like this, But I’m so glad I made an exception. Because of the format, it was different and way more engaging for me. I was yelling at the book and my jaw dropped to the floor so many times as things happened. I was absolutely enthralled the entire time.

---

I think this was the first challenge where I found a five star book! And one that came remarkably close. Honestly, this round was a mixed bag, but some hit the mark and others fell flat. I think this back and forth has convinced me to hang up the hat.. or…..

Let’s do it one more time!

Have you read any of these books? Let me know what you thought.

See You in the Adventures
Christy Grace