Reading Rush 2020 TBR

RR-full-deeplilac

The 2020 round of The Reading Rush will be starting next week from Monday 20th – Sunday 26th July. I participated for the first time last year and really enjoyed this readathon, I found it to be an incredibly fun and inclusive with a great community vibe. To watch the announcement video and hear all the challenges click HERE. I am going to try my best to complete the seven books, but I know there are a couple of books on my TBR that can actually fit multiple prompts so I may end up doubling up on a few… we’ll see how I go!

The Prompts and my TBR for the Reading Rush is:

Read a book with a cover that matches the colour of your birth stone

My birth stone is Amethyst: Into the Crooked Place by Alexandra Christo

43550637._SY475_

Read a book that starts with the word ‘The’

The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller

35702241

Read a book that inspired a move you’ve already seen

Gone Girl  by Gillian Flynn

1555351660-416TH3igfOL

Read the first book you touch

The Night Country by Melissa Albert

43565384

Read a book completely outside of your house

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo

43892137._SY475_

Read a book in a genre that you’ve always wanted to read more of

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

36337550

Read a book that takes place on a different continent that where you live

Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed

36086513

Kingsbane Review

*Spoilers below*

40523458._SY475_Kingsbane continues pretty much straight after where Furyborn left off. Eliana is trying to come to terms with her new powers and Rielle is assuaging her guilt over the deaths of her father and the king by locating the legendary castings to fix the Gate containing the angels.

I just straight up don’t really like Rielle’s character. I can appreciate how she is pushing the plot forward but I find her to be incredibly insufferable. First of all having to be talked into saving the capital of Borsvall from the tidal wave by Ludivine and Audric, almost condemning all of those innocent people because she was outraged that they would dare threaten her and had absolutely no remorse doing so. Then slaughtering all of those Obex members because they were rightfully mistrustful of her after she weakened the Gate further. She has no humility and believes that her power gives her the right to just do whatever she wants with no repercussions and that doesn’t sit well with me at all. I’m very much on the Queen’s side about her thoughts for her.

Audric is just so blindly in love with Rielle that one or two little placations from her and he just dismisses all of the problematic things she says and does. Granted he does finally stand up for himself after finding out about what happened with his father but I felt like it was a little too late at that point. I don’t trust Ludivine at all at this point either. She stepped up and played more of a role in this book than the previous and I am curious as to whom she truly is and what her intentions are.

I MUCH preferred Eliana’s storyline compared to her mothers. Seeing her make her castings and tapping into her powers kept me very much engaged in the plot. Even though she was quite closed off and standoffish in the first book she starts to open up more and develops more relationships with those around her. She is still making some questionable decisions but overall I really like how her character is evolving.

Now we come to Simon. Once again he killed me in this book! I was always attached to him the most out of all the characters and he definitely took us on a journey of discovery in this book. We gain a little more insight into what he has doing all these years and the level of devotion he has for Eliana is touching bordering on the side of being a little too possessive. He really opens up to Eliana and they find salvation in each other only for it all to be ripped away and we discover who he truly is. UGH!!!!

I have to say Claire Legrand has masterfully developed each character and have given them all a purpose in the plot. The pacing was too up and down for me, we have large sections of nothing really going on and then all the action seemingly taking place all at once. I am still very much invested and can’t wait to find out what will happen next!

⭐️4/5 stars that ending …. WOW!

Books that make me smile

This weeks Top Ten Tuesday prompt is books that make me smile. One thing I am a sucker for and that makes me smile is a good romance in a novel, so these are 10 romance/contemporary books with a seriously cute romance that had me cheesing!

Get A Life, Chloe Brown & Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert

4388887448568247

Love from A to Z by S.K. Ali

40148146._SY475_

Heartstopper Vol 1 by Alice Oseman

42189109._SY475_

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

28458598

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

42201431

The Kiss Quotient & The Bride Test by Helen Hoang

81TaR7kzn7L39338454

Beach Read by Emily Henry

52867387._SY475_

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

514sa3HcecL

🎲Becca’s Bookopoly Readathon🎲

I made the last minute decision about three hours already into the readathon to participate, which is pretty much how I roll. For all the information about the Readathon see Becca’s announcement video HERE. I have been watching her Bookopoly TBR videos pretty much since she started them so I was only too happy to participate in the first round! I knew I wouldn’t be able to complete all 8 of the prompts but I am happy I did end up finishing four books which was pretty much the overall goal.

The first prompt I chose was the Chance card pick from the 2020 board

img_8617-1

The Right Swipe by Alisha Rai

50179542._SX318_SY475_

For the second book I was able to combine both prompts of Culturally Diverse & Reader Recommends

img_8616img_8615

Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert

48568247

The third prompt I chose was a Mystery/Thriller from the 2019 board

img_8614

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

1555351547-41bsvxNUSdL

The fourth prompt I chose was also from the 2019 board for a contemporary/romance

img_8613

The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa

43801254