Retellings Reading Challenge: Final Update & Giveaway

Hi bookworms! The Retellings Reading Challenge is drawing to a close already! I hope you've all met your goals and have read lots of amazing new retellings throughout the year. I've loved having the challenge group this year - the group reads have been wonderful! Now let's look at what we've done this year:

WHAT I'VE READ THIS YEAR

    

   

   

This quarter I only read two retellings: A Heart So Fierce and Broken and Teeth in the Mist. Both were AMAZING and I cannot wait to sing the praises of Brigid Kemmerer once again when it comes time to post that review!

MY BINGO CARD

I GOT BINGO! I'm going to be honest, I was a little worried I wouldn't this time around, but hurray me! I hope some of you got blackout!

2019 GOODREADS GROUP READS

    

   

  

The group reads were amazing! I loved the discussion and I definitely think this is something we should bring back next year!

LINK-UP

Now it's your turn! Link up to your reviews for the challenge to get an extra entry in the year-end giveaway (below)! As a reminder, you can also get extra entries for getting bingo or filling your bingo card completely. Do NOT share your quarterly updates in this link-up! This is for reviews only. Instead, share links to your updates in the comments! 

GIVEAWAY

Enter to win $20 worth of books from Book Depository or Amazon as long as they ship to you!
Must be 18 or have a parent's permission to enter. No giveaway accounts. Ends 12/31/19.
Winner will be contacted via the email within 3 days after the giveaway ends.
If winner does not respond within 3 days, a new winner will be chosen.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Weekly Recap: 11/24 - 11/30

HAPPENINGS OFF THE BLOG

Hi everyone! Whew, it has been a mixed bag this week! Not surprisingly, it has been busy but I suspect many people had crazy days this week. My husband and I didn't really do much for Thanksgiving day so we saved ourselves having to cook for ten hours. Hurray! Instead, we went over to Disney's Hollywood Studios for a Christmas dessert party where we ate a ton of junk food, had drinks, and watched Christmas fireworks. I actually did get a bit of reading done this week, but I'm just before the end of a couple books so technically I haven't finished any. I did accidentally spend a bit on books and movies this Black Friday, but what can you do? Has everyone (who celebrates) started Christmas shopping yet?

NEW BOOKS THIS WEEK

 

THIS WEEK I READ

Nothing this week!

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

The topic was a thankful freebie for Top Ten Tuesday
On Thursday I did a Thanksgiving book tag & giveaway
Saturday review of The Queen of Nothing


UPCOMING REVIEWS

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I'm linking up to Stacking the Shelves & The Sunday Post!

Book Review: The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black

Title: The Queen of Nothing (The Folk of the Air #3) 
Author: Holly Black
Publication Date: November 19, 2019
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Pages: 308
Add to Goodreads
Reviews for book 1 & book 2

After being pronounced Queen of Faerie and then abruptly exiled by the Wicked King Cardan, Jude finds herself unmoored, the queen of nothing. She spends her time with Vivi and Oak, watches her fair share of reality television, and does the odd job or two, including trying to convince a cannibalistic faerie from hunting her own in the mortal world.

When her twin sister Taryn shows up asking of a favor, Jude jumps at the chance to return to the Faerie world, even if it means facing Cardan, who she loves despite his betrayal.

When a dark curse is unveiled, Jude must become the first mortal Queen of Faerie and uncover how to break the curse, or risk upsetting the balance of the whole Faerie world.

Here I am once again with another review that's sure to be full of unpopular opinions. I'll say right off the bat that I haven't settled on a rating - this review should help me figure out how I really felt about this one. Needless to say, I was disappointed in Queen of Nothing. The Cruel Prince was a five star read that completely blew my mind! The Wicked King was just okay, but The Queen of Nothing was still one of my most anticipated 2019 releases.

This one picks up with Jude and Oak in the human world after Jude's exile from Faerie and almost immediately Taryn shows up to set things in motion. From there, events unfold at breakneck speed, very unlike the events of the first two books. Jude finds herself back in Faerie despite being banished and it isn't long before she and Cardan fall back into their relationship.

A lot about this book is jarringly different from the other two in the series and Cardan is chief among them. The relationship between Cardan and Jude has been my favorite part of these books and here it is completely different. Gone is the Cruel Prince. In his place is the softest, cheesiest love interest I'd never wish to see in a Folk of the Air novel. There was no real transition between the Cardan we've come to know over two books and this cuddly one and I was not here for it.

The other highlight of The Folk of the Air has been the politics and deception and yes, there is a bit of that here too. The plot was fine and did keep me turning pages. My real issue is that it was all so rushed! The Queen of Nothing could have had another hundred pages and been much more fleshed out and I would have felt much more invested. As it was, characters bounced from place to place (seeing more of Faerie was nice), things happened quickly, and no real consequences were enacted.

I was so, so disappointed in this series ender. It was so weirdly paced and plot threads were dropped constantly. The big twist was very much out of left field and didn't really seem to fit with the rest of the series at all. I never felt any real sense of concern or urgency because everything happened so quickly that it was over almost as quickly as it started. And the absolute worst is that a major point of conflict was due to a misunderstanding, one of my most hated tropes.

So did I like anything? Well, Jude was okay. I wish more had been explored between her and Taryn, but I did like her character growth from the first book. I especially enjoyed her scenes with Grima Mog. The ending was fine, but not what I hoped for or expected. Really, "fine" sums up how I feel about this book. I wanted so much more and expected to love it! I'm beginning to think The Cruel Prince was a fluke and Holly Black just isn't for me.

Thanksgiving Book Tag & Giveaway

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who's celebrating or just enjoying a day off work or school! Today I wanted to do a book tag but also give away a couple books that I'm thankful to have received early copies of and LOVED! As usual, no one tagged me but I wanted to do the tag anyway. If you want to participate, I tag you! I found this tag at Addicted to Romance.

History: Choose a book set in America.

Ninth House, set at Yale, was one of my favorite books of the year (to no one's surprise)! I am absolutely dying to get book two and see what happens next!

Thankful: What book are you thankful for?

 

As a super weird person I am always thankful to receive early copies of super weird books. These are two of the weirder books I've read in the last year or so and I'm really excited to see what weirdness comes out of both these authors' brains next.

Thanksgiving Dinner: What book features a meal character that makes you say “yum”?

Hahaha! Okay, so I definitely read this one wrong and thought it was talking about characters. You know, a "snack" as kids say these days. I almost changed my answer to fit the actual question but, you know what? Nope. I'm keeping it. Again, to absolutely no one's surprise, it's the Darkling. I'm even more thankful this year because our TV screens are about to be blessed with a whole TV show full of him!

Pumpkin Pie: Choose a book you think is very sweet.

Well this was difficult because I don't read many sweet books, but I definitely think the romance in My Lady Jane qualifies! Did you hear there's a third book coming out??

Food Coma: Choose a book that’s been on your TBR list forever that you really need to read.

I loved The Grace Year SO much that I finally got a physical copy of Blood and Salt! It has been on my TBR for years but I never made the decision to actually read it until now.

After Dinner Drinks: What book is your guilty pleasure?

I know that it's cool to hate Divergent now, but I honestly still love it. I even love the first two movies, although the third one was unfortunate.

Drunk Uncle: Choose an unpopular book that you like.

Based on the ratings, it seems not many people loved this book but I am obsessed with it! I will literally read any weird thing this author writes.

Black Friday Shopping: What was the last book you pre-ordered?

Did I mention that I loved Boneless Mercies? This companion novel is the last one I preordered and I can't believe I have to wait until March for this one!

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GIVEAWAY

Enter to win two ARCs I'm thankful to have received! I was lucky enough to receive both these as advance copies and loved them both. Now I'm clearing my shelves and would love to share these with one winner!

 

Must be 18 or have a parent's permission to enter. No giveaway accounts. Ends 12/16/19.
Winner will be contacted via the email within 3 days after the giveaway ends.
If winner does not respond within 3 days, a new winner will be chosen.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Top Ten Tuesday #266: Blogging buddies I'm thankful for

Today's Topic: 

Bloggers I'm Thankful For

Happy Tuesday! I always hate freebies but today I wanted to say thank you and give a shoutout to ten blogging buddies who I've been friends with for YEARS! These are the people who have blog hopped back and forth with me even when I was being the absolute worst at everything. I love you guys and my life is so much better with you in it! I'm positive I've left people out but I promise it wasn't intentional and I love all of you! There are just so many wonderful people in this community!<3 

AJ @ Read All the Things

Amber @ Du Livre

Genesis @ Whispering Chapters

Greg @ Book Haven

Jessica @ A Great Read

Karen @ For What It's Worth

Molly @ Molly's Book Nook

Nick @ The Infinite Limits of Love

Tasya @ The Literary Huntress

Grace @ Rebel Mommy Book Blog

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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

Weekly Recap: 11/17 - 11/23

HAPPENINGS OFF THE BLOG

Hi everyone! This has been a HORRIBLE blogging week. Yikes. I suck.

Shockingly, it has been another absolutely wild week down in Central Florida. My husband and I have been working hard on a thousand projects before family comes to visit for the holidays, the dogs had their nails cut, I continued working on my library, made a 45 minute drive to get BN Queen of Nothing, poured a million candles, went to a fancy schmancy afternoon tea at Disney World, and FINALLY READ A BOOK! I also finally got the DNA results for my dog! I'll be sharing some more about that coming up soon.

I need a vacation. I need a blogcation. I swear, I would love to be able to just sit down and blog for a day straight. I miss you guys so much and I miss blog hopping. I feel like the absolute worse blogging friend ever. I promise I'll be back to normal blogging as soon as I can and I might even host a giveaway. Who knows? Has anyone else ever found themselves involuntarily taking a break from the blogging world?

NEW BOOKS THIS WEEK

 

THIS WEEK I READ

 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

The topic was changes in my reading life for Top Ten Tuesday
Friday ARC review of The Deathless Girls


UPCOMING REVIEWS

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I'm linking up to Stacking the Shelves & The Sunday Post!