#TBR Challenge Review

[limecello]

OH DAMN Y'ALL! Team TBR Challenge Review: Miss Mystery

“Blurb”: 18 years ago a young and innocent Xue Tong witnessed her family being brutally murdered. Since then she has hidden herself quietly and patiently, waiting for the day she could put her revenge plan into action. Well that day has come, and Xue Tong has finally returned to her hometown as Miss Lin Bao Er, the daughter of a wealthy Nanyang businessman. Now an adult, Lin Bao Er is clever,…

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#2023 Review #2023 Series #Chinese Drama #Chinese Historical Drama #Chinese Republican Era #Grade A #Historical #Limecello #Mi Qing Zhuang Yuan #Miss Mystery #Revenge #Romance #TBR Challenge #TBR Challenge Review #TBR Challenge Review 2023 #Youku #迷情庄园

[libertyreads]

Book Review #85 of 2023--

Lovelight Farms by B.K. Borison. Rating: 4.25 stars.

Read from July 1st to 2nd.

It looks like we have found our Christmas in July winner. At least so far. We’ll see if one of the final books on this TBR can beat it. I picked this up on recommendation from a couple of romance booktubers; the only one I really remember right now being PeaceLoveBooks. And they were so right. This is a best friends fake dating situation that just pulls at my angst riddled heart strings. We follow Stella as she attempts to make everything on her Christmas Tree Farm perfect for social media influencer Evelyn and the competition she’s running to help out small businesses. The only problem is she lied on her application saying that she runs the farm with her boyfriend. Who doesn’t exist. Enter best friend Luka who is willing to help out by pretending to be her boyfriend while Evelyn is in town. But can Stella make it through this week without giving away even more of her heart?

This was such a joy to read. I think I want to own a Christmas tree farm now? This is actually the second book I’ve read in this Christmas in July that takes places on a Christmas tree farm. There was so much coziness and Christmas fun here that it has made me even more excited for the holidays (so glad we’re only 5 months away now). And, let’s be real here, we all know that I love myself some fake dating romance. The potential for angst is just so HIGH. It makes my weird little heart happy. I loved the setting, loved the angst, and I really loved these characters. Not just Luka and Stella but all of the characters. From the overprotective Sheriff to the baker working at the farm, to the farm hand and the stray kittens he adopts. It was all so lovely and fun. I also enjoyed how much of the story focused on the time before Evelyn arrived for the contest versus during her stay. It made the story much more reliant on our characters versus being reliant on the plot to move things forward. Also, as an asexual person, of course, I am going to mention the sex scenes. I thought the scenes here were really well done. I didn’t have the ick factor that I can have with some author’s sex scenes. It was steamy without being over the top or too dirty for me. Maybe still not something read on the bus ride to work, but a good time nonetheless.

I felt like the major drama at the end of the novel was settled too quickly. I really don’t think I would get over all of that so fast. But I did enjoy that the third act breakup seemed so realistic. It’s something that was focused on the fear of a person versus something happening outside of themselves. I wish we had gotten a better picture of Stella and Luka’s relationship before all of the fake dating stuff happened but I always want more in novels so we’ll take that with a grain of salt.

Overall, I give the book a 4.25 star rating, the romance a 4.5 star rating, and the Christmassy-ness of the book 4 poinsettias.

#christmas in july #now that it's actually july #I cannot believe this is book 10 out of 12 on my Christmas in July TBR #I've read so much in the past two weeks #book review #book reviews #lovelight farms #b.k. borison #books read in 2023 #2023 reading challenge #goodreads challenge #goodreads #booklr #bookblr #bookstagram #bookish

[tealeavesand-roses]

Currently reading 📖

#2023 reads #goodreads #goodreads reading challenge #book reviews #book review #march tbr #gone girl #gillian flynn

[chapterchatswithcaroline]

(via Poetry Book Review | Paper Girl And The Knives That Made Her By Ari Cofer)

#book #book review #poetry #tbr challenge #blogchatter #reading challenge #bookish #books and reading #readers #reading

[toopunkrockforshul]

Finally finished the last book for full blackout for 2023 bingo!

All hard mode except the robots one because I wasn't sure going in what role the robot would play. I don't think I can in good conscious claim that he was a protagonist though.

5 star reads (in order of prompt number):

Sunshine by Robin McKinley

When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb

Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh

The Pomegranate Gate by Ariel Kaplan

The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives in Your Home by Jeffrey Cranor and Joseph Fink

Full details below the cut:

Title with a Title (Hard Mode: Not a title of royalty) A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark - 4 stars

Superheroes (Hard Mode: Not related to DC or Marvel) Ordinary Monsters by J.M. Miro - 4 stars

Bottom of the TBR (Hard Mode: None, its already hard enough) Mister Impossible by Maggie Stiefvater - 4.75

tars

Magical Realism or Literary Fantasy (Hard Mode: Not one of the books in the Magic Realism recs thread) Uncommon Charm by Emily Bergslien and Kat Weaver - 4 stars

Young Adult (Hard Mode: Published in the last 5 years) The Way Back by Gavriel Savit - 4.75 stars

Mundane Jobs (Hard Mode: Does not take place on Earth) Mindtouch by M.C.A Hogarth - 4.75 stars

Published in the 00s (Hard Mode: Not in the top 30 of r/Fantasy best of 2023 list) Sunshine by Robin McKinley - 5 stars

Angels and Demons (Hard Mode: Protagonist is an angel or a demon) When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb - 5 stars

5 SFF Short Stories (Hard Mode: Read an entire SFF anthology or collection) Love After the End:An Anthology of Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction by Joshua Whitehead - 4 stars

Horror (Hard Mode: Not Stephen King or H.P. Lovecraft): The Voice of the Blood by Jemiah Jefferson - 4.75 stars

Self-published or Indie Publisher (Hard Mode: self pub and has fewer than 100 ratings) The Dying of the Golden Day by Carrie Gessner - 3.75 stars

Set in the Middle East/Middle Eastern SFF (Hard Mode: Author is of Middle Eastern heritage) The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia - 4.5 stars

Published in 2023 (Hard Mode: Debut novel) Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh - 5 stars

Multiverse and Alternative Realities (Hard Mode: Characters do not walk through a literal door in order to get to another world) The Pomegranate Gate by Ariel Kaplan - 5 stars

POC Author (Hard Mode: Takes place in a futuristic, sci-fi world) Hexarchate Stories by Yoon Ha Lee - 4.25 stars

Bookclub or Readalong Book (Hard Mode: read as part of a bookclub and participate in the discussion) Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia - 2 stars

Novella (Hard Mode: Novella is not published by Tordotcom Publishing) The Seep by Chana Porter - 4.75 stars

Mythical Beasts (Hard Mode: No dragons or dragon-like creatures) Drink Slay Love by Sarah Beth Durst - 3.5 stars

Elemental Magic (Hard Mode: Not V.E. Schwab's Shades of Magic series or Jim Butcher's Codex Alera series) The Last Sun by K.D. Edwards - 4.75 stars

Myths and Retellings (Hard Mode: Not Greek or Roman mythology) The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie - 4.25 stars

Queernorm Setting (Hard Mode: Not a futuristic setting) The Door into Shadow by Diane Duane - 4.25 stars

Coastal or Island Setting (Hard Mode: The book also features sea-faring) The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by S.A. Chakraborty - 4 stars

Druids (Hard Mode: Not The Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne) The Dawnhounds by Sascha Stronach - 4.5 stars

Featuring Robots (Hard Mode: Robot is the protagonist) He, She and It by Marge Piercy - 3.5 stars

Sequel (Hard Mode: Book 3 or on in the series) The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives in Your Home by Jeffrey Cranor and Joseph Fink - 5 stars

#r/fantasy bingo 2023 #rae reads #very glad that I did this challenge it got me to read a bunch of things that had been chilling on my tbr for a while now and #I read a lot of good things because of it #also liked doing this summary cause it helped me do some close ranks and adjust my reviews based on the larger context of the other books #highly reccomend any of the books that are 5 stars and tbh all of the 4.75 ones too #also happy to give more personalized/detailed reviews for specific things or provide trigger warnings as I can remember them #if you'd like! feel free to hmu

[daniellethamasa]

February 2024 TBR

Hey all, Sam here. It’s been a little while since I’ve done a TBR. I started doing a broad seasonal style TBR because my reading desire and mood was so flighty for a while last year…but if my January reading is any indication, I might be back to my normal reading drive, which means I might be able to mostly stick to a TBR again. So, you know what, I’m going to try for February. And hey, even…

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#ARC #Book Releases #Book Review #Books! #Fantasy #NetGalley #Reading #Reading Challenge #Review #Signal Boost #TBR

[kuiinncedes]

:P

#bro lmao was wasting time on storygraph looking at reading challenges and adding books to my tbr #as if i dont have enough lol but this book i have never heard of until now but #dear wendy by ann zhao i read the synopsis and some reviews LITERALLY I NEED THE BOOK RIGHT NOW i wanna read it so bad omfg #aroace platonic romance it sounds so good i want it so bad #and a CHINESE AROACE MAIN CHARACTER????? istg if i get my hands on this book #im gonna scream and ascend from this plane of existence #i need itttttt idk when it actually comes out i think like bookshop said it would ship in april ;-; but I NEED ITTTTT #i'm so excited i wanna read it so badly LOOLLLL april i am waiting #also march i think iron w/idow sequel comes out?????? will also be screaming #maybe at some point this yr i'll finish the l/ast hours series lmao and also scream i rly want to ;-; even tho i am 84 yrs late lollll #jeanne talks

[justwriteyoudummy]

CLVuncannon's 2024 '100 TBR Challenge'::

1/100: Pangea Online- Death and Axes

★★★★

Date Started: 1-1-2024

Date Finished: 1-1-2024

As a fan of Rowland's other work: Cursed Cocktails, I was excited to dive into Pangea Online. The writing style is DISTINCTLY DIFFERENT as this was apparently his first novel vs Cursed Cocktails which feels more robust and filled with his writing voice and style. Still, Pangea Online marks a great start to the series as it follows Esil, a data miner who secretly strikes it rich one day on the job when he finds a hidden developer chest which grants him the chance to finally go explore the world he's only seen through other people's streams. With his newfound wealth Esil joins a tournament in the hopes of winning the prize money offered at the end to help pay for his fellow miner's mother's treatment for her longstanding illness. Esil must solve riddles, complete quests and level up enough to keep up with his more experienced competitors if he wants a shot at the winnings.

Characters: 9

Atmosphere: 9

Writing style: 8

Plot: 8

Intrigue: 10

Logic: 7

Enjoyment: 9

#CLVuncannon's 100TBR challenge #100 TBR Challenge #Pangea Online: Death and Axes #LitRPG #Indie Author #support indie authors #Author of Cursed Cocktails #book review #bookblr #bookish

[kepage3]

TBR 10 Yr - You Before Me - Jojo Moyles

Genre: Chick lit, romance, disability Narrative Style: First person from a number of different people, chronological Rating: 2/5 Published: 2012 Format: Kindle Synopsis: Louisa Clark is in need of a new job. The job centre sends her to be carer to quadriplegic, Will Traynor. Will is rude and miserable and at first refuses to acknowledge Louisa. She hates it but perseveres and soon, Will’s…

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#book reviews #jojo moyles #me before you #TBR Challenge 2023

[magical-book-lush]

The Hazel Wood • Book Review.

Hello People!!!! How are we doing? What is up with life? Is everything good? Good! Because I am about to turn it bad. Welcome to my hell hole! Quite literally! This review will be terrible and is a rant review so you might as well turn back right now if you don’t want to get angry and also if you don’t want spoilers. I am usually a No Spoiler person but this book forced me. So if you have decided…

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#2 stars #2023 #5 Series & 5 Stand-alone Books Challenge #blog posts #book review #Bookclub #gothic #horror #Horror Reviews #Magical Readathon #Melissa Albert #Rant Review #September #September TBR #The Hazel Wood #Young Adult Books

[limecello]

She dies the first time they meet. He dies the last time they meet. Team TBR Challenge Review: An Ancient Love Song

JUST WATCH THIS TRAILER This is one of the rare times I’m “in line” with the TBR Challenge prompt – July is “opposites attract” and while this maybe isn’t what one would think … I feel it fits here. I might also be a little off with the second sentence of the post title, but it’s pretty safe to assume. So this is a love story but it is NOT an American genre romance. Obviously. The premise is ……

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#2023 Review #2023 Series #An Ancient Love Song #Chinese Drama #Chinese Historical Drama #Grade A #Historical #Limecello #TBR Challenge #TBR Challenge Review #TBR Challenge Review 2023 #Time Travel #Tragedy #Tragic Love

[libertyreads]

Book Review #17 of 2023--

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith. Rating: 3.75 stars.

Read from February 4th to 7th.

You know, I went into this one with pretty low expectations and I was pretty surprised that there’s a 2012 release that isn’t a full cringe fest. Maybe going in with no real expectations is what made this one surprisingly good. This book came out in 2012 and is a romance about a boy and a girl who meet at an airport and somehow fate and maybe not love at first sight but a chemistry at first sight bring them together. I would say the romance is pretty central to the story, but only in that it gives the main character a vehicle to discuss and explore her relationships with other people.

I will say that this book is probably not for people who don’t enjoying flying. A large chunk of the book takes place either at the airport or in the plane. I enjoyed it because I like to travel, but that’s just me. We also spend a chunk of time in London and traveling through London as the main character tries to make it to her father’s second wedding on time. Otherwise, the narrative really explores what happened between the main character and her father and her feelings on her father getting remarried. We also get to see how her falling in like/love with the love interest opens her up to having a relationship with her new stepmother. It’s an odd one because the romance is important to changing how the main character interacts with other characters, but at the same time it’s not the most important part of the story. I’m just glad the main characters and I can agree that Heathrow is just a bad airport.

Overall, I think I would have enjoyed the book more if (and I can hear you all saying it at home) it were longer. I think I got pieces here and there that helped me buy into the romance, but I would have loved to spend more time exploring their connection and them both being mystified at that connection. I don’t buy into the insta-love thing unless there’s a sense of awe and wonder there, a kind of understanding that this does not just happen but somehow it was for them. And I really think that point would have been driven home with another 25 to 50 pages in the section before they arrive in London. But I will reiterate my point that this is a 2012 release that was not a cringe fest for me. I think that needs to be celebrated.

#the statistical probability of love at first sight #Jennifer E. Smith #books read in 2023 #book review #2023 reading challenge #goodreads challenge #reduce the TBR #TBR #February reads #goodreads #booklr #bookblr #bookstagram #bookish #ya #romance #ya romance #young adult

[quirkycatsfatstacks]

Book Tag! Talk About Your TBR

Okay, so, full disclosure: This thread popped up on OwlCrate’s online forum, The Nest. But I thought it was a really fun prompt, so I’m putting it on my blog! For the purposes of keeping things nice and easy, I’m going to focus only on my physical TBR. If I bring my Goodreads TBR into this mess, all hope is lost. Trust me on this one. Talk About Your TBR What is one book that you would suspend…

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#About Your TBR #Book #book challenge #Book Love #Book Review #Book Stack #Book Tag #Book Tags #Books #Books to Read #challenge #Fiction #Literary #Literature #love to read #reading #Review #tag #Tags #TBR #To Be Read

[tinyintoronto]

Books I Read 2022

Like I said in my last post, I didn’t do it. Long story short, I read 20/50 books. I failed my reading challenge. Am I going to give up? Absolutely not! I’m no quitter. One positive takeaway is that I only read one less book than my previous year – which means that I’m at least consistent! I think it would be far worse if I only read like, half of what I read the previous year. I’m disappointed…

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#2022 #2023 #Book Recommendations #Book Review #Books #Inspiration #New Year #Reading Challenge #TBR #Toronto #What I Read

[aaryadandagaval]

https://www.notion.so/readwithaarya-bcb9f21cc2934e848708862761cbd8f6

starting a reading list and writing my thoughts on books i have read and currently reading!

check out the link and i would love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

#books #bookblr #blog #tbr #to be read #book recommendations #i love books #read with me #reading challenge #reading list #book review #book aesthetics

[wolfythoughts]

Book Review: Deeper than the Dead by Tami Hoag (Series, #1) (Bottom of TBR Pile Challenge)

Book Review: Deeper than the Dead by Tami Hoag (Series, #1) (Bottom of TBR Pile Challenge)

Summary: When four children stumble upon the displayed body of a dead woman, they and their teacher are pulled into the investigation.  But when this murder is connected to others, that makes it a potential serial killer, and that means the FBI wants to get involved. Quietly.  Of course, it’s only 1985, the edge of modern forensics, so they must pursue their murderer with a combination of science…

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#1980s #Book #book #borderline #borderline personality disorder #bottom of tbr pile challenge #changing perspectives #deeper than the dead #fbi #forensics #genre #mental illness #Review #serial killer #serial killings #series #series 1 #sociopathy #tami hoag #thriller