Kayleigh's 2020 Reading Challenges

[Laura ☾]

YES omg Aurora Burning I'm not okay

[Kayleigh {K-Books}, YA Fantasy Fan]

Laura..... same. I legit cried so much!

[Laura ☾]

Kayleigh {K-Books} wrote: "Laura..... same. I legit cried so much!"

Like...can we have the next book yesterday? PLEASE

And as I told heather before (view spoiler)[ If Auri and Kal don't get a happy ending I will riot (hide spoiler)]

[Kayleigh {K-Books}, YA Fantasy Fan]

YES Laura totally agree they are endgame!

I've finished reading and and I really enjoyed it. I'm currently reading

[HeatherH]

I need to find Raven!

[Anna]

How did I not know about that Aurora series? I’ll have to see if my library has it.

[Kayleigh {K-Books}, YA Fantasy Fan]

HeatherH wrote: "I need to find Raven!"

Raven is available as an e-book and its' in the bind up on Delirium Stories.

[Kayleigh {K-Books}, YA Fantasy Fan]

Anna wrote: "How did I not know about that Aurora series? I’ll have to see if my library has it."

Anna, you'll have to let me know your thoughts if you read it.

[Kayleigh {K-Books}, YA Fantasy Fan]

I've finished and I enjoyed it. I wasn't a fan of the ending though. That's another series finished for my challenge.

I'm currently reading

[Teodora]

I'm curious to see what do you think about The Ballad
I'm planning on reading it too soon enough!

[Jo]

Ah let us know what you think of Ballad, Kay. What I've seen so far has either been wildly good or wildly bad, though my slow reading self cannot understand how so many people have finished it so fast, it's much thicker than I was expecting!

[Brittany]

too bad the end wasn't wonderful but yay for series finishing.

Curious about Ballad too!

[Kayleigh {K-Books}, YA Fantasy Fan]

I’m about 50 pages in and I’m loving it already. It’s got so many hints of things happening that you can see how they link to the hunger games years later. It’s making me want to read the hunger games trilogy again. I forgot how much I love this series and this world.

[HeatherH]

I'm starting Ballad this weekend at work! I've seen more good than bad, just people reminding readers that it takes place long before so to expect it to be different. I'm nervous since Snow isn't a character I want to like or have compassion for lol.

[Kayleigh {K-Books}, YA Fantasy Fan]

Yeah I was a bit nervous about it being about Snow but I am a sucker for a villain backstory. I'm looking forward to seeing what made him become the ruthless Snow we all know and hate.

[Kayleigh {K-Books}, YA Fantasy Fan]

So I finished Ballad... I absolutely loved it!! Way, way more than I thought I would. It was so different to what I expected. I know a lot of people have sworn they won't read it because it's Snow's story which makes me super sad. I feel like the publishers have kind of done a disservice to the book because after reading I don't feel like it was Snow's story. Yes, it's told from his point of view but really it's about what the early Games looked like so soon after the war and how they developed into the Games we know in the trilogy. There were so many little hints of things that happen that link to the trilogy and you're like omg so that's how that came to be. I loved it so much and would recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the original trilogy. I was torn between giving it 4 or 5 stars. I ended up giving it 4 because to me if I'm debating then maybe it's not a 5 star and there were placed where it was kind of slow and I feel like those bits probably could have been edited out without losing the overall effectiveness of the book. Overall though, I will definitely re-read it. It kind of made me want to re-read the trilogy straight after but my tbr is far too long haha.

I've just started reading which I got for review and really loving this one so far too. Hoping to get it finished tomorrow as I'm off work.

[Jo]

Kayleigh {K-Books} wrote: "So I finished Ballad... I absolutely loved it!! Way, way more than I thought I would. It was so different to what I expected. I know a lot of people have sworn they won't read it because it's Snow'..."

So glad to hear you enjoyed it Kay! I think it's going to be my next read :)

[Kayleigh {K-Books}, YA Fantasy Fan]

As you can see I had many, many feelings on it haha

[HeatherH]

Your comments make me more excited to get to Ballad!

[Brittany]

Glad you enjoyed it Kay! Makes me a lot more interested to read it at some point

[Elena]

Glad you've enjoyed it and shared your thoughts about The Ballad.

[Kayleigh {K-Books}, YA Fantasy Fan]

I'm so excited to see everyone's thoughts if/when they read it.

I've finished reading and I really enjoyed it. It's a YA debut fantasy and it's a aimed at the younger side of YA but it was such a fun easy read. It's about a dreamland and it has mythology intwined in it and a bit of King Arthur legends too. It was really enjoyable.

Up next:

[Kayleigh {K-Books}, YA Fantasy Fan]

My May Stats

I read 11 books:
- 9 were full novels and 2 were novellas.
- 2 were re-reads, 5 were off my TBR; 2 were newly bought this month and 2 were ARCs.
- All 11 of them were part of series.
- I started 1 series and finished 2 series.
- I rated four 5-stars, three 4-stars, three 3-stars and one 2-stars
- 1 was a new-to-me author
- All 11 were YA

Although I was like yes, book buying ban is in place... I lied! I went on yet another book buying splurge and I added another 18 onto my TBR. Oops.

Current TBR: 262 (up 18 from last month)

Challenges:
- Series Catch Up: 08/46
- Reading Challenge: 38/50

[Jo]

Wow Kay, well done! You've been reading so much!

[HeatherH]

Awesome stats Kayleigh!

[Sonnie]

Kay, your review of Ballad makes me want to read it so bad! I think I'm going to read it next. Or Aurora Rising because I just got it off hold from my library.

And it's okay on the splurge. We can blame quarantine lol. I know my TBR will be going up in June because of all the good books coming out!

[Brittany]

Nicely done Kay!! And finishing 2 series and only starting 1 new one is always good.

[Liliana, YA Paranormal Lover]

Great job Kay! And oops indeed on those 18 books 😂 Can't say I blame you though. Lol.

[Kayleigh {K-Books}, YA Fantasy Fan]

I am now strictly on a book buying ban. I was like enough is enough you TBR is now above the number you said you wouldn't let it go higher than haha.

Oh Sonnie, I hope you do read Ballad. Honestly it was so great. I can't even tell you how amazing it was. And I now have 2 copies because the UK edition doesn't match my US hardbacks so I ordered the US hardback so they all match haha

[Kayleigh {K-Books}, YA Fantasy Fan]

My June TBR - there's no way I'll read all of these but I'm gonna try and get through as many as I can.

From my TBR -
Re-reads -

I'm also adding as it's been on my TBR for ages and I feel like it's very apt at the moment.

[Sonnie]

Ohh I love the Thunder Road series! Great picks for June!
I also want to read The Hate U Give and watch the movie after since I've never seen it.

[HeatherH]

Hope you enjoy all of those reads. I read T.H.U.G and it was good. I also read All American Boys and it, for me, was much more impactful. Look forward to your thoughts!

[Laura ☾]

I actually really liked The Hate U Give! Particularly appropriate with what's currently going on!

[Elena]

Great stats and a nice plan for June. I've also read The Hate U Give, but didn't enjoy it much. But I really enjoyed a book with kinda similar vibes, but less cruel (? actually The Hate U Give wasn't cruel, but for some people it is) - With the Fire on High.
And I totally agree, it's even more appropriate in the current situation.

[Kayleigh {K-Books}, YA Fantasy Fan]

Finally finished reading I feel like it's taken me so long to re-read this one. I've been really anxious the past few weeks so I think that's probably why my reading has been slower. I'm starting to get it all under control so hopefully my reading will pick back up.

I'm currently reading before I start my re-read of The Kingdom of Copper

[Brittany]

*hugs* on the anxious part. Hope you're feeling better!
Enjoy your beta read

[Kayleigh {K-Books}, YA Fantasy Fan]

Thanks Britt. I'm feeling better. A friend of mine has been a bit difficult as she's having parties with loads of people not social distancing and isn't happy that I won't go. We're in one of the worst affected areas in England and I'm just too worried about it all still. It's just added some additional stress that has affected me but I've taken a few weeks to reevaluate everything and I'm feeling loads better now.

[Brittany]

*hugs* That is definitely hard. And people need to respect each others choices on not going to things like that, especially in this time.

[Kayleigh {K-Books}, YA Fantasy Fan]

Agreed. I've spoken to her on Saturday about it and things seem better now. I'm just not letting myself get stressed out about it. Like I'm missing one of my friends hen do on Saturday next week but she's super understanding so we're gonna plan something when everything has reopened. We still don't have pubs/restaurants/hairdressers anything like that open yet.

[Brittany]

Glad the other friend is so understanding!

[Kayleigh {K-Books}, YA Fantasy Fan]

Thanks Britt. I just need to move closer to you. We'd be the best of friends haha

[Brittany]

We so would! We'd hang out and read, and see theatre! What's not to love.

[Kayleigh {K-Books}, YA Fantasy Fan]

That would be epic! One day we will meet up to go book shopping and to the theatre.

[Laura ☾]

Awww that sounds lovely guys!

Yeah people need to respect other people’s boundaries with this! When we were on full lockdown my best friend (who’s a complete extrovert) was going insane being cooped up and accused me of enjoying lockdown too much because I didn’t have to deal with people 😂 she’s not wrong

[Jo]

I've been going stir-crazy! I'd like to say I thought I'd deal with it better, but it's really not a surprise, I don't like feeling like I'm stuck in one place and I definitely get easily bored when I don't get out. I've also missed seeing my friends a lot, I'm so happy that I'm able to actually see them again now.

[Kayleigh {K-Books}, YA Fantasy Fan]

I'm a total introvert so it hasn't bothered me in the slightest. I'd actually be quite happy to stay like this LOL. I do miss my friends but I actually usually only see them once a week or something like that so it's not actually much different for me. The only difference is I'm working from home and not actually going into work lol.

[Jo]

I'm definitely an introvert, but I do like being able to just chill with my friends. Also just before lockdown I'd been away for almost three months, so it was quite hard to come back and then still not be able to see them!

[Brittany]

Im an extroverted introvert lol. Really I'm an ambivert. I need both. But I still go into work so I at least got to see people throughout. And a lot of the restrictions here for better or worse are lifted now.


Once travel gets back to normal Kay. Getting back to England is next on my bigger travel list.

Lol Laura, nice!

Jo, that does make it harder since you were away for so long before it all.

[Jo]

Yeah, I mean I had an amazing time in South Africa and it's the best thing I've done all year, but it was definitely hard being away for so long before and then coming back and not being able to see anyone except my parents!

[Kayleigh {K-Books}, YA Fantasy Fan]

Yeah the restrictions are lifting slowly in England now. We still have a lot of cases though so while shops and such are opening social distancing is massively in play still.

Yes, I can't wait to hang out with you!!