Laura's 2021 Reading challenge

[Laura ☾]

Kayleigh {K-Books} wrote: "Laura ☾ wrote: "Ok I finished and honestly it was a disappointing finale"

Oh nooooo.... I love this series. I'm gonna read it in Feb."

Let me know what you think when you do! I loved the first book, I liked the second a lot still but this one just felt a bit meh to me!

[Laura ☾]

Finally read - it was just okay to be honest!

[Brittany]

Did you read the prequel book too Laura? I have White Hot Kiss on my tbr for the year

[Laura ☾]

I didn’t read the prequel! Let me know how it goes for you when you get to it 😊

[Laura ☾]

Finished - honestly the romance was too cheesy in this one for my taste - like I felt like (view spoiler)[ Roth was just acting way too out of character and especially considering his position not even having to maintain a modicum of that facade seems unlikely (hide spoiler)]

[Brittany]

Good to know Laura! I will get to them eventually

[Laura ☾]

Ok I finished Storm and Fury and Rage and Ruin and oh my they were so much better than The Dark Elements!

[Laura ☾]

Finished - Honestly I was really hoping it'd be a 5 star read but I couldn't in good conscience give it more than 4!

[Jo]

Wow Laura, you finished that quick!

[Laura ☾]

Hahahaha I have no patience!

[Brittany]

Wow! Did you inhale it? Lol
I'll still take a 4 star read.

[Laura ☾]

It wasn’t bad don’t get me wrong but I expected a bit more!

Yes I did inhale it 😂😂

[Brittany]

Totally fair!

Haha! Remember to stop and breath :P
Go write some thoughts in the buddy read folder so I can enjoy them when I get there :)

[Laura ☾]

Oooh okay I shall later hehehe

[Brittany]

So since you are almost done most of the yearly challenges already do you need a harder one?

[Laura ☾]

Brittany wrote: "So since you are almost done most of the yearly challenges already do you need a harder one?"

I wouldn't say almost done- some of the prompts are always easier to fill than other and they overlap - now I'm at the stage where I'm lucky if a book fulfils one of the challenges and probably have to read 50 or so more to tick all the other boxes!

[Brittany]

That is fair! There is always a lot of overlap at the beginning

[Laura ☾]

February Round-Up

Books read:



Series finished:
The Dark Elements (3/3)
The Young Elites (3/3)
The Edge (4/4)

[Elena]

Wow! I love your stats and the amount of series you've managed to finish!

[Laura ☾]

Thank you! I'm a bit OCD when it comes to series - if they make it onto my list (which is if I enjoyed the first book), I have to finish them or at least read up to however many books are released hahah

[Brittany]

Nicely done Laura! Do you have a fave book from the month?

[Laura ☾]

Brittany wrote: "Nicely done Laura! Do you have a fave book from the month?"

ACOSF for sure hehe! I'm still a bit salty about what I said in the buddy read thread but I did love it!

[Liliana, YA Paranormal Lover]

Oooh nice job Laura! And congrats on finishing 3 series!

[Laura ☾]

Thank you!

[Elena]

@Laura I totally get what you're talking about. The same thing here. I start the series, add to my TBR after reading the first book and continue to the other series (and it often the new one!) :D

[Laura ☾]

March Roundup!

Books read:



Series finished:
Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children (6/6)
Cassidy Blake (3/3)
Lifelike (3/3)
The Brown Sisters (3/3)
The Permafrost (2/2)
King of Scars (2/2)

[Brittany]

Nice looking book list Laura! Which were the best ones of the month?

[Laura ☾]

I'd definitely say Rule of Wolves and Black Sun were my favourites!

[Laura ☾]

So I finished and to be honest I didn't love it as much as I thought I would - I still liked it a lot though!

[Teodora]

Oh oh
but still worth a try?

[Laura ☾]

Oh definitely! And I am looking forward to the next book!

[HeatherH]

Girl... finally snooping on everyone's challenges here and holy cow you've read so many already this year!!! I've been slumping bad but finally feeling back on track. I just went and checked your rating/review for Winterkeep... Sad it doesn't live up to the original trilogy.

[Laura ☾]

Hahaha yes!

Awww im glad you’ve got out of your slump!

Let me know how it goes if you get to it!

[Laura ☾]

May Round-up;



Overall, not a bad month!

[HeatherH]

Wellllll.. I need to stop looking at your ratings on books I am excited to read lol

[Laura ☾]

HeatherH wrote: "Wellllll.. I need to stop looking at your ratings on books I am excited to read lol"

Oh noo! which books was it this time?

[HeatherH]

People We Meet, Girl Serpent Thorn, Soulmate Equation, Mister Impossible..... lol

[Brittany]

Looks like a pretty good month Laura! Which was the best one?

[Laura ☾]

Im sorry Heather! Hahahah

I would say They Don’t need to Understand was the most entertaining!

[Liliana, YA Paranormal Lover]

That's not bad at all, Laura! Oooh I see the Percy Jackson/Kane Chronicles crossover! I thought that one was really fun!

[Laura ☾]

Liliana wrote: "That's not bad at all, Laura! Oooh I see the Percy Jackson/Kane Chronicles crossover! I thought that one was really fun!"

It was cute!

[Laura ☾]

So I may have devoured the entire Guild Codex-verse during my days off this month! I actually really enjoyed it!

[Brittany]

I told you that you'd like it!! Who's your fave character and which series did you like better? I cannot wait for the Crystal Druid to come out I'm just sad there is always such a delay for the audios

[Laura ☾]

Yes! I can't wait for the Crystal Druid either - I think Zak is one of my favs for sure

I actually really liked Demonized - I just loved the banter between those two!

[Brittany]

Most people I know preferred Demonized even if just a little. I was all about Spellbound though. I did love both series and I agree the banter was fun.
Zak is such a neat character!

[Laura ☾]

He is! He reminds me a little of Roman from Kate Daniels 😂 I don’t know why

[Brittany]

Hmm! Interesting!

[Laura ☾]

Finished and while I liked it, I didn't love it quite as much as the previous two books!

Also making progress in the Stormlight Archives!

[Brittany]

Ah jealous about progress in the Stormlight Archives! Those books are so long its daunting

[Brittany]

Since you also loved Guild Codex I wanted to share this in case you who might have missed it on Annette Marie's FB page it was asked Maaaaybe this comic will answer the never ending question Annette Marie promised to answer about when a certain someone fell for a certain someone. (Spoiler free comment.)
The comic doesn't but author did write this only check spoiler if you finished Spellbound. Also I cannot wait for the comic (view spoiler)[
So, I guess, let's do this right now.
***THE GUILD CODEX: SPELLBOUND SPOILERS***
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(For anyone not in the know, the question is when Ezra fell for Tori.)
I don't believe there's a single moment when someone falls in love; it's a process, sometimes spanning mere hours, sometimes spanning years. But I do think there can be a distinct moment when someone -realizes- they're in love.
This is Ezra's realization moment.
He'd been doing a lot of deliberate internal denial, so the moment may be later than you were expecting. He was -really- trying to convince himself that he only cared for Tori as a friend. Poor guy, haha.
So, the moment when he couldn't deny any longer that he was in love with Tori is from Two Witches and a Whiskey, Ch. 14:
"My senses whirled as he climbed the stairs. A door creaked open. He shifted me into one arm, bearing my weight like I was no more cumbersome than a doll. He leaned over the bed, blankets rustling, then laid me down.
I sank into the mattress, my head on the pillow and my nose clouded with his delicious scent. He pulled the blankets over me and tucked them up to my chin.
Silence fell over the room, and I sleepily wondered if I’d missed the sound of him leaving.
The slight creak of a floorboard beside the bed. A whisper-soft touch on my hair, his thumb brushing my cheek. Then quick, quiet footsteps, followed by the snick of the door latch.
I opened my eyes and stared at the closed door, my skin tingling in the wake of Ezra’s gentle touch."
Because the moment is limited to Tori's POV, the sadness, longing, and resignation in Ezra's brief touch isn't truly conveyed. But for me, it's such a heartrending moment. They'd just talked about belonging, about being part of Aaron and Kai's found family... he'd shared a painful, vulnerable story of his past for the first time... and as he's standing there looking down at her sleeping, he realizes, shit, he's so in love with this girl. But instead of excitement or anticipation or even nervousness, all he can feel is sorrow and loneliness, because he can never share his feelings with her. So he steals one brief second of intimate touch, knowing that's it. That's all he'll ever get. 😭💔
Good thing they got their happy ending, right? 😌 (hide spoiler)]