Romance Readers Reading Challenges discussion
I have 2 books that work I'll have done this weekend I think
Completion Post
Task 8: 41. Read 6 books with over 10,000 ratings
Bringing Down the Duke
Pages: 356
Qualifications: 74,826 ratings currently
Date Completed: 10/22
Rating: ⭐️⭐️✨
Review: Almost DNF’ed at page 80 when Sebastian forces his 18 year old brother to join the navy and physically threatens him when he tries to refuse because he… threw a house party he shouldn’t have? And drinks a little too much at Oxford? And may be keeping a mistress?
Nothing would excuse forced military service in my book but these offenses are extremely minor! And both Annabelle and Peregrine come to think that the teenager is the one in the wrong here for running away? And after that ludicrous display we’re supposed to believe Sebastian is one of the good ones because he’s willing to give up on a chance to acquire a thirteenth estate and cause a minor political scuffle to marry a suffragette? I’m not buying what Dunmore is selling on this one.
Completion PostTask 8: 41. Read 6 books with over 10,000 ratings
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
Pages: 448
Qualifications: 941,511 ratings
Date Completed: Oct 22
Rating: 4⭐️
Review: An unpredictable book. I was uncertainty about who will end and I can say that somehow I wasn't enjoying the ending...
It was a good plot at the start, but seemed boring sometime.
Task 8: 41. Read 6 books with over 10,000 rating
The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England
Pages:399
Date: 24/10
How it fits: more than 26k ratings
Rating:4/5
Review:
This is actually my first Sanderson book! I enjoyed the writing a lot more than I was expecting - not sure why but I thought it was going to be a lot more daunting to understand. There was a few moments I wasn't sure what was happening but overall it was explained well and I loved the premise of the book
Completion Post Task 8 - 41. Read 6 books with over 10,000 ratings
Pet Sematary
Pages: 580
Date: 23/10
How it fits: over 560,000 ratings
Rating:4/5
Review:
I was really expecting this to be more scary? It was spooky but not really scary to me. (view spoiler)
Completion PostTask 8 - 41. Read 6 books with over 10,000 ratings
Book 1
Book 2
Book 3
Book 4
Book 5
Book 6
I just got home, so will check your books later.Here is your next task!
Task 9 - 63. Read a minimum of 1200 pages in books tagged 'magic' or 'magical’.
Books selected for this task need to be tagged 'magic' or 'magical'. Qualification can come from tags/shelves only. Variations of the words and combo tags will be allowed in context. Please include a link to the top shelves page with your qualifying tag along with how many tags and the top shelves page number in your completion posts. Remember to use the first edition Kindle page count.
Good, I have some books with "magic" that I want to read
I've started reading a 333 page book tagged Magic
Completion Post
Task Task 9 - 63. Read a minimum of 1200 pages in books tagged 'magic' or 'magical’.
Book: Don't Cheat Me
Pages: 298
Date:25/10
How it fits: MPG magic
Pages so far: 298
Completion Post
Task 9: 63. Read a minimum of 1200 pages in books tagged 'magic' or 'magical’.
The Dead Take the A Train
Pages: 384
Qualifications: Tagged magic x5
Date Completed: 10/25
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
Review: thoroughly enjoyable urban fantasy with a decidedly Khaw-esque bent towards the body horror. For fans of Rupert Wong, Cannibal King or Stephen Blackmoore’s Eric Carter series, rather that Khaw’s more recent novellas.
Running page total: 682
Completion Post Task 9: 63. Read a minimum of 1200 pages in books tagged 'magic' or 'magical
Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko
Pages: 428
Fits: Tagged magic x149
Date Read: 10/25
Rating: ★★★★☆
Review: A bit confusing at first, there's a lot of realms and not common words used. But the story is interesting, revenge, betrayal, warring powers, and unbreakable bonds. World Building is good and a beautiful narrative.
Running page total: 1,184
Aoife wrote: "Completion Post Task 8: 41. Read 6 books with over 10,000 rating
The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England
Pages:399
Date: 24/10
How it fits: more than 26k rati..."
Please correct to the first edition Kindle page count (372). Thanks.
Christene Paula✨ wrote: "Completion Post Task 9: 63. Read a minimum of 1200 pages in books tagged 'magic' or 'magical
Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko
Pages: 367..."
Please correct to the first edition Kindle page count (428). Thanks.
Completion Post - RepostTask 8: 41. Read 6 books with over 10,000 rating
The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England
Pages:372
Date: 24/10
How it fits: more than 26k ratings
Rating:4/5
Review:
This is actually my first Sanderson book! I enjoyed the writing a lot more than I was expecting - not sure why but I thought it was going to be a lot more daunting to understand. There was a few moments I wasn't sure what was happening but overall it was explained well and I loved the premise of the book
I'll have my book complete today, after work
Completion PostTask 9: 63. Read a minimum of 1200 pages in books tagged 'magic' or 'magical
Dance of the Gods
Pages: 333
Fits: MPG Magic
Date Read: Oct 27
Rating: 4★
Review:
I forgot what happened in the first book... It take my a little to remember.
The book was more focused on the action than on the relationship (was an insta love) between the two. Overall I liked it.
Task 9: 63. Read a minimum of 1200 pages in books tagged 'magic' or 'magical' Aoife 298 pages
Tracy 384 pages
Christene Paula✨ 428 pages
R~wka 333 pages
Total pages: 1443
Here is your next task!Task 10 - 70. Read a minimum of 1200 pages in books of the same sub-genre, but by different authors.
As a team select a sub-genre and then read books by different authors totaling at least 1200 pages in that sub-genre. Each book must be by a different author even if read by the same teammate. Please include the selected sub-genre in your completion posts. Remember to use the first edition Kindle page count.
It was fantasy romance we picked yeah??
Aoife wrote: "It was fantasy romance we picked yeah??"Yes. It was Fantasy Romance
"different authors"I think is better to announce from what author is the book we reading before
Yeah— I currently have Belladonna and The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels out from the library so I’m probably going to read one of those? I don’t want to 100% commit to either of them since I have a feeling I might hate either or both of them, but I’ll let y’all know before I pick up something else
I want to read Rage and Ruin or A Shadow in the Ember (both by Jennifer L. Armentrout) I'm still undecided which one.
Completion Post Task 10 - 70. Read a minimum of 1200 pages in books of the same sub-genre, but by different authors
Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
Pages: 339
Fits: sub genre Romance Fantasy (as team decided)
Date Read: 10/27
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Review: Its a good start of a series but I think it was slow and confusing at first. The world building is interesting but I was not contented I want more maybe on the next few books. Loved how mysterious each characters is and the writing style is great but loved to read it with audio it was so satisfying.
Running page total: 339
Completion Post Task 10 - 70. Read a minimum of 1200 pages in books of the same sub-genre, but by different authors
Chosen subgenre: Fantasy romance
Released
Pages: 268
Date: 28/10
How it fits: MPG Fantasy & romance
Rating: 2/5
Review
This was... fine? The writing style really wasn't for me at all and I didn't really care for the relationships. There wasn't really something to make me say this was a bad book but there wasn't anything to say it was good either. Can't see myself picking up the next books, I honestly didn't care about anyone in it. Even the massive death scenes were so abrupt and really had such little consequence to anything they just felt pointless. Very much a "then this happened and this happened and then" book
Running page count: 607
Completion PostTask 10 - 70. Read a minimum of 1200 pages in books of the same sub-genre, but by different authors
Chosen subgenre: Fantasy romance
Rage and Ruin by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Pages: 468
Date: Oct 30
How it fits: tagged Fantasy-romance by 45 people
Rating: 5 ⭐
Review:
Just loved it. The fantasy the MCs the slide ones also, that 👻 but the end of the book it left me with a desire to want more... Just to can't wait to get it started. (but I'll wait maybe can feet in next tasks)
Running page count: 1075
Completion Post
Task 10: 70. Read a minimum of 1200 pages in books of the same sub-genre, but by different authors
Belladonna by Adalyn Grace
Pages: 417
Qualifications: MPG Fantasy Romance
Date Completed: 10/30
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Review: While Belladonna has all the elements of a gothic romance– ghosts, poisoners, mysterious servants, fraught families– it lacks the central atmospheric tension that makes the gothic sing.
The characterization of Death was also very weird and off-putting to me. He claims that Signa is the first person he’s ever been able to talk to, and that a human with her abilities is totally new to him, and yet he knows how to teach her, what it would be like to dance with her, and also exactly how to have sex with her as a spooky shadow? The narrative doesn’t give us the sense that he’s lying or manipulating Signa either, just following her around in earnest. I didn’t buy him either as a compelling love interest for a 19 year old girl, as a desperately lonely millennia-old creature experiencing a relationship for the very first time, or as an incredibly powerful force of nature.
Running Page count: 1492
Completion PostTask 10 - 70. Read a minimum of 1200 pages in books of the same sub-genre, but by different authors.
Team selected Fantasy Romance
Christine Paula: 339 pages, author Tahereh Mafi
Aofie: 268 pages, author Megan Duncan
R~wka: 478 pages, author Jennifer L. Armentrout
Tracy: 417 pages, author Adalyn Grace
Total pages: 1492
I will check your books later, on my phone while we drive home tonight. Don’t worry, I’m the passenger. Here is your next task!
Task 11 - 54. Read 6 books set on a beach or in the mountains, teams decide which.
As a team decide if you are going to read books set in the mountains or on a beach, then read 6 books with the selected setting. Please include the selected setting in your completion posts. Remember to let me know how you know your books qualify, be it title, precis, tags or lists. I need to know where to look to confirm your books!
I'll have a look for mountain settings that can be confirmed easily!!
All I can think of is Echo which I did really like but is a) kinda long and b) not really something I’d recommend for a romance group.I did some digging and found Dead and Gondola which my library does have, so maybe I’ll pick up that? I have some unrelated reading that I desperately need to get finished, like, this week so I might not be up for more than one anyways. If anyone finds a good list or tag, please do
Wanted to read All Rhodes Lead Here but the line in libby is so long lmao i'll read The Simple Wild instead
I'm still searching what book to start, undecided yet but I think I'll peak the smaller one in number of pages 😅
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1... most work but not all https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/4... lots of non-fiction
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1... some work
https://www.goodreads.com/list/tag/mo...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/tag/mo...
https://crimereads.com/mystery-in-the...
Completion Post
Task: Task 11 - 54. Read 6 books set on a beach or in the mountains
Decision: Mountains
Book: Onyx
Pages: 416
Date: 01/11
How it fits: tagged mountains Set in West Virginia mountain range
Rating:3.5/5
Review:
I LOVED this when I was like 14 and rereading it is so fun. Do I still love it the same way? No, but I can enjoy the nostalgic feelings and the story is a lot of fun. The torture scene was still as awful as i remembered, and really lifted the story from the standard YA - the lasting consequences will come back. The romance between Kat & Daemon growing was fun.
Count 1/6
Completion PostTask: Task 11 - 54. Read 6 books set on a beach or in the mountains
Decision: Mountains
Book: Platinum Dragon
Pages: 203
Date: November 1
How it fits:
Series name: Dragon Billionaire Mountain
În precis: "Somewhere on earth, there is a mystical mountain where a billionaire dragon shifter can unlock his powers…but in order to do that, he has to find his mate"
Rating: 3,75 ⭐
At start it seemed like a description of a book. Like 100 pages was compressed in less that 3 pages (but is was OK for me, because sometimes I hate the over descriptive books slow paced 😅). Family Secrets and fated mates.
Count 2/6
I’m plugging along on mine and should have it done later today— if R~wka hasn’t already started a second book I have a couple candidates that I could try to get finished fast but I’ve been swamped, sorry!
i was just lucky mine was tagged - it's set in a mountain valley but makes NO mention of it in the precis
Completion PostTask: Task 11 - 54. Read 6 books set on a beach or in the mountains
Decision: Mountains
Book: Hunting the Witness
Pages: 229
Date: November 3
How it fits: în precis "Attacked in the mountains"
Rating: 3 ⭐
A witness with no memory, a FBI agent that fit the suspect description. And other tropes that going to a happy end.
Count 3/6
Tracy wrote: "I’m plugging along on mine and should have it done later today— if R~wka hasn’t already started a second book I have a couple candidates that I could try to get finished fast but I’ve been swamped,..."I finished the second, I was looking for small books because my time for reading is small on weekdays.
Completion Post
Task 11: 54. Read 6 books set on a beach or in the mountains (team chose Mountains)
Dead and Gondola
Pages: 323
Qualifications: set in a “Swiss-style hamlet accessible by ski gondola and a twisty mountain road” as per précis
Date Completed: 11/3
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Review: this was… fine? I guess? I thought the Big Reveal scene was way cheesy, and I always find books about Book People risk being incredibly twee and almost… insulting? Like, you know your reader is also a pretty serious book person if they’re reading your mid-list cozy mystery, “reads a lot and likes to be warm” isn’t going to cut it as an interesting personality, and El’s interest in books was very surface level. She is constantly going on about fireplaces and slippers (which, okay, it is very cold where she is) but we don’t actually get much more from her in terms of book taste or reading motivations or… anything deeper at all, really. She picks up a book in Greek in her parent’s bookshop that she doesn’t recognize at one point and instead of looking it up or reading the bar code to shelve it she just sort of sets it various places around the shop to test the vibes? Truly deranged bookseller behavior tbqh.
Completion Post Task 11: 54. Read 6 books set on a beach or in the mountains (team chose Mountains)
The Simple Wild by K.A. Tucker
Pages: 400
Fits: set in Alaskan mountain
Date Read: 11/3
Rating: ★★★★☆
Review: “The Simple Wild” is simple perfection... I absolutely recommend this book to everybody... it will make you smile, it will make you laugh, it will make you cry tears of joy and heartbreak... and it will make you want to go to Alaska!
Task: Task 11 - 54. Read 6 books set on a beach or in the mountains
Decision: Mountains
Book: Curse the Day
Pages: 206
Date: 04/11
How it fits: from precis: Her streak seems to continue when she gets lost on the way to see a client in the remote Pocono Mountains.
Rating:3.75/5
Review: this was very cute! A fun witchy cosy mystery with a woman who never knew she was a witch. She falls into a weird town, with loads of different creatures and finds herself becoming the town's new public defender.
Romance Readers Reading Challenges
Books mentioned in this topic
Ocean's Echo (other topics)Anton (other topics)
Skruj (other topics)
Terms and Conditions (other topics)
Dirty Pleasures (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Lauren Asher (other topics)Jaclyn Osborn (other topics)
J.D. Robb (other topics)
Rebecca Yarros (other topics)
David Michie (other topics)
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Completion Post
Task 8: 41. Read 6 books with over 10,000 ratings
Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries
Pages: 320
Qualifications: 37,769 ratings currently
Date Completed: 10/21
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Review: I never know why some romance novels hit like this outside of the usual circles (other than being picked up by Orbit) but this one certainly has some steam behind it. My library already has 88 holds on the ebook of the sequel, which is wild for a quiet not-quite-fairy tale not-quite-romance, told exclusively through journal entries and at an academic remove.
The narrative voice is deliberately stilted at times, but in a way that feels familiar and classic. I struggle with romance novels that put that sort of distance between you and the reader, but Encyclopaedia of Faeries was enough of an adventure narrative that I didn’t mind. Ultimately I quite enjoyed it, and it’s a lovely time if that’s what you’re looking for. For fans of Half a Heart or Spinning Silver, I’d absolutely give it a go!