The Current Read-A-Thon

This is the first read-a-thon I will be participating in! It's from May 27th to June 2nd! The picture below are the challenges for this specific one.

and here is the twitter link! ---> https://twitter.com/currentathon?lang=en

**During this there will be a 24 hour read-a-thon starting at midnight on June 1st and end at 11:59pm June 1st**

Also I will be combining some of the challenges (as you can see with 1 & 5)

1. Finish the book you most recently put down

5. Finish a book that is apart of a series

Rebel of the Sands ~ Alwyn Hamilton

2. Finish a book you have put down that has your favorite cover out of all your current reads

3. Finish your Current Read

The Royal Runaway ~ Lindsay Emory

4. Randomly pick one of your current reads to finish

(Okay so for this I went to the top 10 of my To-Read category on GoodReads and did a random number generator)

Midnight Without a Moon ~ Linda Williams Jackson

6. A book that you thought you'd finish at the beginning of the year

Enchantée ~ Gita Trelease

Challenges Completed: 4

Pages Read: 1455

Favorite Challenge: Randomly pick one of your current reads to finish (randomization aspect)

Least Favorite Challenge: Finish a book that is apart of a series (too generic for this readathon)

Favorite Book: Enchantée ~ Gita Trelease

Least Favorite Book: Midnight Without a Moon ~ Linda Williams Jackson

Illuminae ~ Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I was somewhat intimidated by this book. Anyone that I've heard talk about it has really loved it, and I'm incredibly scared of hype when it comes to books. (Hence why I wait so long to pick up highly liked/hyped books). I did end up really liking it though, although for the first half I was mostly confused.

Summary

This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do. This afternoon, her planet was invaded.

The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to fight their way onto an evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.

But their problems are just getting started. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet's AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a tangled web of data to find the truth, it's clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: the ex-boyfriend she swore she'd never speak to again.

I ended up enjoying this a lot more than I anticipated I would when I first started it. When I first decided to start reading Illuminae, it's because I discovered Libby through my college's library and wanted to listen to it as an audiobook. And while I did enjoy the story, it was so confusing and there was a lot of spacey terminology that I didn't understand, but I continued to push through my initial confusion. Since I did that, I became more and more invested in the characters and the plot. Eventually, my busyness with school made it hard for me to have time to solely listen to this still somewhat confusing story so I decided to put it down. Later down the line, I started hearing peoples opinions about the audiobook; either you love it or you hate it. I thought that I hated it because I was confused but besides that there wasn't anything I disliked. Then I heard someones opinion that they enjoyed the audiobook but enjoyed it 1000% times more while also having the physical book to look at. This peaked my interest and I decided to check out the audiobook from Libby again and also pick up the physical copy as well. This is what saved this book for me.

The characters and the plot were amazing in my opinion. I quickly became attached to the outcome of Kady and Ezra. Along with the many other side characters that played a significant part in the overall outcome. One character I didn't expect to like as much was Aiden, but as I got to learn more about them, I did really really enjoy their aspect to the story. I also enjoyed seeing Aiden grow as the plot progressed, the inner conflicts that they had to deal with was so intriguing to me. When it came to the connection between Kady and Ezra, I'm not sure I fully grasped their chemistry because it seemed almost too juvenile for their age in my opinion, but I was still interested in them and their dialogue.

The plot is what confused me from the beginning. It was hard for me to picture the setting and the change of settings when I didn't even know what was going on. I was confused who the enemy was and why they were the enemy, this could be part to me multi-talking while listening but I've heard others say they were also confused while reading. I wish there was more that could make the reader understand what is actually happening and why at the very beginning of the book. This book was saved for me when I started listening to the audiobook along with reading the physical copy at the same time. It helped to see the words out in front of me and it made it WAY more interesting to hear the story and the noises and the dialogue, it was just so great. So great that I read over half the book in 24 hours (which is an accomplishment for the worlds slowest reader, myself). It also helped that I listened to the audiobook at a faster speed, that kept the plot fast and I didn't find myself looking ahead because I was attached to the page the audiobook was on.

Overall, I'm glad I jumped on the bandwagon for this book and I will for sure be reading the next book.

The Book Thief ~ Markus Zuzak

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I'm so glad I ended up enjoying this book. I will be honest, I was scared off for a long time because of the hype surrounding this book. I was afraid that I wouldn't like it and that made me hesitant when I first got started reading it, but I ended up loving it.

Summary

It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will be busier still.

By her brother's graveside, Liesel's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger's Handbook, left behind there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordian-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found.

But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up, and closed down.

After reading a little of the beginning, I continued to be scared off because the plot started off slow. What I mean by this is that it was a lot of building: world building, character building, etc. which is probably what ended up making this book so good, so I guess it works out. Despite this slow beginning, I was still interested and intrigued by the story and the characters, so I continued.

Everything else about this book is phenomenal. The one thing that stood out to me was the narration. The story would've been completely different had the narrator not been death or the grim reaper, however you choose to interpret it, it added this whole other character or being almost that made the book that much more enjoyable for me. I loved hearing it's perspective or thoughts on the variety of situations that occurred. I like how by the end, it stepped on Hitler's picture while walking out of the shop. (That one made me laugh amidst the all around sadness).

Liesel. My baby. She is so pure despite being the Book Thief. Her relationship with Hans is precious and it holds a special place in my heart, as do her relationships with Max and Rudy, but especially Hans. It was the one that had me crying the most at the end.

Overall, I could try and explain every little detail of what I loved about this book but I know I wouldn't do it justice. It's just phenomenal and I'm still fully processing the ending and my heart is hurting in the best way.