Wrapping up the O.W.L.s Readathon 2019

Dear reader,

During the month of April I participated in the first part of the Magical Readathon, which was the O.W.L.s Readathon. I never had that much fun with a monthly long readathon before and as I presented to you in another blog post my TBR for it I thought it would be a great idea to properly wrap up everything I read.

Without further ado here’s my wrap-up of the OWL’s Readathon 2019!

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❥ WHAT IS THE MAGICAL READATHON?

The Magical Readathon was created by Book Roast in 2018. This readathon is inspired by the Harry Potter world and happens both in April and in August. You first have the O.W.L.s readathon, and then the N.E.W.T.s readathon. If you want to know more about it, make sure to watch Book Roast video (linked before) in which she explains it all.

❥ MY TBR TO BECOME A POTIONEER

In my TBR post I introduced you to all the prompts I needed to check in order to become a potioner, alongside four other reads which would allow me to have an Outstanding to my OWL’s.

Here is what I needed to read:

• Arithmancy: Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View
• Care of magical creatures: Willa of the Wood by Robert Beatty
• Charms: Juliet & Romeo by David Hewson
• Herbology: The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black
• Potions: What’s a Girl Gotta Do? by Holly Bourne

And here is what I wanted to read:

• Ancient runes: The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstien by Kiersten White
• Transfiguration: The Devouring Gray by Christine Lynn Herman
• History of magic: Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
• Muggle studies: Izzy + Tristan by Shannon Dunlap

❥ WEEK 1

As my competition was taking place on the 3rd and 4th of April I couldn’t read a lot when the readathon first started. I still read two books, which were on my required reading list. I first read The Darkest Part of the Forest to which I gave 4/5 stars. I thought it was amazing and I fell in love once again with Holly Black’s writing style. Apparently it’s best to read it before jumping into the Folk of the Air series, but I read it after and still enjoyed it a lot.

When I was done with it I picked up What’s a Girl Gotta Do? and I flew through it. This book was my only 5/5 stars of the month and it was perfect. I have so much love for this series and I’m so proud of how much it evolved through the books. This third and final book was everything and it really helped as I wasn’t feeling 100% okay.

❥ WEEK 2

Once again I read two books from my required reading list during the second week. It wasn’t the most exciting one as I was a tad disappointed by my reads, but it was still a great reading week considering I was at the hospital most of the time.

I first read the ARC of Willa of the Wood by Robert Beatty which has been sent to me a year ago (oops) and I ended up giving it 3/5 stars. I think the fact that I never read anything related to the Serafina world didn’t help and explains why I couldn’t love this story more than I did. It was atmospheric, really sad and well written but I didn’t connect with any characters and thought there was no real story.

Then I moved on with Juliet & Romeo by David Hewson which is a novel retelling of the play. I gave it 3.5/5 stars. Now you have to know that I am a huge fan of the play, so obviously I had to be critical when it came to this one. I loved some stuff that were added – I thought that the fact that Juliet was so independent and modern was amazing (for example she complains about the word “obey” being chosen to describe how a wife should behave toward her husband while the husband has to “serve” and she also complains about Romeo’s skills in bed which I thought was funny) but some changes didn’t work for me (Paris was demonised and I didn’t like it because what is beautiful between Romeo and Juliet is that they love each other as simply as it is and Paris never was a competition, he is a nice man and that is all ; also their meeting changed and I thought it cancelled the whole tragedy and fatality of their romance). I was also upset because my favourite dialogue wasn’t in it (i.e. the whole “Sin from my lips? O trespass sweetly urged! Give me my sin again.” Etc). But overall it was fun to read!

❥ WEEK 3

On the third week I started reading a lot again. It was probably a coping mechanism towards my depression, but it was the week I finally came out of the semi-slump I was in.

I started the week reading Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View and I gave it 3.75-4/5 stars. It was really great to read and I would highly recommend it to any fans of the first movies.

Finally it was time to go to my unrequired reading list! At this point I was done with everything I had to read to become a potioneer, so I can now take the N.E.W.T.s exams in August, but I still wanted to read more than 9 books to get an Outstanding.

I then read the Devouring Gray by Christine Lynn Herman, which I adored and gave 4/5 stars. It was such a pleasant surprise! I couldn’t stop reading it and flew through it. It’s supposed to be perfect for fans of the Raven Cycle series and of Stranger Things, and as a fan of both I can assure you it has the same vibes to it.

After that I picked up the e-ARC of Again, but Better by Christine Riccio which I gave 3.75/5 stars. I read this one instead of Izzy + Tristan because the e-ARC was sent to me at the beggining of the week and I knew I wanted to read it before its release date. I wrote a review for it, if you ever feel like reading it, but I really enjoyed it and thought it was a cute story. I read it in less than 24 hours, so it was entertaining.

❥ WEEK 4

On the 4th week I read two books, one in less than 24 hours and one in four days. There is really no in-between with me.

First I read The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White and I gave it 4.5/5 stars. I absolutely adored it and thought it was a brilliant retelling of Frankenstein. I’m a huge fan of the book, so I really think anyone who loved Frankenstein as much as I did will love this one.

Then I read Mansfield Park by Jane Austen and I gave it 3.5/5 stars – it wasn’t my favourite book by her but I still had a great time.

❥ THE LAST TWO DAYS

On the last two days I read Eve of Man by Giovanna and Tom Fletcher, and I gave it 2.5/5 stars. I wasn’t supposed to read it as I was done with my 9 books, but I still had some time and wanted to read a 10th one. This one could fit the prompt for Divination: Read a book set in the future.

Though I will always admire this couple this book really let me down and ended up being my least favourite of the month. I’m still glad I read it, especially since I got it signed last year, but I know I won’t pick up the sequel.

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And that’s it! I read so much thanks to this readathon and I’m really happy about it all. It was so much fun and I can’t wait for the N.E.W.T.s!

Have you participated in the readathon? Have you ever joined one?

Love always,

Clara