Believathon Wrap Up

Yesterday the Believathon  wrapped up and it was a sort of fail for me. I basically didn’t read any middle grade the first week and a half of the readathon so everything that I finished was during the last few days. But I did read a book that I absolutely loved and I probably never would have picked it up if it hadn’t been for the readathon. My son and I are also really close to finishing A City of Ghosts by V.E. Schwab and we are both really loving it a lot. So I finished two (almost three!) things which isn’t too bad.

Rating: 4/5

Just like the first book I am absolutely blown away by the world building. It is so detailed and magically fun that I just want to keep reading the series to see more of the world. But also like the first book I found most of the plot to be predictable. Granted this is a book for 12 year olds but it is still disappointing to figure out most of the story early on. I am excited for the third book and just based off the synopsis I think it will be my favorite one so far.

Rating: 5/5

I love everything about this book. The characters are fun and interesting, the story kept surprising me, and the message of this book was beautiful. I also love that this book is told completely through email and traditional letters. It is such a brilliant way to tell this story because I feel like if it had been told in a more traditional way a lot of the magic of this book would have been lost. I also applaud the authors because they told this story with authentic preteen girl voices and I was completely immersed in Bett and Avery’s world. The authors also did a fabulous job of differentiating both girls writing style and I quickly learned who was who. I grew up with the movie The Parent Trap and I never liked it because it is completely nonsensical. This book is like what that movie should have been but with a much better message. Also, my son got this from the library right before the pandemic but I am buying this ASAP because I can see myself rereading this in the future. Which might be a weird thing for an almost 34 year old to say but seriously that’s how much I love this book.

~Cassie