Pop Culture Readathon Wrap Up

I am sad to say that the Pop Culture Readathon is now over. This month long readathon was so fun for me and I’m excited that the creators have decided to do them often. The prompts were so fun and original and I can’t wait to see what they come up with in the future. You can find my TBR here and I am happy to report that I did complete a bingo. Although, if I was to reuse the books that I did read then I would have had a black out bingo but I wanted to only use one book for each prompt.

Sidney Prescott- Mayhem by Estelle Laure

Blog Tour: Mayhem by Estelle Laure

Jurassic Park- The Safe Place by Anna Downes

If I could use only one word to describe this book it would be sinister. Everything looks nice on the outside but there are so many moments sprinkled throughout the story that leave you with a hair raising feeling of unease. Downes uses such vivid imagery that this book really came to life in my mind. Which was unsettling when it came to the insidious moments. I did figure out the twist before it happened but as usual, it didn’t hamper my enjoyability of the story at all. I found this book, particularly the beginning, to be an exploration on manipulation and it was intriguing seeing it all unfold. This book is also told through flashbacks of our main characters and they were a great addition because they added a lot of depth, understanding and suspense to the book. The ending was fabulously done and I really appreciate the way Downes wrapped it all up.

What’s Your Favorite Scary Movie- Home Before Dark by Riley Sager

Home Before Dark by Riley Sager

Buffy the Vampire Slayer- Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman

This series is so fascinating because it is seeped in our world, except (for the most part) greatly improved upon. Reading this series almost feels like we are getting a glimpse into our future because it feels so plausible. I am not a big technology person, so for me this idea is horrific, but I do see what a lot of the upsides would be. Shusterman does such a great job with these books because he starts off with a few different tendrils of story and the payoff is so great when they start to come together. I always rave about Scythe and now Thunderhead because I love that when I start the book I have absolutely no clue where the story is going to go. I am always caught off guard which makes these books almost impossible to put down. And that is no more evident than the ending of Thunderhead. I still can’t get over all that happened and I will be reading The Toll soon because I don’t know how it is all going to end. I also really appreciated the Thunderhead as an omnipresent narrator because it helped to give much needed background and context to what was happening plot wise.

“Permission is the bloated corpse of freedom.”

The Faculty- If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

I am currently 70% done with this and will hopefully have it finished up by today or tomorrow. I am obsessed with this book and I am so mad at myself for waiting so long to read it.

Calling the Corners- The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

This book reminds me a lot of Game of Thrones the TV show. The first four parts were really good and I was all in. Then part five left me a little disappointed because it started to feel formulaic to me. And part six was a dumpster fire. I hate the ending so much but I also still really love the first four parts that I am left torn about this book. The action, the world building, the dragons, the magic, the characters were all extremely well done. I was so immersed in this world for so long that even though I really dislike how it all ended I know that I will reread this again at some point. I know that I just mentioned how much I enjoyed the action but that does not count for the last part. There were quite a few things that needed to happen at the end and instead of it being messy and hard it all happened one right after another in the most frustratingly convenient way. There were other things that I didn’t like but overall the wasted potential of what could have been is disappointing.

Scream 2- A Sweet Mess by Jayci Lee

The best part about this book was our heroine and hero. Aubrey and Landon were on fire together and their chemistry was scorching. I was rooting for them from the beginning and all the back and forth was excruciating fun. I also really loved the baking aspect of the story and I was salivating over all the amazing food they were eating. I did think the story started to get very repetitive in the middle and I wish that it had been edited down to keep everything moving at the same pace. This is Lee’s first non category romance which is important to keep in mind because those romances have word count parameters which means that Lee was really given clearance with this story and it shows. There is so much packed into this one book that it was overwhelming. The romance, a reality tv show, baking, family drama and more that would be a spoiler but I think you get the picture. I do love Lee’s writing and she is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors when it comes to intense emotional and sexual connections.

Practical Magic- A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

I am counting this as completed even though I DNF’d it. I knew as soon as I learned that it is compared to Twilight that I was going to struggle with it.. I am surprised though about how much I still think about this book. I have never tried to read a book that I DNF’d again but I really think this one might be an exception.

~Cassie