The Upside Down Readthon Wrap Up

Last week was the week long Stranger Things themed readathon and I ended up having a not great week so I wasn’t able to get to everything I wanted to. I originally wanted to read four Book of the Month books plus the group book but I couldn’t manage it. Instead, this past weekend I decided to sub in some short Kindle Unlimited dark romance novellas to cover a couple of the prompts. Overall, I read one Book of the Month book, DNF’d one, got half way through another one and read two KU books. I decided to pass on reading the group book because I’ve been struggling with my illness and I didn’t feel in the headspace to read about a sick kid (possibly terminally sick).

DNF

I made it 20% of the way through this one before I decided to put it down. I didn’t enjoy the writing style, the plot twist seemed obvious (I looked it up and I was right about the most shocking reveal) and it seemed like the author wrote a book about stuff she didn’t really know anything about. There was a subplot where she has been addicted to Xanax for years and yet all it takes is one and she is completely out of it. And other minor details like that that rubbed me the wrong way. This has a pretty high rating on Goodreads and is being adapted into something by Emma Stone so I definitely feel like I’m in the minority with this one.

Still Reading

I picked this one up once I dnf’d A Flicker in the Dark since they both feature lights on the cover. And this is another Book of the Month book that has been on my shelves for awhile. It is a very Covid heavy story since it takes place in Ireland right when Covid is becoming a thing and the worldwide lockdowns are beginning. Just like Mothered by Zoie Stage it makes sense for the story even if it’s not a setting I would prefer. I also don’t know if I’m loving the story but I do love the way Howard has chosen to tell the story. I really enjoy when author’s play around with narrative structure and Howard’s choice is here is elevating what could be a bland story into an intriguing one. 

Finished

The Push will definitely be on my best books of the year list. Even more than the story which was incredible, I fell in love with Audrain’s writing. I was mesmerized by her descriptions and brutal take on motherhood. I am already eagerly awaiting her next novel and I can’t wait to see what her brilliant mind comes up with next. 

I picked The Risk since I needed to fufil the multi POV prompt. This is the first book in a dark romance serial killer/ FBI profiler series. I thought this was ok. It does leave off on a bit of a cliffhanger but I don’t know if I care enough to read further. For having the title of the MindF*ck series I expected this to really go to some dark places but it mostly just alluded to things. I also found it cringey how much she helped on one of his cases and found that aspect of their relationship totally unbelievable.

I read Games We Play for a book featuring a game or competition. This is about a video game streamer and his hot and heavy night with the woman who is there to interview him. I was impressed with how much of an emotional connection the couple had despite the page numbers. I also enjoyed getting to meet the other guys in this series and I will hopefully be reading their books soon.