Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge 2025 - May Update: Immortal, Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit, & James

Happy Sunday everyone!  I hope everyone's been doing well this month.  I've now completed 11 total tasks for Book Riot's 2025 Read Harder Challenge.  I ended up completing three tasks in May (the book that I was hoping to read back in April which didn't come in on time so I switched my original tbr around and hoped to get it by July actually came in even though I was still so far down the library waitlist.  I figured I'd better just go ahead an check it off now while I actually had it!) required me to read a 2025 release by a BIPOC author, read a book based solely on its setting, and literary fiction by a BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and/or disabled author.  I selected Immortal by Sue Lynn Tan, Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit (Moribito #1) by Nahoko Uehashi, and James by Percival Everett respectively.  Read on to see my mini reviews and my plans for next month:

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Immortal by Sue Lynn Tan is probably my least favorite book set in the world of Daughter of the Moon Goddess world. That said, it was still great to be back. I love the world building and the writing style as well as our leading character Liyen. I also liked reading about the fantasy political intrigue. What didn't really work for me though was the romance with the God of War. Overall, this was still a great return to the world regardless of that and I'm looking forward to reading whatever Sue Lynn Tan writes next.

My review is also on Goodreads and The StoryGraph.

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Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit (Moribito #1) by Nahoko Uehashi is a new favorite.  I'm so glad I decided to read this.  This was exactly the kind of adventure fantasy I needed.  Now I need to read the rest of the series, watch the anime, and the live-action series.  Thank you to my fellow Postcrosser for putting this on my radar!

My review is also on Goodreads and The StoryGraph.

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James by Percival Everett is easily one of the best and most impressive books I've read so far this year.  I don't have a lot to say about it that hasn't already been said other than I understand why it's won all of the awards it has.  It's a retelling of the Mark Twain novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, only it follows the character Jim instead.  I wasn't expecting to get quite so invested but I was absolutely hooked by it.  If you haven't read this yet, what are you waiting for?

My review is also on Goodreads and The StoryGraph.

Next Up For June:

Read a queer mystery.

My choice: Bianca Torre is Afraid of Everything by Justine Pucella Winans - This has been on my radar for quite awhile along with several books by this author.  This YA mystery sounds right up my alley!

Read a queernorm book.

My choice: In Deeper Waters by F.T. Lukens - This author's books just look like a lot of fun and this seems like a good place to start.

Are you taking part in this challenge?  Have you read any of these books?  As always, thanks for visiting my blog and perhaps even commenting down below!