My Own Books Reading Challenge - Wrap Up & Mini Reviews

Happy Thursday everyone!  Today, I'm sharing my Wrap Up and Mini Reviews for the My Own Books Reading Challenge which is being hosted by Anne @ My Head is Full of Books.  You can see my original post here.  Keep reading to see my thoughts on the ten books I completed for this challenge, in the order that I read them:

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I really liked the sound of the blurb for Such Dark Things by Courtney Evan Tate. I was expecting a suspenseful psychological thriller, but the final product doesn't fit the bill. I liked the first quarter of the book. I wanted to unravel the mystery surrounding Corrine and I preferred her perspective chapters. The further I got into the story, though, the more it began to focus on Jude and it became more explicit than I cared for. Corrine started off as such a promising character, but ended up as a disappointment. Overall, it turned into one big mess and I really didn't need that.

I read this from March 15 - 16, 2019 and my review is also on Goodreads.

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The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg sounded like it would be exactly up my alley. The concept behind it is pretty awesome, but it just didn't deliver in the ways I was expecting it to. The first half of the story was pretty great, but the rest didn't word for me. I probably won't be continuing the series.

I read this novel from March 31 - April 1, 2019 and my review is also on Goodreads.

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I don't know about you, but I thought that Kill the Farm Boy by Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne was absolutely hilarious. I love the styles of both authors, and for the most part this series opener checked almost all the right boxes for me. I have a feeling you'll love this if you're a fan of Terry Pratchett's Discworld, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and The Princess Bride.

I read this novel from March 24 - April 6, 2019 and my review is also on Goodreads.

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I like the Immortal City series by Scott Speer much more than I ever expected to. It's quite addicting and book two, Natural Born Angel, is no exception. There's a lot of fast-paced action and I enjoyed getting a first hand look at Maddy's training. With everything she's learned since the end of the first novel, she's a bit different this time around, as is Jacks. The only aspect I wasn't as interested in was the love triangle, but that's really to be expected from me. Anyway, I can't wait to read the finale, Battle Angel, and I hope we'll get to see more of the world aside from Angel City aka Los Angeles.

I read this novel from April 6 - 11, 2019 and my review is also on Goodreads.

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All the Crooked Saints is much different from the rest of Maggie Stiefvater's work. It's very definitely magical realism rather. It's slow and fairly quiet, but still beautifully written as I've come to expect from her. The desert setting is great, but I have to admit that the omnipresent perspective isn't one of my favorites. Once you get into the swing of it, it flows incredibly well but it took a bit for me to get there. If you're interested in Maggie Stiefvater's writing at all, I'd highly recommend picking up this strange (in a good way) little book.

I read this book from April 15 - 19, 2019 and my review is also on Goodreads.

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The Troop by Nick Cutter was just like if Stephen King wrote the Supernatural episode "How to Win Friends and Influence Monsters" featuring boy Scouts. I liked that very much. I need to read more of this author.

I read this from April 19 - 25, 2019 and my review is also on Goodreads.

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Double Down is a great follow up to Fallout. I enjoy following this modern take on Lois Lane and her bond with SmallvilleGuy/ Clark which has gone deeper here. I'm looking forward to the finale, Triple Threat, and reading more from this author in general.

I read this novel from April 25 - 27, 2019 and my review is on Goodreads.

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I was hoping for Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Men in Black, but that didn't happen. I definitely appreciated the Doctor Who and Star Trek references though.

I read Flying by Carrie Jones on May 3, 2019 and my review is also on Goodreads.

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Definitely should have read book one, Hollow Earth, first but Bone Quill was still a lot of fun. This adventure goes by so fast, but luckily I never completely out of the loop. I'm going to have to catch up on this series in the future.

I read this book on May 4, 2019 and my review is also on Goodreads.

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Into the Dim by Janet B. Taylor has so much potential. I mean, I was sold with time travel and Eleanor of Aquitaine. Unfortunately it never quite lived up to it. My issues with the novel: it takes awhile to get going, a lot happens and we meet a lot of characters that don't matter for the overall plot, it's fairly predictable, the main character has a photographic memory but has no common sense, the instalove, and finally, that the book didn't need to be 425 pages. I have to admit that I was really disappointed that Hope doesn't know Doctor Who. My favorite things were easily Eleanor of Aquitaine and Thomas a Becket - they're easily the most well-written characters of the story.

I read this novel from May 5 - 12, 2019 and my review is also on Goodreads.


Congratulations if you made it this far!  Have you read any of these books?  Did you take part in this reading challenge?  As always, thanks for visiting my blog and perhaps even commenting below!