Book Riot's 2023 Read Harder Challenge - April Update: Scythe & True Beauty, Vol. 1

Happy Wednesday everyone!  I hope everyone's been doing well.  How is it almost April already?  Anyway, I've now competed the six tasks of Book Riot's 2023 Read Harder Challenge.  The tasks I completed this month required me to read one of your favorite author’s favorite books and a completed webcomic and I selected Scythe (Arc of a Scythe #1) by Neal Shusterman and True Beauty, Vol. 1 (True Beauty #1) by Yaongyi respectively.  Read on to see my mini reviews and my tbr for next month:

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Scythe (Arc of a Scythe #1) by Neal Shusterman is easily one of my favorite reads of the year.  I can't believe I slept on this series opener for so long because it was absolutely outstanding.  I loved getting to know the cast of characters and the world they inhabit.  The world is quite unique and it's intriguing to see how things have gotten to that stage and why.  It's so creepy and also very thought-provoking.  I can't wait to read the rest of the series and see the rest of what I've been missing.

My review is also on Goodreads.

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True Beauty, Vol. 1 (True Beauty #1) by Yaongyi isn't the sort of graphic novel I would usually pick up, but I'm glad I decided to try for Book Riot's 2023 Read Harder Challenge.  I ended up liking it more than I was expecting to, especially the art style.  I appreciated the main character's love of horror and her music.  Also, as someone who almost never wears make up, I never thought about it before now but this is probably the most I've ever read in any book about doing one's makeup.

My review is also on Goodreads.

Next Up For May: 

Read an author local to you.

My choice: Into the Bright Unknown (The Gold Seer Trilogy #3) by Rae Carson - I've really enjoyed the first two books in this historical fantasy series so far and I can't wait to see how it all ends.  By the way, Rae Carson is a fellow Central Ohioan.

Read any book from the Ignyte awards shortlist/longlist/winner list.

My choice: A Master of Djinn (Dead Djinn Universe #1) by P. Djeli Clark - I've loved what I've read from this author so far and this historical fantasy sounds awesome.

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!