Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge 2023 - July Update: Peter Darling & The Last House on Needless Street

Happy Thursday everyone!  I hope everyone's been doing well.  I know I say something like this every month, but how is it August already?  Anyway, I've now competed the fourteen tasks of Book Riot's 2023 Read Harder Challenge.  The tasks I completed this month required me to read a novel about a trans character written by a trans author and to finish a book you’ve DNFed (did not finish) and I selected Peter Darling by Austin Chant and The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward respectively.  Read on to see my mini reviews and my plans for next month:

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Peter Darling by Austin Chant turned out to be such a pleasant surprise.  I had no particular expectations going into the novel, but it turns out that I loved this book and I was incredibly invested in the world and the characters.  Of course, Peter is kind of irritating in the beginning, but over the course of the story there's some pretty great character development.  Of everyone, Hook's my favorite character which was probably the biggest surprise of all.  Honestly, this is probably my favorite Peter Pan.  It draws on the source material well, but there are enough unique elements to really make it stand out from the crowd of other retellings.  I'm going to have to try more works from Austin Chant in the future.

My review is also on Goodreads.

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The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward was a book that I tried and ended up DNF'in in print back in 2021.  I had a hard time following it and making sense of what was going on.  I'm glad I decided to give it a second try on audiobook now.  While I wouldn't call it a favorite, I definitely preferred it in this format.  It was easier for me to follow and was much less off-putting.  It does take awhile to get going and it's pretty darn weird (but in a good way).  My favorite narrator of the group of them was easily Olivia, the cat.  One of these days, I'm going to try more books from Catriona Ward. 

My review is also on Goodreads.

Next Up For August: 

Read a graphic novel/comic/manga if you haven’t before; or read one that is a different genre than you normally read.

My choice: Cook Korean!: A Comic Book with Recipes by Robin Ha - I really enjoyed Almost American Girl, so I'd like to read more of her stuff.  Plus, just look at that cover!

Read a cookbook cover to cover.

My choice: The Nancy Drew Cookbook: Clues to Good Cooking by Carolyn Keene - I spotted this at my library and I need to see what kind of recipes are in it.

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!