For the Culture Readathon: Fave Characters Edition - Wrap Up & Mini Reviews

Happy Friday everyone!  Today, I'm sharing my wrap up and mini reviews for the For the Culture Readathon: Fave Characters Edition which ran the entire month of February!  You can check out the Twitter page for the challenge here and it was created by @TyBooks.  You can also visit the challenge on The StoryGraph here (I've recently decided I'm going to get back into The StoryGraph again and you can visit my profile here).  Of the 12 prompts, I completed 7 of them - one of them utilized one of the bonus group books.  You can use one book for as many prompts as you like, and also applied one of the bonus group books.  If you would like to check out my original tbr you can see it here.  Without further ado, keep reading to see what books I'm planning to read for this challenge:

1. Isis/The Clovers: a book or author who has influenced many

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The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead was absolutely brilliant.  I honestly don't know why I put it off for so long, but I'd say this was a perfect time to finally read it.  It can be tough to read and quite intense, but it is a must read.  I can definitely say that I need to read everything Colson Whitehead has ever written now.  I'll even have to try the tv adaptation as well.

My review is also on Goodreads.

2. Michonne: book with a warrior character

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All of the stories in Black Panther: Tales of Wakanda by Jesse J. Holland are good, but not all of them stood out to me as much as I was hoping. That said my favorite story from the entire collection was "Return of the Queen" by Tananarive Due which features Ororo Munroe aka Storm.

My review is also on Goodreads.

3. Annalise Keating: sapphic book

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So Let Them Burn (Divine Traitors #1) by Kamilah Cole is an amazing YA LGBT+ Fantasy debut!  This fantasy is Jamaican inspired and the atmosphere and world-building are outstanding, the characters are feel like they could walk right off the page (especially Faron), and the magic system is pretty cool.  Plus, there are dragons!  The story does deal with some heavier topics, but the author handles them well.  I highly recommend this and I can't wait to read the future sequel.

My review is also on Goodreads.

7. Stanley Hudson: book with a grumpy character

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I'm so glad I just happened to stumble on The Black Veins (Dead Magic #1) by Ashia Monet was just the kind of YA urban fantasy I was looking for.  As much as I liked the magic system and the world-building, the characters really make the story.  I hope we can still look forward to the sequel since this was released going on five years ago.

My review is also on Goodreads.

8. Jesper: found family

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I don't read Middle Grade too often, but I'm glad I didn't skip out on The Vanquishers (The Vanquishers #1) by Kalynn Bayron.  It's a lot of fun!  It reminds me of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and even The Goonies in the best way.  The characters are at the heart of the story and that really makes it work.  I'm looking forward to read the next book in the series, Secret of the Reaping.

My review is also on Goodreads.

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I'm always on the look out for a good YA Horror novel, so I was really pleased to see just how much Monstrous by Jessica Lewis  worked for me.  It's dark, mysterious, creepy, and right up my alley.  I love how this one starts and jumps right into things.  It doesn't waste any time and I really appreciated that aspect.  If you haven't read this or Bad Witch Burning by Jessica Lewis and are a fan of YA Horror, you're missing out.

My review is also on Goodreads.

12. Lt. Uhura: book set in space or on another planet

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Sweep of Stars (Astra Black #1) by Maurice Broaddus was pretty cool. Don't skip this if you're looking for Afrofuturism or space opera reads!  I really appreciated that it includes a list of families and a glossary even.  I'll have to keep my eyes open for the sequel, Breathe of Oblivion, which will be released on August 27th of this year.  If you like N.K. Jemisin and James S.A. Corey, you'll have to read this sci-fi series opener.

My Review is also on Goodreads.

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 down below!