Beat The Backlist 2024 - March Update

Happy Thursday everyone! Today I'm sharing my third update for my March progress on the year long Beat The Backlist 2024 reading challenge, hosted by Austine Decker.  You can see my original tbr here.  In March, I completed 5 books for a total of 20 books completed out of 52 books on my tbr.  Without further ado, keep reading to see my thoughts on the books I read in March:

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The concept of Assistant to the Villain (Assistant to the Villain #1) by Hannah Nicole Maehrer  caught my eye and sounded like fun but it mostly feels like a missed opportunity. It has its moments but they're too few and far between to make the book work as a whole.  The sense of humor is hit or miss and veers off into cringey too much for me. I was also expecting to get more from the characters than what we did. The coolest/ most interesting thing we learn about the villain comes just a handful of pages before the end. It would have been nice to know that early on just to give a more of a sense of character. I also thought this was an adult book, but it reads and comes across as for a younger audience. Finally, I just want to mention that this makes me want to rewatch/ reread Megamind and Nimona. They're definitely what this book wants to be or should be.

My review is also on Goodreads.

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The Testament of Loki (Loki #2) by Joanne M. Harris is a sequel that I wanted to love this just as much as its predecessor, The Gospel of Loki, but that never quite happened. It's still a solid read and has moments that really make it shine but just not on the same level. I still think I'll try this author's Runemarks series in the future.

My review is also on Goodreads.

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A Dowry of Blood (A Dowry of Blood #1) by S.T. Gibson ended up being a pleasant surprise.  I didn't know how much I needed this unique and darkly gothic Brides of Dracula retelling, but this was pretty cool.  I will say that it took me a minute to get into the style, but really though the format of the novel really made the whole thing work for me.  I'll now have to read everything by this author, and I wouldn't mind a return to this world in the future.

My review is also on Goodreads and I also read it for my Marvelathon Challenge. 

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Low Town (Low Town #1) by Daniel Polansky had what I thought sounded like a really cool combination of elements that would really work out for me.  After all, I usually enjoy noir / hard boiled crime fiction especially from Hammett and Chandler. Plus, the fantasy elements sounded really cool in the mix but I just couldn't get into this one unfortunately.  It just wasn't for me after all.

My review is also on Goodreads.

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This Delicious Death by Kayla Cottingham is a YA horror novel I didn't really have any particular expectations for, but I really got a kick out of its style.  I don't think I've seen YA ghoul book before now but that was good. Also, this might be the first time I've seen anthropophagi pop up since I read The Monstumologist by Rick Yancey!  I definitely recommend this one.  I'll need to read more from this author in the future.

My review is also on Goodreads.

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