N.E.W.T.s Magical Read-A-Thon Recap!

Guys.... It's finally over...

Today's post is my wrap up for the N.E.W.T.s Magical Read-a-Thon.

Hands down, this one was a lot harder than the O.W.L.s for some reason, but I'm so happy I did it because I finally got through a lot of the books and series I've been wanting to read before the year ends.

Most of these books will have had a separate review going into more detail.

The Cruel Prince- ♥♥♥♥♥
E For Transfiguration- Read a book from an author you haven't read anything of before.

  I spent way more time reading this book that I intended to, but I can't quite say I regretted it. The first 150 pages I wasn't sure I was going to like it, but thanks to a short camping trip halfway through August I was able to get to the good stuff and was left with a little bit of a hangover. 

   Cardan was not as menacing and I expected, but his relationship with Jude was refreshing somehow. I liked that it didn't go from 0-100 mated bliss in this book. Aside from a kiss, it was all steamy sexual tension that I really hope is continued into The Wicked King.

One Dark Throne- ♥♥♥♥♥
O For Transfiguration- Read a book that's set in a kingdom/has royals.

  This book I finished faster than I expected. I had high hopes since I've heard that One Dark Throne was better than Three Dark Crowns. However, I put too much into that expectation and ended up not loving it as much as I had hoped. 

   Overall I was looking for more of the loose ends to be tied up to propel the story line. By the time I finished it was more of a web of string that I wanted. We're still not confirmed what Katharine's ability is. Jules became way cooler. The deaths of some supporting characters were pretty surprising, but over all the pacing and lack of resolve really left a bitter taste in my mouth.

Percy Jackson & The Titan's Curse- ♥♥♥♥♥
A for Arithmancy- Book of at least 300 pages.

  I am for sure on a PJ high right now, which is probably because I am reading 3 of the 5 books in a short period of time. Yesterday I spent like 10 minutes explaining to my co-worker why he should read the series and why Roirdan is awesome.

  After feeling meh from the Sea of Monsters, this book certainly picked the story back up for me. I loved Artemis and her Hunters, especially Zoe. The story was really good and easy to read. It felt very familiar to the lightening thief, just because it was a road trip to the west coast. The familiar landmarks were cool to see as well, like The Hoover Dam.

Godsgrave- ♥♥♥♥♥
A For Transfiguration- A book with a grey cover.

  This book I feel like I still haven't fully processed. Although I took my time reading it, I think my mind is still numb to what happened to Mia. Overall I know I liked it way more than Nevernight.

   So much realization happened in this book that was somewhat predictable or expected, like Mia learning more about the politics around her fathers death. Ashlinn and Mia being romantic was also a little expected, though 100% appreciated. What I think I loved most was the super, overly complicated plan Mia came up with to get to her targets. Like "Oh, I need to murder these two political figures in one shot because of the amount of defense that would happen if I tried one at a time. Let's just sell our-self into slavery and win a gladiatii tournament for the 5 minutes of unprotected exposure I get to make this happen." Which kind of sums up Jay Kristoff's writing. 

Percy Jackson & The Battle of The Labyrinth- ♥♥♥♥♥
E for Arithmancy- Book that ends on an even numbered page.

  Still PJ trash, just saying. I wasn't as crazy about all the new characters in this book as Titan's Curse, but I really loved how things were starting to come together to a head. The maze was cool, it would have been neat to see more of it before it was destroyed. I'm happy Annabeth was able to lead a quest, since that's something she wanted for a long time and it was successful. 

  I'm also 100% behind Annabeth's reaction to the Sphynx riddle. Helloooo... you're a sphynx and for a book worm, Annabeth type I was here for the riddle, not the pop quiz.

Percy Jackson & The Last Olympian- ♥♥♥♥♥
A for Defence Against the Dark Arts- Read a last book in a series.

   There was a lot that happened in this final book, but it was a good read. I really enjoy the way Riordan ties things in together and there are subtle meanings that are revealed along the way. It makes the story easy to read as you come to realize or try to predict what he means when he writes something as simple as "A trick that ends in death" means Silena would die by pretending to be Clarisse rather than the enemies tricking them.
   I would suggest the entire series to anyone who hasn't yet read it.

War Storm- ♥♥♥♥♥
E for Defence Against The Dark Arts- Read a foiled book.
  I've noticed that this series goes from a book I really like (Red Queen), to a book I border-line hated (Silver Sword), to a book I liked (King's Cage), to another that annoyed me (War Storm).
  A lot of my issues with this book was the writing, which I plan to get into more in my review of just this book. There was a lot that came off as juvenile and the aspect that reminded me of the X-men started to get on my nerves. It seriously felt like I was reading a book that was written by the same people who create content for those trash app games like "Choices" or "Episodes".

Over all I'm happy to have finished up some loose ends that I've been wanting to get through this year. I still need to tackle The Mortal Instruments and September is shaping up to be a re-read month with trying to finish the TOG series before Kingdom of Ash comes out. I'm also trying to finish reading the Harry Potter series since it's been a while since I've read the entire story from beginning to finish.

Let me know how you did!