July 2019 Wrap Up | Medieval-a-thon Wrap Up

I was SO CLOSE to finishing out medieval-a-thon with a book for each prompt! But then life got in the way the last few days of July and I didn’t get a chance to finish my last two books that I needed. Since all of July was Medieval-a-thon, this wrap up will be a little different since I’m going to show you what I had planned to read for the prompts and what I actually read for the prompts, and what my final results were!

First, I wanted to show you what my original TBR was for Medieval-a-thon. (You can also look at my TBR post for Medieval-a-thon as well which has a little more description!)

A book where the characters fight for the throne:

Wanted to read: Prince of Thorns
Actually read: Prince of Thorns

This was the book I had planned for this prompt, and I’m happy to say that I managed to actually read it! While it wasn’t my favorite book that I read, I can still appreciate what the book accomplished. I know that Jorg was meant to be a completely dislikable character, but he was almost too unlikable for me to really fall in love with his character. However, Lawrence’s writing is fantastic and with this being his debut, I’m excited to see where the rest of the series goes and read his other series like The Book of the Ancestor!

A book with a dragon on the cover:

Wanted to read: Seraphina
Actually read: The Tainted Crown

I ended up not getting around to reading Seraphina, but The Tainted Crown has a dragon on the front of the cover so it fit the prompt (which is good because it didn’t fit for it’s original prompt). I ended up really enjoying The Tainted Crown, but I did have a few issues with it which I’ll talk in more detail about in my review….whenever that will be. Everything was just really convenient and the stakes didn’t feel high even when they said they were in extreme danger.

A shiny book:

Wanted to read: Seraphina
Actually read: ….nothing, but Throne of Glass would fit this prompt

Because I didn’t get around to reading Seraphina, I didn’t get to read a book specifically for this prompt. HOWEVER, I read the collectors edition of Throne of Glass which is very shiny so I guess it works for this? Let’s just go with it, it means I only missed one prompt! This was my fourth or fifth reread of Throne of Glass, and I still enjoyed the book and it has so much nostalgia for me!

A thick paperback:

Wanted to read: The Red Knight
Actually read: The Great Hunt

I had all the best intentions when it came to reading The Red Knight and I had read the first few pages from the sampler available on Goodreads before I even bought the book. For some reason, when I went to read it for Medieval-a-thon it just wasn’t clicking with me so I decided to switch to The Great Hunt for this prompt to make sure I didn’t get into a reading slump. I am so happy that I finally finished the second book for The Wheel of Time, and while I found it to be a little slower than the first book, but I didn’t mind at all because I find each of the characters to be so well developed that I just needed to know what was going on with each of them, and the world is so interesting that I devoured this book!

A book that has yellowed over time:

Wanted to read: The Winner’s Curse
Actually read: The Winner’s Curse

Another book that I read for the prompt I intended to read it for! Yay me! I’ve had this book on my TBR for what feels like FOREVER. Like, pre-blog days. Needless to say, I was excited to finally have an excuse to read this book, and I’m so happy that I finally got around to it! I loved Kestrel and how determined and confident she was, but she also wasn’t afraid to admit that she was wrong and change her way of thinking and acting. I can’t wait to continue with this series and see how she gets out of her current situation!

A book with red on the cover:

Wanted to read: The Red Knight
Actually read: The Great Hunt

For the same reason I gave above, I just couldn’t get into The Red Knight in July and The Great Hunt edition that I read had red on the cover, so it saved me on this prompt as well!

A book with something pointy on the cover:

Wanted to read: Throne of Glass
Actually read: Throne of Glass

Throne of Glass really saved me for this entire readathon! It fit for three of the prompts, and since I didn’t manage to read as many books as I wanted to for the readathon, I stretched it out to fit for this one as well as the next prompt, which was…..

A book with assassins:

Wanted to read: Throne of Glass
Actually read: Throne of Glass

Because Celaena Sardothien is one of my favorite assassins. Do I need more of a reason? I don’t think so. I could’ve gone for a different book, but I really wanted to reread ToG so I did!

A book with elves:

Wanted to read: The Tainted Crown
Actually read: ….nothing

Goodreads lied to me! When I was planning out my TBR, I searched the lists on Goodreads for books featuring elves for something that I owned but haven’t read yet, and The Tainted Crown was one of the books that showed up. Perfect, right?? NOPE. There is a race called the Elderkind, but not ONCE does it say that they are actually elves. They have the same abilities, but it doesn’t describe them with pointed ears (which to me is a hallmark of elves). Maybe I missed that part of the description, but I don’t think so. *Sigh*

A book with mercenaries:

Wanted to read: Saga Volume 4
Actually read: Saga Volume 4

I guess I just really needed an excuse to continue with this graphic novel series. While The Will wasn’t actually actively doing anything in this volume, but his sister The Brand shows up! This is one of the only graphic novel series that I’ve truly enjoyed, I’ve tried others that I just don’t like nearly as much. Please send recs for good graphic novels like Saga!

 

So basically, I ended up as a Queen with all weapons except a bow, which sucks because that’s one of my favorite weapons in fantasy. I also technically don’t have a breastplate (unless I can just cheat with ToG) but at least I have a cloak to cover it up. But I mean, does it really matter? I’m a Queen!

Books outside the readathon:

Onyx and Ivory

I loved this book! The magic system was fun and unique, the drakes were interesting and the political intrigue was right up my alley! After I finished this one I ordered the second book because I want to see what happens to Kate, Corwin and their friends. Maybe someday I’ll get around to writing a full review, because I’m SO BEHIND on reviews right now!

Wicked Fox

I’m so happy that I got this book in my Book of the Month box, because it was great! I read it in two days while on vacation, and reading about the gumiho was so much fun and I’m glad I got to experience a little bit of the Korean myth of the gumiho. I have a full review up in my new review format, so please go take a look and tell me what you think!