Readathons and Reading Quests

So, about halfway through SapphicAThon I lost momentum of reading wlw stories because I kept being so disappointed by what I found 😖 I have a bunch of books I didn’t get to that I still plan to read~ Now to summarize all the things I read, and links to reviews 😎

One of the books I started was GIRLS MADE OF SNOW AND GLASS by Melissa Bashardoust. I’m still in the process of reading/listening to it (I fell into the trap of The Bright Sessions podcast, so haven’t been listening to audible 😅), but I’m about 19% through and plan to finish it next.

The first book I read was EITAN’S CHORD by Shira Glassman, which fulfilled the Jewish Char bingo square. I’ve read other books by Shira Glassman and KNIT ONE, GIRL TWO is basically a happy place read for me, but this one was less than stellar to me. I wanted to like it because polyamory/triad and Hanukkah fairies! But it just fell a little flat for me. Full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2213933363

Next on Kindle I tried reading VILLAINS DON’T DATE HEROES by Mia Archer, which could have fulfilled Hate to Love bingo square. Unfortunately this was a huge DNF for me, at only 36%, which is a huge disappointment because I love villains and hate to love is such a good trope. This book was a mess, though; definitely needed a good editing and it was just so long-winded at times. Full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2162748323

Next up, we have THE PRICE OF MEAT by KJ Charles, which fulfilled Non-Coming Out bingo square. I adore KJ Charles and her writing is always so good. This was a quick, creepy read with some really interesting history. Full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2215862781

Next, GIRL MANS UP by M-E Girrard, which probably could’ve fulfilled Interractial bingo square, but I NOPEd outta there real quick (28 pages quick). The friendship between MC and her “best friend” was gross and toxic, the way she helped him get and then toss girls was gross, and how the best friend told MC she needed to leave his exes alone and not listen to them really bothered me. Everything about those 28 pages made me so uncomfortable. Full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2217413312

I read GRRRLS ON THE SIDE by Carrie Pack, which fulfilled Bisexual MC bingo square. The premise of the book was interesting and I liked the punk scene in the 90s with the zines as part of story telling style, but in the end this book didn’t completely wow me. It had a lot of issues, including: fatmisia, transmisia, racism, not listening to WOC voices, and erasing/invalidating MC’s bisexuality. Full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2216300341

I tried (and failed) to read EELGRASS by Tori Curtis; I only made it about 14% through before I couldn’t take it anymore. I was going to use this book to fulfill SF/F bingo square, but the attitude towards Bettan’s lost sealskin and subsequent kidnapping (she’ll be happier for it, she’ll have babies and find her place, it’ll settle her, etc) just made me TOO uncomfortable and I couldn’t finish it. Full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2217554958

I was reading ASH by Malinda Lo for about half of SapphicAThon, but ending DNFing it because while I enjoyed the writing style, I was bored of the story. No review.

RIPPED PAGES by M. Hollis was my next reading adventure, and it fulfilled Retelling bingo square. It was a unique, cute Rapunzel retelling, but sometimes the pacing got to me. It was a bit of a Princess Saves Herself (major positive) but also really nice example of princesses saving each other. Full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2140722418

I also read M. Hollis’ NIGHT AT THE MALL, which fulfills Less Than 500 Goodreads Ratings bingo square. This was another cute fluff read, but it felt more like the Meet-Cute (which I love) without the subsequent relationship and feelings that I wanted. Full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2220418677

MY HEART IS READY by Chace Verity was my next read, which fulfilled Established Relationship bingo square. I have also read TEAM PHISON by Chace and omg their writing is so much feelings for me. I can’t wait more of this series to come out 😍 but I adored Corsine and Tristis, and their flawed but loving relationship. Just, such fun characters and a cute story! Full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2197767772

Finally I read IT’S NOT LIKE IT’S A SECRET by Misa Sugiura, which fulfilled Both WOC bingo square. I have some mixed feelings for this book, especially because cheating is such a prevalent theme (MC cheats on her gf with a boy bc she thinks gf is cheating, and friends are all “it’s not cheating if she cheated first.”). Definitely has strong themes of racism and prejudice, and examining how those views affect us and our perceptions of people. Full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1929858655

Hey, look, I actually finished a couple things today!

Finished reading GEMINI KEEPS CAPRICORN by Anyta Sunday (which is mlm but it’s a series that makes me smile) and ahhh, it was so cute and fun~ I needed happy read because had some drama go down last night and really stressed me out.

After finishing the above, I read RIPPED PAGES by M. Hollis, which is a f/f Rapunzel novella. It was cute and I liked some of the retelling aspects as well as classic fairytale feel of the telling, but overall the story was okay for me. It fulfills RETELLING bingo square for #sapphicathon. Full review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2140722418

I also read A NIGHT AT THE MALL, also by M. Hollis, and it was a nice meet-cute, but the story didn’t really have much beyond that for me. Dunno if it fulfills a bingo square, but still read for #sapphicathon bc still wlw fiction lol. Full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2220418677

So, didn’t remember to do update yesterday, but also didn’t really do much sapphic reading.

Started EELGRASS by Tori Curtis like I had planned, but I didn’t even get past the first chapter because it had such an attitude of r*pe apology and normalizing the kidnapping of selkie by stealing their sealskin. I much prefer, and recommend, SEVEN TEARS AT HIGH TIDE by CB Lee, especially because it treats losing your sealskin as a trauma and NOT as something that’s going to lead to “finding purpose” and being “happy” once married and having kids. Full review, as well as some highlights, can be found here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2217554958

I also started HER MOST SECRET AFFAIR by Jesalin Creswell and I got about halfway through before giving up because I was just bored by the story telling and creeped out by the main character. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2218391727

I returned ASH and HUNTRESS by Malinda Lo to the library today because I was bored and uninvested in ASH.

I feel terrible because I feel like I just keep DNFing books that I’ve started for SapphicAThon but they keep making me uncomfortable or boring me.

Today I actually haven’t read anything for SapphicAThon 😅 I found The Bright Sessions podcast the other day and oooo-eeee, I am in LOVE with this series. The characters are so interested and there’s so many little hints of mystery coming together, I can’t get enough. Damien is SUPER creepy and I love it, but CALEB, Caleb is my absolute favorite character 😻 I’m only on S2E7 but Caleb is so mushy and soft when he talks about Adam and I CANNOT get enough of it~~~

I also started reading GEMINI KEEPS CAPRICORN by Anyta Sunday because I love her Signs of Love series and I really just wanted to read something that would make me smile after all the things I’ve started and ended up giving up on.

I plan to read more of GIRLS MADE OF SNOW AND GLASS once I finish Gemini Keeps Capricorn and can divide my focus better.

So, yesterday I was confused and originally thought it was day 4 😅 But today is the real deal!! lol

Today I finished reading GRRRLS ON THE SIDE by Carrie Pack. I gave it 2.5⭐️ and you can read my full review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2216300341 While the story was a really cool concept, I really had a lot of issues with it. There’s a LOT of bi-erasure, starting with the book’s blurb, as well as a lot of fatmisia that starts from basically page one. It did have some cool messages, but the execution was so poorly done and I can’t really recommend this book.

I also started GIRL MANS UP by M-E Girard, but I couldn’t take it after only 28 pages. Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2217413312 Like, the MC’s best friend is toxic and his treatment of her, and how he uses her to pick up women - AND SHE THINKS ITS OKAY - as well as her own misogyny and stuff, it just wasn’t something I wanted to subject myself to.

Finally, I got some more of GIRLS MADE OF SNOW AND GLASS read today, making it to page 75 (19% through). I’m still really enjoying this and, while there’s some stuff that sits kinda funny and uncomfortable for me, Mina and Lynet are very intriguing characters for me.

Wow, already onto day 3! Time is flying fast. Just me? Maybe just me.

I didn’t read any of GIRLS MADE OF SNOW AND GLASS or ASH today, but I did read THE PRICE OF MEAT by KJ Charles this morning, and have it fulfilling my NON-COMING OUT STORY bingo square. I gave it 4 ⭐️ and review can be read here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2215862781

After finishing PRICE OF MEAT I started GRRRLS ON THE SIDE by Carrie Pack. I’m on page 71, which puts me less than a third of the way through the book. Have it on my bingo board as being my LESS THAN 500 GR RATINGS, but it can also fulfill BI MC and MC REALIZES THEY’RE QUEER. I’m really liking it so far and like a lot of the stuff it’s saying, but at the very beginning there’s these girls calling all the ladies to the front of the crowd, and my brain is thinking about how potentially transmiasic that can be because not all people who society reads as women are actually women and there are some women who society will read as masculine/men. Isn’t the punk/Riot Grrrl movement transmiasic and problematic on that front?

I don’t feel like I got as much reading done today, in part cuz my brain feels jumpy and not really focusing great at the moment. I also didn’t listen to any of GIRLS MADE OF SNOW AND GLASS on my way into work, though did get some listening done after work.

Musings and comments aside, actual reading progress/updates are as follows:

I ended up DNF on VILLAINS DON’T DATE HEROES! at 36% because I just couldn’t take the repetition of thoughts or the lack of commas; it really kept interrupting my reading flow. I’m super disappointed because the premise sounded right up my alley (villains are a weakness, especially since WICKED), but the whole thing just fell flat for me. Review can be found here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2162748323

I read up to page 53 (20%) of ASH and I’m still enjoying it, just reading it kinda slow so far.

I’m 14% through GMOSAG and I’m still loving it. There are a lot of parallels between Mina and Lynet, and can already see beginnings of a romantic development between Lynet and Nadia. The story telling style is almost lyrical, and I really hope I continue feeling so positively towards this story.

Part of why reading feels like it went a little slow/lackluster today is I made it a bit of a priority to finish YOU’RE WELCOME, UNIVERSE by Whitney Gardner so I can return it to the library tomorrow. Definitely an interesting read, but some of the things just really bothered me (mainly MC being cruel and vindictive to be cruel and vindictive) but the story itself was interesting and the artistic elements were well done by my estimation. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2181627660

I’m nearing the end of my day so gunna update everyone on where I’m at after day 1 😊

This morning I started EITAN’S CHORD by Shira Glassman and finished it. I wrote a review you can find here: https://t.co/kzBTpleVJW It was a cute read and I enjoyed the idea of it, but the story itself was only okay for me.

I started listening to GIRLS MADE OF SNOW AND GLASS by Melissa Bashardoust as well, and the narrator does a lot of weird pauses that make it sound like it should be a scene shift or chapter end, but is only the end of a sentence. The narration aside, the story is way interesting and the writing flow is beautiful. Only got 8% through so far, and no f/f elements yet, but definitely loving it so far.

At work, I started ASH by Malinda Lo and got to page 32, 12% through the book. Still a little up in the air about it, but the flow of it and the story is definitely intriguing me.

Finally, I started VILLAINS DON’T DATE HEROES! by Mia Archer and, while I’m having it fulfill my HATE TO LOVE bingo square, it seems to also fulfill MC REALISES THEY’RE QUEER square because Night Terror, MC/narrator keeps making comments about how she’s never been interested or attracted to women the same way she’s attracted to Fialux. I’m enjoying it, but there is a severe shortage of commas going on that interrupts my reading flow. I’m about 22% through so far, and going strong.

Although I definitely will not be awake when it starts (pesky adult responsibilities and all that), I’m already making plans for the first day.

As I’ve mentioned a few times (maybe only on twitter??), I like to read several books simultaneously - separate physical, digital, and audio. It makes me feel like I’m getting more reading done while still accomplishing responsibilities.

My plans for the first day are: Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust on Audible (took a poll on Twitter to make a choice on first audio book, lol.), Ash by Malinda Lo physical, and Villains Don’t Date Heroes! by Mia Archer on Kindle. These fulfill the RETELLING square, WOC MC square, and HATE TO LOVE square on the bingo board 😁

So, as SapphicAThon quickly approaches (AT LAST!!!) I’m sorta revamping some of my reading plans and figuring out priority reading order~

It has come to my attention (thank you, Twitter) that Seafarer’s Kiss by Julia Ember has some seriously problematic enby rep, and with my mental health already being wibbly of lately, I’m going to avoid it for the time being. If you’re curious about the problematic rep, this rep by Dax goes into depth - fey also were one whose tweet I saw warning about that book needing a CW for enby rep. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1990759466

So, I went to the library and found SO. MANY. F/F books and now I wanna try and include them because originally I was mostly planning to stick with things on my kindle. This way I can read one thing on my kindle/phone while “working” and read library books during breaks and the like.

ASH and HUNTRESS by Malinda Lo are at the top of my SapphicAThon TBR, and these books fulfill QWOC MC square (ASH) and BOTH WOC square (HUNTRESS).

GIRLS MADE OF SNOW AND GLASS by Melissa Bashardoust is next in physical books, which fulfills FAIRY TALE RETELLING square.

On Kindle, CHAMELEON MOON by RoAnna Sylver is priority and fulfills TRANS MC square. This is a book I’ve been wanting to read for AGES but keep getting sidetracked. I’m finishing up STAKE SAUCE by the same author and RoAnna is amazing at sensitive character writing and their friendships are soooooo beautiful.

Also priority on Kindle is EELGRASS by Tori Curtis, which fulfills the SF/F square.

Third kindle priority is EITAN’S CHORD by Shira Glassman, which fulfills JEWISH MC square. I’m especially excited to read this one bc it’s a Hanukkah story and, hey, perfect time to read it because SapphicAThon starts on second day of Hanukkah.

Oh, also on kindle is VILLAINS DON’T DATE HEROES! by Mia Archer, which will fulfill HATE TO LOVE square.

SF/Here’s some of the books I’ve read and the squares they can fill in. 

Romancing the Inventor by Gail Carriger Non-Coming Out story SF/F (steampunk)

Awakened by Shei Darksbane Less than 500 GR Ratings SF/F (urban fantasy) Non-Coming Out Story

Sovereign by April Daniels Trans MC SF/F (superhero story) Interracial relationship Friends to Lovers

Drag Prince Charming by B. A. Huntley Less than 500 GR ratings

Royally Yours by Everly James Bisexual MC QWOC MC Less than 500 GR ratings

Out on Good Behavior by Dahlia Adler Friends to Lovers Non-Coming Out

Not Your Sidekick by C.B. Lee Bi MC QWOC MC SF/F (superheroes) Non-Coming Out Interracial

Fearless by Shira Glassman Jewish MC Less than 500 GR ratings

Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley (Note: This story takes place during Civil Rights movement and one of the narrators is black and there are a LOT of usages of N-word and other racial slurs. I really liked the story, but do question if Robin Talley should have been the one to write it, as a white woman.) Interracial

Princess Princess Ever After by Katie O’Neill Interracial Fairytale retelling QWOC MC Non-Coming Out

Tangle by Em Stevens Non-Coming Out Less than 500 GR Ratings

A Girl’s Best Friends by Rory Wilde Interracial QWOC MC

Rook Takes Queen by Em Stevens Non-Coming Out Less than 500 GR Rating

Critical Hit by Em Stevens Bi MC Non-Coming Out Less than 500 GR ratings

Femme 4 Femme by Harper Logan (Note: the premise for this story is cute and I liked how it started out, but then it kinda turned into just a hook-up story and the ending felt almost rushed into a romantic relationship.) Less than 500 GR Ratings

Beauty and the Wolf by Bridget Essex Fairytale retelling Less than 500 GR ratings SF/F Non-Coming Out

Beyond Your Boundaries by Georgia Claire SF/F Non-Coming Out Fairytale retelling Less than 500 GR Ratings

Knit One, Girl Two by Shira Glassman (This is one of the cutest stories ever! I smiled the whole time I read it and still smile over “I didn’t eat bacon for three days just in case we kissed.”) Jewish MC Disabled MC Non-Coming Out

Black Blade Blues by J. A. Pitts (Note: I haven’t actually finished this story because the MC has a lot of internalized homophobia going on, and it made it difficult for me to enjoy the story as much. The author is a guy, and I don’t know if that’s part of why it got to me so hard...) SF/F (urban) Established Relationship

Cinder Ella by S. T. Lynn (This story is really cute and I highly recommend it) QWOC MC Trans MC Fairytale retelling Less than 500 GR Ratings Interracial

So, even though Sapphic-A-Thon is a month away, I’m already planning books for each square xD

Bi MC: Dying for a Living by Kory M Shrum QWOC MC: Ash by Malinda Lo Trans MC: Chameleon Moon by RoAnna Sylver Disabled MC: Keeping Long Island by Courtney Peppernell SF/F: Heart of Time by Skye MacKinnon Non Coming Out story: Seafarer’s Kiss by Julia Ember Fairytale Retelling: Eelgrass by Tori Curtis Under 500 Goodreads Ratings: Kiss & Tell by Cynthia Dane Established Relationship: Life Within Parole, Volume 1 by RoAnna Sylver Hate to Love: Villains Don’t Date Heroes by Mia Archer Jewish MC: The Second Mango by Shira Glassman Friends to Lovers: The Gravity Between Us by Kristen Zimmer Both WOC: Huntress by Malinda Lo

This is, of course, subject to change over time, and no guarantees I’ll get even half of this board read in only 2 weeks. If you have any recommendations for Interracial, Ace-Spec MC, or MC Realizing They’re Queer squares, please send them my way.

I’m also going to make a post, later, with books I’ve read that fall under the various squares. It’s going to be a lot of repeat books because I used my GR “wlw” shelf and I’ve only really been adding books to there for the past year. I know I have more options on my Kindle, but that’s a little overwhelming to try going through ^_^’‘

Today I finished TWO more side quests for the reading quest. Unseen Attraction fulfills my Time Warp square and Outlander fulfills my Grind square. In the last three and a half weeks I've read NINE books~~ 😁

There's only three more days to the challenge and I'm unsure if I'm going to read any more books for the challenge because the person I was going to buddy-read with broke up with me 😂 So can't exactly read that book alone bc then it wouldn't fulfill the Multi-Player square, and I also don't really feel like reading the book that was edited by this former-buddy, so lose the interest to read book that fulfills Potions square 😂😂 That only leaves me with three books to choose from and my interests currently lie in continuing series I started as part of the Quest lol.

Goodreads is down (Horror of horrors) so I can't post my review, but I finished reading Heroine Worship by Sarah Kuhn today, fulfilling my "book with magic" square and completing the Mage path, giving me +50HP on top of +37HP and +20EXP for the book itself.

I also read The Magpie Lord by KJ Charles yesterday, fulfilling the "animal companion" side quest and fixing me +17HP and +10EXP.

In just under three weeks (ahhhh, the quest is almost over!! 😱😱😭😭) I've finished 7 (SEVEN!!!!!???) books, totaling 2,558 pages, and giving me 302HP and 100EXP, leveling up twice to level 3.