This is a wrap up for the Orilium readathon! Normally I would post a TBR for this readathon but I find for these month long readathons, I go wildly off the TBR so much that it feels a little pointless. That said, this is my last year of the Beast Master calling but thankfully G has already predicted this! I’ll definitely be looking at the post graduate studies in the Orilium world. But before that, let me get back to the Spring equinox for the calling.
The G drive with all the resources is here
Elemental Studies – Temperature word in the title
Between the hockey romance and the main conflict being Character A being very closeted and Character B being out, I was dubious about this book and unfortunately I was right. This book is about 200 pages and I don’t think they pay enough attention to the relationship and the character conflict with Damien being closeted, isolated and suffering under emotional abuse from his family. It feels like Damien is getting blamed for all those things by the narrative and also like being out of the closet can solve everything in his life? That’s not how it works. And don’t even get me started on Ares ‘well this has gone mildly wrong, time to move unis again!’. At least this book was free.
Animal Studies – Wolves (cover, content, title)
This was a book that is a prequel to the main series and it feels very much so. It is very much a novella that is there to just introduce the mystery and the world – there was new characters in the next book and you can tell because these characters are barely given any time to develop. They were introduced, got together and then exited stage left. But the writing was okay and I have the first book in the series so I’ll check it out.
Alchemy – Reread
I read the first volume of this when I was a teenager but I absolutely could not remember much about it except for the introduction of Ranma to Akane and her family. I had a great time with this, I enjoyed the art style, I found it fun to read and I really liked the development of Ranma and Akane as characters but also as friends. Very cute, I’m sad this was a library book!
Restoration – Pick a 5 star book
I asked a friend for 5 star book recs and she gave me this. It was not a five star book for me (the mystery/twist was convoluted) but I did have a really fun time with it and I enjoyed having the floor plans to study. It’s definitely a series I want to continue.
Lore – Dystopia/Utopia
This was a book I picked up from the library because it was discussed about on Booktube as a possibility for the Women’s Prize for Fiction Longlist. It didn’t end up making the longlist which is a shame because I definitely think it was a strong contender, but I am glad I read it. I really enjoyed the set up for the characters and the world, as well as what happened to everyone in the book. I especially enjoyed the Minister of Loneliness chapters and seeing her views change through it and Nancy’s chapters too (though you don’t realise the significance of her chapters until halfway through). However, I will say that I felt like the twist with what Vincent did at the end felt unneccesary in that it happened and then the book ended a couple of chapters later. It was there to be a twist, not to actually let the characters change and develop because of it (since it happened so late in the book). There was foreshadowing for it sure, but it still felt like it wasn’t neccessary.
