Hi all!
Welcome to my Gilmore Girls Readathon Wrap-Up, that took place from October 1st – October 15th. You can check out my original TBR, plus all the details here. I challenged myself to read four books in two weeks and I’m happy to report that I did. However, things did not go as initially planned! I had to mix the challenges up, adding two new books in place of two other ones. I had so much fun partaking in this readathon. Thanks again to Darling Desi for organising it! Without further ado, here are the books I read and what I thought of them!
GROUP BOOK
This was such a fun autobiography, detailing all of Lauren’s thoughts and feelings, regarding her role as the lovable Lorelai Gilmore. It made me want to watch the show again for the zillionth time! I also learnt so much about her life. I love her diary entries at the back, documenting her experience on A Year in the Life! She kept eluding to it returning, which had me so excited. Also, (as everyone who’s read this book says) I read it in her fast talking, witty voice!
I gave this book 5/5 stars.
CHALLENGE 5 – A BOOK BY AN ASIAN AUTHOR OR HAS ASIAN REPRESENTATION
CHALLENGE 6 – THE NEXT BOOK IN A SERIES YOU HAVEN’T FINISHED YET
I absolutely adored this book! It made me laugh and cry. This is such an important story that everyone should read. It emphasises that the word ‘fat’ is not bad, only society makes it so. It shows that large girls can also be healthy, strong and sexy. It promotes the ideal that people are worthy of love and happiness, no matter their size. I definitely enjoyed this novel much more than When Dimple Met Rishi. It was funny and heart-warming. I read a lot of YA, where the female protagonist is validated by male attention, but in this book, Sweetie already knows she is beautiful. Ashish’s love simply reinforces it. It was so refreshing!
I gave this book 5/5 stars.
CHALLENGE 1 – A BOOK WITH A SCHOOL SETTING
CHALLENGE 2 – A MOTHER/DAUGHTER RELATIONSHIP BOOK
CHALLENGE 7 – A BOOK WITH FOOD ON THE COVER OR IS A CRUCIAL PART OF THE STORY LINE
If you saw my original TBR, I had With The Fire On High by Elizabeth Acevedo for these two challenges, but it was not available at the library, so I had to improvise! This book revolves around a negative mother/daughter relationship. Food is a big part of the storyline, due to the intense focus on dieting.
Savannah is dreading being home alone with her overbearing mother, after her sister goes off to college. But if she can just get through senior year, she’ll be able to escape too. What she doesn’t count on, is that her mother’s obsession with weight has only grown deeper since her appearance on an extreme weight-loss show. Now, Savvy’s mom is pressuring her even harder, to be constantly mindful of what she eats.
Between her mom’s diet-helicoptering, missing her sister, and worrying about her collegiate future, Savvy has a lot on her place (pardon the pun). And then she meets George, the cute new kid at school, who has insecurities of his own. As Savvy and George grow closer, they help each other discover how to live in the moment, enjoying the here and now, before it disappears.
I wanted to love this book but it let me down a little. Firstly, it didn’t touch on the subject of body positivity as much as I thought it would. Secondly, there was no real plot. It was quite all over the place. Thirdly, I was so invested in the love interest, but even that went downhill a bit toward the end. It just felt super rushed. The most redeeming feature of this book was Savannah. She was a funny, quirky protagonist. I wish I had enjoyed this book more, but it was just okay.
I gave this book 3/5 stars.
CHALLENGE 3 – ANY COSY BOOK SET DURING FALL/WINTER
CHALLENGE 4 – A BOOK WITH COMPLICATED LOVE INTERESTS
Originally, I was meant to read A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro, but it was also unavailable at the library. Lock Every Door takes place in the fall, featuring a complicated love interest! Understatement!
No visitors. No nights spent away from the apartment. No disturbing the other residents, all of whom are rich or famous or both. These are the only rules for Jules Larsen’s new job as an apartment sitter at the Bartholomew, one of Manhattan’s most high-profile and mysterious buildings. Recently heartbroken and just plain broke, Jules is taken in by the splendor of her surroundings. She accepts the terms, ready to leave her past life behind. As she gets to know the residents and staff of the Bartholomew, Jules finds herself drawn to fellow apartment sitter, Ingrid, who comfortingly (yet, disturbingly) reminds her of the sister she lost eight years ago. When Ingrid confides that the Bartholomew is not what it seems, Jules brushes it off as a harmless ghost story, until the next day, when Ingrid disappears.
I was enjoying this book so much. It was atmospheric and well-written, not to mention, intriguing! Unfortunately however, I guessed who the main villain was pretty early on. Not to mention, once everything was revealed, I was like ‘oh, that’s it?’ It had such potential, but just didn’t live up to my expectations. Still a fun, creepy read though!
I gave it 3.5/5 stars.
Let me know if you’ve read any of these books and what you thought of them? Did you partake? Thanks for reading!
Peace & Love xoxo