RATING BY READING ORDER

• Who Killed Miss Finch by Peter Boon : ★★★★★

• The Siren by Keira Cass : ★★★☆☆

• There is Someone inside your House by Stephanie Perkins : ★★☆☆☆

• Sadie by Courtney Summers : ★★★☆☆

• The Gender Game by Bella Forrest : ★★★☆☆

INTRODUCTION

In this post, I will talk about my experiences of doing a 5-day reading challenge. My reading challenge was for a local charity, I aimed to read 5 books for 5 days, one book a day. I must say this challenge was both exciting and draining at the same time. So let's talk about it.

MY BOOKS

I originally got people to vote on the books that I would be reading over the five days. Quite a few indie books won, primarily because I tried to select books that were free for me on kindle unlimited - we all know how much we spend on books without a reading challenge!

Who Killed Miss Finch?

This is a quirky whodunnit mystery story that follows Edward Crisp and his student Noah as they investigate the murder of the school head, Miss Finch. Edward and Noah take on the roles of Sherlock and Watson as they investigate suspects both inside the school and outside of school.

Easily read as a standalone, this book is a perfect introduction for a novice reader of mystery. The writing is well-paced, the mystery is easy to follow and the chapters are well structured allowing the story to flow. The story takes place in a small little town and the writer does a brilliant job of world-building. This mystery is suitable for both adults and YA.

The Siren

The Siren was my next favourite though it suffered similar flaws to the Betrothed - there was a limited plot but it kept me entertained enough. The book follows a girl in her life as a siren. Kahleen had been a siren for 80 years and she only has 20 years later until she meets a boy - a boy who could be the love of her life. For fans of the Wicked Deep and Little Mermaid.

Cass creates a perfect fairytale setting with her worldbuilding. We learn that the sirens are guided by someone known as The Ocean. Her personification of The Ocean is brilliantly done - while it remains a mystery throughout most of the book who is guiding the sirens, a deity, or The Ocean itself, I found it to be quite a unique concept. Overall this book had some interesting ideas and I would recommend this a relaxing holiday read.

There's Someone Inside Your House

There is Someone In Your House was one of the books picked for our book club read for October. I am not usually into thrillers but I was excited to give this one a go. Unfortunately, it fell a bit flat for me. The chapters were clearly trying to go for scary vibes but apart from the first chapter, this book did not give me the promised chills. The story follows Makani as members of her school get murdered and she investigates.

The subplot is the romance in this book with a boy called Ollie. He is kind of weird and quirky and the romance was at times sweet if not distracting from the murder/thriller vibes of the book.

Sadie

Sadie is a thriller that follows journalists trying to investigate what happened to Sadie after she goes missing in search of the killer of her sister. The story was nicely paced, with 'interview sections' of the book as well as chapters from Sadie's pov.

This book certainly does not have a happy beginning or ending but for sure it's addictive. As a reader, you feel so involved with the interviews and podcasts that are featured throughout this book that you just want to know where Sadie is. At times, you almost feel like you are watching/following a documentary. This book is raw with emotion and as a warning features the following: violence, abuse, drugs and murder.

The Gender Game

The Gender Game is a dystopian fantasy by Bella Forrest. It follows a futuristic society divided into Matrus and Patrus. Women rule the East and Men rule the west. The story follows Violet, a rebellious girl as she is sentenced to death for her crimes. The story had an overall good dystopian feel and provides a decent story about what would happen if our society was divided by gender. Relatively simplistic but interesting read.

This book would be worthy of a re-read from me mainly because it features my favourite genre of dystopian. I was invested in the world-building and the story had nice pacing and reminded me a bit of the Hunger Games. Without spoilers, the world in this book is twisted. Think the Reestablishment from Shatter Me combined with toxic feminism and toxic masculism. The novel could also have a gothic feel with a futuristic society that had devolved backward with the rights of some people in certain areas of the world.

OVERALL EXPERIENCE DOING THIS CHALLENGE

• It was a hard challenge to do. I picked quite a few thrillers and murder mysteries and I think that if I was to do this challenge again, I would certainly add a few more paranormal, fantasy, and contemporary books into the mix to make my reading varied. My pacing started out very fast on day one, but towards day five I was sluggish in my reading. Some books, like 'There is Someone Inside Your House' too me forever to read, but this book was already at a disadvantage as thrillers are not really my jam...

• My final thought from this challenge? Pacing your reading is a good way to enjoy the story. Sometimes we can binge-read a book, but doing it five days in a row does not make it as enjoyable as every once in a while.

Did you read any of these books?

Have you ever tried a reading challenge?