I did the Basically readathon, where you have to read a book for 24 hours, and the book I choose was The House in The Cerulean Sea, and I loved it, was so cozy and magical.

The prompt for the readathons.

Goal: Read a book that's been on your tbr forever. (Or just read whatever you want!) Takes place on the entire Saturday from midnight to midnight (your own timezone or you can follow mine - Amsterdam time)

The House In the Cerulean Sea by TJ. KLune

Sea: 🌊🌊🌊🌊

May 4 - May 10

✅ 1. Read a book with a warm word in the title

✅ 2. Read a book with a flower on the cover

✅ 3. Read a book with monsters

✅ 4. Read a book a red cover

✅ 5. Read a desert vibe book

The week that went by. This readathon was extendt by an extra week, I loved that cause that meant that I had extra time to finished all the prompt. Overall I loved this readathons, it was calm, and cozy and I loved the prompt. I had a cozy time while doing this. It is definity something I would love to do again in the future.

Barbarian's Beloved by Ruby Dixon

I really liked this, as someone how struggles with anxiety, I could relate a lot to this, and I just found this book so relatable, and also so freaking cute. I love how good the Alien handle it even tho he didn't really understand it at the beginning but just was there to listen and learn.

I really loved that. It just shows you don't have to do the maximum to make a person with mental health hear, and I loved that. It's the small thing that counts. This was one of my favorites from this series. I love this book so much, how it managed to take a hard subject into a si-fi, and not making it too heave was wonderful, and beautifully done.

Recommendation: Hell fucking YES! Aliens, mental health, and love? what is there not to love?

Genre: Si-Fi, Mental Health, Romance, Fantasy & Erotic

Breath: 🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️

The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams

I didn't think I would like this book. I end up liking it, loving it and adore it. I hate Liz, did not like her, I thought she was annoyed as hell. I did love the character development for both Thea and George, and I really loved how they face the truth.

I love how it was a book about marriage struggle cause often we only read about books where the single and then get marry and liv happy after all, but this was such a more realistic scene, and chapter that could happen for anyone, and I loved that. I also liked that it was men how to read those romance books and who talk about those things cause they realized how that can help learn.

Overall I really liked this book, cause I loved how everyone grew and realized their mistake. Realized that it takes two to tango, and not all the fault was either his or hers, but they both were wrong at some point.

Recommendation: Yes, pick it up if you want a fresh view on love.

Genre: Contemporary & Romance

Art: 🖌️🖌️🖌️🖌️

Willa's Beast by Ruby Dixon

Genre: Fantasy, Erotic & Romance

Healing: 🧬🧬

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone By J.K Rowling

I read this for the first time, which was weird since I saw the movie when it came out, and I have read all the other books in this series. I never realized until I started reading it, that I never actually read the first book in this series, so that was fun, and it bought a lot of childhood memories.

I liked this book, of course, I found Hermonie to be a bit annoying, but I think that was the point, and I forgot how annoyed Harry's uncle was, and how Dumbolre just really wasn't there as much as I thought he was. He was a bit useless.

I did find the book a bit magical the way the explain the room in Hogwarts and it really has a way to make you feel like you are there with Harry Potter. I love how well things explained because Harry also didn't understand the world, so we were just there with him getting all the information as he did. It made it a bit more magical like you are a part of this world. I love of course the season Halloween and Christmas those were so cozy. I really really really liked this book. It really gave me a cozy vibe and feelings, and remind me a lot of my childhood. I loved it.

Recommendation: I recommend it if you like a book about a magical world and friendship and getting to know this world

Genre: Fantasy, Friendship, Middle grade, &Magic

CheckMate: ♟️♟️♟️

Veronica's Dragon by Ruby Dixon

This book was so fun, I laugh a lot. Veronica and Asthar were such fun. I loved their dynamic from the first page. I really don't have much to says about this then I love it. It made me smile a lot, and laugh a lot. There were different a lot of fun moments in this book.

Recommendation: Yes. If you want something light, and fun, and about dragon and alien, then yes pick it up.

Genre: Si-Fi, Fantasy & Romance

Fire: 🔥🔥🔥

May 1st-3rd

Reading prompts for the light side:

❌ Read your favorite Rom-Com

❌ Read a book with a blue/black on the cover

❌ Read a book with a cinnamon roll hero

❌ Read a book with a reformed rake

❌ Read a small town romance

❌ Read a book with white/yellow/gold on the cover

Reading prompts for the dark side:

❌ Read a taboo romance

✅ Read a book with black/red on the cover

❌ Read a book with moon/stars on the cover

✅ Read a bad boy romance

✅ Read a BDSM novel

❌ Read an MC Dark Romance

When I started this readathon, I was in a big reading slump, I just couldn't really get myself to read, I had just finished the owls, and I had done about 3 readathons for April, and I just couldn't really get myself into it. I really did want to, cause I loved the prompt, and I found this readathon very interester. I quickly realized that I was just not gonna end up doing all the prompt, I wanted to, and on a normal day, I could, but I just was in a big reading slump.

I fast realized that the problem was I was doing too much, there were just so many more readathons I wanted to do. When I started reading "Their for the night", and I found myself skipping some pages cause I was impatient and just wanted the book done so I could get to the other, I realized that I was the problem. Readathon is fun. They are made to get people to communicate, to do something fun and new, and maybe try reading new books, or connect with new people. They are not supposed to make you feel stressed, or like you just had to finish a book so you can go to the next. You are supposed to enjoy the books and enjoy the time reading them. I realized my mistakes was feeling like it was a “duty”. My mistakes were focused no how much I need to read instead of just enjoy what I was reading.

I the kind of person that wanted everything to be perfect, so if I do a readathon, my goal is normal to do all the goal on my TBR. I’m also a mood reader, so that can often be a problem, since I change my mood, and sometimes my mood just doesn’t fit the TBR that I made a week ago. I realized fast that I was overdoing it. Of course, I had done readathons by now where I didn’t finish all the prompt, but my problem was I end guilt-tripping myself for not finished it, and I need to take a chill. I need to take a break. So in this readathon, I took a step back, after I almost DNF and skip a book, and I allow myself to not do ALL the prompt in EVEY and not FOCUS on the books but just read.

The things I noticed are often in the book community people focus on the number you have read or the pages, but I found out that the stresses me, it put pressure on me to feel like I’m not reading enough. I wanna be better at allowing myself to not be perfect, and not just about readathons or book, but just in general. I wanna try to be better at taking a step back and just enjoying what I’m doing or reading at the moment. I wanna be better at not comparing myself with other, cause that is something I still struggle with sometimes.

In overall I liked this readathon, the live show was fun. I learn a lot about myself in those 3 days this readathon was, about my reading still, the pressure I put on myself. I learn that I should be nicer to myself when I do stuff like this, that I still have a longe way to go. I learn that only one who is stressing and putting pressure on me is myself.

I pick team dark cause those are the book I have been reading a lot lately, and I didn’t realize that I was on team dark before all of this, that the romance I normal read is usually dark, but I still love light, but I guess prefer the dark romance. My favorite book from this readathon was “The Beast”, and the book that I hated the most was “Their for the night”, but I’m gonna pick that book up again in the future to read it without skipping anything and see what I feel about it then,

Theirs for the night by Katee Robert

I didn't really like this book. It was short and hot.. but I just wasn't so much into it. I don't think I was in the mood for it and therefore I just didn't enjoy it as I could. It is one I will pick up another time and see if that may change my perspective. I just wasn't feeling it. I end up skipping a lot, and skimmer through the book than actually really read it, and that on me. I just was not feeling it.

Recommend: No.. I just didn't like. It was short and I just wasn't into it. But if you like a short, and erotic book then maybe pick it up.

Genre: Erotic, Contemporary & Romance

Gina Toxic: 🍸

Barbarian Alien by Ruby Dixon

I like the alien but I didn't like the main character, Liz. She annoyed me like hell. I thought she was rude and mean.. The alien's reaction on things wasn't the best either.. so the book left me confused.. cause I had some part I liked and some part I didn't like either. A lot I thought was toxic behavior and just bad actually.

There som part of both the alien and Liz that I didn't like. I didn't like that the alien never really seems to understand that Liz wanted to have options to choose her future, and he took that away from her. I didn't like how Liz often reacted in anger or petty or show childish behavior when things didn't go as she wanted. She annoyed me, cause she pretty much reacted like this all the freaking time, and it seems like she never really apologizing for her behavior, just expect everyone to accept her and deal with it. The Alien's behavior wasn't okay either, but he could see what he did was wrong where I think, that I felt like Liz never really so what was wrong with how she reacted. Maybe I just understood the alien more because he did seems remorseful for his action and his action was made in fear once, and never again, and Liz just keeps doing the same again and again.

Recommendation: Yes, because this is an enemy to lover kind of book and it has never been my favorite genre so I'm a bit biased when I read these I often find them toxic. But this one I actually did like even tho there was some toxicity behavior. It was cute, hot, and adorable. I did end up liking and understand the character more and more as thing went by, and I did end up liking this very much.

Genre: Fantasy, Si-Fi, Romance & Erotic

Hunter: 🏹🏹

The Beast by Katee Robert

It's a dark erotica/smut retelling of the beauty and the beast. This was my favorite of this series.. I really like Gaston and I liked the Beast too. I did find Isabella a bit annoying. This book was one of my favorites in this series. I did get annoyed in the beginning cause there were just a lot unsaid, so often I felt like I just wanted them to makeup and be friends or tell me what exactly did happen.

I weirdly found Gaston and Beast to be my favorite character which is a weird cause in the "original" story, I low-key find them very annoyed, but in this retelling, I really did like them. I like how determined Beast was, and I loved how soft Gaston was. Isabella was not my favorite, but I did have a bit of sympathy because I thought she was getting a lot of blame at the beginning that wasn't necessarily fair. She just reminds me of a spoiled princess sometimes, which I wasn't a big fan of. I also like the relationship Gaston and Beast develop. Good for them.

Recommendation: Yes.. definitely pick this up if you like smut retelling. It was hot, and I like how the relationship developed, and I liked the characters in it, and the storyline.

Genre: Retelling, Erotic & Romance

Bathtube: 🛁🛁🛁