Fantasy Favourites Read-a-thon: And That's A Wrap!

It's the end of the Fantasy Favourites Read-a-thon! Before I leave this read-a-thon behind, I'll be answering some questions about the incredibly awesome time I've had and facing a final challenge to complete.

1. What was your page reading goal? How many pages did you end up reading?
I didn't have a page reading goal because I thought that would stress me out, but I ended up finishing all of the books that I wanted to read!

So let's see, there's Cinder (387 pages), Scarlet (an estimated 462 pages on Kindle), Wake (309 pages), Lullaby (290 pages), Tidal (342 pages) and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (249 pages). That makes a total of 2,039 pages!

2. What books did you read?
I read 6 books: Cinder and Scarlet by Marissa Meyer, Wake, Lullaby and Tidal in the Watersong Quartet by Amanda Hocking, and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling.

3. What book was your most/least favourite?
The book I enjoyed the most would've been Sorcerer's Stone if it hadn't been for Scarlet. I loved stepping into Hogwarts again with fresh eyes, but Marissa Meyer's retelling of Little Red Riding Hood blew me away completely with its sci-fi setting and amazing cast of characters. I can't stop swooning over Wolf and Scarlet. And I absolutely need more Cinder and Kai! The Lunar Chronicles is seriously the BEST stuff I've read so far this year.

As for my least favourite read, that would be a tie between Wake and Lullaby. Lots of draggy writing, lacklustre characters and a plot that really could've been better. It didn't help that I started on these after Scarlet.

4. What challenge did you find the hardest to do?
I thought it'd be casting characters, but that went better than I expected. The hardest challenge is actually the one you'll read about in this very post!

5. What challenge was the most fun to do?
Book photography (Day 1) and answering tricky questions (Day 6). I got to hang out with the camera (aka my best buddy) and think. Like, really think. I don't think a lot of us do that after reading a book, but it's something I feel that we should all do every once in a while. I had no idea I'd that much stuff to say until I sat down to write, which it was the most fun and frustrating feeling ever.

6. Did you make any new blogging friends?
Yes, I have! They were the best part about this read-a-thon. Here are the awesome book blogger friends I've made, and you should totally check out their blogs if you haven't yet!

Lakin @ Wondrous Reviews

Chantelle @ Oh, The Stories You'll Know

Rebecca @ Reading Through Dawn

Katrina @ Chased By My Imagination

Vlora @ Reviews and Cake

Andreea @ Catsfika

And not forgetting our lovely hosts, Karolina and Inge @ Bookshelf Reflections as well as Olivia @ Olivia's Catastrophe! I knew Karolina and Inge before the read-a-thon, but not very well, and I'm glad I got to know them and Olivia better during the past week (:

7. What was your biggest reading distraction? How did you get over it?
Eating and sleeping. I am partially kidding, because I don't have school now and those are really kind of the only things that get in the way of reading during times like these XD I didn't really have a choice but to eat two times faster and do nothing about sleeping because I sleep like a log and can almost never wake up in the mornings!

8. What was your reading schedule? Were you a morning or evening reader? Week or weekend?
My reading schedule was sporadic, mostly in the mornings if I hadn't finished a book the day before. The day I started Wake was when I binge-read and finished 2 and a half books. That spanned a whole day and I got a headache at the end of it (totally worth it :P).

9. Are you and Hermione Granger still friends? Do you still want to keep hanging out after the read-a-thon is over or will you lock her away somewhere to maybe contact her again when the next read-a-thon comes around (if ever)?
I think we still are. Friends, I mean. I'll be seeing her off to Hogwarts till the next read-a-thon, though I'd love to have someone else over next time (maybe Nearly Headless Nick. I've never met a ghost before). It's a little tiring having to try and match up to Hermione's intellect!

10. Would you do this again?
Yes, a gazillion times over! (:

AN ALTERNATE ENDING

This is the hardest challenge I was talking about. The instructions were this:

We want you to take the book that broke your heart the most this week or the one whose ending you liked least or even a scene that you despised and re-write it. Yes, re-write it.

That is the hardest thing to ask of me, because the book I'd pick would be Wake and there were just so many unsatisfactory parts and under-developed characters in it that I may just end up re-writing the entire novel. Or in a crying heap on the floor (I can never finish writing a novel of any sort. All my drafts never saw the light of day). Either way, that would take about 10 years, so I'll be sitting this one out. Sorry ):

Nevertheless, I've had the most amazing experience for my first read-a-thon and it definitely won't be the last one. I'm so proud of myself and the other book bloggers who've gone through the challenges with me, and very grateful to Karolina, Inge and Olivia for putting a week of awesomeness together for us. Thank you so, so much!

As for you, thanks for sticking around (: I hope you'll swim by again! ♥︎

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