2019 Reading Challenge Reviews - Books 29 & 30

For any new readers, I'm participating in the Pop Sugar Reading Challenge this year which, through their prompts and groups on Goodreads, has been giving me a lot of new ideas for books to read that I may not have known or decided to read otherwise. Because of this, I've decided to blog about my reading choices. For more information on the challenge, check out my Overview post, or visit the Pop Sugar website.

Book 29: Circe by Madeline Miller

I gave this book 4/5 stars on Goodreads.

The prompt I chose for this was "A book inspired by myth/legend/folklore."

This book is a retelling of different Greek myths and legends that include the goddess Circe from her perspective. It covers from when she was a child, through discovering what makes her unique, through being banished to a deserted island, to meeting Daedalus and Odysseus and more. Circe learns to stand up for herself, and fight for what she believes in while both the realm of men and the realm of gods try to thwart her. In the end, she must decide where she wants to belong in the world.

At first, I struggled a little bit with getting into this book; mostly because I couldn't remember all of the Greek myths I was taught years ago in school. Once I researched and started to remember the myths, I became more invested in what Circe was thinking and how she saw herself in all of those classic stories.

I definitely have a soft spot for re-tellings of myths and classics in different styles or from different perspectives so this book was right up my alley. If you like re-tellings as much as I do (think movies like Beowulf, She's the Man, A Cinderella Story, etc. or books like Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman or the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan) then maybe give this book a try.

Book 30: Fierce Kingdom by Gin Phillips

I gave this book 5/5 stars on Goodreads.

The prompt I chose for this was "A book that takes place in a single day."

This book follows Joan and her four-year-old son, Lincoln on what they thought would be a regular day at the zoo. However, their fun day at the zoo takes a horrifying turn and becomes a battle for survival. Joan has to make some intense split second decisions to try and keep herself and Lincoln safe during a turn of events that would be every parent's nightmare.

I'm not a mom yet, but while reading this book, I couldn't help but think about what decisions I would make if I were in a similar situation to Joan. I like to think that my thought process would have been similar to Joan's in a lot of ways. Though you never really know how you'd respond to something unless you unfortunately find yourself in the situation.

The development of the story as it went from the beginning right until the end was enthralling for me. I didn't want to put the book down, and became deeply invested in what would happen to the characters next (much to the exasperation of my boyfriend since he would try to ask me something while I was reading and I wouldn't process a single thing he said until I could take a minute and distance myself from what I had just read).

The only thing that I wish the book had was a longer ending. The ending worked really well for the book, but I want to know what happened next to the characters.

I would recommend this book to anyone that likes a little bit of thriller, a lot of suspense, and can handle reading about terrifying, stressful, and emotional situations.