Animal Crossing Readathon Wrap-up

Hi everyone!

I hope everyone is doing well and having a lovely Monday. I can’t believe it’s mid-April already! The Animal Crossing Readathon is now over, and I had so much fun hosting and taking part in it. I kind of reached all my reading goals for it – I swapped one of my original prompts out for another, but I did read all the other books I added to my list for the readathon. I enjoyed them all, giving four of them 5 stars.

I also thought it would be fun to make a little build in Animal Crossing for some of the books I read, since it fits with the readathon and I was having so much fun doing this with the Animal Crossing Challenge I had with Cossette @ teatimelit.

you can click on the graphics to be directed to the goodreads pages for the respective books.

Check Please: Volume 2

↠ short synopsis: ↠

Eric “Bitty” Bittle is back and ready to start his junior year at Samwell college and another year on the hockey team. This year is shaping to be very different, with new teammates, new responsibilities, and a new boyfriend in tow. Bitty’s parents and teammates don’t know, and neither Bitty or Jack are sure if they want to keep this a secret…

My thoughts: ​I was really glad that I chose Check Please Volume 2 as part of the readathon, because it was an easy read and cheered me right up. I had read the webcomic two or so years ago, so it was lovely being able to revisit the world. I was filled with nostalgia reading it since Bitty is in his last two years of university, and it reminded me of my time during university and where I was when I first read Check Please. It was comforting read but also a little bittersweet for me, saying goodbye to these characters again.

Before The Coffee Gets Cold

↠ short synopsis: ↠

In a small back alley in Tokyo sits a cafe that has been serving coffee for years – but one thing that stands out is that this place offers customers the chance to visit the past.

My thoughts: ​I enjoyed revisiting the world and characters in the sequel of Before the Coffee Gets Cold! While it wasn’t exactly as intriguing or magical as the first novel, I still liked reading it and seeing how different new characters used the cafe’s magic to time travel.

I love cafes in general, so it was fun trying to imagine how the cafe looked like and recreate it in Animal Crossing.

To Break A Covenant

↠ short synopsis: ↠

Moon Basin has been haunted for as long as anyone can remember. It started when an explosion in the mine killed 16 people, a disaster that made it impossible to live in town. Life in New Basin is just as fraught; the ex-mining town relies on its haunted reputation to bring in tourists, but there’s more truth to the rumors than most are willing to admit.

The people of New Basin start experiencing strange phenomena—sleepwalking, night terrors, voices that only they can hear. No matter how many ghost hunters roll through, nobody can get to the bottom of what’s really going on. Which is why the four girls – Clem, Nina, Lisey, and Piper, decide to enter the mine themselves.

My thoughts: ​While this didn’t wow me like I hoped it would, it was still an interesting novel. Moon Basin was an intriguing place and I could easily picture the setting, and all four main characters were endearing and likable. I wish there had been more development with the characters, but I liked them all nonetheless, and they were all distinct from each other. The scenes within the mines were the most fascinating, and they felt so eerie and suffocating, and Ames was able to perfectly encapsulate all the feelings of paranoia and fear in those moments.

Extasia

↠ short synopsis: ↠

Today, she will become one of the four saints of Haven. The elders will mark her and place the red hood on her head. With her sisters, she will stand against the evil power that lives beneath the black mountain–an evil which has already killed nine of her village’s men.

Today she will be a saint of Haven. She will rid her family of her mother’s shame at last and save her people from destruction. She is not afraid. Are you?

My thoughts: Set in a strict society that fears witchcraft and devil-worship, where women are the first to be blamed when something goes wrong, I knew I was in for a ride when I started this novel. The entire time, my blood was boiling as the main character and her friends were mistreated and punished for things they hadn’t done, just because they were women.

I liked the witchy vibes and spooky atmosphere in the woods, and it made me glad to see them embracing their power and magic. However, it still was a tough read because these scenes of confidence were quickly followed by brutal punishments by the townspeople. It was through and through a vivid horror novel.

Six Crimson Cranes

↠ short synopsis: ↠

Shiori, the only princess of Kiata, has a secret. Forbidden magic runs through her veins. Normally she conceals it well, but on the morning of her betrothal ceremony, Shiori loses control. Her punishment is being banished by her stepmother, who also turns her brothers into cranes, and the warning that Shiori that she must speak of it to no one.

When Shiori begins her search for ehr brothers, she discovers a terrible conspiracy – one that she can only set right by placing her trust in the very boy she fought so hard not to marry, and finally embracing her magic.

My thoughts: I was so enamoured with this story. It’s not often I fall so deeply into a fantasy world, but this one was so interesting. Lim was able to beautifully describe the setting and the characters, with such an intriguing plot I couldn’t help but read on. I adored our main character Shiori, her initial self-absorbed behaviour and later her humbling made her so endearing, and I loved how determined she was to save her brothers. The romance too was so sweet, and I’m glad it wasn’t at the forefront of the story as it let us be properly acquainted with Shiori and the main plot.

The Inheritance of Orquiedea Divina

↠ short synopsis: ↠

Orquídea Divina, the matriarch of her family, has always been mysterious to the rest of her family. They never knew the secrets behind her magic, her past, how their house seemingly appeared out of nowhere. It is not until when Orqueidea invites them to her funeral and to collect their inheritance, where they finally begin to unravel the secrets that she has held onto so tightly their whole lives. Seven years later, the secrets all come to fruition when a hidden figure begins to tear through their family tree, picking them off one by one as it seeks to destroy Orquídea’s line. Determined to save what’s left of their family and uncover the truth behind their inheritance, the four descendants travel to Ecuador — to the place where Orquídea buried her secrets and broken promises and never looked back.

My thoughts: This was a last minute addition to my tbr for the readathon (and to replace another prompt) and I’m so glad I added it. It was a wonderful read; I’ve always enjoyed Cardavo’s writing and how she develops complicated but close family relationships, so it was wonderful to see that again here. The novel jumps back and forth between the perspectives of the grandchildren of the mysterious Orqueidia, and Orqueidia as she grows up.

There’s a specific scene that involves the whole family gathering for dinner at Orqeidia’s home, which has been covered in greenery and vines all over the place, which so vividly stuck out to me that I had to recreate the scene. 

We Are Not Free

↠ short synopsis: ↠

We Are Not Free is the collective account of a tight-knit group of young Nisei, second-generation Japanese American citizens, whose lives are irrevocably changed by the mass U.S. incarcerations of World War II. It follows fourteen teens who have grown up together in Japantown, San Francisco, whose lives are turned upside down when over 100,000 people of Japanese ancestry are removed from their homes and forced into desolate incarceration camps.

My thoughts: This book moved me to tears. I knew to expect some tears because my friends who have read it said it was a beautiful and emotional book, but I didn’t expect to sob so much by the end. The book was able to bring life to 14 different characters and make you feel for all of them, and show you the horrors they had to face in Japanese internment camps in a country that turned it’s back to them. There were so many good emotional beats to it, and it’s a book I would recommend to everyone.

The Atlas Six

↠ short synopsis: ↠

The Alexandrian Society is a secret society of magical academicians in the world. Each decade, only the six most uniquely talented magicians are selected to be considered for initiation. This year, our six are recruited by the mysterious Atlas Blakely – but, only five will be initiated, the other eliminated. As the year progresses, the six potential initiates fight to survive prove themselves to be the best among their rivals, while finding out that the elusive society is more than it seems.

My thoughts: A year after reading this book I finally reread it, and it was just as good as I remembered, if not better. I had so much fun revisiting this world, and picking up the subtle foreshadowing. Plus, it was fun trying to theorise and speculate on what might happen in the sequel (if anyone has any theories pleaseee hit me up).

The library in the Alexandrian Society isn’t described in detail, but I imagined it to be a vast library with incredibly tall bookshelves. Since there’s pretty much books on everything, I imagine you would never see the entirety of the library, and would easily get overwhelmed trying to avoid picking up every book of interest.

Thank you for reading!
Let me know if you’ve read any of the books I’ve mentioned!