≡ Menu

More Reviews for the Read Harder Challenge

As I’ve written about before, one of my goals this year is to actually complete Book Riot’s 2018 Read Harder challenge. So far I’ve finished 14 of the 24 tasks, which is pretty good for less than half of the year. Today I’ve got some short reviews of several books I read for the challenge, along with an update of the other tasks I’ve finished up until now (with links to reviews where I’ve finished them).

The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang

  1. A comic written and illustrated by the same person

By day, Sebastian is a young prince, with parents looking to marry him off as soon as possible. By night, Sebastian is a Paris fashion icon, masquerading as Lady Crystallia in elaborate gowns made for him by his best friend, Frances. But of course, a prince who wears dresses has to be a secret, forcing Frances to hide her gift until it all becomes too much. This comic was just utterly charming. The illustrations are beautiful, and the ultimate message of acceptance and friendship and standing up to help people be who they are was just so heart-warming. Highly recommended.

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

  1. A children’s classic published before 1980

I cannot remember if I read A Wrinkle in Time as a kid or not. It seems right up my alley – I was very into science fiction and fantasy books as a tween – but as I was reading this one nothing felt familiar about it. Truthfully, I didn’t love it as much as I hoped it would, which I think says more about me than about the book. It felt a little heavy-handed in places, although I think if I’d have picked it up when I was the targeted age I would have connected with Meg, developed a crush on Calvin, and enjoyed it immensely.

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

  1. A sci-fi novel with a female protagonist by a female author

Rather than fumbling for a plot description of An Unkindness of Ghosts, I’m going to let author Rivers Solomon do it for me: “In the low-deck slums of a generation ship on its way to a mythical Promised Land, a healer investigates the suicide of her mother and its connection to the ship’s mysterious voyage.” The healer, Aster, is an amazing character, a Black, neurodivergent, intersex woman trying to find her way in a world that’s transposed the world of plantations into the closed system of a spaceship. The book is brutal but hopeful in a way that’s difficult to explain, but it’s really, really good. For a less fumbling review, I suggest you read this one from Jenny at Reading the End.

Gone Rogue by Marissa Meyer

  1. A comic not published by Marvel, DC, or Image

Gone Rogue is an extension of Marissa Meyer’s wildly popular Lunar Chronicles series, a book of fairy-tale retelling set in a futuristic world with cyborgs, androids, mutant wolves, and space-travel. I loved listening to the series on audiobook, and I’ve enjoyed both of the comics continuations. Wires and Nerve and Going Rogue are both set after the conclusion of the original series, and follow the work of Iko, an android on a mission to help track down a rogue pack of violent space wolves threatening her friends and the planet. It sounds insane, but it’s actually a lot of fun.

Murder on the Red River by Marcie C. Rendon

  1. A mystery by a person of color or LGBTQ+ author

The main character of this story, Cash, is a 17-year-old Native girl who has been bouncing around through foster care since she was three, working on North Dakota farms since she was 15. She has a connection to Sheriff Wheaton, who saved her as a toddler and now sometimes turns to her to help him with difficult cases, especially those that affect the Native American population in that region. This book starts out with the discovery of a dead Indian in a farm field, but Rendon uses that plot point to tell a story about how past trauma and exploitation of native people can trickle down through generations. Cash was a difficult character to follow – I spent most of the book torn between cheering for her and wanting to sit her down for a long talk about life choices – but it ends on what felt, to me, like a both hopeful and challenging path for her to walk. The mystery in the novel is really secondary to Cash’s story, which I was totally ok with.

These are the other challenges I’ve finished so far, with links to reviews where I’ve gotten them written already. I’m hoping to get to the unfinished reviews soon, and then be well on my way to reading and writing about every book in the challenge. Hooray!

  • A book published posthumously (1) – I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara
  • A book of true crime (2) – The Dragon Behind the Glass by Emily Voigt
  • A book in or about one of the BRICS countries (5) – The Milk Lady of Bangalore by Shoba Narayan
  • A book about nature (6) – The Evolution of Beauty by Richard Prum
  • A romance novel by or about a person of color (10) – Hate to Want You by Alisha Rai
  • A celebrity memoir (12) – Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
  • A book of social science (14) – Locking Up Our Own by James Forman Jr.
  • The first book in a new-to-you YA or MG series (16) – Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
  • A one-sitting book (17) – Dear Madam President by Jennifer Palmeri

Comments on this entry are closed.

  • Nupur June 14, 2018, 8:00 am

    Kim- I learned about the Read Harder challenge from your blog, and started it last month. So far it has been great fun- and I have really enjoyed the books I’ve chosen for the tasks- to mention a few, I loved “Astrophysics for busy people” by Neil DeGrasse Tyson for the nature challenge, and “The Widows of Malabar Hill” by Sujata Massey for the BRICS challenge.

    • Kim June 21, 2018, 7:15 pm

      Good picks! I was thinking about THE WIDOWS OF MALABAR HILL for the one about a female over the age of 60, the reviews have been good.

  • Heather June 14, 2018, 12:18 pm

    Nice work. I planned on getting through this challenge but I keep forgetting to update what I’m reading. I should figure it out for the last half of the year. I’m also reading Children of Blood and Bone and I’m loving it. Good luck for the last part of year!

    • Kim June 21, 2018, 7:16 pm

      I have a couple pages in my bullet journal where I keep track of my books for the channel, and a Google doc where I have some ideas for upcoming challenges. The ones I have left feel like they’re going to be hardest for me!

  • iliana June 14, 2018, 4:00 pm

    I love that this challenge takes you through such a variety of genres. Murder on the Red River sounds really good and I’ll have to take note of that one!

    • Kim June 21, 2018, 7:16 pm

      Same, that’s one of the things that’s fun about it.

  • Rachel @ Never Enough Novels June 15, 2018, 6:06 am

    I keep hearing such wonderful things about the prince and the dressmaker. I love that it’s a comic too! Hoping my library has a copy….

    • Kim June 21, 2018, 7:16 pm

      It’s so delightful! The drawings are really lovely too.

  • Christina June 15, 2018, 9:34 am

    Someone gave me a copy of ‘A Wrinkle in Time’ as a kid for my birthday, but I don’t think I ever read it. I wasn’t into fantasy or science fiction as a kid. I really wish I had read it as a kid. I think I would have enjoyed the movie even more if I had that bit of nostalgia.

    • Kim June 21, 2018, 7:17 pm

      I haven’t seen the movie either. From what I read about it, I wasn’t sure if it would land for me for the same reason you said, no nostalgia factor.

  • Kristen M. June 16, 2018, 1:38 am

    I actually just gave The Prince and the Dressmaker to my 14 year old niece tonight and she read the whole thing and finished with a big smile on her face. I then told her she could keep my copy and she hugged it to herself and said “Really?!” I couldn’t be happier. 🙂

    • Kim June 21, 2018, 7:17 pm

      That is SO DELIGHTFUL! I love that story.