The third week (and a half) of the magical readathon is over and now there’s only five days left to complete the exams. I’m still on track with only one book remaining on my tbr and that is the illustrated edition of The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. I’m about half way through, taking my time to really appreciate all of the illustrations. I really love this readathon and I’m in awe of how much effort and soul G from Book Roast has put in to it. It truly is magical!
Exams Completed
This week I completed four exams. Two of which I loved, one I disliked and one that disappointed me. In addition to that, I’ve diverged from my original TBR as well. Sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. Let’s get into it!

Muggle Studies — Outline by Rachel Cusk ⭐️
I picked Outline up on a whim because I thought it sounded interesting. It follows an author who is teaching a creative writing class in Athens. What drew me to pick this up, instead of my initial pick for muggle studies, was the fact that it’s told in conversations. What could have been an interesting read, was in fact a boring compilation of unrelated stories. The characters are dull. The main character has no personality and everything was very one-dimensional.
My biggest complaint is that one of the characters told a story about how she abused a dog because she was tired of taking care of it. It wasn’t addressed with anything other than ‘Theo said it sounded like the problem was that she had chosen the wrong dog in the first place.’ and ‘I myself put my trust in cats’ . So I guess it was the dogs fault? What a load of bullshit. If it’s too much work, find someone who will love and take care of it. Don’t abuse the dog. Animal abuse is not ok for any reason.
Reading this book was honestly a colossal waste of time.
Defense Against the Dark Arts — Rat Queens, Vol. 5 ⭐️⭐️
Unfortunately I’ve had to DNF my original pick for Defense Against the Dark Arts, namely Reincarnation Blues by Michael Poole. So I picked up the latest volume of Rat Queens instead. I love the first two volumes in the series, but ever since volume three it has taken a turn for the worse. Volume five was extremely confusing and I honestly don’t know what happened. I’m sad to say it but I’m not sure if I want to continue reading the series after this one.

Transfiguration — Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Strange the Dreamer had been sitting unread on my shelf since it came out two years ago. Why I didn’t pick it up sooner will remain a mystery. All I can say is that I loved it. The world and the characters are brilliant. The reason this wasn’t a five star read for me is because it kind of dragged in certain parts.
Potions — Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
After finishing Strange the Dreamer I had to finish the duology at once. Muse of Nightmares was brilliant. The introduction of new characters and their backstories was my favorite part. I was hooked from the very first page. Now I finally understand why Laini Taylor is such a well loved author.
Stats
4 exams completed.
1465 pages read this week.
3821 pages read in total.
If you want to know what I thought about the other books I’ve read for the O.W.Ls you can find my first update here and the second here. I would love to hear what you’ve read recently! And if you’re participating in this magical readathon, which exams have you completed?
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