Reading for 24 hours straight (sanity has left the chat)

Hello hello hello!

I really like what you’ve done with your hair today! I hope you’re doing fabulous and even if you’re not, hopefully this post makes you smile! On Saturday 26th of April, I took part in the amazing event that is Dewey’s 24-hour readathon (an event where you just try and read for as much as you can in 24 hours) and in this post, I’m going to be documenting my experience and giving some mini-reviews on the books I read!

Before the Readathon

T-minus 3 hours: I’m buzzing for this readathon!! I have never stayed up for 24 hours and honestly, I can’t even stay up that late so it will be interesting to see how this goes! I went through BorrowBox (an e-book app my library uses) this morning and picked out some books I’d maybe want to read! So far the TBR is:

• Red White and Royal Blue
• Frankly in Love
• 10 Blind Dates
• All the Bad Apples
• Royals
• Her Royal Highness
• You owe me a murder
• I am not your perfect Mexican daughter

I don’t think I’ll get through all of these and I’m a huge mood reader so watch me completely ignore this list but at least I tried to appear organised! validate me for trying to seem like i have my life together

I want to get through 6 books during this challenge because (you’re going to be mindblown… I have some maths to back this up!!) If I read a book in 3 hours then 24/3 = 8 books but let’s aim low cos I might end up snoozing halfway through oops. Future Kerys: 3 hours per book was a HUGE underestimate – I think too highly of myself.

imma get some work done this morning (it’s 10 am!) so that I can feel satisfied and productive and nOt like I’m making r e c k l e s s decisions

T-minus 2 hours: I made brownies and a smoothie to snack on while reading!! (look at me be all prepared and professional!) I probs should have had breakfast by now but normal routine who?? (I’ve literally been having breakfast at 11 every day no joke.)

T-minus 8 minutes: I am so excited!! Ahhh

During the Readathon

4 hours and 25 minutes: Finished my first book! Red White and Royal Blue gets 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ because:

• Enemies to lovers
• Slow-burn (it had me screaming)
• LGBT+ representation
• I am a hopeless romantic
• Secretly compassionate Henry
• Way too passionate Alex
• Their snarky texts to each other
• The election and life in the White House
• Royal Life™
• The turkey scene
• June and Nora being complete Queens

 

---

7 hours: Book number 2 is Starfish and also gets 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

• The writing is so freaking beautiful
• ‘I paint a woman who steals hearts, but none of them fit the hole inside her empty, black chest.’
• This book made me hurt, I felt Kiko’s struggle with her identity and her confusion as to where she fits in the world.
• ‘I draw five humans and one skeleton, and it doesn’t matter that the skeleton has all the right bones and joints—he will never be the same as the others because he doesn’t have the right skin.’
• Kiko’s journey of self-acceptance is heart-wrenching and means so much to me.

---

10 hours and 30 minutes: Book Numero 3 is Love from A to Z gets 4 stars! ⭐⭐⭐⭐

• The cover is so gorgeous and matches what I’d have imagined Zayneb and Adam as perfectly!
• Muslim rep and
• Adam was a complete sweetheart and I love how much he cares for his family.
• Zayneb takes no shiz from anyone and I admire that but the way she handled certain things was kinda frustrating.
• I love the diary format and the marvels and oddities!
• Hanna is so cuuuute and I love her!

Update: My eyes are starting to feel really tired now and I think I might switch to an audiobook for a while!

---

14 hours and 45 minutes: Whew we are past the halfway mark! Finished reading When Dimple met Rishi which gets 4.5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

• I loved all the Indian rep so much!!
• Recognising little things and understanding conversations makes a book mean so much more!
• Rishi is so sweet and has a ton of pressure to be ‘perfect’. His conflict between making his family happy while doing the best for himself was really well written.
• I love that Dimple is a super passionate stem girl!

Update: It’s 3.45 am and I am exhausted but at the same time, strangely awake? i could definitely fall asleep if I closed my eyes though

---

16 hours and 45 minutes: I did accidentally fall asleep and had a 2-hour nap. I set a 30-minute alarm but it strangely didn’t wake me up? Feeling slightly refreshed but my eyes are still very droopy.

---

21 hours and 15 minutes: There’s Something about Sweetie gets 5 stars! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

• Sweetie is amazing and confident despite having a mother who constantly tried to drag her down.
• ‘Sweetie knew in her heart that she was good enough for Ashish just as she was. But why couldn’t her own mother see that? “I’m … I’m sorry you’re so ashamed of me,” she said quietly. “But I’m not ashamed of myself.”’
• Ashish and Sweetie were so cute and I loved that the dates were planned by their parents!

 

---

21 hours and 45 minutes: Looks like I’m on a Sandhya Menon marathon! Just finished As Kismet Would Have It. This was a short novella and I don’t really know what to rate it…

• Really great discussions on marriage but the ‘twist’ and pretty much all of it felt kinda forced?
• This just seemed really unnecessary and didn’t really sit right with me.
• I did like revisiting the characters but I’d have rather left them happy than gone back to visit them in an unsatisfying lovers quarrel.

 

---

24 hours (and a bit but shh): Finished Frankly in Love and I’m really conflicted on this one but 2.5 stars ⭐⭐.5

• What is up with the girls in this book?
• Brit was barely mentioned and then suddenly she and Frank are in love with each other?? She was really one-dimensional and just annoying.
• Frank suddenly realises Joy understands him and says he loves he like what?! asdfghjkl get a gRIP.
• However, this has Korean rep which is really interesting to learn about.
• The gathering gang was so fun! I loved when they all talked in slang to confuse the parents

Readathon Wrap-up

Overall, I had such a great time in this readathon! How cool is it that the readathon’s twitter handle is just @readathon – like this might be the original readathon?! I loved this so much and am definitely participating in the next one (hopefully with a buddy if anyone wants to join me!). The stats:

 

Total reading time: approx. 22 hours

Total pages read: 2,395

Books finished: 7

Chat with me! Did you take part in this readathon? What’s the longest time you’ve ever read for? What’s the best book you’ve read recently? What shows are you bingeing? Divulge your secrets…

Hugs and stay safe!

Kerys xx

Goodreads | Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin’ | Ko-Fi