As most of you probably know, this award by TheCieloCommunity ate my life. I think it's the third award I signed up for, but judging didn't start for a while and there was no expected timeline for when it would begin, so I signed up for other awards in the meantime, blissfully ignorant of what was to come.

Pro tip: If you sign up to judge an award, never say "Put me where you need me" unless you're prepared to judge EVERYTHING.

Yes, I said that. And yes, I regret it.

The only two categories I did not judge were Horror and Smut, because I said I wouldn't read either when I signed up for judging. And yet I still got smut. And LGBTQIAP+ content that made me uncomfortable. But between this and the other awards I judged, I eventually gave up on fighting about content and resigned myself to just reading and reviewing whatever got tossed at me.

Oh, I guess I didn't judge the Special Categories, but they haven't announced those yet. So, it's still possible for this award to hit me with more.

The reason this award took much longer to judge than any other award is the judging requirements. Until this point, most of my judging experience required reading no more than five chapters of each book, or there were round-based eliminations so I only had to read more chapters from the top books. And even this many books wouldn't have been too much of a problem if I only had to read five chapters from each.

This award required reading the entire book. And I had 46 books.

I did it. I survived. I may or may not have been on the verge of a mental breakdown multiple times, but I pulled it off. And I have no pity whatsoever for the judges with only four books asking for extensions or flaking out from judging (which is why the official results for most categories still haven't been posted, by the way). Because I met the deadlines every time, except for a one week extension for the last category.

I encountered some great authors and stories I probably wouldn't have read otherwise, and I'd like to think my skills as a reviewer improved throughout all this, so it wasn't all bad. But I will never, never do this again.

Since I'm one of several judges for each category, knowing my scores won't give away final placements, so I didn't bother wiping scores before I posted my reviews. Links are in the inline comments, and don't forget to grab your participation and judging stickers from their chapters.

Adventure:

1. The Chimera by tetradymite (98/100)

2. Beyond the Veil of Yonder by XannaLurel (96/100)

3. Consumption by YsmeriaGuilro (68/100)

Comedy:

1. Synonyms for Better by xPurpleStarz (96/100)

2. RM's Rapping RV by 4everSherlocked (96/100)

3. Tails Will Wag by LAJoyner (93/100)

4. Forever for You by dwarkaratna (71/100)

Fanfiction:

1. Tarnished and Hurt by slytherclaw_seeker (96/100)

2. Meet Me at Midnight by SSears90 (92/100)

3. The Whimsical Coquette by strawberry1d (90/100)

Fantasy:

1. A Path of Swords by Aravis-Brightspell (96/100) 🥇

2. A Little Christmas Magic by charitythewriter (96/100) 🥇

3. Hwa by 123hikibakas (94/100) 🥈

4. Oblivion, a Timeless Void by Aster_Rae27 (84/100)

5. The Council of Gods by @Dark_Ghostie (65/100)

6. Rejected to Fate by @Lasophie79 (44/100)

Historical Fiction:

1. The Longing Hearts: Tale of Subhadra and Arjun's Exile by Wanderlust_Lavanya (78/100)

2. Parantap Parashakti: Paving Way for Him by dwarkaratna (77/100)

3. Queenly Quest by Ennyrogers (66/100)

4. My Small Town by ghostofjolie and TheLittleMermaid (59/100)

Mystery:

1. Hot-Hearted by delulu_alex (99/100)

2. Trapped in a Mystifying Fictional World by avniy1312 (50/100)

Romance:

1. Just One Night by DragonRose25 (96/100)

2. Parth Probodhika: Pristine Hues of His Peace by dwarkaratna (78/100)

3. Hiraeth by _BLACKSPADESZ (64/100)

4. My Guardian Angel by thedevilstwin100 and Aweirdoonearth01 (62/100)

5. My Dark Fairytale by DBNimyel (47/100)

Science Fiction:

1. Love Across Universe by thevioletscar (94/100) 🥈

2. The Case of Notre Dame Cathedral by Evolution-500 (94/100) 🥈

3. The Ellyrium Scepter by Saramitra_ (63/100)

Short Stories:

1. A Forgotten Christmas Present by afro_pride (95/100)

2. Broken Promises by wordenchanter (93/100)

3. The Duke's Secrets: Christmas Special 2023 by J_Lunar (77/100)

4. The Ballad of Time and Moon by MiaKurenai_2009 (69/100)

5. Raspberry by MustafaAsad6 (50/100)

Thriller:

1. Déjà Vu by 4everSherlocked (96/100)

2. Live to Tell the Tale by DeathBlade__ (92/100)

3. Go, Die & Come Back by MustafaAsad6 (73/100)

4. Nemesis: A Tale of Vengeance by wenshi_nykx (50/100)

*****

01/13/2025: You'd think with this many books, there would be a lot of crossover with my editing/feedback/review list, but no. There are only two repeat offenders here: Hot-Hearted is entered in Mystery, and Rejected to Fate is entered in Other. 😊