State of the ARC is a monthly meme temporarily hosted by Sarah at All The Book Blog Names Are Taken meant to motivate you to finish up your long overdue ARCs (Advanced or Early Reader Copies). This is its original intention, while some bloggers have tweaked it a bit for their own purposes, such as just keeping ARCs in order by due dates. Or you can just be a hot mess like me who sometimes misses publishing dates (or ignores them altogether) and needs a way to stay organized on what has been read, reviewed, or is still begging for attention. Thank you to Evelina @ Avalinah’s Books for coming up with this super helpful monthly meme.

I finished March with 21 ARCs left to be read. 

In April, I got approved for a whopping 18 new ARCs! Despite focusing heavily on reading ARCs this month, I naturally fell a little behind my intended schedule of reviewing books the month before they’re published. I managed to get through 9 ARCs this month, but it barely made a dent and I have an endless list to work through. My ratio went down to 85%, and while it’s a bit disappointing, it’s to be expected with so many new additions. I definitely fell short of my goal to get over 90%, but I’m planning to focus heavily on my NG ARCs in May, and raise the ratio more.

I got approved for 18 new books in April:

• Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel
• First Time for Everything by Henry Fry
• This Wicked Fate by Kalynn Bayron
• The Merciless Ones by Namina Forna
• Forging Silver Into Stars by Brigid Kemmerer
• Babel by R.F. Kuang
• Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese 
• Shmutz by Felicia Berliner
• No Parm No Foul by Linda Reilly
• Live and Let Grind by Tara Lush
• Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young
• The Woman in the Library by Sulan Gentill
• The Last Girl to Die by Helen Fields
• Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher
• Winterland by Rae Meadows
• Never Ever Getting Back Together by Sophie Gonzales
• And There He Kept Her by Joshua Moehling
• Nothing But the Truth by Holly James

These are the ARCs that I read and reviewed, with links to my reviews:

• Siren Queen by Nghi Vo — see my review here.
• Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel — see my review here.
• Elektra by Jennifer Saint — see my review here.
• Bravely by Maggie Stiefvater — see my review here.
• Misrule by Heather Walter — see my review here.
• Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher — see my review here.
• First Time for Everything by Henry Fry — see my review here.
• The Memory Keeper of Kyiv by Erin Litteken — see my review here.
• See You Yesterday by Rachel Lynn Solomon — see my review here.

Here are the ARCs I still have to read:

1. Blood Metal Bone by Lindsay Cummings
2. A Sprinkle in Time by Dana Mentink
3. The Merciless Ones by Namina Forna
4. The Woman in the Library by Sulan Gentill
5. Home Field Advantage by Dahlia Adler
6. Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White
7. As Seen on TV by Meredith Schorr
8. Forging Silver Into Stars by Brigid Kemmerer
9. And There He Kept Her by Joshua Moehling
10. Blood Orange Night by Melissa Bond
11. This Wicked Fate by Kalynn Bayron
12. The Scent of Burnt Flowers by Blitz Bazawule
13. Upgrade by Blake Crouch
14. Nothing But the Truth by Holly James
15. Shmutz by Felicia Berliner
16. Murder at the Blueberry Festival by Darci Hannah
17. Booked on a Feeling by Jayci Lee
18. Violet Made of Thorns by Gina Chen
19. No Parm No Foul by Linda Reilly
20. Wild is the Witch by Rachel Griffin
21. The Art of Prophecy by Wesley Chu
22. Babel by R.F. Kuang
23. Three Kisses, One Midnight by Roshani Chokshi, Sandhya Menon, and Evelyn Skye
24. The Last Girl to Die by Helen Fields
25. Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young
26. The Matchmaker’s Gift by Lynda Cohen Loigman
27. Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese
28. Live and Let Grind by Tara Lush
29. Winterland by Rae Meadows
30. Never Ever Getting Back Together by Sophie Gonzales

How did you do with your ARCs in April?