Mini-Reviews Of My October Reads

Hello Bookworms!

I have realized that I neither have the time nor do I want to write entire reviews for all books I read this October, and although some of these will have entire reviews coming up or already posted, for some of them I will not really dedicate an entire post to, for one reason or another. I think some of my reviews start sounding bland and the same if I write too many, so I have decided to write shortly about what I read this past month!

October was a productive month reading-wise for me due to my health issues demanding that I take a break from work for now, and many of these books impressed me so much! I ended up reading 19 books, so yeah… buckle up, it’s a long post, but I kept the reviews short!

 A Court of Thorns and Roses 

Goodreads / Amazon / Skoob

Rating: ★★★★☆

This book was such a surprise for me! I picked it up after so many people suggesting I read this, and it was such a deliciously dark, addictive fantasy-romance novel, I was sucked right into the world and loved it very much! While many aspects of the romance bothered me (which is why I didn’t give it 5 stars), I enjoyed the book overall, especially the last 50 pages, where it gets really dark and gruesome! I have a review of this one and the other two books of the series here.

 The Bear and the Nightingale

Goodreads / Amazon / Skoob

Rating: ★★★★★

Next I picked up this book, which has been hyped all over BookTube and book blogs, and for good reason! It’s a dark, magical tale set in Russia, and its strong focus on new vs old religions was a very interesting thing to read. While it was a fast read, it stayed in my mind for a long time, and intrigued me from beginning to end. I’m also surprised to see it’s a trilogy, and can’t wait to read the next books! My full review is here.

 Big Mushy Happy Lump

Goodreads / Amazon / Skoob

Rating: ★★★★★

This is Sarah Andersen’s second volume on the Sarah Scribbles, and I loved it so much! I think the first one was slightly funnier, but this one is also such a pleasant read, and I was giggling and laughing all the way through. Highly recommend it!

Night Film

Goodreads / Amazon / Skoob

Rating: ★★★★★

I started this book shortly before my 12-hour Readathon and finished during it, so I have a few words about it in the post linked! Because of that, I didn’t write a proper review. This book surprised me with how well done the mystery was! Its noir feeling throughout the novel set such a good atmosphere and enraptures you in this dark world of Cordova’s underground films. Fear and doubt follow the reader through the book and keeps you questioning how reliable the characters are. This was easily my favorite read this month!

 Stalking Jack the Ripper

Goodreads / Amazon / Skoob

Rating: ★★★★☆

I picked this book right after Night Film for the Readathon! And another pleasant surprise! I think this is the first Victorian novel this year that I truly enjoyed! The characters are so interesting and the setting very gothic. This was so fun to read and keeps you turning page after page, and I look so much forward to reading the next installments.

 A Court of Mist and Fury

Goodreads / Amazon / Skoob

Rating: ★★★★☆

To keep my reviews consistent with my Goodreads and Amazon reviews, I don’t give half stars to ratings on my blog. But I liked this book more than I liked the other two of the series, although I gave them all the same rating! I loved the romance in this one so much, and the dark, magical and thrilling world that is expanded from the first novel. I loved the depiction of PTSD and depression on this as well, and how beautiful the writing is.

 Reasons to Stay Alive

Goodreads / Amazon / Skoob

Rating: ★★★★☆

I have become a huge fan of Matt Haig after reading How To Stop Time, so when I saw this book on my bookstore, I knew I had to get it. I suffer from anxiety, depression and a mild form of OCD, so I was immediately drawn to this book. This is a beautiful read, very honest, open and definitely helps finding words for what you have been trying to describe. It’s a good read for people who live with someone with mental illness, too. I did find the beginning of the book to be a bit triggering (it gets very realistic, but after this first part, the book is more positive and hopeful), so I needed a few breaks. If you’re thinking of picking this up, just be aware of how sensitive you are to reading other people’s experiences. Otherwise, it’s a wonderful read.

 Night Shift

Goodreads / Amazon

Rating: ★★★★★

I read this at the Frankfurt Book Fair, and what a lovely book! It’s a very short read (32 pages), but so emotional and both beautiful and sad. I didn’t find it to be triggering, but rather a comfort to see in drawing (which are amazing) what one feels – the dark smoke the nibbles into your thoughts like actual big, powerful dragons. I loved the analogy and my boyfriend enjoyed this too!

 A Court of Wings and Ruin

Goodreads / Amazon / Skoob

Rating: ★★★★☆

I expected to like this book more than I ended up liking it, but it was still such a great read! Here we have Feyre more in control of her powers and navigating the difficult world of fairy politics, trying to figure out who she can trust and trying to save the world she knows from the destructive and cruel claws of Hybern. I enjoyed this very much, but I did hope it would have been a little darker, more passionate and faster paced. There was so much preparation for the war and so little actual conflict that it got a bit too much at times. But! It was a very good read and I loved seeing Feyre’s revenge at the beginning of the book! It was one of my favorite things to read in the entire series!

Thee Dark Crowns

Goodreads / Amazon / Skoob

Rating: ★★★☆☆

This book was so hyped in the bookish community, and I was so excited to read it! The dark magical world and the fact that it centered in sisters and an immediate sell for me. The plot of this was so intriguing, so gripping that it kept me turning pages. But… it still fell a little flat for me. While I loved the magic system and a few of the characters, I didn’t connect with them a lot, and it dragged so much on what happens before the actual big events, and takes so long to get there! Some of the dialogue seems unnecessary, the world building was not so good and it just generally disappointed me. I have a full review of this book here.

 The Great Gatsby

Goodreads / Amazon / Skoob

Rating: ★★★★☆

This was a book that was so difficult to rate, I had to think about it for a couple days before deciding for 4 stars. I have a full review coming up next week, so I won’t linger too much here. The writing was beautiful, the symbolism is fantastic! I need to re-read this to fully appreciate those things, in my opinion, so while it left me a bit confused and unsure of how to interpret some characters’ actions, upon researching, watching the movie and giving it some thought, I was impressed by its depth and the story being told between the lines of the book.

 My Best Friend’s Exorcism

Goodreads / Amazon / Skoob

Rating: ★★★★★

I got a review for this one here! It’s so good! This book reads like a summer horror blockbuster, and it’s about friendship, demonic possession and full of 80s references. This was a lot of fun to read and I recommend it highly. I loved how realistic and nicely portrayed the friendship between Abby and Gretchen was, how gory the actions of the demon could get and the cover is to die for!

 My Lady Jane

Goodreads / Amazon / Skoob

Rating: ★★★★☆

After so many dark reads, I decided to go for something a bit lighter and different, so I picked up this book, which was so surprising! I’d read in the blurb that it was very funny, and it certainly was! I did not expect a fantasy/historical fiction to be so hilarious! While the narration sometimes annoyed me a bit (I don’t like books where the narrator talks to the reader), this was fantastic, light and fun, I was laughing a lot throughout it and turning pages very quickly! I can’t wait to read the next books of this series! Also I’m not sure if I should write a review on this, I feel like the reviews I read said what I wanted to say already… should I? Let me know in the comments! 🙂

 The Punch Escrow

Goodreads / Amazon

Rating: ★★★★☆

This was a recommendation by Darque Dreamer, you can read her review here! I have a review for this book drafted but I still gotta finish writing it… soon, I promise! This is a sci-fi book set in the future, where people have control over how they age, genetically modified creatures and use teleportation. I am a sucker for a good sci-fi, and this was so interesting, fun and gripped my attention from beginning to end! Also the narration (I have the audiobook) is fantastic.

 The Girl Who Drank the Moon

Goodreads / Amazon / Skoob

Rating: ★★★★☆

This was such a gorgeous read! I thought the magical theme of this book fit Fall very well, so if you’re a fan of middle grade fantasy books, do pick up this one! It’s so lovely. I have a full review coming up (somewhen), so I won’t talk too much about this, but it was surely a pleasant fairy tale-like read that is gorgeously written and has such beautiful messages.

 Estrela da Manhã

Goodreads / Amazon BR / Skoob

Rating: ★★★★☆

This is a Brazilian horror book whose author I met many years ago… André Vianco is one of my favorite Brazilian authors of all time. Estrela da Manhã tells the story of a boy who suffers bullying at school and is neglected at home. With his bully getting ever worse, Rafael must find a way to defend himself – and thus he downloads an app that allows him to hire a ghost “body guard”. He hires Estrela da Manhã for 7 days and gives him 7 names… but soon finds out that this ghost, or perhaps a demon, is more than he bargained for. I truly loved the plot, the goriness and how creepy and evil the demon was. While the writing felt a little too flourished and the dialogue too different from the narration style, this was a fun read that kept me turning pages! I’m not sure if I’ll write a review for this (in Portuguese), but I might!

 Lumberjanes, Vol 6: Sink or Swim

Goodreads / Amazon / Skoob

Rating: ★★★★☆

This was just so cute! I loved the friendship of the girls, I loved the mixture of magic and girl scouts, the lovely drawings and was outright surprised by how much I liked this! I’m surely buying other volumes to read. It was another I bought during the Frankfurt Book Fair, and only because I had heard such great things about it in the book community. So if you like adorable, fierce girl power comic books, this one is for you!

 One Dark Throne

Goodreads / Amazon / Skoob

Rating: ★★★☆☆

I’m also debating whether to review this book, but I think I will! Much like Three Dark Crowns, I expected a bit too much from this, and it fell flat for me, although I did like it better than the first volume. I don’t think I’ll be continuing this series…