Oooh, boy! It’s been almost a year since I wrote a “What I Read” post and I am hyped to be here! Don’t y’all want to hear about all the books I read… erhm… two months ago? (Don’t judge me! I was planning to write this in November and I took all the pictures. Then November was crazy but… I took all the pictures!)
With this relaunch, I want to keep my book posts shorter and sweeter. And also with less of my truly atrocious book photography. (I will get better at that, I swear…) So, without further ado – What I Read in October 2021!
My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix
My Best Friend’s Exorcism is really good, really unsettling, and a little bit gross. It truly feels like a 1980s possession movie in book form – the little bits of multimedia scattered throughout super help with that. If you liked Stranger Things, this book is for you. Plus it has its own playlist!
(Once you finish it, though, go read The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires – it’s a spiritual sequel and my fav.)
Half Sick of Shadows by Laura Sebastian
This is a cute little YA Arthurian retelling, focused around Elaine of Astolat, the Lady of Shallot. (Fun fact: back in my days of insanejournal based roleplay games, one of my favourite characters I ever played was a modern reincarnation of Elaine.) To be honest, now that it’s December, I don’t remember a ton about Half Sick of Shadows – like to the point that I couldn’t remember if it was a standalone or not. The non-linear storytelling is fun, though, and it was a quick read.
Sky Without Stars by Jessica Brody and Joanne Rendell
Another retelling! Sky Without Stars is Les Mis in space and it is a part of a series. It is also very apparent that it’s a re-telling, if you know Les Mis. I liked the world-building, I liked the Marius character more than I like Marius… I struggled with the death of a child that kicked off the main plot. You guys, now that I hang out with a little girl, I just can’t with little girls dying in books. (It’s not graphic or anything, it just makes me sad to think about.)
A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire & The Crown of Gilded Bones by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Yeah, Tiktok made me do it. They said that Jennifer L. Armentrout’s books were spicy and there was truly spice to be had. I took a big break between the first book of this series and these two, due to library reasons, and I found it super hard to remember any of the mythology of the world. But it’s smut wearing a fairly substantial fantasy hat so… it does its job.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E Schwab
I will admit that The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue has a bit of a slow start and the perspectives we get are a bit uneven (we understand Addie way more than Henry). However, there was just something about Addie that vibed with me. It reminded me of something I would have loved when I was a teenager in Ontario, learning about art and “Bohemia” and all that good stuff, but all grown up. It might not be your taste, but I devoured it.
So? Do you like the more short and sweet format? Do you want the old pictures back? Let me know because there’s going to be a November post coming sometime this month… mwahaha.