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End of an Era

Book Review: The Initial Insult

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This book was absolutely awful and I’m so disappointed because I love McGinnis’ other books. The ones I have read, anyway. I don’t have much to say about The Initial Insult other than I found the characters very difficult to get along with and the plot itself was dull. Nothing about it appealed to me, really, so I kind of just chugged through it and was glad when it ended. Is this because I haven’t read any Poe? Maybe. But I bet most teenagers haven’t, so really this should have been more accessible if that were the case.

Book Review: Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson

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I’ve been reading through Tiffany D Jackson’s backlist in 2021 and I was grateful to receive this one for review in time for the release of the paperback. Like her other books, Grown was absolutely brutal. I think this may be one of my favourites of hers. 

Grown deals with a relationship (if you can even call it that) between a teenager and a much older man, who is actually her idol and someone she really looks up to. Obviously it’s not the healthiest relationship to begin with, and it turns out he’s really quite horrible. 

We follow Enchanted as she tries to get herself her dream career and is taken advantage of the whole way. Grown is dark, emotional, and devastating. I would highly recommend it if you enjoy darker YA contemporaries.

Book Review: Any Sign of Life by Rae Carson

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This… could have been better. I’ve read a few books by Rae Carson before and while they haven’t been my favourites, I’ve still enjoyed them. She has managed to create really fun fantasy plots previously, so I was looking forward to reading Any Sign of Life. 

This one, however, ended up meandering a little and I wasn’t the biggest fan of it. I loved the premise of a teenage girl waking up to find everyone dead and being devoured by crows. That’s some horror movie stuff right there. The beginning of the book started off really well with Paige trying to figure out how she could survive. By the end, though, I was more than a little bored and I had started skim reading. I think the introduction of the new characters came a little too late, and I couldn’t bring myself to care for them. I did really like the two who showed up earlier though, and of course I loved the dog companion.

I wish the ending had been stronger because I was really enjoying this one up until the last third of the book.

Book Review: You’ll Be the Death of Me by Karen M. McManus

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I’ve been enjoying McManus’ work for years now, and I’m always excited to see she has a new book out. I normally find her thrillers captivating, intriguing, and… well, thrilling. The last couple though (this, and The Cousins) have felt a little off for me.

I don’t know what it is. Perhaps I’m outgrowing YA thrillers, in which case this is definitely a Me Problem. However, considering I read and still loved One of Us is Next only a couple of years ago, I wonder if I’m struggling with some of her plots in particular.

You’ll Be the Death of Me follows three students, none of which stood out to me at all. The three of them are old friends who are shoved back together by accident, and of course they become involved in a mdr mystery. I wasn’t
particularly engaged with any of their points of view, which is a shame. I remember loving the characters in One of Us is Lying, Two Can Keep a Secret, and even the characters in The Cousins had something about them (that could have been the almost incest, lol).

I think part of the reason I didn’t love this one is the overall concept of the book. I find that I really like small town mrdr mysteries and isolated mysteries on tiny, gloomy islands, but anything to do with the bigger city or dugs really doesn’t appeal to me.

The twists in this book were also a little mediocre compared to some of McManus’ others. While I didn’t hate them, they felt a little flat once they were revealed. I just… didn’t care?

All that said, this wasn’t a bad book. I just don’t think You’ll Be the Death of Me is McManus’ best. I hope to see her return to form in the next One of Us is Lying sequel, though.

Book Review: You’ve Reached Sam by Dustin Thao

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I’m sad to say that I didn’t particularly enjoy this. You’ve Reached Sam was, without a doubt, a very emotional and thought evoking book. Even though I didn’t love it, I can’t argue with that. That said, I didn’t care much for the characters. I do, admittedly, often struggle with books about grief. If I Stay was not the one for me. I thought this one sounded a bit more like something I would enjoy, though. I was wrong. 

This is very much an “it’s not you, it’s me” reaction to this book. It was well written, and certainly enjoyable for the right audience. I just couldn’t get connected to the characters or care about their relationship, and therefore I didn’t care about the grief.

October Reading Wrap Up & November Plans

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October was an excellent month all round, really. It was quieter than recent months in terms of life plans, but I had a really great time just relaxing for most of it. And also getting a lot of reading in! This is my monthly reading wrap up where I talk about life events, books I read in October, and some reading highlights.

What Happened in October

October wasn’t all that exciting because I purposefully kept the majority of it free. I know that November is going to be a hectic month with anniversaries and birthdays, so giving myself a chance to wind down in October was definitely the best choice.

Some exciting things did happen though! 

My work book club met up at the pub for the first time in two years and I had a brilliant time. We didn’t talk about a specific book, but we ended up chatting for ages. So long that my car park time ran out and I’m now worrying that they’re going to fine me for overstaying by ten minutes! I’m looking forward to meeting up in person again soon. We’re thinking we should do a Christmas dinner as long as the case numbers don’t explode by then.

I also took part in Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon! I finished four books and I’m SO. PLEASED. with myself. I was going to post a TBR on my blog, which I did have all written up, but I just didn’t get around to formatting or posting it because work kicked my butt that week.

I’ve started doing weekly reading sprints on my Booktube channel and they’ve made Monday nights a lot more exciting! They’re also really helping me to focus on reading, otherwise I would probably just watch a load of TV while Quill is out of the house instead.

Books I Read in October

I somehow read 19 books in October?? I don’t know how I managed it. I think it’s partly because I’m now commuting again for part of the week, which is the perfect chance to listen to audiobooks. I’ve been blasting through those, and it helps that Audible has introduced the Plus programme for UK subscribers. Having some down time and so few life plans really helped as well, and of course I have to give credit to Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon for pushing me to read four books over one weekend.

Here are some of my reading highlights from October! It was hard to choose so few books out of my long list, but these are books that really stood out to me this month for various reasons.

★★★★★

Miracle Creek was a surprise hit for me! I loved the sounds of it, but I didn’t think I was going to give it a full five stars. It’s absolutely captivating and I couldn’t put it down. I’d highly recommend reading it if you like small town drama, mysteries, and some court room suspense.

★★★★

The Girl From the Well was a surprise hit for me. I didn’t get on with The Bone Witch when I first tried to read it, but I picked up TGFTW as a buddy read with Justine and Kayla. It ended up being one of the creepiest YA books I’ve ever read, and I loved it!

★★★★

This was a complete cover “buy” as I saw the book in Waterstones and was hyped when I saw it was available through my library system. I’m really into plane crashes (don’t @ me) as I find them fascinating, and I really enjoyed how fast paced this book was. After reading some reviews from flight attendants, apparently it’s also super accurate too, which I love!

★★★★

I’ve been reading through Tiffany D Jackson’s backlist this year and it’s been a Journey. I’ve got a video going up on my Booktube channel about it soon. I loved White Smoke, which was Jackson’s first take on YA horror (although you could argue that her previous books are kind of horrific too) and she absolutely crushed it. This had me on the edge of my seat and contained some of my favourite creepiest tropes.

★★★★

I knew I would enjoy Felix Ever After but after seeing some reviews say that Felix took a while to warm up to, I was hesitant. I honestly don’t know what those reviewers were talking about though because Felix was kind of a troubled sweetheart? I loved this one, and while I wasn’t a fan of the romance(s) (I knocked a star off for that), I flew through it and really engaged with all the characters.

★★★★

I was supposed to read Black Sun last year for book club but I couldn’t get into it at the time. I gave it another go and this time I really enjoyed it! I love the world building and the politics. It reminded me a little of The Bone Shard Daughter in terms of the vibe it gives off (I’m thinking mostly about the sailing).

Plans Going Forward

Like I said, November is going to be CHAOTIC. We kick off the month with our anniversary. We’ve decided to go ice skating in London, followed by some book shopping (of course), followed by FINALLY going to see Six: the Musical. I cannot express how excited I am to finally go and see it. The day after, we’re going to see the fireworks with a friend. It’ll involve standing in a massive field for a couple of hours but it’ll be great.

Then we have my birthday. I’m not sure what I’m doing for it yet, but one of my friends is coming to visit! I think we’ll end up getting takeaway and chilling. If someone could get me cake, that’d be really good.

After that, we’re going to stay with some friends for the weekend to see their new house!

And finally, the following weekend is Quill’s birthday. Again, I’m not sure what we’re doing for it, but it’ll be nice to get another takeaway and chill. Maybe with more cake?

I’ll update you all next month once we’ve finalised and completed all our plans!

Want more? Check out some of my Booktube videos from October!

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