October Reading Wrap Up | 2021

Hello, Everyone! In the month of October I read 8 books, and all but one were audiobooks! So grateful to be able to read while accomplishing other things around the house, and in general. Anyone who says audiobooks is not reading, is wrong and a grade A asshole who deserves zero respect, AND an excellent example of what a wrong opinion looks like. ANYWAY! October seemed to drag, but I was able to get a decent amount of books done in that time window, and I enjoyed everything I read!

Can I just say how much I enjoyed this book? I’m still thinking about it today, and I’m pretty sure it’s my favorite book of October. I’ve read Erin A Craig before, so I wasn’t surprised that I loved her writing again. She wrote HOUSE OF SALT AND SORROWS which came out in 2019, and it was a hauntingly beautiful re-telling of the 12 Dancing Princesses.
Small Favors hit all of the things I love about a magical realism stand alone. It had mystery, a more dated setting, a close knit family, a complicated romance you never trust, and creatures not so human coming out of the shadows.
I loved our main character, Ellerie, which is not common for me. I rooted for Ellerie the entire time, and was completely invested in her and her family’s circumstances.
I will say that you have to be like me and like the urban fantasy/magic realism/folklore/local legend type stories to like this book. I’m a hoe for those stories, so it was very easy for me to get invested in this story.
I am very excited to see what Erin A Craig will do next!
I read this as an audiobook through the Libby app!

Fable has been one of those stories I was eyeing for a very long time, and made no real plan to read it anytime soon. I pretty much put it in the “read when you’re not really in the mood to read anything” category in my head. This and the sequel were impulse buys one day at a Barnes and Noble with my husband. I’m glad I got them, even though I ended up listening to the audiobook anyway!
I was expecting more of a deeper fantasy, but I did enjoy reading it. It was a quick read, and I am invested in Fable’s journey. The side characters feel very shallow, and not very flushed out. I like the world building, and the pace of the plot was moving along nicely. I guess I’m just used to over 700 page fantasies where we have a lot more time to invest in characters, so it’s not on the author at all. I did end up giving it 5 stars, because I love a good cliff hanger, and again I am invested. At the time I am writing this post, I am 40% done with the sequel NAMESAKE.
I read this as an audiobook through the Libby app!

The Hazel Wood & The Night Country are the two books I want to cover next:
The Hazel Wood was a re-read for me, and I’m so glad I went back to it to prepare to FINALLY read the sequel The Night Country. I forgot how much I enjoyed The Hazel Wood, and reminded once again how magical re-reading is. Small Favors and The Hazel Wood are in a similar vein where it’s about magic realism – about folklore and legends coming to light in the real world. This story was driven by mystery, and complicated family histories.
I will say that I liked the first book way more than I liked the second one. To be honest, I didn’t think this book needed a sequel at all. I think The Hazel Wood stands well on it’s own. I kept an open mind, though, when going into The Night Country. It wasn’t bad, but it definitely felt like it was missing something.
I read these both as audiobooks through the Libby app!

I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this story as much as I did. There were was multiple points of view for this story, which was a nice touch. Each character was completely different, and was involved in the plot for completely different reasons. I thought the main characters were well written, and I rooted for all of them for different reasons. The main character I enjoyed most being around was Sabine. She is one of those characters that had the most character growth, and I was so damn proud of her for going outside of her comfort bubble to do what was right to her.
I wasn’t super sold on the romance that is being pushed in this series, but I am interested to see where it’ll go after what happened at the end of the book. I am invested, and plan on the reading the sequels when I time.
I read this as an audiobook through the Libby app!

Being honest, I only read this because I got it in an Owlcrate, and am currently working towards actually reading my physical TBR. I was interested in it, but I wasn’t super excited. That was then, of course, when I got super invested. This book was so insanely beautifully done, and I highly recommend this book/series!
It’s hard for me to find series where it focuses on friendship more than anything. So giving me a book where a group of girls bond because they are all shoved into a situation they didn’t ask for, it became very easy to love this book after discovering that. Not to mention the magic, twists, and moments of heartbreak. Forna did a fantastic job with this story, and I am very excited to read the sequel in the near future!
I read this book as an audiobook through the Libby app!

This was a book I had been looking forward to ever since I got it in an Owlcrate. I love fantasy standalones, since I don’t come across them (personally) very often. Or, ones that personally interest me I should say. I’m also a hoe for anything space or star related, so being introduced to a character that was half a star was super exciting to me. I also loved the Hindu representation in this book, and I love how POC representation has been growing so much in mainstream young adult books.
The competition in this book was not intense at all, and this story was solely focused on the main character’s development and cleverness. I adored the ending, and I highly recommend this to everyone and anyone. This is also a story where if it was a series I would absolutely read each and every book. ALSO, this book gave me major DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE vibes, and since I read that this year as well – I was here for it.
I read this as an audiobook through the Libby app!

Ok so I read THE CROWN OF GILDED BONES, and that is the third book in this series, but since that summary has spoilers I’m just gonna post the summary to the first book again.
This took me two months to read, but not because it isn’t absolutely amazing – it’s just because I went on an audiobook kick and this was my physical read (which I only read in the evening when I’m not tired). But that aside, I loved this book so much. It’s the best the one so far, and I’m so beyond ready for the fourth book once it’s out.
Everything about this series is so brilliant, and detailed, and has no filter honestly – and that is what makes it so amazing to me. If you like Sarah J Maas, you’ll love this series.
I read this has a physical book from my TBR!

Thank you for stopping by to see what I read in the month of October! Be sure to stop by next month to see what I read in the month of November! But, I have a feeling it won’t be as much. November and December are very busy months for me. See you next time!