Queen of Books: OCTOBER '19 WRAP-UP

Sunday 3 November 2019

OCTOBER '19 WRAP-UP

Time for another wrap up!

October is always the month where I try to read a lot of spooky books and normally fail. But, this month, I managed to read three!

I also worked on getting back into blogging and writing my novel. Fall TV shows are also back which is fun!

Anyways...

Time to talk about the books I read this month.

PHYSICAL BOOKS

The first book I read was There Will Come A Darkness by Katy Rose Pool. This is a story that some people compared to Six of Crows because of the multiple points of views, however it is very different. This is about Without giving too much away, this is about a world where seven prophets used to guide humanity until they all disappeared leaving behind a secret prophecy fortelling an age of darkness and the birth of a prophet who would either be the world's salvation or the cause of its destruction. There are five people who have points of views in this book: a prince exiled, a ruthless killer, a leader torn between duty and his heart, a reckless gambler and a dying girl. I had very high expectations for this book and while they weren't all met, I still enjoyed this book a lot. I rated it 4 Crowns.

The second book I read was The Merciful Crow by Margaret Owen. This is about Fie who lives in a world broken down into castes. She belongs to a caste called the Crows who are serve as undertakers in order to take those who die from a horrible plague. They are called out to collect a dead royal, and she is expecting a great payday. Instead, they find out that Prince Jasimir and his bodyguard have faked their deaths in an effort to protect the kingdom from being taken over by a vicious queen. Fie offers the prince protection in his mission if he'll provide protection for the Crow caste when he ascends to the throne. I really liked this book and I wrote a whole review about it which is up on my blog. I liked how the characters all had a lot of character development and I thought the plot was very unique. I rated it 4 Crowns.

The third book I read was Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. I watched the Alfred Hitchcock movie based on this book a couple of months ago and never read the book so I decided to give it a try. This is about a woman who is swept off her feet by a widower aka Maxim de Winter. The two get married and since she's a orphan and working as a lady's maid she believes she's stumbled upon a lot of luck. However, after they arrive at his country estate she realizes how his late wife casts a shadow over their lives. It's a spooky gothic mystery romance. What's really interesting about this is that the heroine of the story isn't given a name which adds to the spookiness. I rated it 4 Crowns.

The fourth book I read was The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas. I picked this one up because it's a thriller and I love reading at least one spooky book during the month of October. This is about a town that has no cheerleaders because five years ago all of them died and the cheer squad was disbanded. Now the faculty and students don't want to remember them. But for the main character, it's harder to forget as one of them was her sister. Now, a lot of things are starting to show up and Monica realizes that what happened five years ago isn't over. I expected a spine-chilling thriller however I was disappointed. The plot was a little predictable and I wanted to be shocked when I found out everything. I rated this one 3 Crowns.

The fifth book I read was Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder. I have owned this book for a long time and never picked it up because I was scared that it wouldn't live up to my expectations. This book is about Yelena who is about to be executed for murder until she is offered a reprieve. She is offered the position of a food taster and she takes it. However, the chief of security doesn't seem to trust her and deliberately feeds her a deadly poison and appearing for her daily antidote is the only way she can delay an agonizing death from the poison. However, that's not her only problem as rebels plot to seize the kingdom and Yelena also develops magical powers she can't control which could also get her killed. I loved this book so much and I am so glad that it lived up to my expectations. I loved how character driven this book was and how the romance didn't overshadow anything. This is compared to Throne of Glass but it is so different and I really enjoyed it. I rated it 4.5 Crowns.

The sixth book I read was Contagion by Erin Bowman. This was the last book that I read this month but it was a great spooky book to end the month with. I have read this book once before and I loved it just as much the second time. This is about a ragtag group/crew who are sent to an outer rim planet, in response to a distress call. They have no idea what to expect and when they arrive they find it abandoned and littered with dead bodies along with creepy written warnings. They all have to figure out what happened and discover that some things are better left alone. It's a very scary book and the plot twists will continue until the very end. I rated it 4.5 Crowns.

AUDIOBOOKS READ

NONE THIS MONTH

ARC'S READ

NONE

REVIEWS IN OCTOBER:

The Merciful Crow by Margaret Owen Book Review

WEEKLY WRAP-UP:

9/30 - 10/13

10/14 - 10/27

DISCUSSIONS/OTHER:

Summer '19 Wrap-Up

September '19 Wrap-Up

Favorite Spooky/Scary Books

FAVORITE COVER OF THE MONTH:

NEW FICTIONAL BAE'S:

Tavin from The Merciful Crow by Margaret Owen

Valek from Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

Coen from Contagion by Erin Bowman

NEW FAVORITE FEMALES:

Ephyra from There Will Come a Darkness by Katy Rose Pool

Fie from The Merciful Crow by Margaret Owen

Yelena from Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

Thea from Contagion by Erin Bowman

Nova from Contagion by Erin Bowman

NEW FAVORITE BOOK RELATIONSHIPS:

Fie and Tavin from The Merciful Crow by Margaret Owen

Valek and Yelena from Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

TV SHOWS I WATCHED THIS MONTH: