How in the world are we at the end of October already? I genuinely cannot comprehend that 2021 is nearly over! We are getting to my favourite time of year, which is obviously great, but it has come around far to fast.
After a very slumpy past few months, I have finally started to get back into reading in the month of October. I read a total of 7 books in October, including quite a few that have been on my radar for years now. I have been trying to prioritise the books I already own, either physically or as an ebook, and managed to get 3 books off of my ebook TBR and 2 off of my physical TBR, so I'm very happy about that. I also got a surprise 5 star read this month for the first time since July! This was definitely a much better reading month, so let's get into the books.
The Guest List by Lucy Foley -
This is a book that has been on countless TBR lists over the past year and I finally got around to reading it in October for my 'reading three popular thrillers' post. It takes place on a secluded Irish island during a wedding and we follow the wedding party both in the lead up to the wedding, and on the wedding night when someone turns up dead. I shared more of my thoughts in that three thrillers post, but I ended up really enjoying this book. The setting was so creepy and atmospheric, the characters were a really mixed bunch that were all interesting to read about and for the most part had unique voices. I think the flipping between the past timeline in the lead up to the wedding and the present timeline of the wedding night worked well for this story as it kept the suspense building and the reader hooked. The thing that worked the best for me with this book, however, was the various points of view. This story was told from multiple different perspectives and that made for a really fast paced read, but also helped the reader find out more about the characters and made you question who you could trust. The ending was full of twists that kept me hooked and despite managing to guess who was responsible I still thought the reveal and how everything wrapped up was very well done. I would definitely pick up more from Lucy Foley in the future.
Rating: 4/5
Pucked by Helena Hunting -
From a nice surprise to a bit of a disappointment, this one did not live up to the hype for me. It is a book I have heard such great things about over the years so finally decided to pick it up when I was in the mood for a sports romance. It follows Violet who has sworn off hockey players having seen the player behaviour of her professional hockey player stepbrother. However, when she meets his new teammate Alex and the two have a connection, she starts to question that decision. I love sports romances, no matter the sport I am here for it. This one, though, was not for me. It was an instalove romance, which I don't always hate but I couldn't see much of a connection between these characters in the beginning, and it had no plot. This book was entirely sexy times and discussions about each others genital area, things I can enjoy in moderation when there's some plot mixed in but that wasn't the case with this book. Don't get me wrong, the steamy scenes were great and very well written, but it was just a bit much. I also found Violet to be an incredibly annoying heroine and thought her reaction surrounding the conflict in the story was completely over the top. I definitely had some issues with this book but I didn't hate it, it was just fine. I'm still undecided about whether I want to continue with this series.
Rating: 3/5
Final Girls by Riley Sager -
This is another book I have had on my shelves for a while and finally picked up for the reading popular thrillers post. This follows Quincy who is known to the media as a 'final girl' after she was the sole survivor of a massacre. When one of only two other 'final girls' is found dead, the remaining two are brought together. However, things are not what they seem. This is another book that has been pretty hyped since it's release and didn't totally live up to my expectations. Again, I share more of my thoughts in that reading popular thrillers post. This was hard for me to get into as I found the first half to be really slow. I struggled to care about these characters much to begin with and just wasn't interested in the story much at all. However, when things started to pick up in the second half I did start to enjoy it a bit more. It did get quite intense, this is definitely a darker read and not for the faint hearted. While a lot did happen towards the end, I didn't find much of it particularly shocking and had guessed a lot of the twists quite early on so they didn't make as much of an impact on me. I did really enjoy Riley Sager's writing, though, so would read more from him in the future.
Rating: 3/5
Rush by Kandi Steiner -
After a pretty intense read, I decided to pick this up on a complete whim as it seemed like the perfect lighter read. This is the first book in a NA series following a group of college students as they navigate both Greek life and life in general. This was a lot of fun and exactly what I needed as a bit of a palette cleanser. It is told almost in the form of a TV show in episodes. This first book is comprised of six episodes and we follow seven different characters and all of the drama that they are involved in. It is very dramatic and it reminded me a lot of shows like Gossip Girl, which I love. It's nothing that will blow your mind but it is a lot of fun and a super quick read. I will definitely be picking up the rest of this series.
Rating: 3/5
The Tourist Attraction by Sarah Morgenthaler -
This is the first book in a series of companion novels set in a small town in Alaska and it has been on my radar ever since I fell in love with The Simple Wild by KA Tucker. I know that I love an Alaska setting, I know that I love a small town grump, this sounded like exactly my kind of book. It didn't quite live up to the very high bar set by The Simple Wild, but it was a fun read. It follows Graham, the grumpy diner owner in this small town who hates tourists, and Zoey, a big city girl who is on her dream trip. The pair meet and have an instant connection. This was very much instalove and was another instance in which I just couldn't see why they were so obsessed with each other so quickly. I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much had it not been set in Alaska as the plot wasn't anything special. It was made clear that Zoey was 'not like other girls', which is something that annoys me in book, especially as all that really seemed different about her was the fact she wasn't rich. Overall, this was a fun read made a bit better by the Alaska setting but didn't blow me away. I will probably continue on with this series at some point.
Rating: 3.5/5
Thirteen by Steve Cavanagh -
This was the third book I read for the reading popular thrillers post and was the biggest surprise of them all. It is a legal thriller following the high profile murder trial in which an actor is being accused of murdering his wife and head of security. The book is told from two perspectives, one the lawyer who has become involved in the case and the other the serial killer who has made his way on to the jury. This was unlike anything I have ever read before and I loved every second of it. It was intense and graphic at times, we are seeing into the very twisted mind of a serial killer who is not afraid to do what he needs to do to get his way. I found the trial from the perspective of the lawyer really interesting and enjoyed following his investigation. This was full of twists, none of which I saw coming, and it kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. It was such a cleverly written, well crafted book that I couldn't put down. I will definitely be reading more from this author.
Rating: 5/5
Thicker Than Water by Tyler Shultz -
I have recently started another Audible free trial, after cancelling my membership years ago, so wanted to try out some of the Audible originals that come with the membership. This is a short non-fiction audiobook, that felt more like a podcast, detailing the Theranos scandal from Tyler Shultz perspective a the whistleblower in the case. I had never heard anything about this so it was interesting to learn something new. It felt very informal and more like a chat, which threw me off a bit as I was not expecting more of a podcast vibe. It was interesting enough but as someone who knew nothing about this situation going into it, I found some points hard to follow and could have done with a bit more explanation.
Rating: 3/5
Those are the seven books I read in October. My reading was a bit mixed this month, with a few different genres thrown in there. I think I was starting to get a little burnt out on romance and that was causing me to be slumpy. I found that when I was breaking up my reading with different genres I could enjoy what I was reading a bit more.
I'm really excited for my reading in November, so hopefully that means I can read all of the books!
What was the best book you read in October?
Sophie :)
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