October Recap

I’m trying a different format for my monthly recaps. Now instead of just including the books I reviewed and the weekly tags I took part in I’m going to include what books I brought and some of what I will be planning to read next month.

Anyways after my fantasy slump last month I was back on track this month. I didn’t blog as much given that I was in Algarve for the first week of October but I got through some amazing books, and have even more amazing reads planned for next month.

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Books I Reviewed

Chaos Walking Trilogy

This series is completely addictive. Before I picked up the first book I’d heard all about how amazing it was but nothing prepared me for how much I’d end up loving this trilogy.

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness

Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness

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Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Uprooted was another book I’d heard so much about before picking it up. Inspired by fairytales and folklore I knew even before I started it I’d love it, luckily the story lived up to my expectations.

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ARC Review: Timekeeper by Tara Sim

The cover and the blurb were what made me request this book from NetGalley, and I’m glad I did. An addictive story with amazing characters, I can’t wait for the second book to be released now.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley.

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The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

I love sci-fi, although I haven’t read much from the genre when compared to fantasy, and this book has to be one of the best. Full of diversity and amazing character it’s an unforgettable read.

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Vassa in the Night by Sarah Porter

There are a lot of mixed reviews for this book but I actually ended up really enjoying it. Yes the story was a little confusing at times but overall I understood enough to follow what was happening.

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Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Books I Picked Up Due to Glowing Recommendations or Reviews

Top Ten Characters I’d Love to Have as Family Members

Top Ten Books that are Perfect Reads for Halloween

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Waiting on Wednesday

The Love Interest by Cale Dietrich

Our Dark Duet by V.E. Schwab

Lucky in Love by Kasie West

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Does anyone remember when I said I was going to be on a book buying ban until the new year? No? Me neither. Some of these were pre-orders, however most were impulse buys when I saw reviews or heard other people talking about them, or even because I read the book as an ARC and had to go out and buy it myself.

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Bloomsbury

• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Deluxe Illustrated Edition by J.K. Rowling

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Waterstones

• Tales of the Peculiar by Ransom Riggs
• Half Bad by Sally Green
• More Than This by Patrick Ness
  Check out my review here.
• The Last Beginning by Lauren James
• The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkins

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Amazon

• Replica by Lauren Oliver
• Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
  Check out my review here.
• When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore
  Check out my review here.
• Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova

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Fairy Loot

• Metaltown by Kristen Simmons

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I had both Replica and Blood for Blood on my to-read list for last month and didn’t manage to get around to either. So on top of those two I need to pick up The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer and Labyrinth Lost this month after hearing amazing things about both.

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Replica by Lauren Oliver

Two girls, two stories, one epic novel.

From Lauren Oliver, New York Times bestselling author of Before I Fall and the Delirium trilogy, comes an epic, masterful novel that explores issues of individuality, identity, and humanity. Replica is a “flip book” that contains two narratives in one, and it is the first in a duology. Turn the book one way and read Lyra’s story; turn the book over and upside down and read Gemma’s story. The stories can be read separately, one after the other, or in alternating chapters. The two distinct parts of this astonishing novel combine to produce an unforgettable journey. Even the innovative book jacket mirrors and extends the reading experience.

Lyra’s story begins in the Haven Institute, a building tucked away on a private island off the coast of Florida that from a distance looks serene and even beautiful. But up close the locked doors, military guards, and biohazard suits tell a different story. In truth, Haven is a clandestine research facility where thousands of replicas, or human models, are born, raised, and observed. When a surprise attack is launched on Haven, two of its young experimental subjects – Lyra, or 24, and the boy known only as 72 – manage to escape.

Gemma has been in and out of hospitals for as long as she can remember. A lonely teen, her life is circumscribed by home, school, and her best friend, April. But after she is nearly abducted by a stranger claiming to know her, Gemma starts to investigate her family’s past and discovers her father’s mysterious connection to the secretive Haven research facility. Hungry for answers, she travels to Florida, only to stumble upon two replicas and a completely new set of questions.

While the stories of Lyra and Gemma mirror each other, each contains breathtaking revelations critically important to the other story. Replica is an ambitious, thought-provoking masterwork.

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Blood for Blood by Ryan Graudin

The action-packed, thrilling sequel to Ryan Graudin’s Wolf by Wolf.

There would be blood.
Blood for blood.
Blood to pay.
An entire world of it.

For the resistance in 1950s Germany, the war may be over, but the fight has just begun.

Death camp survivor Yael, who has the power to skinshift, is on the run: the world has just seen her shoot and kill Hitler. But the truth of what happened is far more complicated, and its consequences are deadly. Yael and her unlikely comrades dive into enemy territory to try to turn the tide against the New Order, and there is no alternative but to see their mission through to the end, whatever the cost.

But dark secrets reveal dark truths, and one question hangs over them all: how far can you go for the ones you love?

This gripping, thought-provoking sequel to Wolf by Wolf will grab readers by the throat with its cinematic writing, fast-paced action, and relentless twists.

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The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkins

Mara Dyer doesn’t think life can get any stranger. She wakes from a coma in hospital with no memory of how she got there or of the bizarre accident that caused the deaths of her best friends and her boyfriend, yet left her mysteriously unharmed. The doctors suggest that starting over in a new city, a new school, would be good for her and just to let the memories gradually come back on their own.

But Mara’s new start is anything but comforting. She sees the faces of her dead friends everywhere, and when she suddenly begins to see other people’s deaths right before they happen, Mara wonders whether she’s going crazy! And if dealing with all this wasn’t enough, Noah Shaw, the most beautiful boy she has ever seen can’t seem to leave her alone…but as her life unravels around her, Mara can’t help but wonder if Noah has another agenda altogether…

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Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova

Nothing says Happy Birthday like summoning the spirits of your dead relatives.

I fall to my knees. Shattered glass, melted candles and the outline of scorched feathers are all that surround me. Every single person who was in my house – my entire family – is gone.

Alex is a bruja, the most powerful witch in a generation…and she hates magic. At her Deathday celebration, Alex performs a spell to rid herself of her power. But it backfires. Her whole family vanishes into thin air, leaving her alone with Nova, a brujo boy she can’t trust. A boy whose intentions are as dark as the strange markings on his skin.

The only way to get her family back is to travel with Nova to Los Lagos, a land in-between, as dark as Limbo and as strange as Wonderland…

Beautiful Creatures meets Daughter of Smoke and Bone with an infusion of Latin American tradition in this highly original fantasy adventure.

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So, any thoughts on the new format of my monthly recaps? Next month is going to be a very special one for me because on the 17th of November I will have reached my one year blogiversary. I’m not sure what I’m planning at the moment but there will be a giveaway so stay tuned.