September was pretty much all about the ARCs on this blog. Three of my highly anticipated reads of the year were released and I was incredibly lucky to get an ARC for all three. Granted there were a few disappointments but reading would be boring without any variety, if you knew before going in that you were going to love every single book you picked up.
Just a quick announcement; I will be going on a mini-hiatus this month. On October 10th me and my sister will be travelling to Budapest and then on to Vienna, so I will be unable to post and likely unable to comment as well. This also means in October instead of posting one of my Reading Around the World features I will publishing two Postcard From posts about my holidays.
Books I Reviewed
ARC Review: Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff
This was incredible. After Nevernight I had high expectations for Godsgrave but this book completely blew them out the water. It was better than I ever expected, and better than the first book as well.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley.
The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James
When I read the blurb for The Loneliest Girl in the Universe I thought I knew what the story would be about, then I actually read the book and it went in another direction that had me hooked.
ARC Review: Invictus by Ryan Graudin
After discovering Ryan Graudin had not only another book being released but a time travel book at that, Invictus went to the top of my to-read list. Luckily I got an ARC for it at YALC, and luckily this book lived up to my expectations.
I received a copy of this book from BKMRK.
ARC Review: Beasts Made of Night by Tochi Onyebuchi
While the concept for Beasts Made of Night was interesting, and the world building incredible, the story itself and the character development was a little disappointing. Still a good read but this was a book I’d hoped for more from.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
ARC Review: The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic by Leigh Bardugo
If I had to pick one book this month that was not only my most anticipated release but also my favourite read, it would be this one. I was beyond thrilled to get an ARC for The Language of Thorns, and of course I loved it. Though I expected nothing else from Leigh Bardugo and the Grishaverse.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley.
ARC Review: There’s Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins
Normally I’m not a big reader of horror, but between the fact that There’s Someone Inside Your House was written by Stephanie Perkins and that I’d seen it likened to Scream I thought ‘why not?’
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley.
ARC Review: The Fandom by Anna Day
Everyone, and I’m guilty of this myself, reads fantasy books and thinks of how incredible it would be to live within that world. The Fandom was an interesting story about why that could end up being very very dangerous.
I received a copy of this book from Chicken House.
ARC Review: All the Wind in the World by Samantha Mabry
This was a highly anticipated release of mine, simply because I love the magical realism genre. Unfortunately it ended up being my worst read of the month simply because I hated the main character.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley.
Moonrise by Sarah Crossan
Before Moonrise I’d never read a book written in poetry before, but this was one I discovered at YALC and it sounded interesting. Moonrise ended up being an unexpected discovery but one I loved, and I’ll definitely be checking out more of Sarah Crossan’s releases.
Top Ten Tuesday
Top Ten Books I Struggled to Get into but Ended up Loving
Top Ten Books I Read and Loved While at High School/Uni
Top Ten Books on my Fall TBR List
Top Ten Books that Feature … Characters
Waiting on Wednesday
Unearthed by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
Life, Love, and the List by Kasie West
Standalone Sunday
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde
After my intense YALC books haul, and my aim to read as many of the books I already own but have yet to get to, I’ve been very good about resisting whim purchases. Granted it’s been hard because there are a couple of books I’ve seen which I really want, chances are you’ll see them in my October Recap, but all the books I brought this month were pre-orders that were finally released.
Waterstones
- Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo
Amazon
- Warcross by Marie Lu
- Invictus by Ryan Graudin
Check out my review here. - Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff
Check out my review here.
Fairy Loot
- Even the Darkest Stars by Heather Fawcett
There are some incredible books being released next month, a lot of them I cannot wait for, which made picking just one for my September Recap a challenge. In the end I settled on a book that is being released very soon (tomorrow) and that I have been so excited for for such a long time.
Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemore
Love grows such strange things.
For nearly a century, the Nomeolvides women have tended the grounds of La Pradera, the lush estate gardens that enchant guests from around the world. They’ve also hidden a tragic legacy: if they fall in love too deeply, their lovers vanish. But then, after generations of vanishings, a strange boy appears in the gardens.
The boy is a mystery to Estrella, the Nomeolvides girl who finds him, and to her family, but he’s even more a mystery to himself; he knows nothing more about who he is or where he came from than his first name. As Estrella tries to help Fel piece together his unknown past, La Pradera leads them to secrets as dangerous as they are magical in this stunning exploration of love, loss, and family.
I got through a lot of ARCs last month, and while I discovered some incredible books, some of which have become favourite reads of mine this year, I’m looking forwards to being able to read the books I want to read rather than the books I need to read because their release date is coming up. My aim is to catch up on some of the books I own but have yet to read.
You definitely had a great month, and isn’t it wonderful that you could get ARCs of books you would’ve bought anyways?? 😀 Hope you enjoy your trips this month and stay safe! Here’s to great books, and great adventures! 😉
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Yeah September was pretty amazing for me, and a lot of the ARCs were books I was highly anticipating so it was great being able to read them a little bit sooner. 😀
Thanks so much Lashaan, I hope you have a great month as well! 🙂
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I really need to read Godsgrave and The Language of Thorns! I have a copy of Moonrise too that I was sent so I’m glad you enjoyed it!! I hope you have a fun time travelling, Beth ♥
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Godsgrave and The Language of Thorns are amazing Lauren. I’m sure you’ll love them, and I’m sure you’ll love Moonrise as well. That’s an amazing book though in a different and more moving way.
Thanks so much, and happy reading Lauren! 🙂 ❤️
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Have fun in Budapest and Vienna! I’m really quite envious as I haven’t been to either yet! I look forward to your trip posts ♥️
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Thanks so much Dani. I’ve been looking forwards to this trip for ages so I’m thrilled it’s nearly here! 😀
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So many ARCs! And I’m glad you enjoyed a good number of them as well! 😀 I’m sorry some of them didn’t live up to expectations, though. You win some, you lose some, I guess
That book haul is wonderful! I really need to get started on the Nevernight series. I hear so much about it! Glad your September turned out to be a very successful month in reading! Hope the same goes for October! Happy reading! 😀
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Ha, yeah I had a lot of them to get through but for the most part they were all amazing reads. You’re always going to get a few duds no matter what month it is, and the good books did partly make up for them. 🙂
Oh Azia you definitely need to read the Nevernight series, it’s incredible. Godsgrave was even better than the first book and I have a feeling the third will be even better than that.
Thanks so much Azia, I hope you have an incredible October as well. 🙂 ❤
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Oh I love it when the second book improves on the first! I was going to buy Nevernight in my last book haul but decided to get The Last Magician instead haha. I’ll try to get Nevernight before the year is out then 😀
Thanks so much! ❤
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Same here. Oh The Last Magician is a great book as well, granted I prefer Nevernight but that’s just me. 😀
That’s all right! ❤
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Hope you have a lovely time in Budapest and Vienna 🌸
I really want to try and read Wonder Woman and Warcross this month; two books that you hauled this month. I’m also kind of excited to try and read Invivlctus, it’s not my normal genre but everyone seems to love it so now I want to maybe give it a go!
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Thanks so much Michelle, I’ve been looking forwards to this holiday for a while now so I’m sure it’ll be amazing.
Wonder Woman is a great read, and so is Warcross as well actually. I really hope you enjoy both. Same goes for Invictus which is definitely one of my favourite reads this month. I do love time travel books though so this really was one for me. 🙂 ❤
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I really liked the time travel aspect in The Passenger duology by Alexandra Bracken, do you think I’ll like it in Invictus too?
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Yeah I think so. I mean, I can’t really be considered unbiased but I loved both books so I hope you will enjoy Invictus as well. 🙂
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I’m definitely going to try and give it a go! Thanks so much, Beth 🌸
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In that case I hope you love it. 🙂
That’s all right. ❤
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Ohhh I am so excited for your upcoming trip, Beth, you must be just as well 😀 I can’t wait to read your blog posts about everything you’ve seen here and there. It’ll make me travel for sure, ahah, I so miss it. And Vienna and Budapest are GREAT destinations, I want to go there someday for sure 😀
I’m eager to hear your thoughts on Wild Beauty, it sounds like everyone really enjoyed it so far 🙂
Hope you’ll have a great October xx
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Same here. I’ve seen everyone go away over Summer and I’ve been so jealous because I’ve just been stuck at work. Now my time and my holiday has arrived! 😀 I’ll be posting, with plenty of pictures, about my holiday when I’m back, and yeah I’ve heard amazing things about both those destinations as well.
I have high hopes for Wild Beauty, I’m hoping my order actually arrives soon because I can’t wait to get started on it.
Thanks Marie, I hope you have an amazing October as well. 🙂 ❤
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YAY! I get the feeling ahah, but now you’ll be the one making all of us jealous 😀😀
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I hope you enjoy reading all those, they sound great! I’m new to blogging on wordpress (I had a blog many years ago on blogspot) and would appreciate it if you could check it out! https://daydreamingroux.com/
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Thanks, these are all books I read last month, and most I loved. 🙂 If you pick up any of these I hope you enjoy them too.
Ohh, good luck with blogging, I hope you enjoy WordPress as well. 🙂
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I think I’ll be checking out Invictus, definitely sounds like my kind of book 🙂 thank you, luckily for me I have worked with WordPress a lot with my day job!
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Oh Invictus is a brilliant book, definitely a favourite read of mine this month, I hope you love it.
That’s handy, I wish I could work with WordPress in my day job! 😀
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Enjoy your mini hiatus, darling! I’m buried in ARCs and mandatory books… and loving it xD
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Thanks Meggy, I’m looking forwards to my upcoming holiday. 🙂 I hope you manage to get through your ARCs and mandatory books, and that you enjoy them all. 😀
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OMGGG I’M SO JEALOUS OF ALL THE ARCS YOU READ!! I’m so excited about a lot of them and I’m happy that you got to read them! ❤ And that Fairyloot box looks SO COOL. 😍
Oh, I’m sad that you’ll be going on a mini-hiatus!! But I’m super excited to hear about your trip — I hope you have fun. 😘 And AGHAGAGA I AM SO EXCITED FOR WILD BEAUTY??? It sounds so good and it has SUCH apretty cover!
Hope you have a great October, Beth! ❤
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So many of these were ones I got at YALC, which is an incredible place for finding ARCs I’ve found. 🙂 The others came from NetGalley. Fairyloot is amazing, I have loved all their boxes and can’t wait for October’s now. 😀
The only time I really go on hiatus is when I’m on holiday, which isn’t always often but it happens every now and again. I can’t wait for this holiday though and there’ll be plenty of photos when I’m back again.
Hopefully the book itself is as gorgeous as the cover right?
Thanks May. ❤ I hope you have an amazing October as well. 🙂
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Have an amazing and safe trip! Moonrise is one I would love to read. I keep hearing great things about it.
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Thanks so much. 🙂 And yes Moonrise is a book I’d highly recommend, it was an emotional and moving read that I can’t forget. 🙂
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It looks like you had another amazing reading month! Have so much fun on your vacation! I can’t wait to see your photos! 😀
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Thanks Meghan, and yeah I really did. 🙂
Thanks again, I’ve been looking forwards to this holiday for ages, and of course I’ll be posting plenty of photos when I’m back again. 😀
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Hello Beth!
Kudos to you for reading and reviewing so many ARCs this past month! That’s great that you enjoyed most of them, although I’m sorry to hear that there are some disappointments.
Wishing you a great time in Budapest and Vienna 🙂
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Hi Sophie. 🙂 Thanks so much, I ended up with a load this month that needed reviewing. And yeah the ones that were great were good enough to make up for the ones that were a little disappointing.
Thanks so much Sophie, I can’t wait. I’ve been looking forwards to this holiday for such a long time.
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Great books 😁 Have a great holiday 😁
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Thanks so much. 😀
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😁
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