September 2023 Wrap-Up

Hey bookworms!

Happy spooky month! I’ve been excited to decorate my house for Halloween and get into the spooky spirit. These past few months have been super busy and I’ve been struggling, so I’m hoping to get my 💩 together and form some new healthy habits this month. I’ve also been thinking of making some changes to the types of posts I create on Instagram and hopefully finding ways to post more often. Regarding my reading, I only finished three books this month, and I read two of them in two days. Fingers crossed I manage to read more this month!

Editing Update: I had a blast attending the ACES VCON 2023 last week. I learned so many new things that I can’t wait to put into practice, and I made so many new connections. I may also attend a virtual “unconference” at the end of October where I’ll continue learning more about running my editing business and editing in general. Regarding availability, I have a few editing slots for November, so check out my Editing Services page for more info and contact me by filling out the form there 😊

A teaser shot from the ghost photoshoot I did with my friend on October 1. Spooky season is officially here!

My Library

I still have around five books I’m currently reading, but I’ll hopefully finish them by the end of October.

Netgalley eARCs

Paris by Andi Watson and Simon Gane

Review:

I desperately wanted to read this eARC, but my computer and Kobo may not have been able to handle the graphics of this comic because it took forever for each page to load 😅 I also ran out of patience because the first 22 pages of the file were only of the setting and nothing was happening in the story. I kept waiting for something to happen or have a character be introduced, but after 22 pages of lagging page-turns, I just had to move on. I still want to read this though, so I’ll keep an eye out for a physical copy.

TBD/5⭐

Other (e)ARCs

From St. Martin’s Press

The Prince & The Apocalypse by Kara McDowell

Review:

I loved the synopsis of this story, but I think the female MC’s character could have been a bit better. Wren was a bit mediocre, in my opinion. Her personality in the beginning was a bit childish and I thought she didn’t experience much character growth throughout the story. And the betrayal she committed at the end of the story was just such a shitty move. I liked Theo’s character although I felt like his motives were a bit overdramatic. I loved the bit with the certificate even though it was totally predictable. I wish we got a chapter or epilogue with Wren and Theo’s reunion at the end because the story just ended too abruptly. The trajectory of the comet was totally predictable as well, but I guess that’s to be expected for a romance novel. Overall, this was a fun, quick read, but if there’s a sequel I don’t think I’ll be reading it.

3/5⭐

From Simon and Schuster Canada

Their Vicious Games by Joelle Wellington

Review:

OMG. The classism. The racism. The calculating cruelty and violence. This story was brutal in the best way possible. I was hooked—especially with Penicillin’s (iykyk) female rage reveal. Saint was such a great character and friend to Adina. Esme and Hawthorne were such a fascinating and riveting duo to read about, and I loved their plot twist at the end. The trials were all so interesting and the first murder took me by surprise as I had forgotten this book was about a competition to the death 😅 I was totally rooting for Penelope and Adina by the end of the story, and I thought the twist at the last trial was so fitting. Overall, I would totally recommend this!

4.5/5⭐

The Handyman Method by Nick Cutter and Andrew F. Sullivan

Review:

Dear God this was such a messed up book. I was not expecting the amount of descriptive gore in this story. I’m a huge fan of gory books though, so I didn’t mind it at all. I thought the descriptions were a bit over-the-top though. This honestly reminded me of Amytiville Horror—which the author had intended when he explains his writing process in the Afterward—but this story has an unexpected twist that is nothing like that movie. I also didn’t feel too much for any of the characters which is why my rating is a bit lower. According to the author, this was supposed to be a short story, but it expanded into a novel. I felt like the plot was dragging during a few points in the story, so this was probably why. Honestly, the book probably could have been condensed quite a bit. I was intrigued during the beginning of the story, felt “meh” by the middle, and just wanted it to be over by the end.

2.5/5⭐

Audiobooks

The Dirty Streets of Heaven by Tad Williams - I started listening to this because it was recommended by a family member, but I just couldn’t get into the story. I did like Bobby’s character, but I kept finding myself losing interest or having a hard time focusing on the story within the first few chapters.

Let me know what your fav reads from September were in the comments below! Do you have any plans for spooky season? And if you take lots of reels or Tiktoks, please leave any tips or tricks in the comments, along with any recs for recording equipment. Thanks in advance 😅

Have a spooktacular October 👻