2019 October, Where I Read a Lot.. but Why Was It All Disappointing!? 🙄

Hello, friends! Despite my fears of being bored of wrap ups, I’m here and not about to abandon this feature (yet) so today, you’re being treated to all I’ve read, watched, and did in October. And of course, I’m not about to leave out mentioning some of the most outstanding blog posts I read this month. 💜

LIFE

October was a weird month – on the one hand, I was very productive when it came to the blog, reading, as well as any homework, assignment and presentations I had to do for uni. On the other hand, I’ve found myself increasingly demotivated to attend my classes at uni. For the most part I blame my boring classes for this – as this is the first semester of my MA studies, there are a lot of “basic” classes and we weren’t really given a chance to choose which lectures we wanted to attend. I’ve heard from multiple sources that starting from next semester things will get better, but I’m still sad about this.

On a happier note, we had a five-day-long 20% discount in many stores throughout Hungary, and so I went shopping with one of my friends, and then with my mom on the following day. I was able to buy a couple of shirts and tops I absolutely adore, and I really enjoyed myself on both days, despite feeling as if my legs were going to fall off. On Saturday, the day I went to shop with my mom, we left the house at 9 am, and got home after 7 pm, so I was pretty much dead that evening.

BOOKS

October was a fantastic reading month for me. I not only read 18 books, but I also discovered a couple of outstanding new-to-me authors I’ll definitely be reading more by. That said, only two of the books I read were five star reads, which is less than ideal. On top of that, I’ve also had a few big, surprising disappointments and that kind of sours my mood.

THE HIGHS

UNDEAD GIRL GANG is as delightful and girl-power-y (that’s totally a word, shh) as it seems based on its adorable cover. Lily Anderson puts a huge emphasis on growth and friendship and in doing so she manages to destroy stereotypes about teenage girls. I just…. I genuinely enjoyed the heck out of Undead Girl Gang, and its predictability didn’t take away from that.

💜 Related Post: {Mini Reviews} Witchy YA Novels

THE BURNING SHADOW: As one of my most awaited novels, The Burning Shadow had a lot to live up to, and it 1000% delivered. It’s cheesy and kind of old school YA, but it’s also entertaining and charming, and the ship is simply amazing. This is typically one of those cases where, if I’m thinking as a “critic” (lmfao, me as a critic) it shouldn’t receive five stars but, given that I enjoyed the fuck out of this, I cannot rate it anything less.

THE CARROW HAUNT: Even though I don’t follow any book blogs that concentrate on horror/thriller – do you know of any? I’d love to discover some – Darcy Coates is a name I’ve been seeing around, and she 1000% deserves it! She created a deeply unsettling, creepy atmosphere in The Carrow Haunt, and her characters were A+, as well. If you want to read a good haunted house novel, pick this one up, you won’t regret it.

💜 Related Post: Would I Stay in a Haunted House Overnight? + Book Recommendations

COLD SIGHT: I can’t for the life of me remember where I found this book – I’m certain an author recommended it on twitter, although I’m not sure who – but I loved it from start to finish. It’s sort of a romantic suspense with a psychic  hero and a reporter heroine, and man, they were such a great pair – both romantically and as two people trying to solve a crime. Not a perfect book, no, but one I was incredibly engrossed in. (Sadly, the second book in the series was a disappointment, but I may still continue the series, as each book is about a different couple solving a new case.)

BURN FOR ME: Can someone please tell me why have I been ignoring Ilona Andrews for the longest time!? I love romance and yet, it’s kind of ingrained into me that I don’t like paranormal romance, which is obviously not true. I mean, even after a shit ton of additions (please keep them coming!) and countless rereads the Psy-Changeling series is still one of my favorite series of all time. Either way, I picked up the Hidden Legacy series this month, starting with Burn for Me, and lord, it was incredible. A bit silly, but so charming and entertaining nonetheless, with a slow-(ish) burn romance, a lovely family and an incredibly good supporting cast. I loved the whole trilogy, and can’t wait to get started on the spin-off.

THE FIXER: While the series was never finished, the two published Fixer novels are well-written, captivating and action-packed, so I highly recommend giving them a chance if you’re into politics, plotting and/or kickass mysteries. The characters are complex and well-written (my only complaint regarding them is that some of them reminded me a bit too much of the cast of The Naturals, also by the author) and the plot moves fast and packs a few unexpected punches. {buddy-read with Lauren}

MY LOVELY WIFE is one of those novels I was both super-intrigued by, but also scared of, as its plot seemed dark and fascinating, but it seemed like this concept could get old fast. Thankfully that was not the case; instead, My Lovely Wife ended up being a twisted psychological thriller that kept me entertained from start to finish, even though it did have its weak, predictable moments. {buddy-read with Sabrina}

THE LOWS

CAPTURING THE DEVIL: I had spoken critically about the third Stalking Jack the Ripper novel, and yet, I had pretty strong hopes for Capturing the Devil. I thought that, surely, as the conclusion of such a beloved historical series, it would deliver. Alas, it didn’t. I found myself skimming through, well, most of the novel, as the relationship drama was unnecessary, unrealistic, and frustrating. I just couldn’t take the plot and the characters seriously, and so Capturing the Devil is one the most disappointing novel of my October.

AWK-WEIRD: As I said above, I love romance, and because Avery Flynn is a well liked author within the romance community, I thought I’d give her a second chance. Butterface wasn’t my cup of tea, but I did find her writing captivating and emotional, so I was pretty positive about Awk-weird. Well… I guess I shouldn’t have been? You know, Awk-weird is not awful, but it’s utterly unmemorable and mediocre – which has just made me lower my rating from three to two stars – and its characters are forgettable as heck.

NINTH HOUSE is easily one of the biggest disappointments of 2019 for me. It’s boring, info-dumpy, and – despite having dark, adult content – reads very much like a Young Adult novel. (This is definitely an unpopular opinion, though! Not only do people love Ninth House, but everyone is praising Bardugo for writing a kickass adult book.) Either way, I had to put this down 25% into it, and I doubt I’ll ever pick it up again. It simply failed to make me care about the story and the characters. Usually, when I want to DNF something, I would scroll ahead to see what happens next, especially if there’s some type of mystery going on – as is in Ninth House – but I didn’t even care to do that, and that tells you all you need to know.

HOUSE OF SHADOWS: After loving The Carrow Haunt by Darcy Coates I was ready to devour something else by her. Thinking of trying something different by her, I decided next to her Gothic Romance duology, and purchased the first novel in it, House of Shadows. I’m not sure if it’s just me – I think it might be, honestly – but it fell super flat for me. The romance was awfully rushed; in a way that made it seem infantile and unrealistic, and the characters were two dimensional.

MOVIES AND SHOWS

Zombieland + Zombieland: Double Tap

Don’t kill me, y’all, but I don’t really see what’s the big deal about Zombieland? I enjoyed it, I did, but its humor fell flat for me 95% of the time. The only reason I watched the second movie – besides appreciating that they went back to make a second one exactly ten years after the first – was because a friend of mine really wanted to see it at the cinema… and even she was disappointed. 😂 

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The Incredibles 2

Again, don’t hate me, because while I do like the first Incredibles movie, the second one was disappointing, in my opinion. It simply didn’t have the same charm as the first installment and while it had it’s funny moments, it wasn’t laugh-out-loud funny. Although, as a kids/family movie, I’m conscious of it being aimed at, well, kids, so I’m hardly the target audience, haha.

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The Addams Family

I was scared of this new addition to the Addams Family franchise – after all, the critics haven’t been kind to it and it – but I really shouldn’t have been. While it has a simple, straight-forward story-line (again, this is aimed at kids!!), it was a charming movie that perfectly brought back the atmosphere of the live-action movies. On that note, I’m baffled by those who complained about the animation – I think it was true enough to the original characters while still being authentic.

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The Good Place

The Good Place is easily one of the smartest, most unique, and funniest tv shows I’ve ever watched, and I’m heartbroken we’re already at its final season.* I binged most of the show this summer, and it’s been weird to wait between episodes, as the newest season is airing just now. I have so much love for these characters, and I’d love to find another show that’s as good as this, so let me know if you have any recs?

*That said, I’m pleased the creators are ending it on their own terms instead of milking this cow until it’s dead.

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Schitt’s Creek

I started Schitt’s Creek to fill the hole finishing One Day at a Time and being close to finishing The Good Place has left in me, and y’all, I don’t fully get the hype? It’s entertaining enough, but unlike the aforementioned shows, it’s hard to really care about the characters. I’ve moved on to season two, because it does make me laugh, and it’s good in a background-noise-while-I’m-doing-something-else sort of way, but I might give up on it if I don’t get more into it.

IN THE BLOGOSPHERE

I did an atrocious job of saving posts this month, I’ll have to do better in November. I remember visiting, commenting, and just appreciating so many posts in October, so this list should be longer.

🌸 Caitlin @ Caitlin Althea asked discussed why reading is an unpopular hobby.

🌸 Maha @ Sunshine n’ Books shared a beginner’s guide to romance novels

🌸 May @ Forever and Everly shared her thoughts on people’s hypocrisy over “realistic” teen characters in YA.

🌸 Shannon, Mari, Taylor, and Amber hosted Shattering Stigmas during October, an event focusing on mental health. You can find a master list of all their posts and click through them here.

🌸 Taylor @ Cornerfolds made me laugh out loud on her post ‘Books That Need New Titles‘

🌸 Wendy @ What the Log Had to Say asked “when are we going to rise against Goodreads?”

OCTOBER ON THE BLOG

I posted ten times in October, and, if I shall say so myself, I’ve been super-happy with all my posts, so I want to show some of them off here a bit. 😅

🌸 Two of my posts were new additions to my “Why I Love” series; I wrote about Lucy Parker’s London Celebrities and Rebecca Schaeffer’s Market of Monsters. Both are underrated, well-written series you should give a chance to.

🌸 I reviewed four books during October. You can find my mini reviews to Caster by Elsie Chapman and Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson in my “Witchy YA Novels” post. I wrote full reviews to Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert and Lock Every Door by Riley Sager – both of these were five star reads and come highly recommended from me.

🌸 I recommend seven books with unreliable narrators, five of my favorite haunted house novels, and seven lighter, non-spooky October/fall reads for those who dislike gore and horror.

WHAT IS TO COME

To close off this post, I knew I wanted to share some blog related info you may be interested in. First and foremost, I’m happy to say that Ruzi is coming back to W&W in November! I’ve really missed blogging with her, and we already have one post planned together that I’m super-excited to put out. 👀

Secondly, those of you who have been following us on our bookstagram may have seen that we stopped posting a while ago. I have a lot of thoughts about bookstagram, including unpopular opinions, which I might put into a post one of these days, but until then – yes, for now I’ve abandoned bookstagram and I’m not sure when, if ever, I’d want to go back. Ruzi has a somewhat different stance on bookstagram, though, so we’ll see what happens.

Finally, I’d like to quickly, well, advertise my next post, coming next Thursday, on the 7th of October. I’m incredibly excited about publishing it, not only because it’s an important, intriguing topic, but also because I asked for help from three teen readers/bloggers who have contributed a lot to it. I’ve been polishing it for weeks, and I hope it’ll be something you all enjoy. 💜

LET’S CHAT!

What was your October like? Have you celebrated Halloween in any way? Have you read or watched anything I mentioned in this post? Do you plan to? What was your favorite post (on your own blog, or someone else’s, or both!) in October? Share it with me!