It’s time for my September Wrap Up! I have already summarised what books I read for Magical ReadAThon: Orilium so if you want to check out that post you can find it HERE. I thought it would be fund to add in some graphs/stats to each months wrap up as well. So let’s check that out!
September Stats
Pages Read: 4408
Books Read: 13
Audiobooks
So, I rated this one 4.5 stars. I enjoyed it at the time but now, a month later, I CANNOT remember a thing about this book. I can remember the basics of the synopsis but if you held a gun to my head I wouldn’t be able to tell you what it’s about besides that or even the characters names. I may have enjoyed it but it was extremely forget-able! I had the same issue when I read Six of Crows too. So I wish I could give you more but I really don’t know & I didn’t take any notes for this one. I have no idea what I liked or disliked about it because I can’t remember.
B*Witch by Paige Mckenzie & Nancy Ohlin
I have just posted my review for this one so if you would like to check out my more detailed thoughts on this one you can do so HERE.
This was a wild ride! I was really enjoying it up until the ending which was EXTREMELY disappointing! I talk spoilers at the end of my review, so if you want to know why I talk about it there. But my god was that the most unsatisfying ending I have ever read?! Yes! I ended up rating this one 3 stars as I enjoyed the rest of the book but that ending! I’m still up in the air as to whether I will pick up book 2. Like I’m kind curious to know what happens but also because of the ending of this one I’m hesitant!
Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger
So this one I did start off reading physically but I just wasn’t feeling it at the time. It wasn’t that the book was bad, it’s just I wasn’t really feeling like reading a fantasy at the time and audiobooks make it easier to read. So I swapped to the audiobook which was definitely a good choice! The audiobook was very well done & I had a great time listening to it! This was a fun, adventure filled middle grade with a bit of a mystery. I’ve been loving a good mystery so that was a good surprise! I will definitely be continuing this series after October. I rated this one 4 stars.
The Grandest Bookshop in the World by Amelia Mellor
Did I pick up this book purely for the cover? Hell yeah! This one turned out to be such an amazing book though! So worth it. This one is another middle grade and I had so much fun listening to this one! It definitely gives me Mr Lemoncello’s library vibes for sure! I loved that it was set in Australia too. I don’t read read enough books set in Aus! Also another fun thing about this one is that it is a Historical Fiction. I don’t think I have ever read a Historical Middle Grade. So that was fun! I loved reading this one and definitely recommend if you need something fun & easy to read! Did I mention it’s literally set in a bookshop? What more could you want? Oh and I rated it 4.5 stars!
The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco
I picked this one up on a bit of a whim really and I wasn’t overly impressed with it. I do have other books by this author on my TBR but this wasn’t really one of them. It fit a ReadAThon challenge though so I picked it up. I love the idea of this book but for me the execution was just not there. I found myself bored a lot. It read very slowly at times which made it hard to get through. Honestly this book could have been a short story and the same message/plot still could have been used. If I hadn’t been listening to it on audiobook I likely would have DNFd it. As it was on audiobook & for a readathon challenged I kept listening & it never really redeemed itself. Was a little disappointing but I am curious about other books by this author. I rated it 2.5 stars
Another book whose idea I loved but the execution just wasn’t there. I loved the idea of timekeepers having to look after clocks otherwise time will stop or play up! Love that but the big downfall for this book was the romance which was a majority of the book and basically the whole plot. Firstly it was severe insta love which is a huge no for me and most people. Then there was the fact that an entire town could literally get hurt/affected by said romance but he still pursued it. Literally his father was affected by someone else doing this exact thing! So you would think he would have been smart enough to be like oh hell no and step away. But nope. So that whole thing just frustrated me to all hell. Oh and it was pretty predictable. So overall was just a hard no for me. I rated it a 3.5.
Physical/eBooks
Mrs. Perivale and the Dragon Prince by Dash Hoffman
Oh my god this series amazing?! This one is the sequel to Mrs. Perivale and the Blue Fire Crystal which I read in August and absolutely loved! It’s a super fun chosen one story but unlike most chosen one stories our main character is a grandma! She goes on this chaotic dangerous adventure with her 7 cats & butler to try and save this world she had never even heard of before! Yes it’s as amazing as it sounds and we definitely need more cute but badass grandma main characters in books! This one while you think would be an adult book reads more like middle grade in my opinion. Which makes sense as the authors other books are middle grade. For whatever reason it works though and I just loved it so much! I really hope another book in this series comes out because I will read the hell out of that! I rated this one 5 stars!
Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim
Another slightly disappointing book? Yep unfortunately. This was a month of ups and downs! That is for sure. I rated this one 3.5 stars so not horrible but definitely could have been executed better! My issue with this one was mostly the writing and characters. For me the issue was that most of the characters were SOOO flat and underdeveloped. Especially the brothers. There is 6 brothers and I could not tell any of them apart. They were just all so bland. I struggled connecting with the characters so that definitely affected my enjoyment of the book!
You can check out my spoiler free review of this one HERE if you were curious about more of my thoughts!
This Vicious Cure by Emily Suvada
Was this my favourite read of the month?! Hell F*cking Yeah! This is the final book in the This Mortal Coil series. I read This Mortal Coil a few years ago and it blew my mind! It was an insane, intense YA Dystopian which was absolutely amazing! I have been putting off reading this one because I didn’t want the series to end but I’m also glad I finally did it. Even though I’m sad it’s done. I am very keen to see what Emily Suvada releases next! There is still no sign of another book but I’m hoping! Also Aussie author, so that’s awesome! I ended up rating this one 5 stars of course! If you couldn’t already tell! I definitely recommend checking out this series if you are looking for a fast paced action packed dystopian!
The Edge of Forever by Melissa E. Hurst
This one I didn’t know existed before September. I needed a book that contained time travel so I did some googling and I discovered this one! While I enjoyed the plot & idea of the book I wasn’t a huge fan of every aspect! The romance was fairly predictable and so was the plot really. The major plot point was kind of obvious from early on I just wasn’t sure how it would come to be. I loved the time travel aspect & I had fun reading it but it definitely had room for improvement. I have purchased the eBook of book 2 & plan on reading it but it just hasn’t fitted in any ReadAThon challenges yet! But soon! I’m keen to see where this goes even if it was a bit predictable. I rated this one 3.5 stars.
Honestly, I had such a hard time rating this one as it just confused me so much. I settled on a 3 but I am still not 100% sure. The story was fine and there were a couple aspects that I loved like the bit at the end that involves discussion of sexual abuse & such. Loved that message! But there was a lot that was just meh. I also had SUCH a hard time connecting with the story because it was written in 2nd person. I don’t think I have ever read anything in this point of view & it threw me right off! It was hard to get into & then one section is in 1st person. So I just got used to that again and then it went back to 2nd which was just hard to get used to. Also I was not expecting there to be a pretty detailed sexual scene in literally the first chapter! I knew this was a dark retelling of Red Riding Hood. I did not know it would be spicy… I was not prepared. Especially in 2nd person! That was just not it…
Graphic Novels
Shattered Warrior by Sharon Shinn
This is another book that I picked up purely because it fit a challenge. I felt like reading a graphic novel and I was up to a book with a blue cover. I discovered this & it looked interesting. So I picked it up! Which I am very glad I did because it was bomb! It’s got some powerful badass characters in it. It’s got an awesome message to it. The art style is really nice & it was just a super quick and empowering book to read! The romance was a little predictable but not over powering. I think with graphic novels, romances can be hard to not portray as insta love when it’s not the whole story of the book. Time goes by a lot faster in a graphic novel so you don’t have all that build up that you do in a standard novel.
Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation by Octavia E. Butler
Going from a graphic novel I loved to one I didn’t. I think this story has value and I think this graphic novel would be an awesome companion for someone who has already read this story in it’s novel form but as a standing graphic novel I just couldn’t get into it. It was hard to follow, felt very rushed & nothing was explained. I think I would really enjoy this in it’s novel form but as the graphic novel on it’s own it just wasn’t for me. I ended up rating this one 2 stars but I definitely think it would be a lot higher rating if I had read the book & understood the concept more.
Well that is all the books I read in the month of September! Let me know what your favourite book of the month was! Mine was of course This Vicious Cure!
Dusk Angel Reads 
Your stats are awesome! I think I’ll get into doing something like this next year 🙂
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I love doing it! I downloaded a excel spreadsheet tracker online a few year ago and have updated it from there for what I wanted to track. Best decision I ever made! I love it.
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