October Reviews

Happy spooky season! While most of the books I read weren't really spooky (though Nona and Watch Over Me gave me a run for my money), I was proud of how many I finished this month. Especially because next month might be a little barren, since I'll be participating in NaNoWriMo (tens years, baby!), traveling, working overtime, and doing some fun holiday things. Turns out you can pack a lot in 30 days, and I'm excited for it.

As for October, the leaves are changing and cold weather is on it's way. And while that's not exactly my favorite kind of weather, it is pretty to look at (and gives me excuses to stay inside and read).

So, let's get to it!

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Set in the same universe as The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, this book was recommended to me by the same friend who said I had to read Evelyn. So I picked it up at a bookstore while visiting her and now here I am.

Malibu Rising follows the twenty four hours leading up to and ending the yearly party thrown by rock star Mick Riva's four adult children. Estranged from their father and finding their own fame, the party is always bigger and more notorious each year, but this year is proving to be a little different. Each of the four Riva kids are going into the party with a secret, and through the course of the night all hell breaks loose. And in the morning, Nina Riva's mansion has burned to the ground. Set with flashbacks to growing up with and without their absent father and riding the waves of too many perspectives to keep count, Malibu Rising starts and ends with flames, but the fire may just prove to be a cleansing one.

The formatting of this book was interesting. Each chapter is split into an hour of the day, with several jumps back in time to tell June and Mick Riva's love story, Nina, Jay, Hud, and Kit's origin story, and everything that came after; how they found their adult pursuits and the way they loved each other. The progression of the story and multiple points of view gets more hectic as the party goes on, until things come to a head just as the siblings feel they may have found (spoiler alert) some sort of resolution. The whole thing felt very cyclical, beginning and ending with a similar sentiment but coming so far in the meantime.

I really enjoyed getting to know all the characters, their histories and motivations. Even the characters that only had a page or two to tell their story got a lot in, and I think Reid has a special skill in revealing a lot about a character with just a little bit of time. Her descriptors are really cool, with just the right amount said and unsaid. I appreciated the dialogue in this book, and even if the timeline jumped around a lot, it was always easy to follow along, to keep the through line steady.

Nina, Jay, Hud, and Kit all had their issues, some shared and some unique to them, but I loved that they folded together as a family no matter what, looking out for each other in a way no one else in the world ever had. Nina was probably my favorite (eldest sister solidarity), and she was truly the powerhouse of the book.

I did really enjoy this book, perhaps not as much as Evelyn, but it was very well written and told and interesting story with a unique format.

Book Lovers by Emily Henry

I don't often read adult romance, but a dear friend with excellent taste recommended this, and I have to say I was not disappointed.

Nora Stephens is a woman in a romance novel, but not the one that finds love. An agent in New York City, she's the girlfriend left behind, dumped for the local Christmas tree farmer or baker. It's happened four times, and in the midst of the most recent breakup she meets editor Charlie Lastra, and the two do the opposite of hit it off. Antagonistic for years afterwards, they end up in the same small town when Nora's sister insists on sister's trip, and just can't seem to stop meeting. Turns out they were quick to judge by their covers, and maybe the magic of a small town will start to unravel the stories they've told themselves.

This book was hilarious. I was actually laughing out loud in places, snickering my way through clever dialogue and witty metaphors. Nora is delightful, blunt and strong and knows it, and she and Charlie mirrored each other perfectly. The way their stories twined together was absolutely wonderful, and getting to watch them both start to unfold from behind their spiky exteriors was brilliant.

I don't read a lot of books with explicit sexual content, but this was fortunately pretty tasteful and limited, especially for a romance novel. And the majority of the book was small town shenanigans and really well done conversations as Nora and Charlie opened up to one another. There were also many delightful bookish references, which made my little reader heart happy. Nora and Charlie both love and work in books, so I liked the little bit of meta action that went on with that, especially once they started working on editing a book together.

The other characters were great too, I loved Libby, and each of the unique characters that felt just the right amount of small town weird while still seeming very realistic. In fact, the whole thing was just the right balance of fantasy-feeling small town and real world grit, where of course there can be happy ending but they sure do have to work for them.

This was a fantastic read that I just sped through, delighted by every turn.

Nona The Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

This series continues to be the strangest thing I've ever read in the most brilliant way possible.

Nona is learning. Learning to live, to eat, to walk, to do most things that she figures she knew how to do before, but six months ago she woke up and didn't know anything, except for what Palamedes and Camilla and Pyrrha could teach her. And they couldn't teach her much about who she was before, because they needed her to remember, and maybe they didn't really know either. A monster is killing the city, and Nona needs to remember, but she loves her family so much and would just really rather not.

I feel like I walk into every Tamsyn Muir book delightfully confused and already laughing. Her phrasing is witty and clever, her comedic timing is unmatched, and her gory descriptions make me want to put the book down and pretend I don't have any bones. She writes such a good twist that even when you're convinced you know the answer you're still shocked, and she always keeps you guessing. The world crafted in this series continues to extend and astound and amaze, every corner of it hiding something new and strange as the history of it all opens up. I never know how to describe this book or this series to people, only that it is bizarre and kind of mean and a lot gross and so, so brilliantly good.

Nona is a delight. I loved reading from Gideon and Harrow, and Nona keeps pace with them while still keeping her own. She's unique, just like the rest of this book and it's ever expansive, confusing world, and I enjoyed her so, so much. The other characters, both introduced for the first time and returners, were incredible.

I'm having a hard time talking about more specifics in this book, because of my issue with writing reviews for books in a series and because it really is just that odd. There's military action and apocalypse ruins, schoolyard friends and dogs, violence and so, so much love. Nona has the most love of any character we've met in this series, and I was just absolutely delighted to have gotten to read so much of her.

The First To Die In The End by Adam Silvera

This is a prequel to one of the books that changed my life. I adore They Both Die In The End, so to get more background and revisit that world was worth the inevitable heartbreak.

Death-cast, a company claimed to predict if a person will die that day, has just launched. For some, it's a hoax, or a sign of the end time. For Orion, it's a promise at another day, a chance to say goodbye that his heart condition may not have given him, and for Valentino, it's worth a shot. But when those two meet on the eve of the world changing, only one of them gets the call. It's up to them to decide how to live.

This book straddles the line between what I'd almost call science fiction and contemporary, since it's set in a world where an agency can warn you of your impending death. It's also heartbreaking, because you start the book knowing that someone will die. It's almost comforting, in a way, to know that shit will hit the fan, and you can only hope the characters enjoy what time they have left.

Valentino and Orion are interesting characters. I liked their honesty, both with themselves and each other, and the way they held onto one another as the day progressed with so much unknown. Can you fall in love in a single day? Maybe if it's your last one and nothing, not even death, is holding you back.

I also really enjoyed the other perspective in this book and seeing all the ways Valentino and Orion tied all these strangers' stories together. The ripple effect of their day together was so interesting and heartwarming to watch unfold, and I appreciated the little cameos and call backs to TBDATE.

I think ultimately I still like TBDATE more, but this book did a lot of lore and world building that will make rereading TBDATE all the more sweet and heartbreaking.

Greywaren by Maggie Stiefvater

I should probably start this review by admitting that I have a Raven Cycle inspired tattoo, which either makes me the perfect person to write a review about the sequel trilogy, or unfairly biased. I'm going to go with perfect, and then probably reread the series soon.

Declan, Ronan, and Matthew Lynch have been at odds since their father died (was murdered), and their family fell apart (discovered the truth). Now, with the world ending (maybe) and their lives drifting apart (tangled together more closely than ever), they have to figure out how to let go of the past in order to save each other and themselves. To see one another more clearly, or to keep living the lie they have each perpetuated.

Greywaren is the third book in a trilogy set after a different four book series, so talking about it without diving deep into the background of the six books that came before it is difficult, so we'll see if I'm actually up to the task. Stiefvater is a really, really good writer, at least in my humble opinion (and the New York Times, but whatever), and this book felt like a really good ending to a very complicated and magical series. It's just as much about saving yourself and your family as it is about saving the world. It's about grief and sibling dynamics and admitting to yourself that the lies you told to keep yourself safe in the past are restricting you now.

The dynamic between Ronan and Declan and Matthew has evolved a lot from The Raven Cycle, and getting to see more of Matthew and Declan, along with their shared family history has been so, so interesting, and I've loved it all, even the rougher, sadder parts. It's a true example of how siblings can be raised in the same place and still come out of their home life with different thoughts and experiences, and I just really love siblings and their weird dynamics. Jordan and Hennessey are also brilliant examples of siblings dynamics, even if their situation is vastly different from the lynch brothers'. In fact, the whole theme of this book felt like siblings, especially with a surprise dramatic reveal part way through (no spoilers!)

The world building continues to astound, especially with the bulk of this book taking place in the dream-less fallout of Mister Impossible. The last book ended with the death of the ley line, and with it the dangerous results of dreamers losing their powers. It meant something supremely different for Ronan, and revealed a lot of truths about him and his parents, things that impacted and explained him and his family. Getting Adam back was also fun, even if he spent most of the book having a Very Bad Time.

The ending was very satisfying and featured the return of some beloved characters, all thriving and changed and well. It felt like the best ending possible for these characters, and it was really, truly happy. I started reading this series in college and have followed it through to this conclusion, and I have to say I'm delighted with all of it, in all of it's strange and wonderfully dreamy glory.

Watch Over Me by Nina LaCour

I've loved all the other Lacour books I've read, so when I saw this one I couldn't resist, especially since it's the only spooky ghost book I read this month.

Mila is running from her past and hoping to find a home on a secluded oceanside farm, teaching the foster children there. But the farm is almost as haunted as she is, and it'll take facing her biggest fears to see if the ghosts will swallow her whole.

This was a pretty quick read, especially compared to the could 500+ page books I've read recently, but it packs a lot into those few pages. Watch Over Me looks at trauma as something to face, even while you fear it. It also really emphasizes the importance of other people and support during the healing process, but how ultimately it's up to the person who suffered to find ways to move past it.

There were a lot of characters, and I got several of them confused all the way until the end. I managed to mostly course correct though, so the story itself outweighed any mix ups. I liked the cast though, how soft and open they all were. Mila didn't quite trust them, and honestly neither did I, but they were good. It was a good representation of the way that past trauma can fuck up perception of people and trust.

Lacour's writing is beautiful, always is, and while I think I ultimately liked her other book We Are Okay more, this was still a good read. The formatting of splitting it into almost vignettes made it feel shorter and more expansive, and while there wasn't a lot of dialogue, the sharp thoughts and way Mila' concept of time in and out of her memories made for it's own kind of conversation.

Overall, this was a good look at grief and self-blame.

And that's it! Until next month, keep reading, friends!

Literary recommendation: the special edition of Red, White, and Royal Blue just dropped, so if you somehow haven't read that yet, please do (and if you have, now is the perfect time to reread it)

Media recommendation: not to be That Bitch, but Taylor Swift's new album Midnights is Really Good