Hello, friends!
October was possibly the best reading month of the year for me – not only I finished 10 books, but I definitely ventured out *a lot* of my comfort zone and picked up different titles outside of my typical YA contemporaries. Not all of them were hits, but the end of the month was certainly a lot better!
For the staple prompts:
BAME READ
While THE LEGEND OF SKELETON MAN is technically middle grade, it was certainly spooky and it left me scared while reading it. The edition I picked up was a bind up of the two books, and I think I liked the first one better. It has slight Series of Unfortunate Events vibes, with Molly’s parents going missing one night and a distant uncle she’s never heard of misteriously showing up to take her custody. I found that the pacing of the first book was perfection and I really enjoyed following Molly going through everything herself. In the second one, we have a few more side characters, and I found it to be more slow paced and not as scary, but I really enjoyed the setting of this old hotel in the mountains and the intertwining of other native folklore from other parts of the world.
LGBT READ
TIM TE MARO AND THE SUBTERRANEAN HEARTSTICK BLUES was a lovely surprise! I had only heard Adri talking about it, but they convinced me to read it and I am ultimately glad that I did. The book is not perfect – I’m afraid some parts needed to be better edited, with more showing and less telling; the worldbuilding of this fantasy world is essentially non-existent; and the plotlines outside of the romance were never really concluded. Nonetheless, I had such a good time with this! The humor was on point, the characters are adorable, it has absurd moments like a full-on fanfiction and if you’re a fan of idiots-in-love as a trope, you can not go wrong with this one!
DISABILITY READ
Trigger warnings: panic attacks, discussions of anxiety/PTSD
I think I mentioned in my initial TBR post that I was excited to read BET ON IT because it featured a bingo sex game and that sounded hilarious and steamy. It turns out that what the author meant by this was not “characters getting themselves in progressively freakier sex situations in order to hit a bingo” but rather “the characters get to have sex whenever they win at bingo” – and considering neither one of them is particularly good at it, you can sort of guess the level of steam with this one. I thought the discussions on anxiety/PTSD and the way it impacts peoples’ lives and also how the main characters grew in terms of their relationship with said issues was important, but I didn’t care for much of anything outside that. The relationship pacing and development was slow and too “realistic” and the writing was full of unnecessary details that made it boring to read at times.
And as for the prompts that were chosen for me through the TBR game:
READ A GOTHIC MOOD READ
Trigger warnings: drug use, discussions of sexual assault, suicidal thoughts and suicide attempt, loss of a loved one.
I picked up one of the most hyped books of last year – THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LARUE. While an overwhelming amount of readers I know gave this book 4 or 5 stars, I had heard negative reviews and was wondering where I would fall. Ultimately, I enjoyed it! It is true that nothing really happens for like, 70% of it, and it’s mostly the characters walking from different places in different towns, lol. But I think V.E Schwab is a very talented writer and I loved her descriptions and atmospheres. I also really, really enjoyed the characters: Henry was fantastic and deeply relatable; Addie had a beautiful journey that was remarkable to follow; and Luc was charming and haunting as I expected him to be. While I wouldn’t call this a new favorite, I did think it was overall a worthwhile reading experience.
READ A BOOK BY A COMFORTING AUTHOR
It might be considered cheating that I chose BETTER THAN THE MOVIES for this prompt, because I had never read anything by Lynn Painter before. But after reading it, I can attest this was the most comforting read of the whole month. Filled with rom com references, well known tropes and an indisputable similarity to the To All the Boys series, this one was definitely a fun ride. I appreciated our main character’s journey and the romance was super swoon worthy. However, the protagonist’s relationship with her best friend made me very mad – the best friend, Jocelyn, was never made responsible for judging and mistreating Liz which is why Liz feels like she can not tell her about what’s actually happening. Sorry, but if your friends can’t come clean to you about something they’ve done, it’s because you’re a shitty friend. Period.
READ A BOOK WITH A HIDDEN ANTAGONIST
Trigger warnings: drug use, violence, body horror, death of an animal, discussions of sexual assault.
I mostly picked out MY BEST FRIEND’S EXORCISM on a whim, as I am not a horror fan, but it seemed to have an interesting premise and I love all media set in the 80s. That aspect was definitely fun and it transported me very easily. I did find most of the writing to be very gruesome and gross, and the one thing that bothered me the most was how unnecessarily sexual it was – especially considering the characters were 15 and this was written by an adult man. I don’t think I’ll ever be reading by Grady Hendrix in the future, but I’m still glad I had this experience – mostly because it was totally out of my comfort zone and I was wondering if I’d be even able to finish it. But I did, so good for me!
READ A BOOK WITH WATER ON THE COVER
I ended up re-reading THE WICKED DEEP this month and I’ll never shut up about how this book really is perfect for this time of year. I don’t think it is a perfect novel by any means – the pacing of the relationship is very unrealistic, with the characters falling in love after two interactions; and a lot of the plot doesn’t make sense/is too convenient. However, Shea Earnshaw creates such an atmospheric and eeriee vibe with her setting of Sparrow. I love the flashback chapters where we get to read about what happened to the sisters 200 years ago and to other characters too. The writing is my favorite part and why I keep coming back to this one.
READ A BOOK WHERE YOU CAN’T TRUST ANYONE
Trigger warning: kidnapping, isolation, PTSD and panic attacks, mentions of sexual assault
DARK ROOM ETIQUETTE was a highly anticipated release for me and I still have no idea how to feel about it. I knew going into it that it was going to be a very disturbing and triggering read for me, as kidnapping is not something I can easily read about. Robin Roe is a very talented writer and it’s understandable why this book took her so long to write – how differently Sayers’ perspective feels from Daniel’s and afterwards too, when Sayers’ is processing his trauma, is honestly impressive. However, there are a lot that feels unrealistic and sometimes, underdeveloped. I wish we had given a bit more detail to what happened in the “outside world” immediately after Sayers’ kidnapping and after his return too. Nonetheless, as a story of hope, this book does the job, despite it being such a hard one to read at times.
READ A BOOK WITH A PLOT TWIST
Trigger warnings: self-harm, sexual assault, bullying and homophobia.
I think it’s funny that I chose this book for this specific prompt, because it barely had any plot whatsoever, moreover a plot twist. To be fair, I do think there is one small one, but THE CHANDLER LEGACIES took such a long time to happen – by the 75% mark, there was still no plot whatsoever, and the way all the perspectives intersect over the one conflict happens literally in the second to last chapter of the book. The resolution is rushed and the build up is so underwhelming. I feel like there was a lot of potential to show the different reactions over the “plot twist”, which centers on the mentor of the group being exposed, but even that happens so fast. It felt like the main conflict was an absolute afterthought, even though the author claims that was the message he wanted to convey the whole time. Most of this book is just the characters trauma dumping and going from one place to another. Not a good one, tbh.
Have you read any of these books? If so, what are your thoughts? Do you fall in the love Addie LaRue or hate Addie LaRue category? Do you read books even though you know they might be triggering? Let’s chat in the comments!
Initially, I was very excited about the idea of this book, but ultimately I found this installment to be just… okay. There was a lot of potential for angst – this one is an arranged marriage romance where eventually the reason why the characters agreed to get married is no longer a problem, which is a great scenario for pining where the heroes feel like they’ve lost their purpose to one another. But things are very easily resolved and there’s basically no pining whatsoever. The characters also have sex by like page 3, and while I looked forwared to the idea of the characters engaging in intercourse simply because it was expected of them to and then move into being more romantic as they fall in love, that never happens and left me with sex scenes that were incredibly boring to read.
I do think Tripping Arcadia had some interesting elements to it: the writing was interesting and I was definitely devoted to the characters. However, I found that the main character would make and unmake some pretty serious decisions very fast, in a way that just wasn’t really realistic. I also hated the fact that the rich characters were given somewhat of a redemption arc at the end, and the blame was put in the “poor dude” who was too greedy. (Not “eat the rich” enough tbh). The ending in general was confusing and I was left frustrated that the protagonist’s family plot was never given a conclusion to.
As I looked back on my thoughts in this series, I realized that I picked up the WRONG BOOK. I wanted to read book three in the series, but ended up picking book four, because apparently I have no brain cells! And reading this definitely did not help – it felt like I was watching an endless Abercrombie ad. First, the plot is a mess and convoluted for no reason, with side plots such as the heroine literally donating a kidney to the hero’s dad. I wish I was joking, but I am not. Then, there’s all the overprotectiveness coming from all the guys in the heroine’s life. She had shitty parents, but her dad was excused of all his actions, while her mom was only further villainized, which didn’t help when she was the only female character in the book outside of the heroine. I’m not even mad that this didn’t pass The Bechdel Tast – I am mostly mad I had to read about so many MEN. The cherry on top was the fact the smut was the most uncomfortable and awkward I’ve ever read. Remind me to never pick up new adult again, please!
I read two books dealing with matchmaking apps this month and it was very interesting. I like how Match Made in Mehendi stars a heroine that doesn’t really want to be a matchmaker, but seems to always be accidentally matching couples together. When she puts that knowledge into an app to hopefully propel her and her best friend into high school popularity, things get quite messy. I liked the side characters a lot – including the best friend, Noah, and her brother, Navdeep – and was very happy to see the heroine’s mom standing up for her at the end. However, the “mean girl” trope was a bit overdone here and I always find that the resolution to “let’s record that person and catch her in the act!” is overused in fiction, but I’ve never actually seen happening in real life, so it always makes me eye roll a little bit.
I can’t believe I was actually quite intimidated by this book, because it was just so much fun! The romance was underwhelming and didn’t really have to be there, to be honest, but everything else? Iconic! The aunties were hilarious and the plot was so ridiculous, with every twist making things even more absurd. It was so funny to listen to the audiobook and the narrator did such a good job. I hope this gets turned into a movie, because it definitely has the potential to be a comfort comedy with great representation. I will most certainly be picking up Jesse Q. Sutanto’s newest release!
While I don’t think Love, Decoded should be marketed as a YA novel, I did have fun with it! It does read more middle grade than YA, with the characters, dialogue and writing feeling quite childish at times. I was particularly bothered by the lack of inner monologue, especially during the first 40% of the book, with the writing being just descriptions of what the characters were doing, but no insight on what the protagonist was thinking as that happened. The writing in general was overly detailed in moments when it absolutely did not have to be. Nonetheless, I had a lot of fun drawing parallels between the book and Emma – which it is a re-telling of – and the relationship drama was very entertaining to follow.
I was really happy to re-read Loveless as it was a really interesting read back in 2021. I still enjoyed it a lot this time around and overall, I think I was better able to understand the parallels the author was trying to draw between Rooney and Georgia, our main characters. Georgia experiences a lot of loneliness, which she believes to be tied with her being aro-ace, but we see how Rooney also feels incredibly lonely, even when she’s surrounded by people. There’s also this really toxic biphobic idea that bi or pan people are more likely to “date around” and cheat or mess with people’s feelings, but we see that Georgia, not being bi or pan, also does a lot of not so great things in the process of figuring her own sexuality out. I think it was important to show that there’s a lot more in common between their experiences than we might originally think and to bring them closer too.
Possibly the most surprising of my reads this month, I picked up Apple not even remembering why I wanted to read this one that much. It is a memoir in verse and recounts the author’s memories while drawing inspiration from The Beatles’ discography. The fact the sections are all inspired by different albums by the band is only revealed during the author’s note at the end of the book, and the second I read that, I wanted to re-read the whole book as I think drawing these parallels myself would be so cool. This was incredibly interesting, moving and smart. While I don’t think everyone will love the free verse format, I really loved reading about Gansworth’s family history and heritage and certain parts made me quite emotional.
Perhaps if you’re not a fan of Emma Mills, you’ll enjoy this one better than I did. But in comparison to her other books, I didn’t find this one as amazing. First, the protagonist felt and read exactly like the other Emma Mills’ protagonists I’ve read before – her biggest flaw was that she was too kind and too nice. I also found that the side characters, including the protagonist’s best friend and love interest were cut too much slack for the amount of shitty decisions they make. Ultimately, the resolution of the main conflict was also underwhelming and completely based on coincidences and conveniences. It isn’t a bad book by any means, but knowing what this author can do, I was left disappointed by this one.
Three cousins. Four days. One car. This smart and fearless road-trip novel is perfect for fans of David Levithan, Benjamin Alire Saenz, or Meg Medina.
Overall, I did enjoy this one a lot, even if the writing wasn’t perfect. I am not sure if this is Monica Zepeda’s debut, but the problems I found with the writing weren’t major in any way. I think there’s a lot of potential in this author’s writing, for sure!
This conclusion obviously wraps up Apollo’s journey and we learn, once in for all, if he’ll be able to conclude his mission on Earth and return to be a God, or if he will perish. I stand by the fact that, while the plot is interesting, and seeing other characters from the Riordanverse throughout this series definitely brings a sense of warmth and nostalgia, the true reason why this series rocks is because of Apollo.
I know that when it comes to tropes in YA fiction, people definitely feel some type of way. I am a believer that it’s more down to the execution than to the tropes itself, and I think 
I read 
When I learned that Gayle Forman was writing a new book, I immediately added to my TBR, as I am a huge fan of her If I Stay and Just One Day duologies. This one follows Aaron, whose parents owe a failing bookstore, and who has just made a deal to sell it behind their backs. This book focuses a lot in the importance of community, which was incredibly heart-warming to read, especially after a year like 2020 when we really faced the hardships of being away from our own communities.
I swear to God, I may have put 
I did talk *a lot* about this book in my blog, so I don’t think it comes as a surprise it is my favorite book of the year. Funnily enough, this was the first 5-stars I gave in the year, and nothing was able to top it.
Ishu is “intense”, she’s competitive and strongminded and doesn’t have many friends at all. I loved the development in the relationship she has with her older sister – it’s a very different dynamic from the one we see Jarigdar’s debut, The Henna Wars, but it was done well nonetheless.
In this one, we follow Kalyn and Gus: Gus’ dad was murdered before he was even born, but he feels the ghost of him everywhere he goes. Kalyn’s dad is in prison – for the murder of Gus’ dad. However, none of the two know about that when they strike a friendship. (Also: Gus has cerebral palsy so another one with disability rep!)
This hybrid re-telling of You’ve Got Mail and Romeo and Juliet was honestly a lot more intense than I imagined. Jubilee and Ridley meet at a convention and hit it off right away. However, Ridley soon finds out Jubilee is the heir to the small comic store that his dad’s chain plans to buy.
I do need to re-read this book urgently, yes. But I can only recall the good vibes I felt when reading this story. I love the representation, the dialogues, the humor, and our protagonist. Michael is not likable and he can come across as a privileged douche sometimes, but I really appreciate how the story did not deny that and yet acknowledged that his problems were also still valid.
This! freaking! book! Since the first time I read it, it’s one I still think about. I’ll Give You The Sun is an amazing story of characters that are incredibly flawed, but that you simply can’t help but root for. The way this book discusses family is so well done and how all characters are fated to be in each other’s life is absolutely beautiful. It also made me think a lot about the importance of art.
This book just makes me so effing happy. Honestly. It’s serotonin bottled in 300 pages. I never knew I needed a Grease re-telling, with a chaotic main character and a deeply relatable family dynamic, but here we are. I can see this becoming another one of those books I re-read every year just because I know it will never fail to put me in a good mood.
So, back in April, I read 
Especially when we’re talking about communities, it’s impossible not to feel like an imposter, like if I join and leave, then my presence there was less relevant. And it’s fascinating how this book actually made me realize that so many people go through this journey as well and seeing how normal it was for them, made me realize it could be a normal process for me too. I have joined communities and left them before – the number of fandoms I was once a part of is literally too many to count – and that doesn’t mean they didn’t matter to me at the time when I joined them. And when it comes to labels, so many people grow up thinking they’re straight, just to realize they’re actually not. Some think they’re gay and then realize they’re actually bi, or pan, or trans. 
I hadn’t realized it then, but I started writing ace characters when I was 13, in my first ever writing project. I have no idea when I first heard the word “asexual”, but I was already familiar with it at the point, and wanted to write about an ace character. This character was: white, blonde, tall, and a MASSIVE celebrity. Like, Ariana Grande level of celebrity. And her biggest “scandal” was the fact she never dated. She was never seen with anyone, never had hook ups or rumors or flings, or any of that. And people were constantly pressuring her to get a boyfriend.
One thing I found weird was how much the author went on about how the feminist movement hardly ever welcomes asexual women or just women who simply don’t want to have sex. I understood her point but I feel like it’s something already discussed a lot in feminism – how moving towards more forward thinking and the embracing of women who are open about their sexuality should not mean the shaming and the “leaving behind” of women who choose celibacy. It’s a similar concept to the feminist view of motherhood: no woman should be shamed into becoming a mom, but no woman should be shamed for genuinely wanting to either. I thought these were old news, but if just yesterday, I had to listen to my college professor, well-versed in feminism, shaming his own cousin because she used “mom” to define herself, then it might indeed not be as “common knowledge” as some may think.
This book inspired one of my favorite movies of all times and I haven’t shouted about it not ONCE in this blog???? Unacceptable.
We Are Lost and Found is set in the 80s and follows Michael, a young boy discovering his sexuality in the midst of the AIDS epidemic in New York. Not the easiest time to be doing that, may I add.
This book will ~charm~ its way into your heart. I assure you and not only because of my bad pun.
Hi, it’s me.
Not only is this book set in New York, but it’s also about movie stars in New York, so it really is the perfect combination between my latest recommendation post of books set in California and this one.
THE BOOKISH SKIES 
