October has been a busy month, but I managed to finish quite some books. I hope you guys are having some time to read during these months. If not, there’s always next month! As always, you can find all my English reviews here and all my Dutch reviews here.
books read in October
Book of Night – Holly Black // ★★★½
Synopsis –
In Charlie Hall’s world, shadows can be altered, for entertainment and cosmetic preferences—but also to increase power and influence. You can alter someone’s feelings—and memories—but manipulating shadows has a cost, with the potential to take hours or days from your life. Your shadow holds all the parts of you that you want to keep hidden—a second self, standing just to your left, walking behind you into lit rooms. And sometimes, it has a life of its own.
Charlie is a low-level con artist, working as a bartender while trying to distance herself from the powerful and dangerous underground world of shadow trading. She gets by doing odd jobs for her patrons and the naive new money in her town at the edge of the Berkshires. But when a terrible figure from her past returns, Charlie’s present life is thrown into chaos, and her future seems at best, unclear—and at worst, non-existent. Determined to survive, Charlie throws herself into a maelstrom of secrets and murder, setting her against a cast of doppelgängers, mercurial billionaires, shadow thieves, and her own sister—all desperate to control the magic of the shadows.
audiobooks listened to in October
The Deep – Rivers Solomon (author), Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, Jonathan Snipes // ★★★★
Synopsis –
Yetu holds the memories for her people—water-dwelling descendants of pregnant African slave women thrown overboard by slave owners—who live idyllic lives in the deep. Their past, too traumatic to be remembered regularly, is forgotten by everyone, save one—the historian. This demanding role has been bestowed on Yetu.
Yetu remembers for everyone, and the memories, painful and wonderful, traumatic and terrible and miraculous, are destroying her. And so, she flees to the surface, escaping the memories, the expectations, and the responsibilities—and discovers a world her people left behind long ago.
Yetu will learn more than she ever expected to about her own past—and about the future of her people. If they are all to survive, they’ll need to reclaim the memories, reclaim their identity—and own who they really are.
The Hating Game – Sally Thorne // ★★★★
Synopsis –
Nemesis (n.)
1) An opponent or rival whom a person cannot best or overcome;
2) A person’s undoing;
3) Joshua Templeman.
Lucy Hutton and Joshua Templeman hate each other. Not dislike. Not begrudgingly tolerate. Hate. And they have no problem displaying their feelings through a series of ritualistic passive aggressive maneuvers as they sit across from each other, executive assistants to co-CEOs of a publishing company. Lucy can’t understand Joshua’s joyless, uptight, meticulous approach to his job. Joshua is clearly baffled by Lucy’s overly bright clothes, quirkiness, and Pollyanna attitude.
Now up for the same promotion, their battle of wills has come to a head and Lucy refuses to back down when their latest game could cost her her dream job…But the tension between Lucy and Joshua has also reached its boiling point, and Lucy is discovering that maybe she doesn’t hate Joshua. And maybe, he doesn’t hate her either. Or maybe this is just another game.
Broken Bonds (The Bonds That Tie #1) – J. Bree // ★★★★
Synopsis –
After the death of my mother and her Bonded, I was relieved to find my own Bonds.
I was sure everything would be okay if I had them.
It wasn’t.
The fate of our people is in my hands and I know we’re better off if I’m alone.
After five years on the run, I’m caught and dragged back to face the men I ran away from.
I thought I was doing the right thing.
Now, I’m not so sure.
North, Nox, Gryphon, Atlas, and Gabe may never forgive me but one thing is for sure.
I won’t ever forgive myself.
Savage Bonds (The Bonds That Tie #2) – J. Bree // ★★★
Synopsis (spoilers!) –
With my gift coursing through my veins, the tables have turned on the Draven Campus.
I’m no longer the Giftless reject, no longer the girl who’s fair game to the other students for daring to run away from my Bonds.
But there are bigger problems heading my way.
With destiny pushing me closer and closer to each of my Bonds, I’m fighting tooth and nail against nature to keep my distance.
But they’re fighting harder to keep me in their grasp.
When it becomes clear that the Resistance is closer than we ever thought, I don’t know who I can trust.
Can I finally take control of my gift, or will it take control of me?
Blood Bonds (The Bonds That Tie #3) – J. Bree // ★★★
Synopsis (spoilers!) –
After three years on the run, I’m back in a Resistance camp, chained to a chair as the resident monster.
Everything I ran from, all of the villains of my past, they’re all here to take another bite out of me. But this time, I’m not alone.
With my Bonds desperately trying to reach me and new friendships I never expected, I start to believe that maybe I won’t become the weapon they want me to be. Maybe I’ll be a monster of my own creation.
When loyalties are questioned and Bonds are tested, everything I thought I knew gets turned upside down. Who are my friends, and who are my enemies?
Are Bond ties stronger than blood?
my favorite read of the month
I think they were all okay to good! No particular favourite.
what I am planning on reading in November
The Kingdom of the Feared – Kerri Maniscalco (currently reading)
Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1) – Marissa Meyer
Babel – R.F. Kuang
Did you read some interesting books this month? If so, which one was your favourite? Let me know in the comments.
heavenlybookish 