september reads.

To Kill a Kingdom, by Alexandra Christo
This wasn't bad, it was a nice twist on the Disney version of The Little Mermaid.  I thought that Lira's gradual coming around to Elian was well-paced up until this point where she suddenly decided to be really into him, without ever stating that she'd decided she was going to be into him.  At the 60% mark, I questioned whether or not the book was truly a standalone, and then sure enough I found the final 35% to be crazy rushed for me.

Darkdawn, by Jay Kristoff
Ok, after my near-death experience with the end of Godsgrave, I was ready for this book.  But was I ready for how meta it got?  NO.  And was I able to cope with how bittersweet it all was since Mia's fate was already all laid out there for us from the beginning of book one?  NO.  Did I get that necromantic hookup I really wanted to see?  NO.  Am I at peace with the death of a certain supporting companion?  NO.  Was this as thrilling as books one and two?  NO.  But overall do I like this series still?  YES.

Stalking Jack the Ripper, by Kerri Maniscalco
Hunting Prince Dracula, by Kerri Maniscalco
Escaping from Houdini, by Kerri Maniscalco
I wasn't expecting to like this series, but holy moly I ended up liking it a lot!  The series (and book one especially) was pretty gruesome for me, but I don't read a lot of horror or murder mysteries or anything like that.  At the end of book one I was pretty devastated, and I decided that I needed more from Thomas as a character.
Book two introduced a gothic castle setting which I was VERY into, as well as a few female minor characters which I realized was something I was missing from book one.
Book three was my least favorite of the three, but I still liked it!  I didn't love the ultimate motive behind the murders on the ship, I thought it fell a little flat.  And honestly, I hated the last two chapters of the book.  One of them should have been taken out for sure, and truthfully it could have been either one for me.

Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating, by Christina Lauren
And now, for the beginning of my foray into adult romances.  After reading a series about serial killers, I think I needed something quick and easy.  And, let's be honest, after reading about Audrey Rose and Thomas dancing around their feelings and physical wants and all of the talk about how scandalous it was for them to even kiss or be in the same room together... I needed the exact opposite of that.
I started with this book, and it was pretty cute.  My main issue was the wrench, so to speak, the thing that causes tension or a fight between the couple right before or at the beginning of the third act.  I did not care for this book's wrench, and I would rather it have been related to Hazel's fear of Josh calling her crazy.  BUT, the ending was happy (of course), and everything ended up fine and everyone was cute, so it was all fine.

My Favorite Half-Night Stand, by Christina Lauren
For book #2 in my romance journey, I liked it a little better than Josh and Hazel but still had one problem.  I was solidly into the story all the way through, my only issue was that I thought Millie's reasons for being withholding to her friends about details of her life were a bit weak.  But other than that, I really liked this one.  It was super angsty at the climax of the book (no pun intended) and I like angsty so that was good, and Millie talking about how she felt she could be so much more open on the chat platform is just a really relatable thing for like, EVERYONE these days.

Kingsbane, by Claire Legrand - DNF
So as I was reading this I honestly was thinking I was so excited to read this after I finished Furyborn this summer, why am I not into this?  And I tried to stick with it based on the fact that I was on the waitlist for this book for so freaking long, and not only did I end up DNF-ing Kingsbane, I even started to rethink my earlier high rating of Furyborn.  This was a disappointing turn of events, but I think ultimately I wanted a story purely about Simon, and he's simply not the main character of this series.

Love and Other Words, by Christina Lauren
After the disappointing DNF, I went back to romance for a pick me up and OH MY GOSH I really freaking loved this one.  Never at the beginning of this year did I think I would be giving a 5-star rating to a romance novel or wanting to own a copy of a romance novel, but here we are.  The story of Macy and Elliott is so cute and perfect and heartbreaking and complete and I want to read it for the first time again and again.

Graceling, by Kristin Cashore
Ok, back into fantasy.  I really liked the first half of this book, and then the story kind of petered out for me.  In the middle there was A LOT of detailed explanation of traveling through the woods that didn't seem entirely consequential, and then at the end everyone just kind of raced through time and space really quickly and the difference in pacing felt really weird to me.  I really liked Po, I was really sad about how his character ended up and the ending in general I felt pretty meh about.

Pumpkinheads, by Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks
This graphic novel was the absolute cutest.  The farm was so amazing, I wish it was real!  This story really helped bring on the not just fall vibes, but nostalgic ones, too (Back in the day I tried to set Jon up with a girl he liked whilst also starting to like him.  Thankfully he changed his mind and awwwwwwww :)

Truthwitch, by Susan Dennard
Windwitch, by Susan Dennard - DNF
I really wanted to like this series and I just didn't.  At the end of Truthwitch I liked the characters well enough, but I didn't really seem to care about what it was they were doing in this particular story.  But like I said, I really wanted to like the series so I kept on going with Windwitch, which I ended up DNFing.  All throughout Windwitch I found myself just wanting the story about Iseult and Aeduan and being extremely annoyed when it jumped around to see what other people were doing when I did not care about them at all.  I miiiight end up reading Bloodwitch one day because I think it might just be about Iseult and Aeduan?  Still deciding on that one.

The Bone Houses, by Emily Lloyd-Jones
I was not expecting to like this at all.  I loaned this book on Overdrive and few things are worse than discovering the digital copy of a book they have available is not kindle compatible.  I don't like reading on my phone, so I was ready to stop reading this book I wasn't feeling it right away.  I'm happy to report that I was horrifyingly surprised and really loved this one!  This story was spooky and gorey and if you're looking for something to get you into the Halloween mood, this might be your book.

Capturing the Devil, by Kerri Maniscalco
I finished reading Escaping from Houdini just after the fourth and final book of the series was released into the world, and I asked my boss if she would complete our series at the library and order the final one.  Luckily for me she did, otherwise I would still be on the 20-week waiting list for a digital copy.  This book was very relationship-centric, but I wasn't bothered by it.  I think because I've been invested in the sloooowww progression of this couple for three books and I was just ready to see kissing in public without fear of rule breaking (cue John Mulaney's OH GOD IT'S THE OLD TIMES, but in an entirely different context).
As far as murders go, the wedding scene straight up killed me.
Ok, but for the real murders, it really tied in so much with the first book and it was cool to see a lot of things come full circle.
Lastly, Grandmama is a badass and I wish she had been in earlier books because she was the freaking best.

The Kiss Quotient, by Helen Hoang
This was a romance book that, overall, I did not enjoy.  I didn't mind at all reading from the perspective of a high-functioning autistic woman (Stella).  What I DID mind was that at no point in the book did anyone tell Stella that the reason she had bad sex all those times was not because she was autistic, but because all of her partners were assholes.  AND, it took way to long for Stella to realize that she didn't need to change who she was or what made her comfortable in the world.  Those two things really bugged the hell out of me and left me with a bitter taste when the book was over, happy ending or not.