October Bonus Reads

Buckle up, here’s the backlist bonus reads for October. 

Statistics

Age Category: 4 YA, 2 A

Genres: 3 Fantasy, 1 Science Fiction, 2 Mystery/Thriller

Indie Authors: 6 N

Total Pages Read: 2606

Average Pages per Book: 434

Ratings: 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4

Notes and Details

Renegades

• Goodreads link for this book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28421168-renegades 
• This was an audiobook I borrowed from my local library. 
• This one has a slow start but picked up quite a bit and had a decent ending. In fact, it’s ramped up to a complete cliffhanger going into what I assume is a book 2 in the series. 
• The Verdict: 3 Stars. I liked the idea, I liked where we’re headed with the idea, and I liked the characters. I would’ve liked to see some of the early stuff cut to make room for the story to go on a little longer. 

Ready Player Two

• Goodreads link for this book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26082916-ready-player-two 
• This was (also) an audiobook from the library. I actually had to put a hold on this one and wait a really long time for it to be available. Which is a way of saying I was REALLY looking forward to it. 
• The Verdict: 3 Stars. I guess I just don’t see a point to this sequel. We could’ve just left it with the ending from the first book. 

Sadie

• Goodreads link for this book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34810320-sadie 
• I bet you can already guess the format for this one. Did you guess audiobook from the library? You’re such a genius. 
• Everyone recommends this one so I sort of jumped into it without looking up anything about it. The audiobook is AMAZING. Highly recommend that format. 
• The Verdict: 4 Stars. This is a great YA book with compelling characters and a decent mystery. 

Revival

• Goodreads link for this book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24885823-revival 
• The bookwheel is back! I spun the wheel and it landed on “Physical TBR”. In other words, those are books I’ve purchased before and haven’t yet read. I have over 60 books in this category. I used a random number generator to get this one! I purchased this one at my favorite local used bookstore (https://www.rbookmark.com if you’d like to give them your patronage as well) probably three months ago. Yay for finally reading it!
• The Verdict: 3 Stars. The beginning of this book and the ending of this book feel completely different. The beginning moves slowly and develops character. It’s not a thriller until almost the end. That leaves this one feeling a little strange. If you love character development that makes supernatural thrillers feel possible, you’ll love this one!

The Night Circus

• Goodreads link for this book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9361589-the-night-circus 
• This was an audiobook I borrowed from the library. 
• I heard a LOT about this book before putting it on my TBR. People RAVED about the setting (which is amazing) and the language (which is also amazing). The description promised BIG THINGS dealing with a competition. I was excited. 
• Unfortunately, the plot didn’t deliver on the excitement. It felt anticlimactic and a huge let down from the promises that description made. 
• The Verdict: 3 Stars. Really the setting saved it. 

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

• Goodreads link for this book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51901147-the-ballad-of-songbirds-and-snakes 
• Ok, technically I cheated on this one. I really should’ve spun the wheel again after I finished Revival by Stephen King. But I only have two months left to finish the 2021 TBR challenge and some books there are still waiting for me to read them! So I decided to just dive into this one. 
• The Verdict: I am a Hunger Games fan. I enjoyed the themes about government, the messages about what people are capable of, and the exploration of imbalance in society. For all those reasons, I also loved this one. I did give it 4 stars because you really have to love those same things about Hunger Games to love this one. If that’s you though … get this one. 

That’s it …

Since it’s technically November, that’s all the bonus reads I’m squeezing into October. I’m making progress on that giant TBR and having fun reading along that way and that’s all that really matters. Right?