Hello beautiful people! I hope everyone is having a good November so far and reading good books! This will be a pretty busy month for me since I have a 10 page research paper due next month so I’m dedicating this whole month towards that. But also guess what else is happening in November!

Queen of Nothing is coming out this month!!!!!

The book I’m most excited about is coming next week and I’m so ready! Also two other book releases I’m excited for is coming out that I’m for sure reading this month. Even though this month super busy for me, I’m still going to try to read as much as I can so here are the books that are definitely on my tbr for this month.

Also I’m participating in the Triwizard Tournament Readathon! (more info here!) The readathon starts next week and we already have our first challenge which is the dragon and how we defeat it. So as someone who is representing Durmstrang, I have to reread a book for my dragon challenge which will be The Stand-in Boyfriend by Emma Doherty, and to how to defeat the dragon, I have to read a book in bed which is The Crossover. I will make a different post with more detailed on the readathon!

There’s other challenges too but I haven’t decided which books to read yet but just know there’s a lot of books I want to read this month!

Anyways, I hope you guys have a good November!

Thanks for reading!

-Cayla

Happy Halloween beautiful people!

Time has flown! Already it’s the end of October and about to be the start of November. This month was a pretty good reading month for me since I read a total of five books even though my goal was seven.

Here are the reviews of books I read here:

My Favorite Half-Night Stand by Christina Lauren (Review)

Mine by Courtney Cole (Review)

Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren (Review)

Tristen Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia (Review)

The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh (Review)

I also DNF’d Vengeful by V.E. Schwab because I lost interest in it and I don’t think I’ll be picking it up any time soon. There’s something about Schwab’s book that sound good and when I do read it, I lose interest and get bored. Don’t get me wrong I loved Vicious and I enjoyed This Savage Song but I tried to get into A Darker Shade of Magic, couldn’t. Tried to get into Vengeful, couldn’t. Tried to get into City of Ghost, couldn’t. So I don’t know. Comment below if I should give Schwab another chance.

I also read a total of 1929 pages, excluding the pages from Vengeful and Radium Girls, a book I’m reading for my Radiation class.

This month’s rating average was a 3.8 which isn’t too bad. My favorite book this month was definitely Tristen Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky and I recommend it to everyone!

Serpent and Dove was also on my TBR but every time I tried to read it, I couldn’t get into it but I will definitely try again November because I really want to see what the hype and hooplah is all about.

I also started a reading bullet journal and I can’t wait to show you guys my October spread. It’s not perfect AT ALL and there’s a few mistakes I made but I still like it and really enjoyed journaling. It’s a really good creative outlet!

Here are also some other posts I made during October as well if you guys would like to check them out!

september wrap + bad and spooky tbr!

my fall reads recommendations

really hyped books i want to read so i can understand what everyone is talking about.

female villains discussion

That’s a total of nine posts for this month and this blog has grown so much since I first started in May. Thank you guys for commenting and liking my reviews! It means so much to me and if it weren’t for you guys I don’t think I would still be blogging. I apologize for not responding to some comments. I have really bad social anxiety so whenever you guys comment on anything, I panic trying to think of something cool to say so please don’t think I’m ignoring you guys!

Anyways, my November tbr post will be up shortly and I also want to mention I am partaking in the Triwizard Tournament readathon (more info here) I’m so excited because it’ll be the first time I’m doing this and I’ll be representing Durmstrang! Comment below if you’re participating also!

Thank you guys for reading! 🎃

-Cayla

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When you think of vampires + new orleans, you think of The Originals, my all times favorite tv shows. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case. Actually it was a total let down.

This book is about a girl name Celine who immigrates to New Orleans to start a fresh life after a crime she commit in France. There she meets someone named Sebastian who she’s NOT supposed to see but ends up doing so anyways and also having murders following her everywhere she goes.

The thing about Ahdieh’s books is that, the summaries sound so good but when you actually read the book, it’s not as good at the summary. Now I read her Wrath and the Dawn duology and I absolutely loved it. I read her Flame and the Mist book, was okay but nowhere as good as her debut novel. And now the Beautiful, I can say the same thing.

For sure, Ahdieh writing talents lie in the settings. This book focuses more on the settings and does a good job being specific in details of places, dresses, and food but sometimes it’ll get too detailed to the point it gets boring and just takes up too much time. My other problem was I guess the inner dialogue or Celine’s “thoughts”. Sometimes she would be having a conversation and her thoughts would be so much to the point it looks like she has more conversations in her head than actual conversations with other people, if that makes sense.

The romance was pretty blah. Sort of insta-lovey and Celine hyped up Bastien to be this handsome devil or dangerous but he’s mortal and regular and doesn’t really do anything special to seem like he’s dangerous. This whole time I was thinking he was a vampire but nope he’s human. Also there’s barely even vampires in this book. I mean yeah there is but you don’t really see much vampire action and Celine doesn’t even know the existence of vampires until the END of the book so I’m just thinking “Why have vampires when you barely see true VAMPIRES?” and my other issue with the setting is that it’s set in 1870. I believe this book should’ve been set in a more modern time like today’s time or even the early 1920s because it seems everyone is so equal during that time when clearly everything wasn’t from the skin color, to gender, and sexual orientation.

This book didn’t tell a bad story, I did enjoy it and I will be reading the second book. In conclusion, don’t expect too much from this book. It still reads as another vampire book you would’ve read in 2011 with detailed settings. This wasn’t the best book to use as the resurgence of vampires but hopefully Jay Kristoff’s new upcoming book that features vampires will be the new face of it.

I rate this three stars!

Thanks for reading! 🎃

-Cayla

In 1872, New Orleans is a city ruled by the dead. But to seventeen-year-old Celine Rousseau, New Orleans provides her a refuge after she’s forced to flee her life as a dressmaker in Paris. Taken in by the sisters of the Ursuline convent along with six other girls, Celine quickly becomes enamored with the vibrant city from the music to the food to the soirées and—especially—to the danger. She soon becomes embroiled in the city’s glitzy underworld, known as La Cour des Lions, after catching the eye of the group’s leader, the enigmatic Sébastien Saint Germain. When the body of one of the girls from the convent is found in the lair of La Cour des Lions, Celine battles her attraction to him and suspicions about Sébastien’s guilt along with the shame of her own horrible secret.

When more bodies are discovered, each crime more gruesome than the last, Celine and New Orleans become gripped by the terror of a serial killer on the loose—one Celine is sure has set her in his sights . . . and who may even be the young man who has stolen her heart. As the murders continue to go unsolved, Celine takes matters into her own hands and soon uncovers something even more shocking: an age-old feud from the darkest creatures of the underworld reveals a truth about Celine she always suspected simmered just beneath the surface.

At once a sultry romance and a thrilling murder mystery, master storyteller Renée Ahdieh embarks on her most potent fantasy series yet: The Beautiful.

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I absolutely ADOOOORRRREEEDDD this book.

This story is about Tristen Strong accidentally punching a hole through the sky of another world while trying to get his dead best friend journal back from a thief. Because of this, a war begun and it has to take both West African and African-American gods to help Tristen end this war.

Guys I have no idea where to begin. Seriously, days later and I’m still lost for words on how important and incredible this book is.

Lately, we have books being published inspired from all types of mythologies from Greek to Egyptian to West African to Arabic. I have read many mythologies from many countries and I never knew that we as African-Americans, had mythologies and stories to tell also.

It’s unfortunate that it was derived from slavery times and it may not have Ancient gods like the Greek gods or Egyptian gods but we have a story to tell too and sounds just as interesting.

Tristen is such a cool character and he reminds me so much of Magnus Chase from Rick Riordan books because they’re both aren’t afraid to be scared and both have their own flaws. You’ll laugh and cry as you watch Tristen go through this whole adventure trying to get back home and help save the world of Alke and Midpass.

I wish this book game out when I was twelve because this book could’ve been my Percy Jackson and Harry Potter. This is why representation is so important. This could be someone’s Percy Jackson. This could be a little black boy and girls Percy Jackson. It is a reminder that us Black Americans may have had a tragic past, but we still also have a story to tell amidst all. We may not have a Zeus, Poseidon, or an Anubis, but we do have a John Henry, Gum Baby, Br’er Rabbit, Anansi, and High John.

Tristen character also proves that. He discovers he’s a magical storyteller and his powers is to bring stories to life.

Also as I’m reading this, every new character I discover, I immediately google their names because I wanted to know their story.

I can’t wait to see more of Mbalia’s books and I am really looking forward to the next book! Unfortunately it’s coming out in 2021 but I’m not too mad because if it’s going to take that long then I expect some QUALITY STUFF. My expectations are super high now for this second book.

One more thing is why this book is so important is that we don’t have any black main characters in fantasy book. Maybe I’m not looking hard enough but I have never came across in all my twenty one years of living of a black boy in a fantasy novel which is why this book is so important. This book can allow other little black boys that it’s okay to dream about having magical powers and being the super hero like Tristen Strong. That it’s okay to also be vulnerable because there’s many scenes where Tristen still mourns his best friend.

I am not sorry for this long post because this story is very important and necessary. My only issue is that I guess the “Annabeth” in the story is just kind of there to me. I forgot her name but that just goes to show how flat and forgetful her character is. I really want to see more personality from her.

I gave this book five out of five stars! I can’t wait to see what happens next after this book is published. I hope great things happen to Mr. Mbalia because this book was so needed.

Thank you guys for reading my long post! 🎃

-Cayla

Seventh-grader Tristan Strong feels anything but strong ever since he failed to save his best friend when they were in a bus accident together. All he has left of Eddie is the journal his friend wrote stories in. Tristan is dreading the month he’s going to spend on his grandparents’ farm in Alabama, where he’s being sent to heal from the tragedy. But on his first night there, a sticky creature shows up in his bedroom and steals Eddie’s journal. Tristan chases after it-–is that a doll?-–and a tug-of-war ensues between them underneath a Bottle Tree. In a last attempt to wrestle the journal out of the creature’s hands, Tristan punches the tree, accidentally ripping open a chasm into the MidPass, a volatile place with a burning sea, haunted bone ships, and iron monsters that are hunting the inhabitants of this world. Tristan finds himself in the middle of a battle that has left black American gods John Henry and Brer Rabbit exhausted. In order to get back home, Tristan and these new allies will need to entice the god Anansi, the Weaver, to come out of hiding and seal the hole in the sky. But bartering with the trickster Anansi always comes at a price. Can Tristan save this world before he loses more of the things he loves?

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hellooooo beautiful people! I know I haven’t really been active for “bad and spooky”, my version for blogtober, and I apologize! College is so hard, especially when you’re on the track team and a biology major. RIP TO ME!!!

But I got time today and I want to talk to you guys about female villains! This topic inspired me when I read The Storm Crow by Kalyn Josephson and the antagonist is a woman but she wasn’t always the bad guy, she was forced to be the way she is. This is also seen in Kingdom of Souls where the protagonist mother is the antagonist majority of the story but she wasn’t always that way when she was younger and because something tragic happened that forced her to be the villain.

I haven’t read a book where the female antagonist didn’t have a tragic past and was the villain just because. From what I’ve read, it seems something has to happen to stir her to a different path. I find this topic fascinating because us women are always seen as the nurturers and emotional but seeing a woman switch and do the opposite just fascinates me and I’m honestly here for it. We need more female villains and I’m always here for the angry/vengeful woman trope.

I know An Ember in the Ashes has a female villain but I only read the first book so I have not idea if she had a tragic backstory that forces her to play the role.

What are your thoughts on female villains?

Also are you guys having a good October? I hope so because mine has been filled with school, work, track, and repeat.

Thanks for reading! 🎃

-Cayla

This book was too adorable.

This book is about Hazel who is labeled “too much” to other people but that label doesn’t stop her and her friend Josh, who she known since college. They both agreed to set dates for each other while falling for each other and you know how the story goes after that.

My third Christina Lauren book and I honestly really enjoyed this book! It’s almost up there with the Unhoneymooners!

There’s something about the really quirky weird protagonist and the guy that accepts her for what she is trope that makes me happy, maybe because it resonance with me because I’m that weird nerd girl who obsesses over books and gives me hope they’re guys out there who’ll accept my weirdness.

The book felt more like a K-Drama than a regular story but I didn’t see it as a problem, also Josh is Korean so yay for diversity.

I don’t really have a problem with this book. This book told a good story and I really enjoyed it and I highly recommend it!

I rate this four stars!

Thanks for reading! 🎃

-Cayla

Hazel Camille Bradford knows she’s a lot to take—and frankly, most men aren’t up to the challenge. If her army of pets and thrill for the absurd don’t send them running, her lack of filter means she’ll say exactly the wrong thing in a delicate moment. Their loss. She’s a good soul in search of honest fun.

Josh Im has known Hazel since college, where her zany playfulness proved completely incompatible with his mellow restraint. From the first night they met—when she gracelessly threw up on his shoes—to when she sent him an unintelligible email while in a post-surgical haze, Josh has always thought of Hazel more as a spectacle than a peer. But now, ten years later, after a cheating girlfriend has turned his life upside down, going out with Hazel is a breath of fresh air.

Not that Josh and Hazel date. At least, not each other. Because setting each other up on progressively terrible double blind dates means there’s nothing between them…right?

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I don’t know why, but there’s something about women getting furious over cheating husbands that drawn me.

This book is about Tessa, who’s a successful CEO with the perfect family, finding out her husband was cheating on her for a whole year with a woman named Lindsey. One the day of a hurricane while the kids and husband gone, Tessa lures Lindsey to her house to confront her while being stuck in the hurricane.

I thought this book would be more of a thriller but actually it was more a suspense and drama. The scandal of confronting the side chick in this book, kept my on my toes and made me manage to finish this book in a whole day.

While the drama is juicy, the only few problems I had in this book was I wish the writing was more descriptive. The writing felt a bit juvenile, like even though the characters were older, the writing felt more YA, if that makes sense. I wish the author was more descriptive with Tessa’s emotions, and I wish this book was more darker also. Don’t get me wrong I did indeed enjoy it, but this book had the potential to go THERE. To be honest, they did too much talking and not enough action. I mean there is physical violence but the majority of the book is Tessa confronting Lindsey. I am against turning girls against each other don’t get me wrong and they should’ve directed their anger towards the cheating husband but I anticipated some fighting and that’s what I came here for!

The ending wasn’t so bad but I feel like we deserve an epilogue because the ending is open ending so we won’t know if the wife ever gets back with her husband or not but I am glad Lindsey realizes how delusional she was in the whole thing. Also, guys are TRASH!! Don’t get me wrong, not all guys but the husband was so manipulating and such an F boy. I really wish we could’ve had so much more than what we were presented with.

In conclusion, if you’re looking for a quick suspenseful read with some drama including cheating husbands and confronting side chicks, then this is your book! Initially, I rated it four stars because I did enjoy the story but looking back at it now, it deserves a three because of the writing and lack of epilogue.

I rate this book three stars!

Thanks for reading! 🎃🎃

-Cayla

Tessa was prepared for the hurricane. Lindsey was the storm she didn’t see coming.

When Tessa Taylor unlocked her husband Ethan’s iPad to discover nude photos from a twenty-six-year-old bombshell named Lindsey, her seemingly perfect life came to a screeching halt.

With a hurricane barreling toward Florida and Ethan stuck on a business trip, Tessa finds herself imprisoned in her own home with a choice to make: Does she ride out the storm until she can confront Ethan in person, or does she take matters into her own hands?

Increasingly restless and desperate for revenge, Tessa resolves to act. And when she lures Lindsey over a few hours later, there’s no turning back.

What ensues is a battle of wills between two well-matched opponents, blinded by love for the same man but driven by demons of their own. Like storm-ravaged Florida, neither woman will be the same when the skies clear.

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I’ve recently got back into reading this summer and I’ve missed a lot of good book releases these past years since I got into college but there’s so many books which makes me really intimidated for me to read them which makes me not interested in reading them but honestly I just want to be in the loop so I can partake in the memes that they say on twitter so here are some of the really hyped books I need to read!

These are some of the book that are really hyped and everyone keeps referencing and I just really want to be in the loop. I read both Shadow and Bone and Siege and Storm but I DNF the second book because I just couldn’t stand Mal so much and then I found out they were endgame as well and I just wasn’t as interested in the series anymore. One of my biggest pet peeves are insecure guys who don’t want their girl to be greater than them and that’s Mal! Anyways, I really want to get into the Six of Crows and King of Scars because I know it’s super popular and I’ve been meaning to read it but college makes reading so hard.

Probably one of the most popular books that I see everyone on twitter is talking about is the Nevernight series and I have yet to read it. I just heard it’s been so slow and I learned that if I read a light contemporary while reading a high fantasy book then it’s easier for me to get into the reading mode because I get bored and uninterested if a book starts out really slow, especially if it doesn’t really pick up any time soon.

The only two sequels, A Torch Against the Night and The Dream Thieves. It’s been forever since I first read the first book of both of these series but I do remember some parts and remember really enjoying them. Eventually I’ll get to A Torch Against the Night but I think I want to finish the Raven Boys series this fall/winter since it gives that vibe but the reason why I haven’t really been interested because in Maggie Stievator books, nothing really happens but characters walking in forests.

Thank you guys for reading! What hyped book you haven’t read yet but want to get into?

-Cayla

Hello beautiful people! As part of bad and spooky, I’m going to be sharing you guys some books I read that’ll give you fall and Halloween-esque vibes. I hope you guys enjoy and comment below if you’ve read them or you can also recommend some fall reads yourself!

(All the covers from Vicious are gorgeous but this one is personally my fave.)

(This is my favorite cover out of all the cover changes. I have no idea why they changed it.)

I hope you enjoy this post and I hope blogtober or the month of October is going well for you guys! More bad and spooky posts are coming soon and I’m excited to share them with you guys.

Thanks for reading! 🎃

-Cayla

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