Prepare for a long post because I got a lot planned for blogtober!

Happy first of October everyone!

I’m super excited to start the very first “bad and spooky” aka my version of blogtober. I’m not going to post every single day of October but I do have ideas and books I want to read and review for you guys this month but firstly, I have to give you guys a wrap up for September since I had a good reading month.

I read a total of 8 BOOKS this month which is a lot and I haven’t read that much in a month since 2012-2014 when I had time for reading. I am especially proud of myself for reading that many books while I’m dealing with college, track, and work so go me!

Here’s some of the books I read and past due reviews. I read The Unhoneymooners and Alex, Approximately in the summertime also but finally reviewed them September.

the unhoneymooners by christina lauren (review)

alex, approximately by jenn bennett (review)

the secret girl & the ruthless boys review and theories (review)

fragile chaos by amber r. duell (review)

i owe you by sophie kinsella (review)

the storm crow by kalyn josephnson (review)

the right swipe by arisha rai (review)

kingdom of souls by rena barron (review)

#TheRealCinderella by Yesenia Varges

Here some other blog posts you guys can also check out in case you missed it!

august wrap up + september tbr (link)

trying to overcome shyness and social anxiety in the book community RANT (link)

20 questions book tag! (link)

bad and spooky! blog update! (link)

As you can see, September was a productive month for me and October is about to be 5x better!

Now it’s time for what you guys actually want to see is my October tbr and how I organized it.

My goal for this month is to read six books. I made book topics for my tbr like those readathons just to be in the halloween spririt.

Time to buy and decorate the house with Halloween decorations!! Read a book you’re excited to get into!

For this I picked Tristen Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia

It’s spooky season so let’s watch some spooky movies! Read a thriller or a horror book!

I picked Mine by Courtney Cole!

Whew! You’re scared from the spooky movie and need something to lighten the mood. Read a book that’ll make you laugh!

For this I picked Josh & Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren.

Everyone loves the hero, but no one loves the villain. Read a book centered around bad guys.

For this I picked, Vengeful by V.E. Schwab!

Werewolves, vampires, ghost, zombies, witches and faeries, oh my! Read a book with one or more supernatural creatures!

Of course I picked The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh!

The real monsters come out a night. Read a book only during the evening and night.

For this I picked Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin.

I hope you guys are excited as I am! Currently I’m reading The Favorite Half night Stand by Christina Lauren and so far I’m enjoying it!

Please comment below what you’re reading or going to read for this October month!

Thanks for reading! 🎃

-Cayla

goodreads twitter

This book.

Thiiiiiiiiissssssssss book!!

I absolutely LOVED it!

This book is set in a high fantasy setting where our main character, Arrah, is the daughter of two powerful witch doctors yet unfortunately she never inherited their powers but there is dark ritual for Arrah to obtain magic but for magic she must trade years of her life.

Someone is also taking children and when Arrah’s friend is taken, she trades years of her life for magic and the story going on from there.

I feel like I’ll repeat myself if I keep talking about what I like about it so I’m going to start off with what I didn’t like, which was the pacing of the book. The first quarter of the book was hard to get into because it was slow and so much information and names to remember that it was hard to pay attention long enough to read but once after I read past the 100 page mark, the plot started going. Also there’s pacing issues on various places in the book but not bad enough to bother me much.

The romance in the book had the trope where they were best friends for almost all their life and they both have feelings for each other and neither of them has said anything yet. If that makes sense. The romance wasn’t too bad. I wish Rudjet, the love interest, had a bit more personality but he wasn’t bland at all and I like how he was good towards Arrah.

You guys, this book had some hoodrat drama that makes me soooo excited for the next book. It’s the type you gotta read and find out yourself or it’ll be major spoilers but the drama in this book was so entertaining and there may be a love triangle hints for the next book. I personally don’t mind love triangles because they’re pretty entertaining but I have a feeling they’ll be something going on.

And that ENDING!?! It was the type of ending where is could be considered a cliffhanger but also opened ended because there’s so much unanswered questions, there’s gotta be a book 2 because whew chileee the SUSPENSE!

I also heard that Kingdom of Souls is already going to be a movie. I don’t understand how books that JUST come out are already being adapted into movies, Can someone let me know in the comments? Anyways, I’m just scared people are going to label this book or any other African-inspired story as another Black Panther or Wakanda when the story line is totally different.

In conclusion I really enjoyed this book and gave this 4.5 stars but I obviously round it up to 5. I actually recommend this for fans of Daughter of Smoke and Bone and City of Bones because you see some elements from both books in Kingdom of Souls but still has it’s own original story.

Thank you for reading! 💛

-Cayla

THERE’S MAGIC IN HER BLOOD.

Explosive fantasy set in a world of magic and legend, where one girl must sacrifice her life, year by year, to gain the power necessary to fight the mother she has never been good enough for.

Perfect for fans of Sarah J Maas, Tomi Adeyemi and Black Panther

THERE’S MAGIC IN HER BLOOD.

Arrah is a young woman from a long line of the most powerful witch doctors in the land. But she fails at magic, fails to call upon the ancestors and can’t even cast the simplest curse.

Shame and disappointment dog her.

When strange premonitions befall her family and children in the kingdom begin to disappear, Arrah undergoes the dangerous and scorned process of selling years of her life for magic. This borrowed power reveals a nightmarish betrayal and a danger beyond what she could have imagined. Now Arrah must find a way to master magic, or at least buy it, in order to save herself and everything she holds dear.

An explosive fantasy set in a world of magic and legend with a twist you will never see coming.

goodreads

goodreads amazon b&n

Hello beautiful people! This is post is going to be about blogtober and that I’m partaking in a Halloween-esque theme for the whole month of October. I’m NOT going to post every day of the month because I do have school, work, and track but I do have ideas such as movies, shows, books I want to read, and some trope talks to want to share.

So for the month of October, we’re no longer bad and bookish but will later be called “bad and spooky” just to show some holiday spirit.

I’m super excited about this next month because I have some really good ideas I wrote down and I’m super excited for the new releases for this month as well.

Are you guys excited about next month? Are you partaking in any readathons or challenges also?

Thanks for reading! 💛

-Cayla

I love this book so much. I really do.

This book was about a these two couples who matched in an app and agreed for a hookup but the guy ghost our main character, Rhi, after they both agreed on a second date. Now couple months later, they come across each other and the story sets off from there.

I like Rhi. I love her so much and I love the representation in this book. I love how our main character is a black woman and one that’s assertive and strong-minded. Rhi is a creator of a popular matchmaking app and I love how respected she is and her no BS tolerance. Books like this with main characters like Rhi who’s a boss on her own and a black woman makes me so happy as a black woman myself. This is why representation matters.

Our love interest, Samson, was a big softie which took me by surprise because I was expecting (and wanting) a cocky love interest but he’s actually a pretty nice guy who cares about his family and Rhi a lot. The romance was cute and I love how Samson respects Rhi and admires her as well. We stan.

The climax or the part the drives the couples away from each other was pretty annoying because it’s the trope where the character accuse the other of something and doesn’t bother to listen to their explanation and ignores them. That trope is tired and old and I wish the author would’ve come with together else instead.

I also appreciate the topic of sexual harassment and relationship abuse in this book as well. If you’re sensitive to those topics, it is present in this book but it’s only mentioned and not the actual action happening.

In conclusion, I really enjoyed the book and admired Rhi so much. I love the diversity, the theme of this book, and even the romance.

I give this book four stars!

Thanks for reading!

-Cayla

goodreads amazon b&n

I honestly wish I could read the second book now but I have to wait until next year. Thank God it’s a duology because I’m really excited for The Crow Rider.

The Storm Crow is about a kingdom called Rhodaire who’s culture is mostly centered around magical crows. So the night of a holiday where they hatch new crow eggs, they’re attacked by another kingdom, losing their the crows and their queen. Months after the tragic event, the main character, Anthia has fallen into depression and has not left her room while her sister takes the new role as queen and try to recover as much as their kingdom as possible. When a marriage proposal between Anthia and Ericen, the prince of the kingdom who attacked Rhodaire, occurred, Anthia is sparked and inspired to find a way to save her kingdom and stop the marriage between her and Ericen but before she leaves her kingdom to go to his, she comes across a crow egg, the first one since the night of the attack.

That’s the biggest summery I made in a book review and I kind of had no way of shortening it anyway I really enjoyed this book and it was a good start to the duology.

I would describe this book as The Children of Blood and Bone but almost done right. What I meant by this is that they both share a broody dark misunderstood prince but in COBAB, the prince is super wishy-washy and annoying, whether in The Storm Crow, Ericen isn’t.

I also like the fact that even though it’s a hate-to-love trope in here, the prince doesn’t get the girl in the end. I like how it shows, just because you’re a butthole towards me in the beginning doesn’t exactly mean you can easily win me over as a lover or even as a friend. Not all mean love interest deserve the main character, even if he does show signs of redemption. I like how Anthia accepts the fact he’s a misunderstood prince but still doesn’t exactly fall for him because of his moral and values.

I think that’s something we see too much in YA is heroines who at first, hate the love interest, the guy who burned down her kingdom and killed her whole family leaving her an orphan, and then eventually gets the know him, thinking he’s just misunderstood and that his father/mother forced him to do that, and start easily falling for the love interest just because they see some humanity in them and then get shocked when the love interest betrays them because of “honor” and “duty”.

If authors are going to pull a Zuko, at least do it right. In this book, it was done well. Our prince actually picks a side and REMAINS on that side even though he knows he’s wrong and doesn’t become wishy-washy just because they want to get in the heroine pants.

*COUGH COUGH* THE CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE *COUGH COUGH*

I still want Anthia and Ericen together though because just like everyone else in the book community, I am TRASH for the “hate-to-love” trope and I just feel bad for him. I don’t mind love triangles, it’s just I feel bad for the second guy but I think that’s going to change in the second book, hopefully.

I really enjoyed the characters and the representation in this book. You get both male and male relationships, female and female, female friendship, and female empowerment. I also like the message it sent, or the message I got from the book, is that we can all be the villain in someone else’s story and someone can think they’re the hero in their story also and the book shows that not everyone is perfect.

In conclusion, I really enjoyed this book and it told a great story and introduction. I will be reading the second book and I hate that I’ll have to wait next year!

I feel like I was all over the place with this review.

I rate this book four stars!

Thanks for reading! 💛

-Cayla

In the tropical kingdom of Rhodaire, magical, elemental Crows are part of every aspect of life…until the Illucian empire invades, destroying everything.

That terrible night has thrown Princess Anthia into a deep depression. Her sister Caliza is busy running the kingdom after their mother’s death, but all Thia can do is think of all she has lost.

But when Caliza is forced to agree to a marriage between Thia and the crown prince of Illucia, Thia is finally spurred into action. And after stumbling upon a hidden Crow egg in the rubble of a rookery, she and her sister devise a dangerous plan to hatch the egg in secret and get back what was taken from them.

goodreads

goodreads amazon b&n

Finally a blog post that’s not a monthly wrap up or a book review. I’ve finished a lot of books without reviewing them last month and I wanted to get them out the way first and then focus on some new ideas for my book blog since I didn’t want to be behind and why not do a book tag! I’ve only done one book tag so far which was my Stranger Things Book Tag back in July.

I saw someone on my feed do this tag so why not try it!

1. HOW MANY BOOKS ARE TOO MANY IN A SERIES?

Honestly, I prefer trilogies because I can’t wait over three years for a series to conclude but really anything over five books, I think it’s time to wrap up the series and let it go. Some series I can think of is the House of Night series, Morganville Vampires, every Cassandra Clare books, and honestly the Shatter Me series but only because it was fine after Ignite Me.

2. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT CLIFFHANGER ENDINGS?

Cliffhangers are the ghetto honestly because now I have this unnecessary anxiety and have to wait who knows how long for the next book.

3. HARDBACK OR PAPERBACK?

Ebook actually but if I do get a physically book, it has to be my absolute favorite book and it has to be hardcover.

4. FAVORITE BOOK?

I have a lot of favorite books but my favorite book this year has to be The Stand-in Boyfriend by Emma Doherty. It’s a standalone contemporary that involves fake dating and I’ve read this book three times this year and there’s just something about this book that makes me want to read it a hundred times and wish it was longer. I’ll do a book review for this soon.

5. LEAST FAVORITE BOOK?

Wasn’t a bad book. Just wasn’t interesting enough.

6. LOVE TRIANGLES: YES OR NO?

Love triangles are also the ghetto but I honestly don’t mind them.

7. THE MOST RECENT BOOK YOU COULDN’T FINISH?

There’s nothing wrong with this book at all! It’s just I kind of lost interest but I will get back to it!

8. A BOOK YOU’RE CURRENTLY READING?

As of right now, I’m still deciding what book I want to read.

9. LAST BOOK YOU RECOMMENDED?

The Secret Girl!

10. OLDEST BOOK YOU’VE READ?

Probably Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer.

11. NEWEST BOOK YOU’VE READ?

12. FAVORITE AUTHOR?

Rick Riordan and Victoria Schwab

13. BUYING BOOKS OR BORROWING?

Buying because I don’t know how to save money.

14. A BOOK THAT YOU DISLIKED THAT EVERYONE SEEMS TO LOVE?

This book was so overhyped.

16. A BOOK THAT YOU ALWAYS REREAD?

17. CAN YOU READ WHILE LISTENING TO MUSIC?

I actually used to in middle school but now I can never listen unless it’s low piano music or instrumental.

18. ONE POV OR MULTIPLE POVS?

Multiple. Preferably between the main character and love interest because I always wonder what people are thinking.

19. DO YOU READ A BOOK IN ONE SITTING OR OVER MULTIPLE DAYS?

Most of the time over multiple days but if it’s really good, it’ll most likely be in one sitting.

20.WHO DO YOU TAG?

Since I never get tag in anything, I tag everyone!

Thanks for reading! 💛

-Cayla

I was bored looking for something randomly to read and I saw this book with it’s gorgeous cover and decided to give it a try.

It is a standalone about a girl who’s chosen as a sacrifice to the war god in a dystopian-ish world and I think that’s all I got from this book really.

I mean there’s more to it but there’s too much squeezed into this standalone book because we’re introduced to a country that’s in the middle of war between two other countries and there’s so much politics in this book that it’s kind of confusing and I kind of didn’t care. Also they’re gods in this book and they also contribute to the war whether either instigating or ending and they’re kind of like the Greek Gods.

Of course the girl and the god of war fall in love and the romance to me was a bit insta-lovey but only because they didn’t have much interactions for them to fall in love but that’s just from my opinion.

This book wasn’t really that bad of a read but if it were a duology or maybe a trilogy than it’ll be a great series instead of jamming so much information into only 300 pages and not knowing exactly what’s going on in the background. Also it’s alternating POV between the girl and love interest so I’ll give the book a point for that because I prefer chapters with only the girl and the love interest.

in all honestly, I rate this 2 1/2 stars. It didn’t tell a bad story, I just don’t exactly know what the story was supposed to be about.

Thanks for reading! 💛

-Cayla

A god of war seeking restoration. An unwilling sacrificial bride. Betrayal that could destroy them both.

Every fiber of my being is woven from the rage of mortals.

Theodric, the young God of War, has a talent for inciting conflict and bloodshed. After being stripped of his powers by his older brother, King of Gods, he sets out to instigate a mortal war to prove himself worthy of being restored to power.

I loved Kisk once; it was my home… But that was before. This is now.

Sixteen-year-old Cassia, like many in the modern era, believes gods and goddesses to be just a myth. Enemy to her country and an orphan of the war, she has no time for fairy tales. That’s until religious zealots from Theo’s sect offer her up as a sacrifice.

Can Cassia and Theo end the mortal war and return balance to the earth and heavens? Or, will their game of fate lead down a path of destruction, betrayal, and romance neither of them saw coming?

goodread

goodreads amazon b&n

Hello everyone! This post will be more of a discussion/rant about my social anxiety towards the book community.

I’m a very introverted person, online and offline. If you were to ever meet me in person, you’ll most likely see me by myself but I do have friends so I’m not entirely a loner and I’m also not the type to initiate small talk or easily make friends. The only reason I have friends now is because they’re all from my track team so I have no choice but to communicate with them. If not, then I would most likely never try to talk to them. Does this make sense?

Anyway, it’s kind of the same online. I want to start being active and socialize with people and make book friends but I’m so SHY and SCARED and it gives me so much anxiety.

Like I’ll scroll through book twitter and see everyone interacting with each other and being funny and witty and I’m just like, how does one do that? and just thinking about trying to converse with strangers gives me anxiety yet the frustrating thing is that I want to interact more with other nerds who like books such as myself.

Do any of you guys get anxiety from the very THOUGHT of trying to talk to someone or you’re also very introverted such as myself? Comment below some of your tips PLEASE!

Thanks for reading! ❤
-Cayla

Okay the first part of the review is going to be spoiler-free and the second part is going to be the spoiler part after the second book, The Ruthless Boys, so in case you haven’t read either books, go read both books first then you can come and read the second part of this review. I recommend if you’re 18+ to read these books.

Also if you have read these books and just wanna know theories than you can skip the spoiler-free section and jump to part 2.

Part 1 (Spoiler-free)

This book is meant to be read for FUN. I know we all read for fun and review books as a hobby but these types of books are so unrealistic and funny that it’s more read for pleasure.

If you like reverse harem and the Ouran High School Host Club. This is your book. It’s almost like the anime except it’s more rated R and explicit. This book is definitely not YA even though they are teenagers, this book has a lot of sexual content that I would not put under YA.

Anyways, The Secret Girl is about a girl name Charlotte, who is forced to become the first female student to an all-boys school but instead of attending as a girl, she pretends to be a guy and also isn’t interested in making friends with anyone which draws the attention of the student council. While she’s hiding her secret and deals with bullying from the student council, they’re people out there who don’t want her there and make attempts to kill her.

Despite the last part of my summary of the story, this book is actually pretty light and funny. What I find most interesting about this series is not you will not know who’s going to be end game. The main character, Charlotte, explores polygamy and takes a chance with each of the members of the student council and if that’s not your cup of tea than I don’t think this’ll be your book.

If you want a fun guilty pleasure read with reverse harm and OHSHC vibes to it, The Secret Girl is your book and as soon as you read it please come discuss it with me.

Part 2 (SPOILER SECTIONS! DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT READ BOTH THE SECRET GIRL AND THE RUTHLESS BOYS)

OOOOOOMMMMMMMGGGGGGGG

The Ruthless Boys was RUTHLESS!!!!

This part of the review will be totally unprofessional lol.

In all honestly, I think Charlotte might either end up alone in The Forever Crew (The third and final book), or with Church or maybe even Ranger. I don’t know!! Because I think Charlotte is experimenting with the twins honestly for fun.

THE THREESOME SCENE WITH THE TWINS MADE ME ALMOST SCREAM!!!

Like I was reading this scene at work and once they start to have sex, IN DISNEYWORLD!!! MY GIRL CHARLOTTE WAS HAVING A HOT GIRL SUMMER FOR REAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I do not judge at all when it comes to stuff like that. I was lowkey rooting for her! Like yes girl! And with twins too!? Get it girl! No judgement here. I will always remain in in Team “What Makes You Happy”.

To be honest, I think she might end up either alone or with Church. She’s attracted to everyone but Church is the only one who didn’t really get a sexual scene with Charlotte unlike the twins, Ranger, and Spencer. Also I know the rest of the guys would do almost anything to protect Charlotte, but Church takes it to a whole other level.

Okay here’s my reasons why the other guys won’t be endgame

Spencer-I mean there could be a chance Charlotte and Spencer might be endgame but it seems their relationship is more sexual than anything and even though Spencer was attracted to Charlotte even before he knew her secret, I still think their relationship is more sexual.

The twins-I think this is more sexual and an experiment for Charlotte. I also think while the idea might sound good to Charlotte to date twins, it’ll end a disaster so I think the relationship with the twins is just temporary.

Ranger-Yoooo I do not know what to think of Ranger after reading The Ruthless Boys. It’s like he respects and sees her in the same position as his sister, but also really attracted to her so it’s kind of conflicting. He’s one of my favorite in the student council but I think also think Ranger and Charlotte have a more sexual connection. The scene between them in the Ruthless Boys was fun to read and just a tease of what their relationship is going to be like in the next book but I feel like he’s just a flame but I can’t wait for more scenes between him and Charlotte. Also I think he’ll be too protective of her because of his sister.

Okay now for the reasons why Church could be endgame-Well obviously him and Charlotte’s relationship has been the most strained. The farthest either of them took was just a kiss and Charlotte doesn’t have THAT intense sexual attraction to Church like the rest of the guys which is a good thing because Charlotte actually takes the time to know Church in The Ruthless Boys and they actually see each other and understand each other. Church also has the most control out of the group and doesn’t take the chance to jump into Charlotte pants as soon as the opportunity presents itself unlike the rest of the boys. Church is the most smart and observing of the group so I feel like he has a plan to win over Charlotte in The Forever Crew. I’m all for team Church!

Maybe Church might not be endgame and maybe she might end up with all of them which I hope not because that’s a huge cop out! I either want her to be ended up alone or with Church.

I feel like she’s going to break up with the twins first than Ranger or Ranger might voluntarily leave the competition for Charlotte (even though it’s a polygamous relationship). Than maybe Spencer next since he “likes” her the most since the beginning than Church will be endgame but who knows, I have a lot of theories but I know for sure the twins and Ranger won’t be endgame. I did like Spencer at first but he kind of got boring after a while, so did the twins so if it’s not Church, then I wouldn’t be mad if she ended up with Ranger but I think that’s highly unlikely.

What are your theories and thoughts of the series?

Thanks for reading! 💛
-Cayla