October has been a BUSY month for me - I got married this month! But despite all the chaos and excitement, I did manage to read a good few books. I'm aiming for 100 this year, and I'm getting pretty close now. A lot of these are ARCs, as I was out and about a lot this month with my kindle in hand. Anyway, here's my quickfire reviews of everything I read in October...
Ask Me Anything by Bethany Rutter
I adore Bethany Rutter, having followed her on IG for yearssss before she ever started writing books. I've read her YA books and I was overjoyed to get an ARC of her first adult book, Ask Me Anything. This is a romance set at uni in London, following a girl on the magazine staff as she navigates family drama, terrible boy issues and the joy of female friendships - she writes the agony aunty column, so the book is peppered with sassy advice too. It's well-written, relatable and a lot of fun, handling delicate topics with grace. 4 stars from me!
The Obsession by Natasha Preston
Where do I even begin?! I was excited about the premise of this, which was another ARC; it follows a young girl who's mum is a youtuber, putting her daughters' lives in danger by exposing where they live and a lot of details of their life. Our main character starts to feel terrified that she has a stalker, and the danger becomes even more real when her mum and older sister go away, leaving her home alone. The tension is high and the pace is fast - but ultimately what could be a great book is absolutely ruined by a dreadful ending, where there is no conclusion to the dramas, issues, deaths and fallouts. It literally just ends. I was so disappointed and as such, it's 2 stars.
The Phone Swap by Lia Louis
Lia Louis is an autobuy author for me, so I was made up to get an ARC of her upcoming release. This is a super cute dual-POV romcom where the two main characters end up accidentally swapping phones on a flight, and get to know each other while they look after each other's devices; they end up falling in love, but it ends terribly. Years later they're thrust together unexpectedly, which can go one of two ways... It's funny, it's emotional, it's adorable. The characters are well-rounded and the settings are fantastic, and the storytelling is (as always) brilliant. 5 stars from me!
Who Did I Marry? by Sara Pucci
This was yet another ARC, and it's a thriller following a family who find a dead body on their doorstep - it turns out to be a relative, which leads to the unravelling of a LOT of dark family secrets. However, it's just not that good; it's dual-POV, but it switches rapidly between each character, all of whom are deeply unlikeable. The pacing is so strange; there's a murder trial which only lasts a day??? Anyway, it all just felt a bit off. I gave it 2.5 stars.
Her Maine Catch by Sophie-Leigh Robbins
This is actually a book I got on a recent Stuff Your Kindle Day; it's a small town summer romance, and I'd probably class it as a novella - it's super short and I read it in the time it took us to wait for our flight home from Poland, in the airport. It's cute and fluffy with zero spice, and very much insta-love, but it's very nice and of course, a good quick easy read! 3 stars from me.
It's All Greek To Me by Andra Christodoulou
Another day, another ARC; this is another romance too, but quite a long one - longer than most romances honestly, and the final third did drag a fair bit with the conclusion being sprung upon us in the final few pages. But overall it's nicely written, and the FMC is very funny, and overall it's a good story with a lovely mix of Greek and Scouse culture throughout. Our main character is Greek but living in Liverpool with an overbearing mother, a best friend she can't decide if she has feelings for, and stuck in a job she hates with a dream of being a full-time baker - a summer at a villa in Greece could change everything... I gave it 4 stars!
Journey Back To You by Leigh Shalloway
Another romance ARC; this one follows a character who's rich father is the bane of her life, and she can't wait to escape her small town (named after her family) to go to college. Trying to help her community before she leaves leads to meeting a hot guy, who she strikes up a friends with benefits situation with. When she goes off to college this kind of falls apart, but years later they have a second chance to make things work. The book deals with some difficult topics, which it handles okay but not amazingly... It's all very surface level throughout, but it's not necessarily a bad book. 3 stars.
A very mixed bag this month in terms of ratings - here's hoping November is an overall better reading month! I've got 4 trips to London, so plenty of reading time on all my trains...
