November Reads (spoiler free)

Howdy lil freakies!

Here's my roll-up of everything I read this month. Full spoilers and deep dive reviews can be found on my YouTube channel, but you guys get to see what I read behind the scenes!

Below is a roll-up of books with unprofessional summaries and reasoning for the rating.

An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks ⭐/5

A woman in her 20s crashes a local university's psychology study. The professor running the study is sketchy af, and the book follows the dynamic between these two. I feel like everyone's motives were weird/nonsensical. There was no real reason for any of it, and it ended on such an oddly hollow note.

Never Lie by Freida McFadden ⭐⭐/5

Okay, genuinely, I'm becoming a certified fan (derogatory) of Freida. The writing sucks, the plots are nonsensical but it's genuinely so entertaining. I don't get tired of these weird weird books lol. This one was about a woman and her boyfriend who get trapped in a snowstorm. Trapped where, you ask? In a famous psychologsit's house... who went missing a few months ago. And from the jump, everyone is acting sketchy and lying to eachother.

The Guest List by Lucy Foley ⭐⭐⭐/5

This one will be my first December upload on the channel! There's a wedding being held on a creepy island. The book follows the POV of various guests and talks about their relationships and how they got to this point in their lives. Everything seems like rich people messy problems, until someone comes across a dead body. The premise was awesome. Only critique was that it was a sloooooow build and in general the pacing was a little off. Other issues are spoilers, so watch the video if you want more.

We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer ⭐⭐⭐/5

Eve and her girlfriend buy a house to flip. One day Eve is there alone and this off-putting family knocks on the door, says that they used to live there and would love to take a look around. AND SHE LETS THEM INSIDE. Someone on Goodreads said this book was r/NoSleep coded, and I couldn't say it better. It was interesting, and then we went off the rails in a way that felt like a Jordan Peele movie, but without the right set up.

Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman ⭐⭐/5

Speaking of Jordan Peele... 8 year old girl tells us about her daddy, mommy and other mommy. My stomach dropped reading the description and there were a few other moments in the book that gave me that feeling, however, they were over shadowed by repetitiveness and just odd narrative choice. It's from an 8 year old, but she talked/thought like she was much younger and then her parents talked to her like she was an adult. And also the tension of WHAT other mommy is and what she looks like is immediately ruined and she wasn't scary anymore, just a weird creepy vibes rommate instead of a monster under the bed. Ya know? I don't think monsters should be described directly or in detail, that almost always kills the vibe.

When the Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Little boy's dad turns into a wolf monster when he gets mad. One day he runs from home and runs into a woman. She takes him in and tries to protect him. It's an absolute batshit ride from there. SUCH a unique premise, fast paced, I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. I really enjoyed this one. The ending was a little meh, but great otherwise.

Bury Our Bones in Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab ⭐⭐/5

Getting away from thriller and horror genre binge, I read this fantasy/historical fiction/toxic saphhic vampire book. That premise? Wild. Love. Sign me up. The execution? ahhhhhhh. The ending pissed me off enough to go down an entire star. But, it was a multiple timeline story that eventually interconnects and boy howdy do I eat that up lmao. The timeline, premise and general vibes really carried this book. The characters felt shallow, the pacing wasn't the best and that ending made get up and go for a walk because I was so mad and made me feel like I wasted my time.