When All is Read and Done // October 2018 Wrap-Up

The Rose Society // Marie Lu // ★★★★★ – I could rant about how amazing this series is all day. I literally think I could. It has everything I love: anti-heroes, complex characters, wonderful character arcs, immersive world-building…..yeah, you get the idea.

City of Ghosts // Victoria Schwab // ★★★☆☆ – City of Ghosts was the perfect October read for a scaredy-cat like me; it got me into the Halloween mood and didn’t make me loose any sleep in the process.

Daughter of the Pirate King // Tricia Levenseller // ★★★★☆ – SO here we’ve got a female pirate who loves fashion and embraces the fact that being a women doesn’t make her weak, but strong. What isn’t there to like about that? PLUS THERE’S PIRATES. I WILL NEVER NOT READ A BOOK ABOUT PIRATES. YO HO, YO HO, A PIRATE’S LIFE FOR ME.

Pride //  Ibi Zoboi // ★★★☆☆ – This diverse retelling of Jane Austen’s most famous novel, Pride and Prejudice, beautifully explores themes of love, family and class. While I loved the sheer personality this story has (it very nearly exploded off the page), the romance was lacking any sort of spark for me. Which is too bad considering Pride and Prejudice is, you know, A LOVE STORY.

The Poppy War // R.F. Kuang // ★★★★★ – This. This book. I don’t even know what to say about it. The first half was immensely entertaining…the second half was not. But it wasn’t meant to be – it was meant to prove a point. The Poppy War has an agenda and it pushes it so powerfully that even now, a month later, I’m still recovering.

Empress of All Seasons // Emiko Jean // ★★★☆☆ – This book was my single most anticipated read of the entire year annnnnnnddddd…. it failed to live up to my expectations. Insert pouty face here.  The world-building and Japanese rep are wonderful, but I failed to connect with any of the characters. Sigh.

My Plain Jane // Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows, & Brodi Ashton  // ★★★★☆ –  My Plain Jane is such an absurdly inventive retelling of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre that my mind is blown like an overused fuse every time I think about it. The book includes all the pivotal plot points from the original story, but recolors them in new, funny, and shocking ways. 1000000000000 points to Gryffindor for sheer creativity!

Christopher Robin // This movie was just one big helping of childhood nostalgia. The beginning was great – I loved that Christopher Robin’s life was shown to the audience like chapters from a book – but the ending was too typical to be anything truly memorable.

Pride & Prejudice // After reading Pride, I had to rewatch this movie, just to refresh my memory. And yep, Keira Knightley is still perfection. Oh, and yes, Darcy is still swoon-worthy. This movie never fails to give me chills. The good kind, of course.

Pride and Prejudice // It is a truth universally acknowledged, that Colin Firth spends wayyyyy too much time staring off into nothing. I mean, how many shots of a brooding Darcy do you really need in one film? Hardcore Jane Austen fans might cringe upon reading this, but I will forever love the 2005 version better. Fight me (but don’t actually – I hate drama and all sorts of confrontation. It gives me anxiety).

Sense and Sensibility // When I first saw this movie as a Harry-Potter-obsessed-sixteen-year-old (versus my current Harry-Potter-obsessed-20-something-year-old) all I could think of was this: “Why is Professor Snape wearing breeches?” In every scene, I kept expecting Colonel Brandon to say in that flat voice of his, “Turn to page 394!”

This time around though, all I could think of was: ALAN RICKMAN!!!!!! Which was then followed by some intense sobbing.

• I went on a much-needed vacation.

• I had the fabulous opportunity to guest post on Drizzle and Hurricane Books and participate in the ever-so-important Shattering Stigmas Event. You rock, Marie!
• I got my first ARC EVER! I’d like to thank the Academy, my mom, my pet goldfish that died three years ago, that one guy who served me my Sub sandwich last week…
• I got accepted for my first Blog Tour – I’ll be posting that on November 15th, so be on the lookout!
• I was interviewed by the wonderful Ivy @ Raine Reads. She’s awesome – you should go check out her blog and send her some love if you haven’t already.
• I started my first-ever buddy read with the sugar-sweet May @ My 1st Chapter. I love that human. She’s a good one.
• I redesigned my logo because I’m a perfectionist and I have a serious problem.

What did you read in October?

Have you read any of these books or seen any of these movies? What did you think of them?

Tell me about your month in the comments!

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