Hi all!

Welcome to my October 2018 Reading Wrap-Up! I seem to be averaging about three books a month. Considering I’m a full time mother, I would say that’s pretty good! Unfortunately, I wasn’t overly satisfied with anything I read. Without further ado, let’s get into it!

1.) THE GOLDEN TOWER (BOOK #5 IN THE MAGISTERIUM SERIES) BY CASSANDRA CLARE AND HOLLY BLACK (KINDLE BOOK)

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PLOT: This is the fifth and final book in the Magisterium series, so I will not spoil it. The overall story follows a boy named Cal, who joins a school of magic, despite his father warning him not to. Every year, Cal faces a new threat, whilst forced to confront a sinister past. 

MINI REVIEW: If you think this sounds like Harry Potter, you are not alone in thinking so. There are many similarities, which makes the series quite unpopular. I enjoyed the first three books but the fourth and fifth were so disappointing. I did not like the ending at all! The lack of action was underwhelming and quite frankly, boring.

RATING: I gave it 1/5 stars. 

2.) VENGEFUL (BOOK #2 IN THE VILLAINS DUOLOGY) BY V.E SCHWAB (KINDLE BOOK) – SASSY BOOK CLUB PICK FOR OCTOBER 2018

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PLOT: This was our Sassy Book Club pick for October. I read the first book, Vicious, in February, so I won’t spoil the plot for the sequel. In this wicked world, we follow two geniuses/roommates by the names of Victor and Eli. They are both highly ambitious, cunning and intelligent. Together, they begin work on a research paper, to discover how some humans obtain special abilities, whilst under extreme stress/trauma. However, when they try to become EO’s (ExtraOrdinary) themselves, things start to go horribly wrong. Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, with a mission to eradicate the power-hungry and destructive Eli, who is murdering every EO he can find. The plot moves back and forward through time, highlighting the events that saw friends become enemies, heroes become villains and the ordinary become extraordinary. 

Vengeful sees our antagonists return, hellbent on finishing off the other.

MINI REVIEW: I really enjoyed this action-packed sequel but wasn’t blown away by it. I found the character of Marcella, and her back-story, super fascinating. My main issue was, that like Muse of Nightmares, I wanted more. Maybe I’m just not a fan of duologies. Overall, it was very intense and wonderfully written, but the first book was much better!

RATING: I gave it 3.5/5 stars. 

3.) LORD OF THE FLIES BY WILLIAM GOLDING (OVERDRIVE BOOK) – MONTHLY CLASSIC PICK FOR OCTOBER 2018

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PLOT: In the midst of a wartime evacuation, a British airplane crashes on an isolated island, in a remote region of the Pacific Ocean. The only survivors are boys in their preadolescence. Two boys – the fair-haired Ralph and an overweight, bespectacled boy nicknamed “Piggy” – find a conch shell, which Ralph uses as a horn, to lure all the survivors to one area. Ralph is optimistic, believing that grown-ups will come to rescue them, but Piggy realises the need to survive just in case. Because Ralph appears responsible for bringing all the survivors together, he immediately commands some authority over the other boys and is quickly elected their “chief”. Ralph establishes three primary policies: to have fun, to survive, and to constantly maintain a smoke signal, that could alert passing ships to their presence on the island, thus rescuing them. The boys establish a form of democracy by declaring that whoever holds the conch, shall also be able to speak at their formal gatherings and receive the attentive silence of the larger group.

MINI REVIEW: I don’t mean to be rude or disrespectful to the author but I was so bored by this novel. Hardly anything happened, the writing was bland and the boys were so mean to Piggy, it broke my heart. I found myself skim reading this book, due to a strong lack of engagement. Sorry! I thought I would enjoy it, considering I love Lost, but nope! 

RATING: I gave it 1/5 stars

Thank you so much for reading. Please let me know your favourite read of October and what is on your TBR for November. See you next month! 

Peace & Love xoxo