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October Books

Hey Guys

I thought I would share my love of reading a bit more on this blog by doing a monthly wrap up dedicated purely to the books I've read during each month whether I've read 1 book or 4 books, I will be sharing my in depth thoughts trying not to spoil them if I can avoid it but if it is sequels or series then sometimes they can be avoided, so approach with your own caution. I will also keep you updated on how I am progressing towards my Goodreads goal which is set at 40 books.

The Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo

The first three books I read this month were the Grisha trilogy by Leigh Bardugo. These are made up of Shadow and Bone (Book 1), Siege and Storm (Book 2) and Ruin and Rising (Book 3). These books are about a girl called Alina Starkov who is just a plain ordinary girl until her best friend is brutally injured in an attack, where she unleashes a dormant power to save his life. This power could be used to save her war ridden country. She is then taken to the royal court and trained to become a Grisha by the very powerful and mysterious Darkling. That's all I can say without ruining anything but if you are intrigued I recommend reading this series because I really enjoyed it. Book 1 and 2 I gave 4/5 stars and Book 3 4.5/5 stars. Book 3 was by far my favourite I found it more haunting, dark and emotive especially the end when everything ties itself up and we get answers. I like the relationship ending in this book I was quite happy with it and didn't expect it at all. Overall, I enjoyed this series, the world is intriguing and the characters were interesting. I hope to eventually get around to reading the Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo which is also set in the Grisha universe.

The Girl of Ink and Stars by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

This book is about a girl called Isabella who is forbidden to leave her island, she dreams of faraway lands that have been mapped by her cartographer Father. One day her best friend disappears and she volunteers to guide the search. Using a map and an ancient myth, Isabella discovers more than she anticipated. I gave this book 3.5/5, I thoroughly enjoyed it but it didn't make much of an impact on me. I didn't like the some of the views in this book very much of how the girls are looked down upon and should be quiet. I accept this is set in a different time period to now but I just don't like it. This book was nothing about what I expected and was a lot more brutal than I had imagined it would be because the title makes it seem very whimsical but it's not. The actual physical book itself is beautiful the cover is stunning and the pages are stunning which made the read more enjoyable. I would recommend it because it's something nice and different, if you like fantasy you'll enjoy this book.

I am currently 3/4 of the way through The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge which I shall talk about at the end of November. I originally set a Goodreads goal of 40 books and with The Lie Tree being my 40th book of the year I have now increased my goal to 45 which I hope I can achieve in the next 2 months. I don't make a set list of what I want to read each month I just pick what I want to read.

Hope you enjoyed this until next time

Stacey

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