monthly wrap-up // september 2021

it’s finally october, y’all! wow, is it just me or did september fly by real fast. anyways, it’s finally autumn now; the weather is cooler, the days are darker and halloween is in 30 days! sigh, everything is always better in october (except midterms ugh). here’s my monthly wrap-up for the month of september (i managed to actually do this post at the start of october so yay!) and i did read a lot of horror and thrillers this month and hope to read more during october:

i started september off with a bang when i finished mexican gothic by silvia moreno-garcia. it won the goodreads choice awards in the horror genre and i could see why. set in a dark, creepy house with a weird english family who have so many secrets, noemí , the protagonist must find a way to escape the insanity while saving her cousin catalina from their clutches. it was truly horrifying silvia does a great job in engrossing you into the world and the plot.
the next book i read was a romance, the butterfly project by emma scott. to be honest, i do not think i read the description properly for this one before starting to read it and was surprised to find something other than what i was expecting so it was my bad. however, when i tried to get into the story, i was expecting it to be something like eliza and her monsters by francesca zappia. but this book ended up disappointing me even though the premise promises a type of book i usually enjoy. the romance was so meh, the male protagonist was plain cringey and i plan to write a full rant-review on this book and the trope it repesents soon.
the wolf and the woodsman by ava reid was a fantasy i picked up because it has been compared to the likes of the bear and the nightingale by katherine arden. i was curious to see if it would live up to the hype and it was not too bad. it was definitely a slow burn and took me a while to get into. i felt that reid had tried to dump too many cultures and stories into one single book which made it rather hard to digest; with every page turned, new information is being conveyed to you which i felt could have been spread out over companion novels with this book focusing on a primary plot. i did like the protagonists and the overall plot so it was a pretty good read!
since i wanted to read more horror this month, i found the hollow places on the goodreads choice awards nominee list. i never thought i was one for horror comedies but this book made me laugh outright while also terrorising me with its creepy world. the author did a wonderful job in making you care about the protagonists by highlighting their lives just enough to relate but not too much that it overpowers the horror aspect of the story. highly recommend!
netgalley and the publisher were kind enough to provide me an advance reader’s copy of the perfect daughter by alex stone. it was a thriller going between the past and present at which the protagonist’s boyfriend is missing in which the protagonist has essentially been controlled by her mother her whole life. as we read, we get to experience her dilemma as she grapples between her reality and the ones her mother feeds into her and whether she finally overcomes her issues to find herself. it was a pretty fast paced read and i enjoyed it! you can find the full review of the book here.
the next book i read was behind closed doors by b.a. paris which was recommended by one of my book club members. i literally could not put this book down and rushed home after getting off the bus so i can continue reading it. without giving too much away, the book is about the dark secrets between jack and grace, a married couple who seem perfect on the outside but how only they know what goes on when no one is looking. the book was so twisted and horrifying i could not stop thinking about it for days. if you like psychological thrillers and have not read this one, you are in for a treat!
i loved the netflix show you and have always wanted to read the book of the same name on which it is based on. i was quite disappointed as i expected the book to be about a psychologically disturbed man who creepily stalks a woman but what i got was a very horny, creepy guy who talks about sex all the time which got on my nerves (in a non-thriller kind of way). i think i liked the show better as it highlights the thriller aspect of it rather than the dirty smut aspect.
the catcher in the rye was a book that i have been meaning to read forever and when i finally decided to go for it, i found to be quite disappointing. somehow the hype surrounding the book did not add up for me and i could not bring myself to find the whiny, judgemental holden to be charming. there is no plot as such with holden just going around judging people and the book also ended quite abruptly before i could connect with any of the characters. overall, it was supposed to be a character-driven story but it just did not work for me.
i am currently reading the guest list by lucy foley which has been quite interesting so far and i am listening to an audiobook of to kill a mockingbird which i finally started as a part of the gilmore girls reading challenge.