Re: September Reading Wrap-Up

A summary and rating of every book I read in September

As you may or may not know, I read a lot. Like an overwhelmingly obscene amount. It's September 30th (side note: we're at the end of September already?! Wasn't it just July?) and I have read 80 books this year. Last year, for the whole year, I read 94. I'm not really sure how on earth that has increased, especially since I was in quarantine for a large part of last year ? But oh well. This is my life now and you get to hear about it.

Anyway. Since I read so much, and it's nearing the end of September, I'll be doing a monthly reading wrap up- I tell you the books I read this month, what I rated them, a short summary, and if you should add them to your ever growing tbr list as well. With no further ado, here are the seven books I read in September.

1.) The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary

The Flatshare is about two people who share a flat but have never met. One is a night nurse, sleeps during the day, and stays with his girlfriend on the weekends, and the other is a 9-5 worker who is in desperate need of a place to stay since her breakup. Told through alternate first person point of views.

In short- I liked this book. I think it was super cute, was an adorable slow burn, friends to lovers romance, and the fact that they wrote notes to each other and left them around the house is the cutest thing ever. It discussed hard topics, toxic exes (don't date a man with a J name, ladies), and love, along with a couple romance tropes that are an automatically tbr worthy for me (one bed ? note writing ? hard yes).

However, although I loved it, it just didn't have that.... nth factor for me. I know when I like a book. I know when there is nothing logically wrong with a book and I soooo appreciate it for that. But I also know when it just didn't hit the spot for me. I know my mom loved it (and she's a pretty hard romance star-er compared to me) but it just didn't have that last bit for me. That doesn't mean I wouldn't recommend it to you though, so if you're a fan of The Dating Plan, The Unhoneymooners, or a quiet meets crazy trope (see: Alex and Poppy in People We Meet on Vacation), I would check this out.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 9/10 stars

2.) The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoag

The Kiss Quotient stars an autistic main character who hires a male escort to teach her how to be in a relationship and more after her parents start asking questions as to why she's not married. However, she tends to get more than a little attached...and who wouldn't when he cares for her more than an escort would. Told in third person point of view with dual point of views.

First off, I totally wasn't sure what I was getting into with this book. It had been on the far back of my radar for a while, since it was one of the few books Booktok seemed to enjoy that I'd seen in my house (my mom had read it years ago). I'd seen it included on a couple spicy book lists, but I guess because I knew my mom had read it I'd ignored that fact? I'm not sure, but less than 100 pages in I realized it went way past what I had been prepared for. It started out sexy, had one of the best "man written by a women"s ever, and continued with spicy, cute, romantic as hell scenes until the very end. It discussed autism, stigma surrounding that, anxiety (much appreciated coming from someone who could relate to so many of her anxious worries), family issues, self worth, and more.

Long story short, I loved it. I highly highly recommend to anyone and everyone looking for a cute, spicy, lighthearted romance book that branches out from a lot of the tropes I've seen. And did I mention the love interest is Vietnamese? With an autistic female character and a Vietnamese male character, it already has more representation than half the books I've read recently. So, go pick this book up if you liked Get a Life Chole Brown (or any of the Brown Sisters series, but I've only read the one so far), The Rosie Project (again, I'm guessing on this one, I haven't read it), You Had Me at Hola (just gives me similar vibes, ya know?) or a romance book without multiple clichés, but still loaded up on sweet and steam.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 9.5/10 stars

3, 4 & 5.) The Foxhole Court, The Raven King, The King's Men (the All For The Game trilogy) by Nora Sakavic

Trying to describe these books reminds me of the quote from Lorelei Gilmore when asked to describe Kirk, "Oh, but I could". From anyone who as ever read these books: you don't really know what you're getting into until you're 100 pages in, obsessed with a fictional sport, half entertained, half terrified by a psychopathic lacrosse stick wielding goalie, and suddenly reading about the mafia.

To keep it brief (and understandable) you follow Neil Josten, who grew up on the run with his mom from his father who was a member of the mafia. He is recruited to join the Palmetto State Foxes Exy team, a sport similar to lacrosse, ice hockey (without the ice) and pickle ball (I would do a quick google search on the game before you read- the author has a handy little guide on her website that might be helpful before you read the first game and become greatly confused as to why Neil is counting his steps). The Palmetto Foxes are a group notoriously known for their recruitment of anyone who needs a second chance- including Neil, who might just get recognized by his own teammate, someone he remembers from his past life. That is, if he doesn't get killed by the rest of his team first.

My apologies to those reading a summary of The Foxhole Court for the first time- I'd go to Goodreads and read that one as well, it's probably better than what I could come up with. Clearly, this is a re-read. I read this series for the first time last year, and it's my favorite series of all time, The King's Men ringing right up there next to Red White and Royal Blue. It's chaotic, and gruesome, and if you don't check the trigger warnings before you read it I'm praying for your mental sanity, but if you can stand it and are prepared for the craziest series ever, I highly highly recommend. I think. Sometimes I wonder if this is really a book I should be this obsessed with, but if you read the first book and like it enough to continue then the next two really do get better.

The way I describe it is the first one is about Neil. It's about his past, it's about how that relates to his present, it's about him fitting in with the Foxes, and having people to befriend and know for the first time since his mom died (it's not a spoiler don't worry). It sets up the rest of the books, and for that it's amazing and I love it. However, there's definitely some plot flaws, the writing isn't world class, it's self published so the cover sucks (don't @ me you know it's important), and it doesn't have the nth factor I discussed earlier, but it sets up the books so that they do [have the nth factor]. 8/10 stars

The second book, The Raven King, is about Riko. (You don't know him yet, but you will). It's about Neil's past, and Kevin's past, and Andrew's past, and now I'm just throwing names at you, but really it's about the teams' pasts, and how that connects them now. It has found family, and friendships, and I'm warning you, this is the book where you might have to skim just a tad. Trigger warning ignore-ers beware. But it's fantastic, and I love it, and I waited all of two minutes after I finished this one to move onto book three. 10/10 stars

The third book, my second favorite book of all time, is about.... The Foxes. It's about all of them. It's about them coming together as a team to fight against the best Exy players in the nation, and it's about sticking with each other through highs and lows. It's about found family, it's about friendship and teammates, it's about proving people wrong, it's about trust, and lies, and sacrifice, and consent, and love. That's right, it has a romance y'all. Lol, now can you see why it's my favorite? On the other hand, this book is heavy with the triggering content, and for the sake of true honesty, it's the only book that has ever given me a second-hand anxiety attack. I recommend skimming. However, if you can get past that, it makes me so, so much happier than a book about psychopaths, mafia members, and sports ever could. 10/10 stars, and a spot on my favorites list.

I'm not even sure how to recommend this to you... if you made it through reading the last four paragraphs still interested than I recommend this to you ? If you liked Percy Jackson as a kid, went through an emo phase, and have parental issues then this sounds like the book for you ? If you like chaotic characters who will make you want to throw them off a bridge and laugh right alongside them than this is for you ? I don't know man, it made me happy, but it's a weird book.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 10/10 stars

6.) The Prince and The Dressmaker by Jen Wang

This graphic novel is about a dressmaker who gets hired to make clothing for a prince avoiding the requests of his parents to get married, who secretly dresses up at night as Lady Crystallia, a fabulous fashion icon.

In the hopes that I wouldn't slide into a reading slump after the All For the Game trilogy, I read my first ever graphic novel. It was cute, it was fluffy, it was happy, it discussed identity, and gender fluidity, and feminism, and dreams, and had the most adorable friendship in the middle. I flew through this book from beginning to end, partly because it was a graphic novel, and some pages had no words, and partly because it was just so fun to read. To be honest, there's not much to talk about this book because I don't want to give anything away, and half the fun is just reading the expressions off the characters faces through the drawings. It you like queer, royal, happy, hopeful graphic novels, I highly recommend this to you.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 10/10 stars

7.) The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

Two coworkers play games with each other through their mutual hatred while sharing the same office space, but while competing for the same job they end up getting to know each other a little better...

Officially the worst summary I've written for any of these, but I also feel like it's the easiest to summarize. It's the classic office work-place romance, enemies to lovers, with tropes thrown in all over. To be honest, I really wanted to dislike it. For some reason the consensus I'd found on Booktok was that people either really loved it, or they super disliked it. No in between. And I read it expecting to dislike it, especially after the first chapter where it seemed potentially a lil cheesy, but the farther I got the more I couldn't deny the fact that it was actually so good. At least, I liked it. Curing her when she's sick, making her food, remembering the little things, hanging out on the couch together- all that's what did it for me. And tbh I wish I had more shame about it lol. Joshua Templeman is just so darn amazing. The banter and wit, the casual-cute insults, the absolute care and love he has- I just can't. Maybe because I took a break and I'm typing this part late at night, or maybe it's because I read this the most recently, but damn, Joshua Templeman reminds me of Augustus Waters and Alex Nilsen with the class and charm combination, except not written as well as Emily Henry characters. Because to be real, few people can write characters like Emily Henry can.

Nonetheless, I, slightly shamefully, loved this book. BUT, to be fair there are some faults. I was bingeing Tiktoks about The Hating Game after reading it, and one Tiktoker (I don't remember their name or @) mentioned some things they didn't like about it, and she brought up some good points. 1) The fact that Lucy's shortness is brought up as much as it is is a little weird. It's just her height, and I'm not really sure how that related to so much of the novel. 2) The writing could have been better. The flow was fine, the rhythm was fine, but it didn't quite have the level of class Emily Henry, Christina Lauren, or Casey McQuisten have. 3) It was a little...dare I say cliché ? at times. I'm not really sure if that's the right word, but my other thought is manic pixie dream girl and that is definitely not right. Just a little too much... I don't know. Fill in the blank. Somewhere between cliché and manic pixie dream girl that only a fictional character can have.

That being said, I still loved it, and if you're looking for a cute, fluffy, office place romance I highly recommend checking this out. For fans of Alex Nilsen, The Ex Talk, and You Deserve Each Other.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 10/10 stars

I am too tired to write a classy little outro, but I hoped you enjoyed my reading wrap-up and got at least one thing out of it, whether that be a book to read, a book not to read, or a "good to know" type fact. Have a wonderful rest of your day, and I hope you come back soon :)