Morren Aconite

This month, I wanted to read everything and anything that has fall ✨vibes✨ yet I still ended up with a diverse selection of books.

Here Lies A Vengeful Bitch, Codie Crowley

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

‘I think I’d rather be dead than good.’

I went into this book with 0 expectations, and I absolutely loved it.

The MC is well-known in her town for being a troublemaker, so when she disappears no-one is in a rush to look for her. It’s easier to think she ran away or that whatever has happened to her, she had it coming, than to care.

That’s why she has to find out what happened to her all by herself when she awakens as a vengeful ghost and realizes that she might not have been the only victim. Because her best friend is missing, too.

This novel was fun, vibey as all hell, and it’s the perfect fit for the season.

Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop, Hwang Bo-Reum

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

‘There wasn’t much to do when she couldn’t be bothered, but once she started to care, the work was never-ending.’

A must-read for everyone feeling unmotivated, lost, and burnt out. This is a quiet and charming story of a small independent bookshop run by a young woman who wants to make a difference not only in her own life but also in the lives of others.

It’s a book that appreciates the little, mundane things, the connections that people make every day, and it makes you contemplate and re-evaluate what is actually important in life.

Tales From the Hinterland, Melissa Albert

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A collection of creepy fairytales connected to Albert’s The Hazel Wood. The stories are dark, bloody, and imaginative, which is all I could ask for from a book like this.

So Thirsty, Rachel Harrison

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

One of those novels where the vampires aren’t all sexy and enticing, but brutal and scary and wild. It’s more about the experience of being a woman, however, especially a middle-aged one. The expectations, the conventions, the pressure put on us, and the different ways we deal with it.

The story is unhinged in the best way, so I’d recommend checking this one out if this genre is your cup of tea.

Mania, Lionel Shriver

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Alt history scenario where the Western world is swept up by a mass hysteria called the Mental Parity Movement. Everyone is equal in intelligence, everyone has just the same talents and abilities. If a person hasn’t achieved anything or hasn’t even learned how to read, that’s not because they couldn’t, maybe they simply didn’t want to. Calling someone dumb or stupid or even implying any possible inequality in people’s mental capabilities turns from being frowned upon to straight-up illegal.

As the rules of the world rapidly change, the MC is struggling to get with the times. Her job becomes redundant, her children are shunned at school, and her social position is precarious because she doesn’t fully embrace the new dogma. Despite that, she is determined to keep the spark of resistance, however hard it may be, while her best friend takes a different approach – not only subscribing to the fashionable ideals but spearheading the movement.

This novel is at once curious and horrifying in its plausibility.

The Three Graces, Amanda Craig

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

‘I’m not sure one ever grows up, really. I think you just get old, which is a different thing entirely.’

A novel about three elderly women and a wedding that changed the lives of many people in the small town in Tuscany they live in as expats. The story makes you appreciate the later years of life, the decades that are often overlooked. It reminds you that your life doesn’t end when you turn sixty.

We Love the Nightlife, Rachel Koller Croft

⭐️⭐️⭐️

I gotta say, me and this author aren’t working out. I was very excited about her previous book, Stone Cold Fox, then hated it. When I saw this one, I got excited about the concept as well, but tempered my expectations upon recognizing the author’s name.

This one wasn’t bad, that’s for sure, but I found it to be just… okay.

We follow two vampire girlies, who love partying. Only the fun can’t last forever, and trouble starts brewing between the MC and her creator. As the MC realizes her bestie might not have her best interests at heart, she decides to leave, though that’s easier said than done.

How to Leave the House, Nathan Newman

⭐️⭐️⭐️

The main character goes on a Joyce-like one-day quest in search of a missing package and finds himself transformed in the process.

The stories of all the side characters were way more engaging than the MC’s struggle, which, I suppose, was sort of the point. I was tempted to DNF this book several times and kept going solely because of the good prose.

Truly, Devious, Maureen Johnson

⭐️⭐️

I could go into every single problem I’ve had with this book, but I honestly don’t feel like wasting any more of my time on it.

I picked it up because of the elite school with mysterious history, yet found it very difficult to give any fucks about any of the plotlines or characters. The teenagers were way too angsty for my taste.