September Reading Wrap-Up

Now that it is officially October, this post is dedicated to my September reads! I read a lot of great books in September. It was honestly my best month of the whole year. I read multiple five star books. Here are the 8 books I read in September:

We’ll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han
The Five Star Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand
The Love of My Life by Rosie Walsh
The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware
Adelaide by Genevieve Wheeler
The Block Party by Jamie Day
The Starfish Sisters by Barbara O’Neal
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

Of these eight books it is really hard to choose a favorite. To me, The Turn of the Key, Adelaide, The Starfish Sisters, and The Lost Apothecary were all five star books. I loved everything about them. From the plot through to the characters. I would recommend any of those books in a second. If you like thrillers, I would recommend either The Turn of the Key or The Lost Apothecary. If you like contemporary fiction, I would recommend Adelaide or The Starfish Sisters. You really cannot go wrong with any of those books though.

My least favorite read of the month was We’ll Always Have Summer. I am glad I read it, especially since I read the first two books in the series, but it just wasn’t my favorite book I ever read. If you are reading the series I do think it is worth reading. If you like YA novels than I do think you would enjoy the series.

Overall, this was a fantastic month for reading! I read some of the best books I ever read. I was in a bit of a reading slump, but these books pulled me out of it and made me want to keep reading more and more. I am looking forward to seeing how many books I get through in October!

Book Review: The Turn of the Key

I was in a bit of a reading slump, but then I read The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware, and it absolutely changed everything! I could not put the book down. As soon as I started it I was sucked right in. It quickly became one of my favorite reads of the year. It was the thriller I had been waiting for to suck me out of the reading slump I was stuck in.

Rowan Caine comes across an ad she cannot ignore. It is for a live in nanny that has a huge salary. It is not even remotely what Rowan was looking for, but how could she pass this opportunity up? When Rowan arrives at the Heatherbrae House, she is immediately enthralled, and maybe a little freaked out. Rowan has no idea what awaits her though. Her future now holds a dead child and her in prison for the murder. Rowan is writing a letter to a lawyer explaining the story of what happened. She is desperately hoping he will help her because no one believes her, but she swears she did not kill this child.

This book was just one turn after another. Right when I thought I had things figured out something else would come along and change the course again. I opened this book and I could hardly put it down! All of the characters were so interesting and I just wanted to figure them out. It felt like every single character was holding a huge secret. Between the writing, the plot, and the characters, this was one of my best reads this year!

I gave this book 5/5 stars. I absolutely loved it. From beginning to end I was hooked in. I never got bored throughout the novel and I never was able to figure anything out until it was revealed. It has definitely made its way into my top five favorite reads of the year!

Book Review: It’s Not Summer Without You

It’s Not Summer Without You is the second book following The Summer I Turned Pretty. For me personally, I find second books usually to be kind of boring. I usually am missing the feeling that the first book in a series provides. I did really like this book though. I thought it did a good job of representing the growth of Belly, Jeremiah, and Conrad.

This is the first year in Belly’s life that she will not be going to Cousins Beach. Belly used to always think summer was not really summer until she arrived to the house in Cousins Beach. This year everything changes though. After Susannah got sick again, they are not going to Cousins Beach this year. To Belly, this is the worst summer ever, and she wishes that she could just skip over it altogether. That is, until Jeremiah calls telling Belly Conrad has gone missing. Jeremiah and Belly head to the house at Cousins beach to try to make everything right again. Conrad, Jeremiah, spend what will probably be their last summer ever at the house on Cousins Beach. They just hope they can make it the best summer ever.

This book really dove into Belly’s relationships with Jeremiah and Conrad. She has a very different relationship with both of them, but she still loves them both. Belly is determined to save Conrad throughout this whole book. I kept having to remind myself she is only a teenager and love is new to her. I found myself frustrated with her at times because of her desperate need to save Conrad. I get it though. I think we have all loved someone in our life that you want to save, but simply cannot.

I gave this book 3/5 stars. I enjoyed it, but not as much as the first one. There were also times I was frustrated with Belly throughout the novel. Just a reminder this is a young adult novel. I am not saying that is a bad thing, it is just teenagers are going to love a lot differently than adults do. It was easy to be frustrated with the characters, but then also remember we were all 16/17 at one point. Overall, I would recommend to read it, if you have read the first one. It answered a lot of questions that I was left with after finishing the first one. On Friday, I will cover the third and final book of this series! I look forward to you all reading it!