Every week (or every other week if the answer hasn’t changed), I will discuss:

• What am I reading?
• What did I just finish read?
• What did I DNF?
• What do I recommend?

What am I reading? This past weekend aka before the first of October (so this is still a September read, yes? No?), I started reading Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. Fun fact! I’m clearly living under a rock because I didn’t find out about the show being based off of a book until last month when my best friend was watching season 2 of it and I thought “hey, there really should be more books like this”.

Because I already saw several episodes in season 2, there are chances that I probably spoiled myself for some parts in the book. And I already picture the actors in place of the characters which is a personal pet peeve, but I’m still going to go through it. I don’t usually read historical fiction but this has a bit of a supernatural twist to it and I already liked what I saw on TV, so I’m excited!

What did I just finish? This last Friday, I zipped through the remaining chapters of Hello Girls by Brittany Cavallaro and Emily Henry. And I seriously couldn’t put it down (except I had to because of work and that is why I didn’t read it all in one sitting, alas). Hello Girls is basically a modernized teenage version of Thelma and Louise. Winona and Lucille are two best friends with really shitty home situations (Winona’s father is abusive behind closed doors while being a beloved member of the community in public, and Lucille has to deal with a drug-selling brother who has thrown her under the bus plenty of times), and they’ve decided at one point that they have had enough and it’s time they started living for themselves.

This book is an absolute treasure. I don’t read many books on strong lady friendships and I loved Thelma and Louise too, so this was my jam. Winona and Lucille’s journal is just as tumultuous and wild as it is in the movie, and the best part throughout is that even though they have small tiffs, they always have each other’s backs. Whether they disagree, they love each other so unconditionally. The best part? NO LOVE TRIANGLE.

A few parts are unpredictable but what do you expect from a literal retelling of a movie anyone would have seen (I recommend that movie too). My rating isn’t a five star because, well, the ending was not as satisfying as I would have liked (although plenty of readers I know liked it so don’t let that hold you back), and there was some characters deserving some serious repercussions for their actions which we just don’t get to experience. It’s more of a tell than show.

CONTENT WARNING: parental abuse, domestic violence, drug mention, date rape mention, gambling mention

Rating: ★★★★☆

What I did DNF? I actually have not stopped reading anything that I’m currently reading! YAY! If anything, I’m taking a short break from the books in order to read all my library books first since those come with deadlines. And trust me, I do this quite often! “Books at home? NO, LET’S GET MORE BOOKS FROM THE LIBRARY!”

What do I recommend? I read Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan back in August, and I zoomed right through the series. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would because I didn’t hear many good reviews from it. Still, I gave it a shot!

So basically the setting is in a fictional world, of course, and the names and description seem very similar to those you read in the Grishaverse trilogy. The series has a lot of twists and turns that kept me at the edge of my seat (it’s late, and my brain can only talk in cliches right now). Serefin is a beautiful visually impaired bisexual icon and a blood mage High Prince with so much inner conflict, and I think you should at least read it for him if not the MC. Although the MC’s story is pretty interesting too: Nadya grew up in a monastery and has the ability to communicate with a pantheon of gods and goddesses. She channels their individual powers using runes, and you hear voices and descriptions of the gods, and they are all as unique in temperament as the Greek/Roman/Norse gods that I always love to read about.

All the MCs and even the side characters have such interesting stories and this is also a first book in a series so if you fall in love with the characters, there will be more to read, you can be assured of that! I’ll be tossing out a detailed review very soon so keep an eye out for that!

CONTENT WARNING: self-harm, blood mention, parental abuse, alcohol addiction

Rating: ★★★★☆