Bestsellers I Read in October 2023 – A Book Review

Here are the ones worth the hype (and the ones that aren’t)

Ahhh… October. In the state of Georgia, October felt almost like summer for the vast majority of it. But when Halloween came around, Mother Nature reminded everyone that this was in fact fall. Lows in the 30s? Brrr…!

And I don’t know about you, but when the weather changes and it literally looks like it’s raining leaves in my backyard, I love to cuddle up with a good book and a hot cup of cocoa.

For this past month, I relied on Booktok and Amazon to help guide me toward the best books to read right now. Here’s a list of those that are totally worth your time and those that you can totally skip.

Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult & Jennifer Finney Boylan

I listened to this through my library’s eaudiobook system.

The Good:

I went into this book not really knowing what it was about. There are some things discovered about Lily, the teen girl at the center of the novel, about halfway through that were a shock to me. I thought this was just another teen romance gone wrong, but it is so much more.

The story was a little long but still very good. Even the supporting characters were well flushed out. There was nice misdirection there during Lily’s murder trail, with some strong suspects. Lily went through some very tragic and cruel things as a teen and I truly felt for her. To me, she felt like a real living breathing person.

The portrayal of the abusive dad (Asher’s dad) was very realistic and well written.

The Bad:

This story jumps back and forth in time, which I didn’t necessarily love because it got confusing at times.

There was talk of Olivia’s life as a beekeeper, with a lot of detail about what that entails, which is interesting I guess if you want to learn about bees and that life, but it kinda felt like filler to me.

My overall thoughts:

This book, I think everyone should read, if for nothing else than to understand trans people a little bit better. I learned so much about what it means to be trans, which was so refreshing.

The ending left something to be desired, but that didn’t spoil it for me. I thoroughly enjoyed the story as a whole and believe this book is worth the hype and is especially important in these current trying times for the LGBTQ+ community.

4/5 stars

Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

I listened to this through my library’s eaudiobook system. I wasn’t really interested in all the descriptions of tennis matches but what I did like was Carrie Soto. And that’s what’s important. She was a living breathing character with flaws. She’s difficult to love because she’s so driven in her tennis career. She was always true to herself which I loved. I found it hilarious that she referred to her opponents as enemies.

I loved her and Bowe together. Bowe was so good for her and really showed her what love was.

But really, this story was a love story between Carrie and her father/coach Javier. He taught her tennis and she ran with it from there. He was her biggest fan.

The ending? Chef’s kiss. Totally worth the hype.

4/5 stars

Hideaway (Book 2 in Devil’s Night series) by Penelope Douglas

I listened to this on Audible. This one was okay. I read this one earlier in the month and not much stuck with me. Penelope Douglas is known for her spicy scenes, but there’s surprisingly not much sex in this one.

I did like Kai and Banks together. Banks, the FMC, came from a totally messed up family. We get to understand Damon a little more too, which was nice.

The best scene was when Will, one of the 4 horsemen from the series, got to take his anger out on Damon for what he did to him in Book 1 (Corrupt).

I’d say skip it, but also you can’t because it’s part of a series and you have to read them in order. And Book 3 is sooo good, which I’ll discuss later. And you’ve got to read Book 2 before Book 3. So, maybe search for a synopsis for this one and read Book 3, Kill Switch instead.

2/5 stars

Haunting Adeline by H.D Carlton

I read the hard copy from my library. I thought I knew dark romances. But this one took dark romances to a whole ‘nother level. A friend of mine started to read this one but could not finish it due to a certain gun scene. Well, that didn’t deter me and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. So I read it, got to the questionable gun scene and… decided to tip toe through the rest.

There’s soooo much sex. A lot of it grey area consensual sex. None of it romantic. All of it rough and freaky and demanding. Zade, the MMC, was always throwing her or flipping her or choking her or bruising her. Read those trigger warnings for sure before you get into this.

And she was always fighting back tears and practically losing consciousness because he was choking her so hard. He was crazy. But she liked it. She wanted to get stalked and chased and forced and he liked doing it. He liked scaring her and making her cry and she liked it too. So weird.

The best moment between them for me was when he came to her after a particularly rough day at work and they snuggled and kissed. That moment was sweet.

The mirror scene that caused a stir on TikTok? Not too crazy. It’s the just the first time he has full on sex with her in some house of mirrors haunted house.

I tried to like Zade, but he’s very hard to like. Their relationship was difficult to understand. I just had to remind myself different strokes, different folks. Adeline was just a freak who found her freak.

This was a rough one. Her struggle to love him was hard. I was there with her. Wishing he were different and showed his love differently. I don’t know that I liked it per se. It was definitely a book I won’t soon forget. I’d say read with caution.

But I will be reading the next one. Cliffhanger. Can’t help it.*

*NOTE: I started to read Hunting Adeline but could not finish because of the rape scene. It was too much for me. It’s my understanding that Adeline and Zade get their happy ending, but I did not want to go on that incredibly difficult journey to get there.

4/5 stars

The Perfect Marriage by Jeneva Rose

I read this on Kindle Prime. The premise is intriguing. An unfaithful husband, Adam, wakes up to a nightmare, his mistress has been murdered and he’s the prime suspect. And then his wife, the wronged Sarah, decides to take his case and defend him as his lawyer. Intriguing right?

The execution though? It did not work for me.

I would not recommend this one at all. It was poorly written. Adam was soooo dumb throughout. None of the characters were likable except for Sarah’s friend Matthew. The ending did not work. The whodunit? No. Just no. Don’t waste your time.

1/5 stars

Kill Switch (Book 3 of Devil’s Night series) by Penelope Douglas

I listened to this on Audible. This is Damon and Winter’s story. At first, you wouldn’t think Damon is someone you can sympathize with, but you’d be wrong. This is the best book of the series so far. Damon melted my heart in this one. Surprisingly. He’s such a bad boy but when he falls in love, he’s a force to reckoned with.

Both main characters were so traumatized yet so perfect for each other. Damon more so with all the stuff he went through with his mom. Damon was just so in love with Winter from the very beginning.

The driving lesson, the fountain, the “your place is by my side”? Swoon.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching these two fall in love. Worth the hype.

5/5 stars

Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood

I read the hard copy from my library. This was an enemies to lovers story. I found this book tedious to get through. Even though she was a genius, Bee was truly clueless about love.

Her pushing Levi away even though he was obviously enamored with her was frustrating. I know she was trying to protect her heart because her past fiancé broke it and all, but still.

They both kinda acted like dumb teenagers throughout, even though they were in their late 20s/early 30s.

They had the best sex so why try to make that casual? And why all the fainting and crying? He still wanted her though. God bless him. Plus, the ending was kinda cheesy.

Would I recommend? Not really. You can skip this one.

3/5 stars

Flock (Book 1 of Ravenhood series) by Kate Stewart

I listened to this one on Audible. And can I just say, the production on this audiobook was excellent. It was like I was listening to a play. The voice actors were amazing.

It was very let’s get immersed in a brand new polyamorous relationship and see what that’s like. It was filled with dealing with the drama of not only that but also the drama of being in a relationship with not one but two mysterious yet very different men. There was no real plot other than the drama of this throuple.

I was right there with her while she was fighting the idea on what really constitutes a healthy relationship. Entering the world of polyamory is something that would definitely awaken feelings of should I do this? Is this wrong?

The sex was hot. I’m team dark & mysterious Dominic.

Is it worth the read? Yep!

4/5 stars

Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica

Listened to this one through my library’s eaudiobook system. I finished this one in 3 days, which is fast for me. I was completely hooked from the beginning. I had no idea who had done it until the reveal and I was shocked. I felt for all the characters, even the bad guy.

This author wrote an amazing murder mystery. I now must read all her books. My favorite book I’ve read this past month. Read it!

5/5 stars