What I Read in October: Dinah

The books I read in October were all SO GOOD! I definitely tended towards thrillers (it was spooky season!) but read a really fun mix of them - one set at a University, another very different one at an elite high school, and a third in 1960’s Venice. I also finally read Beach Read by Emily Henry, which was as great as expected!

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Never Saw Me Coming

Seven psychopaths in a college study, what could go wrong? At a prestigious college in D.C. , a freshman girl who is looking for revenge on a guy from her past, a freshman boy who is the first in his family to go to college but with a big secret to hide, and a senior boy from a wealthy, high profile family, are all taking part in a controversial and secret study on psychopaths. The school year starts as they pretend to be normal and navigate their relationships with friends, family and each other. When the other participants start getting murdered in brutal ways, everyone is a suspect, including the three narrators, the staff working on the study, the other participants and the wider student body.

Each chapter is from a different perspective, and this was one of those thrillers where you really don’t know who to believe and can’t tell which narrator is reliable, which I really enjoy. It’s always interesting to go “inside” of a psychopath’s head and see how the author writes their unique way of looking at the world. There were definitely twists and turns and almost everyone made extremely bad decisions as they set out to discover who the other participants are in the study, what the motive could be, and if they are are at risk of being next. I was ultimately pretty surprised by the ending, and it went in a direction that I didn’t see coming. Overall, I would recommened this if you want a thriller with a more psychological twist (and a fair amount of violence).

Palace of the Drowned

A female writer named Frankie flees 1960’s London after her literary career spirals downwards and a less-than-stellar review of her most recent book leads to an embarrassing [ublic meltdown. She ends up at her best friend’s family empty palazzo in Venice, where she works on her next book, explores the city, and tries to discover who exactly is living in the building across the courtyard. When she runs into Gilly, who introduces herself as the daughter of an acquaintance, her life becomes a little bit less lonely, but all is not what it seems - in the city, with her new friend and it seems like sometimes even in her mind. A historic storm (that happened in real life!) brings unprecedented flooding to the city during a feverish night where everything unravels.

This book seemed very straightforward at the beginning, honestly moving a little bit slowly for me, but became much more of a dark mystery as it went on. I was very stressed out reading the section during the storm, in a good way, and was riveted by the way everything unfolded and how the main character questioned her grip on reality as the waters rose. It was incredibly intense and well written even if it took me a little while to get into it. It also painted such a dark and haunting portrait of Venice, that was also very romantic.

Ace of Spades

I was excited about this Grace Atwood recommendation and the Gossip Girl meets Get Out vibe that it had. The setting is a prestigious private school and the start of Senior Year for two characters, overachieving Chiamanka who is the Head Prefect, and musically talented Devon who flies under the radar. The two of them barely know each other, despite being two of the only students of color in the entire student body. An anonymous person who goes by the name “Aces” starts sending out texts about the two of them, making salacious accusations and revealing big secrets, tearing their lives, friendships and relationships apart. Who is sending the texts and why are they trying to destroy these two students?

I loved the big twist in this book, which took me by surprise! I had my suspicions, but it ended up being way bigger and more complex than my theories. They used technology in a lot of different ways that didn’t feel forced like some YA books can, and they way that they handled race was an important and interesting part of the story. This is technically YA, but does have some very adult themes around sex and drugs specifically.

Beach Read

Well, I was two years late on this one, but by the time I heard about it, the wait at the library was so long! I read People We Meet On Vacation first and loved it, so I had very high hopes. If you aren’t two years behind like me, this book is about January, a formerly optimistic romance writer who moves to a lake house in Michigan that her father left to her when he died - and revealed an affair. When she discovers one of her biggest literary rivals is her cynical next door neighbor, they challenge each other to try each others writing styles with weekly adventures to guide them. They are both sorting through major emotional baggage and complicated pasts, struggling with writer’s block and trying to deal with their growing feelings for each other.

I love the smart romances that are being written these days, and there is a reason everyone read this book a few years ago! It’s witty, charming, and the characters are very believable. I loved how Henry integrates the “real life” problems of the main characters and how well developed the main and secondary characters are. Her books are genuinely good and well-written, but still fun to read.

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