Cosy Autumn Book Tag!

Hello everyone!
Hope all is well with you all.
I’m finally doing a tag! It’s been forever since I last did a tag. I’ve missed it!

1. What book always reminds you of fall/autumn?

Vicious by V.E Schwab
So dark and moody – perfect read for this time of year!

Also have to mention Autumn by Ali Smith – beautiful book and of course, as the title suggests, it’s set in Autumn.

2. What is your favourite autumnal book cover?

Hmm, I haven’t got many autumnal covers on my shelves.
I think Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater is quite autumnal looking.

3. What is your favourite autumnal drink to read with?

I’m such a boring person, I mostly drink water. I do like a cup of Earl Grey in the mornings, so that if I’m reading in the morning. Or for cold evenings a hot chocolate!

4. Do you prefer to read late at night or early in the morning?
Both! Depends on my mood.

5. Halloween is coming! What is your favourite spooky read?
I’m not into spooky books. I just read Gilded by Marissa Meyer (gifted) and it was so much darker than I expected! Perfect Halloween read, in my opinion!

6. What is the ultimate comfort read for you?

I used to say ACOTAR by SJM – But I’ve fallen out of love with SJM.
I think any reread of a favourite is the ultimate comfort read. I’ve reread Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson a few times and want to reread again soon!

7. What is your favourite autumnal reading snack?

Chocolate. Or cookies. Or Flipz (chocolate covered pretzels) – they’re my recent obsession!

8. What is your favourite autumnal candle to burn whilst reading?

*whispers* I don’t burn candles. Like ever.

9. When you’re not reading, what is your favourite autumnal activity?

I’m not sure I do any autumn specific activities. I wish I could for beautiful autumn walks with orange trees and such but I live in Wales and it’s grey and damp. I’d also love to go to a pumpkin patch. I need to up my autumn activity game!

10. What is on your autumn/fall reading list
I don’t really make lists/tbrs – I’m such a mood reader.
But I really want to read these:

Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson
Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte
Cytonic by Brandon Sanderson (comes out end of Nov, so might not make the autumn reading)
Passing by Nella Larson

I tag anyone who wishes to do this tag! Please leave me a link/tag me in the post – I would love to read your answers!

ARC Review: *Gilded by Marissa Meyer

Synopsis:

All magic comes at a price, but love was never part of the bargain . . .

The look he was giving her. Serilda had never been looked at like that before . . . The intensity.
The heat. The raw astonishment. He was going to kiss her.

Cursed by the god of lies, a miller’s daughter has developed a talent for storytelling – but are all of her tales as false as they appear?

When one of Serilda’s stories draws the attention of the devastating Erlking, she finds herself swept away into a world of enchantment, where ghouls prowl the earth, and ravens track her every move. The king locks Serilda in a castle dungeon and orders her to spin straw into gold, or be killed for lying. In despair, Serilda unwittingly summons a mysterious young man to her aid. And he agrees to help her, for a price. But love wasn’t meant to be part of the bargain.

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My thoughts:

Trigger warnings for death, murder, violence, death of children, loss of parent.

Rumpelstiltskin x Wild Hunt retelling – Loved!! I did not expect the wild hunt myth but I really enjoy this addition. I knew it was Rumpelstiltskin, of course, but the wild hunt bit has been less talked about/advertised. Yet it makes up a fair amount of the novel.

Not that I ever doubted Marissa Meyer but I’m surprised by how much I really enjoyed this. I read and loved The Lunar Chronicles, which is fun and humorous. This, however, is the complete opposite. Nothing like what I’d expect from this author. It was Dark. I didn’t anticipate the dark tones, but it is a perfect read for Autumn/Winter. It’s a shame it comes out after Halloween, as it would be perfect for that!

The writing is very atmospheric. The world is dark and gritty, with evil magic. It reads like a fairytale – which can be a bit slow at times, but I still managed to fly through it. The plot does get a tad repetitive in the middle. Which is my only complaint really. I loved the spooky, mysterious theme – as I said it was very dark. Especially for YA. This is kind of like a YA take on Grimdark. There’s lots of murder, torture, ghouls, ghosts, undead, etc. A lot of mythology and folklore going on here, combined with the Germanic fantasy setting – it was very vivid. I really enjoyed the setting and worldbuilding! It was a good grounding – I hope to see it expanded in later books.

The main character, Serilda, is known to be unlucky/cursed to her community. She’s a story spinner who works in her village school. The only one’s who aren’t scared away from her are the children, despite the fact she tells them dark tales. Her talent for lying and weaving stories is her downfall when during the wild hunt when she lies to the Erlking, saying she can spin gold from straw.
I like Serilda well enough, I look forward to seeing how her character develops in further books. I like her relationship with the mysterious, Gild. Gild is an odd character who makes a magical deal to help Serilda out with the gold spinning.

As for the romance, it was very cute and innocent. I wouldn’t say it was particularly swoon worthy and the couple isn’t a new favourite. It was cute enough to read.

I initially thought this was going to be a standalone novel but I was wrong. Towards the end of the story you realise just how this is very much the beginning. Then the actual ending gives a cliffhanger. (cries)
I have no idea when the next book will be, Goodreads has not been helpful. I cannot wait to read the sequel whenever it may be!

Overall, it is a wonderful dark fairytale retelling seeped with mythology/folklore. I highly recommend if you want a gritty fantasy to get stuck into this Autumn/Winter. It’s the perfect rainy day/ cold weather read.

Rating: 4 Stars

*Thank you to Bethany at Faber Childrens for gifting me the ARC!
All views are my own.

Mini Life Update + September Wrap Up | 2021

Hello everyone!
Mini life update as I’ve been pretty absent here lately, whoops! I’m hoping to get back into blogging and Instagram soon. I’ve had a lot going on, I’ve been in a slump, I’ve had some stress, I’ve been dating. The biggest update – I started a new job at the end of Sept, so reading completely went out the window for a lot of the month.

My wrap up for September is pretty small. But I did read a book that’s over 1000 pages so I think the small number of reads can be forgiven!

Books read:

The Tea Dragon Festival by K. O’Neill

After reading the first one, I had to pick up the second. It’s just so adorable!!
This is a prequel to The Tea Dragon Society, which I didn’t realise going in and did spend a little while confused until it all clicked into place.
Rating: 4 Stars

The Tea Dragon Tapestry by K. O’Neill

Of course, I had to follow up with the third in this series. I am loving these graphic novels so much!

Rating: 4 Stars

Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson

The only novel I read this month was this beast of a book. Wow, did I enjoy this! I reread The Way of Kings in August and had to continue right away. This book gave me the biggest book hangover!! I’m still not over it. I think I’m just going to have to dive into Oathbringer, I can’t get over this story, the world, the characters!

Rating: 5 Stars – If I could give higher, I would. Amazing book. New fave!!

How was your September reading and life wise? Let me know in the comments!