Dear Readers, October was a great month for catching up on my TBR, I read 7 out of 8 books on my monthly TBR. I read some old favorites, a new favorite, 2 horrors, 1 graphic novel, and 3 mysteries. I read 7 books this month, 1 five stars, 3 four stars, and 3 three stars. I read 5 books that are part of a book series.  

Five Star Reviews:

All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker is a spanning dark moody mystery that captures life and the choices you make. This is a melancholy mystery that is also filled with heart and hope. All the Colors of the Dark is as of right now my top book of 2024. The simple plot is a boy interrupts a kidnapping of a girl and is instead taken. This event changes the lives of the boy who was taken. His best friend, who was in love with him, experiences changes too. The girl who was almost taken is affected. The small town itself is forever changed. All the Colors of the Dark starts in the 1970s and ends in the late 1990s. The mystery is fairly long at 600 pages. However, the pages fly by because the book’s small chapters average two and a half pages each. The mystery is a slow burn but filled with so many twists and turns. The book hooked me from the beginning and I never let go. The ending was very satisfying and connected all the threads brilliantly. The book has moments of pure joy, tear-jerking moments, frustrated character choices, surprising character connections, and humor. Two years ago I was blown away by Whitaker’s We Begin at the End, but this book is the opus in my opinion. All the Colors of the Dark was published on June 25, 2024.

Four Star Reviews:

Forth Wing by Rebecca Yarros is a romantic fantasy or romantasy about dragons and their riders. Forth Wing is the first book in The Empyrean series. The basic plot is Violet who has been trained as a scribe most of her life. Has been told by her mother, who is also a general in the dragon riders army. She can not be a scribe but a dragon rider. The story is about a young adult who is in over her head. She finds out she has the strength after all. She just needs to be tested. The overall story for Forth Wind I liked a lot. The magic system was clever. The world building was attempted and the world feels lived in but the history was lacking. There’s extensive history and topography details as Violet tries to distract herself from an intense task. However, it is just words and doesn’t connect. The spicy stuff was good and spicy. The story would have benefited from the characters waiting on the sex. If they had waited until the war games then the ending would have been so intense. The ending of Forth Wind was incredible. The final twist was great I guessed two scenarios at the end and one was correct but it was still so cool. Forth Wing was published on May 2, 2023.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin by Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird, and Tom Waltz is a post-apocalyptic revenge thrill full of action and heartache. This is not your average Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles graphic novel. First off there are no turtles but just one Ninja turtle, that is a grown up not a teenager. The Last Ronin is a mature version of the TMNT you see in the cartoons. The comics have always been more mature but this book is dark and haunting. The plot is about one ninja turtle who has survived a war with Shredder’s grandson. The lone ninja turtle wears a black mask for the mourning and for the audience to not know which ninja turtle has survived. He is haunted by his brothers who did not make it and urge him on. He finds friends along the way who survive and help him take down Shredder’s grandson. The story is told with a mix of flashbacks and an occasional time jump in the story. The story had a lot of twists and turns that I was not expecting. The ending fight is great and I loved the way the book ended. TMNT: The Last Ronin is being set up at Paramount as a 2026 live-action R-rated film that I cannot wait for. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin was published on July 5, 2022.

Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill is a dark horror with a twisted mystery. The basic plot is a rock star buys occult items for a story and to keep him relevant. He finds an ad for a ghost and buys it. The ghost is real and has an issue with the rock star that will only be satisfied at his death. The horror elements of the story work very well. The mystery of why Jude, the rock star, was chosen? It works incredibly well and there are layers to uncover until you get to the real story. The theme of objectification is really strong. Jude collects objects of the occult. He does not call the women in his life by their names. He refers to them only by their location, such as Florida and Georgia. The story does a good job of showing Jude’s growth throughout this ordeal. The novel is brutal to its characters who end up beaten up and bloody. Heart-Shaped Box is a reread for me. It has been 15 years since I read it for the first time. My rating remains the same I liked and appreciated some things more while being very present at the sometimes slow pace. Heart-Shaped Box was published on February 13, 2007.

Three Star Reviews:

The Pumpkin Spice Cafe by Laurie Gilmore is a cozy fall romance with some spice. The book sometimes felt like a Gilmore Girls fan fiction, which is not a knock at it. The quirky characters of the town were the best part. The romance has some good cute moments. But the emotional level felt very juvenile at times. I had to keep reminding myself these are grown adults. The spicy moments work very well it wasn’t too graphic but just right. The pace of the story moves pretty well. There is a bit of a lull in the middle, but it doesn’t last too long. Then the end is filled with sex, which moves pretty fast. The novel is told from Logan’s and Jeanie’s point of view. I wanted a bit more conflict and mystery to this romance. Logan and Jeanie fall for each other instantly. There is no mystery about them liking each other. Just juvenile bullshit keeps them apart. The mystery was a grown person acting very juvenile and not communicating like an adult. The book does its job by making me say “Aww” and making me want to get cozy with my wife. The Pumpkin Spice Cafe is the first book in The Dream Harbor series. The Pumpkin Spice Cafe was heavily featured on Tiktok #Booktok. I wanted to read what all the hype was about. The Pumpkin Spice Cafe was published on August 30, 2023.

Goosebumps – The Blob That Ate Everyone by R.L. Stine is a middle-grade horror about a typewriter that can make horror stories come true. The author writes about a killer blob. The Blob That Ate Everyone is book 55 in the Original Goosebumps Book series. The story feels like a mix between Stephen King’s The Dark Half and the 1950s movie The Blob. The overall theme is the power of words. There’s a long scene where Zackie (worst character name ever) is writing and making things happen. At first, this is done by accident. Then he starts doing it on purpose. This scene was great and shows the God-like power of writing and story. The ending was pretty intense but Stine cops out of it. This book features the worst final twist of all, almost it was all a dream but different. The Blob That Ate Everyone was published on May 1, 1997.

A Drink Before the War by Dennis Lehane is a gritty mystery set in Boston. A Drink Before the War is Dennis Lehane’s debut novel. This book is the first story in the Kenzie and Gennaro mystery series. The basic plot is a politician on the brink of passing a gang bill hires a private eye team. His cleaning lady is accused of stealing documents that the politician does not want out. When they find the woman in hiding it is not documents that she stole but a photo of the politician looking chummy with a gang member. This picture is one of many that reveals a whole lot more about the politician. Gangs and the government would kill to get those photos. The story is both a bleak mystery and a humor-filled wise-cracking detective story. The humor is throughout the story which helps lighten this dark novel. The two main characters are fun, flirty, and work well off one another. I do like that it is private detectives so they don’t have to worry about bureaucracy, because they break all the rules and it is fun. A Drink Before the War was published on November 1, 1994.