Hello Jenny Reviews: September 2019

Okay, I know, I know, A POST ABOUT HALLOWEEN READS RECOMMENDATIONS ON SEPTEMBER 1ST?! ARE YOU CRAZY? Well, yes, yes I am, but that is an entirely different conversation for another post. But I have recently come across some people, my kind of people, who love the spoopy just as much as I do, and gosh darnit, I am going to spoop all over your screen. Too much? Ehh, this girl starts celebrating Fall/Halloween on September 1st, earlier actually considering I just we super Halloween shopping at Michaels yesterday, I will add 2 pictures of my haul below but I will make another full post with individual pictures after this. If anyone is looking for a quick list please scroll all the way to the bottom, I have made a written list for you.

I love how the crow is yelling at the viewer, lol.

A little side note, I created a new Instagram profile for SPOOKY BOOKISH THINGS so if you guys want to follow that I would really appreciate it, @terrifyingtomes

So, yeah, without further ado, here is my EPIC(yes I think that highly of myself) list of Spooky/Halloween reads..... Oh, and if you click on each book's picture it will take you to the Goodreads page so you can read the synopsis for yourself but I will also be including a little excerpt of why I liked the book.

I was going to start this off with Libba Bray, don't worry she will come next, but then I REALLY thought about it and while I completely love and adore her writing, one Duology just stands out in my head above all else and that is Mary: The Summoning and Mary: Unleashed. These books are a Bloody Mary retelling, if you couldn't tell from the covers, and I ADORE THESE BOOKS. I reread them EVERY Halloween ever since I found the first book 4/5 years ago. This author and her books are THE PERFECT representation of Young Adult Horror, in my God honest opinion. I wish she could pump out more books just to feed my black heart.

When I first read The Diviners many many moons again, okay maybe like 6/7, I fell in love. I was engulfed in a spooky historical world and that just made me very excited. At the time, I didn't really know it was going to be a series and it's now been 7 years since the release and the last book was recently announced. I am usually VERY impatient but the level of work the author puts into these books is definitely worth the wait. They are so intricate and beautifully written for something so horrific and spine-tingling. I think the only gripe I have with this series is the fact that the cover has changed so many dang times when the first books cover and under the cover was literal perfection. -sigh-

If Stephen King wrote Young Adult Horror this would be his book, but this book belongs to the wonderful Cyn Balog. While this book IS horror, her other books are more mystery/thriller, so they are still relevant I am picking this book to represent the pack. This book is definitely great and it was inspired by The Shining!

I am not recommending a book so much as an author here. Dawn Kurtagich can write some pretty freaky stories. I have a love/hate relationship with her books but either way they pack the horror punch a lot of us are looking for. Now, I have never outright actually hated any of her books I just had a hard time swallowing her last one, And the Trees Crept in. It wasn't a bad book AT ALL I just found myself going WTF?! a lot. I have no read her most recent book, Teeth in the Mist but it's on my Halloween list for this year. I can't wait to see what else this author's twisted mind can come up with in the future.

This is another author recommendation. Amy Lukavics has written some pretty gruesome and horrific books, THANK GOD. I have enjoyed all of her books enough to put them on this list but they still lack that ultimate horror level for me. Then again, I have been watching horror movies since I was 7 soooo, these books would be great for someone who isn't as well versed in the horror world as me.

Now this book, this book was freaky. It isn't so much horror as it is freakshow. This story was so awesome and earned a place on my favorites shelves.

Here I am recommending another author but there is a catch this time. I have not personally read any of her books. I own all the ones that are currently out but I haven't read them. I plan to remedy that this year so stay tuned for next year to see if any of her books actually make the cut onto my personal recommendations list. This is just an in general recommendation

This next author recommendation is a personal favorite of mine and she is the lovely Gretchen McNeil. Ya'll need to read her books NOW. I love #Murdertrending and Ten so much. I love her other books but the titles are escaping my mind.

Now this series is weird for me. When I first read the books something made me dislike them. But I reread them when the last book came out and for some reason I ended up loving them. It might have something to do with the fact that I watched the Asylum season for American Horror Story(this is also a Halloween recommendation even though it's a TV show and not a book it still counts for SPOOPY) but we shall never know. Either way, Asylums = Good Spoopage. Yes, I am making up words now.

This is another good asylum type book. I really enjoyed this one when I read it a few years ago. I might have to reread it this season, we shall see.

For some reason, I don't remember much about this duology, only that I enjoyed it. I have bits and pieces floating through my head so this one will definitely need to be reread.

Now this one I personally HATED but I am putting it on this list because someone else might love it and I'm all about people finding books they love. Always remember, just because you didn't enjoy a book doesn't mean someone else will feel the same way. But if you want my opinion on this book, it's like a bad version of Scream and the author should have stuck to Contemporary Romance. 🤷🏼‍♀️

And lastly, I have saved the best recommendation I can give. This series is more macabre than anything but that still earns it a place on this list. The books in this series are bizarre and twisted and not to be missed! The last book, Capturing the Devil comes out on September 10th so now is the perfect time to read these books! Thank you Kerri Maniscalco for writing these amazing books!

This is not the end of the list, I am sure I will add more later as I think of them but this is a good enough list to get you guys started. Please feel free to let me know either in the comments here or on Instagram @terrifyingtomes if you have or plan to read any of these and what your thoughts are if you have read or after you do read any of the books!

Each year I will have certain books I recommend over and over again but I am going to try my best to add new spoopy reads to this list. I will probably just do a repeat of this post with a new introduction and then add the new reads at the bottom. I have been hoping more authors will write some YA horror so maybe my wish will come true. Either way, I hope you enjoyed my post and may these books bring fear to your hearts and pee to your pants!

Here is the quick Halloween list for anyone who doesn't want to read all my jibberjabber.

Mary: The Summoning by Hillary Monahan

Mary: Unleashed by Hillary Monahan

The Diviners series by Libba Bray

Alone by Cyn Balog

Any book by Dawn Kurtagich

Any book by Amy Lukavics

The Devils You Know by M.C. Atwood