🍂 October 2025 Reading Round Up

Thank you, NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton/Hodderscape, for allowing me access to this ARC. 

This is a dark academia fantasy tale all about a young woman named Clara who is placed into the Arcana Academy by the headmaster to learn all about tarot cards, although he also has something else he wants from her. 

Although I did enjoy the book I found it very slow in places and almost gave up on it a few times. At 559 pages it really feels like a slog at times. I enjoyed the characters and the world of Arcana Academy, and will happily dive back into this series of books as they are released, but I'm hoping they are shorter. 

Thank you Book Sirens and Rhiannon Hargadon for letting me read the ARC of this book. 

This is such a fun book to read, but please check the trigger warnings before starting. 

I was lucky enough to get an ARC of this book through Book Sirens.

I really enjoyed this book. It's beautifully written and I loved reading about Anne as she goes through quite the transformation throughout the book. I also loved the supernatural crew she gathered around her as they are all so different and fun. One of my favourite things about the crew is their rhyming poems. It's lovely to read a book like this, with pirates and pillaging when they are done by women rather than men. 

If you love female driven adventure stories on the high seas then I think you will really enjoy this book. 

Thank you NetGalley and Storm Publishing for giving me access to the ARC. 

I loved this book so much. Emma and Penny are wonderful characters, and I loved reading about their investigations. The way they support one another is lovely to read. As the book goes on, Emma becomes more confident in herself, which is lovely to see. 

The book kept me guessing to the end, with the tension building throughout the book. 

This is the first book I have read in the Emma Langley Victorian Mystery series of books, and it definitely won't be the last. Although I have not yet read the first book in the series, reading this second book first doesn't distract from the story. There are enough mentions of what happened in the first book to keep me up to date, although I now want to dive into the first book to find out the full story, as well as the rest of the series. 

If you love historical crime mysteries with strong female characters, then I think you will love this book and series.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House UUK/Vintage for allowing me to read this ARC. 

This book is a real page turner from start to finish. Scarlett and Carly are wonderful characters, and the story being told from their own POVs made it very easy to get into their worlds. 

Scarlett is a well-loved university professor and a serial killer. She ends the lives of abusive men around campus, believing that the world will be a better place without them in it. And she is preparing to make the biggest kill yet. 

Carly is a new college student who becomes close to her roommate Alison and her friend Wes. But when Alison is assaulted at a party, Carly wants revenge for her friend. 

Going from the world of Carly and then to Scarlett made this book hard to put down. And that twist in the middle of the book - if I hadn't been sitting down, I would have fallen. 

If you love strong FMCs, page-turning suspense and thrills galore, then this is the book for you.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and HQ for granting me access to the ARC for this book.

I absolutely adored this book and couldn't put it down. This is a dark academia book written to perfection. Fantastic characters, an FMC that I would love to have as a best friend, and so much supernatural drama and intrigue. This is a definite six-star read for me, and one of my favourites of 2025.

Sophia DeWinter has been bound to The Collector since she was a young child, forced to complete his tasks or risk being thrown into the vault. She has some magical skills, but doesn't know what to do with them. When she learns of the Killmarth Academy, a place where she can learn to use and grow her magical abilities, she jumps at the chance to apply, as this will also mean escaping her captivity. She manages to get through to the first semester as a hopeful, but now the real work and danger come to the forefront. While gaining a friend group among other hopefuls, she starts to move her way through the Ordeals - magical trials that will test not just her magical skills but also herself, her friends and could ultimately cost her and her friends their lives. And as if that isn't enough, there are outside forces determined to bring down Killmarth, and everyone inside. Who will survive to the end?

Sophia is a fantastic FMC. She is determined to get through the ordeals and the first semester to become a student of the academy, and will do anything to accomplish this, as it will mean she doesn't have to return to her servitude with The Collector, as well as teach her to use her magical skills to their fullest potential. Her group of friends are also wonderful, and she loves and cares for them all dearly, although Alden Locke has captured a little more of her heart. 

This book really has it all: a dark and menacing academy, magic, supernatural forces, love, friendship, and so much more. 

Roll on Book 2. 

Claimed By Her Monsters, Written By Lexi Davis

My Rating: 💜 💜 💜 💜

Thanks to NetGalley and Victory Editing Netgalley Co-op for giving me the ARC for this book. 

This is a fast paced novella that will make a great read over Halloween. But check the trigger warnings before reading. 

Madison is a 19 year old girl living in the care system since her parents died. Not quite ready to be out in the world on her own, she is placed with a distant relative named Alister. When he takes her to new home he tells her to stay in her room as he has guests coming that night. She does, but after a while she needs a drink and heads down. She finds Alister and his friends playing Monopoly. But something seems strange. As the night goes on, Madison finds out the truth about her new guardian and his friends, as well as about herself. 

This was a super quick read at less than 100 pages, but so much fun to read. Madison is a great FMC and the banter she has with Alister and his friends is, at times, laugh-out-loud funny. Hoping there are more books with these characters, as there is so much promise. 

The Darkening Globe, Written By Naomi Kelsey

My Rating: 💜 💜 💜 💜

This was one of my Chapter 25 Book Club picks for October. It's not a book I had heard of before, but after reading the blurb on Goodreads, I was looking forward to starting. It did not disappoint.

This is historical fiction done beautifully. It is a real page turner with lots of twists and turns. 

We are in Elizabethan London in the year 1597. Beatrice's husband Hugh, has just returned from one of his many adventures, but this time he is returning with a woman whom he tells his wife will be staying with them. Hugh refuses to explain who this woman is. He also returns with a large globe that is to take pride of place in their home. When the globe appears to move on its own and strange illustrations appear on it, Beatrice is highly concerned. 

And then the deaths and strange accidents begin. Beatrice doesn't know which way to turn or what to do. Could the mysterious woman, the globe and the murders be connected somehow?

This book has it all - supernatural elements, a murder mystery and difficult family dynamics, all happening in Elizabethan England. If you like historical fiction mixed with murder and twists that you won't see coming, then this book is for you. 

Tales from Cemetery, Written By C.J Daley

My Rating: 💜 💜 💜 💜

Thanks to NetGalley and Best Ghost Books for giving me the ARC for this book. 

This is a fun collection of short stories that happen around a town called Cemetery. Some are scarier than others, but my favourite is Don't Scream - Calls From Home. It's a perfect read for Halloween and Spooky season, with stories that will appeal to everyone who loves scary stories. 

Twisted Tales to Tell in the Night, A Halloween Horror Anthology

My Rating: 💜 💜 💜 💜

Thank you to NetGalley and Death by TBR Books/Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) Members Titles for giving me the ARC to the book. 

This book was such a good spooky time. The perfect read for Halloween and the spooky season. It's a series of short scary stories from a variety of different authors. Some are scarier than others, but I have two favourites - Witch Apothecary by Morgan Briceno and Spook Alley by V.S Lawrence. 

If you are planning a camping trip and looking for some scary stories to tell around the campfire, or just love scary stories then this is the book for you. 

Margaritas and Murder, Written By Michele Pariza Wacek

My Rating: 💜 💜 💜 💜

Thank you to Book Sirens and Michele Pariza Wacek for granting me access to the ARC.

This was such a fun, super quick book to read. It's the first book I have read in the Charlie Kingsley Mysteries book series, and it won't be the last. I love Charlie, and the relationship she has with Wyle and the whole will they won't they thing they have going on. I loved finding out that this is part of a series, as there is so much potential for Charlie and her investigations. 

The murder investigation itself kept me guessing right up to the end. I thought I knew where it was going and then it would turn to the right. 

You don't need to have read the earlier books in the series to follow the story as the writer explains enough of the backstory for you to follow along nicely. Can't wait to read more from these characters, and this author.