October Reads that AREN'T Scary!



I'm not into creepy stuff. (And if you are, this may not be a post for you. I am going to link you to my friend Richard because he loves creepy and mysteries.) But since October is here, I was trying to think of an appropriate blog post for October, and figured a list of non-spooky October reads would work! I figure there must be someone else out there who wants to participate in the October-y reads but doesn't want to read something scary. 

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
If you haven't hopped on this train yet, 'ya should! I only know a very small number of people who didn't like this so... yeah. Anyways, this novel is on this list because there's always a feeling of suspense following the characters (which is often other characters). There's some seriously dark magic lurking around and the consequences are all put on our main characters, Lila and Kell. It's suspenseful and full of smuggling and disguises - great for October!

The Raven Boys by Maggie Steifvater
I'm not the biggest fan of Steifvater, but I'll admit I think October is the best time to read The Raven Boys. It's so weird and like... eccentric? Our main character, Blue, comes from a family of psychics, who have a lot more secrets than she thinks. Meanwhile we've got the raven boys - Adam, Gansey, Noah, and Ronan - who all have secrets of their own. It's weird, it's eccentric, it's bizarre, but it's pretty good, and one that you should read during October.

This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers
Bottom Line as to why you should read this during October: ZOMBIES. It's definitely got more of a literary edge than your typical zombie story. Our main character is Sloane, who grew up with a highly abusive father and has to deal with the after effects of watching him get slaughtered in a zombie apocalypse (not a spoiler - it happens at the beginning). Meanwhile, she gets stuck in her high school with a a handful of other teenage misfits and they need to figure out where they're going to go after their supplies run out. Totally creepy, in a psychological way; the way that Lord of the Flies sort of makes you a uneasy.

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
This is a sad story, with a touch of OMG WHAT IS HAPPENING??? (Kinda like Babadook - if you've actually seen that movie you know what I'm talking about.) So it's definitely October-worthy. On the surface, it's about a boy, who's mother is dying of cancer, and is extremely confused when a monster visits him at night. Between the lines, the monster is the boy's anger and fear of his mother being sick. A very heart-wrenching story, but also pretty eerie, and if you do read it this month, go for the illustrated version for the full experience.

Because You Love to Hate Me (an anthology)
I want to recommend this whole anthology, because I feel like October is the time of the villain. But I also want to specifically recommend the story "Death Knell" by Victoria Schwab (aka V.E. Schwab, aka an author already on this list). It's basically death personified, so what else would you want to read over October? The other stories are pretty good, too, and I'd recommend the whole thing for October since none of it is scary.

There are plenty of other books I could recommend, but I didn't want to make the list too obvious. The other books I thought of were: Shadow and Bone, The Girl at Midnight, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, Genuine Fraud, and Harry Potter (the later books).

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