Hi, y’all! It’s been just over a month since I last updated you on my Goodreads Reading Challenge, and I have still been steadily climbing towards my goal. I did take a break and re-read Long Live the Pumpkin Queen by Shea Ernshaw, just because I love it and it’s a comfort book for me (like the Harry Potter series).

As far as books from my to-be-read pile, I have marked off six more since the last challenge post. So, here’s what I finished and my rating of each one!

1. Any Witch Way You Can (Amanda M. Lee)

The first in the “Wicked Witches of the Midwest” series, Any Witch Way You Can introduces us to the Winchesters and the inner workings of the family. Oh, and there are a couple of murders sprinkled in, just for fun. I really enjoyed this book, and I loved the characters. I wasn’t even bothered that the murders, and eventual solving of said murders, was almost an afterthought. The twist wasn’t overly surprising, but the way it all unfolded was cute and humorous. I will continue with this series, for sure.

2. The Final Girl Support Group (Grady Hendrix)

Having read The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires, I was looking forward to this novel. Unfortunately, it fell short. The plot wasn’t the best, the characters weren’t very likeable, and there was a heavy emphasis on the slasher genre being misogynistic (which I wholly disagree with). I got bored with reading about how evil men are, honestly. Hendrix ignored how many female killers there are in horror, and how one can also view the final girl trope as rather empowering – women surviving through their strength and wit, outsmarting killers who are, in general, men. While I would recommend checking out The Southern Book Club’s Guide…, I might suggest skipping this book.

3. Mad as a Hatter (Kendra Moreno)

I love re-imaginings, especially dark versions of Wonderland, so I was intrigued when I stumbled across this series. The back story – how Alice became The Red Queen – definitely feeds my horror-loving heart. However, overall, this book fell short. It was too predictable, too much of a romance. And Clara accepted everything way too quickly. I am going to read the second one, because I like the plot and I don’t want to write Kendra Moreno off too soon.

4. The Resort (Sue Watson)

I don’t know how to explain this book. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good either. I will say one thing; Watson did a great job throwing suspicion on all of her characters, so that the killer could have been any of them. The ending did not impress me, though. I guess if you like mysteries in the vein of Agatha Christie and Sue Grafton, you should add this to your list.

5. Four Found Dead (Natalie D. Richards)

I didn’t like this book. The writing was confused and muddled, the characters weren’t relatable, and the killer’s motive was lame. I wouldn’t recommend it.

6. Come Out, Come Out, Whatever You Are (Kathryn Foxfield)

The concept of this book was right up my alley. I love books/movies where there are groups of people going places they shouldn’t and getting terrorized by masked killers, evil spirits, etc. However, Come Out, Come Out, Whatever You Are wasn’t the best version of this horror trope. The characters almost saved it, though; I loved every single one, especially Lex and Python. I will be checking out Good Girls Die First.

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I have now read 34 of 35 books. I may change my goal. Haha. My current read is Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine.