September was a good reading month for me, especially after only reading one book in August, where I read all from my tbr. Some new releases, some old, a new author and a new favorite!

I started the month off with Where the Dark Stands Still by A.B. Poranek, a new release from February of this year. Overall, I was a little underwhelmed. I recently read (and loved) Uprooted by Naomi Novik, and Where the Dark Stands Still felt like a watered down version. I do think it's worth picking up if magical, dark fantasy with a romance sub plot sounds interesting.

Another new, anticipated release I read this month was The Invocations by Krystal Sutherland. A queer, horror novel about witches sounded amazing, but unfortunately was another let down for me. I loved her descriptions of gore and horror, but was taken out of the dark atmosphere by her use of modern slang. Adding modern technology and sayings to novels is difficult without cheapening the story, and I think in a setting that deals with anything historical (like witch craft), it just doesn't fit. I also wasn't a fan of the main characters, who either weren't explored enough, or whose personalities were kind of unlikable. 

I absolutely loved A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik, which seems to be a book people either really love or really don't like. I found the magical system and world building really interesting, so I didn't mind the info dumping aspects of the story. My favorite part is the main character, El, whose desperately lonely, head strong, resilient, and sarcastic. I really enjoyed seeing her world through her thoughts.

The last book I read was Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett. I'm happy to say it lived up to the hype, and I especially loved the narrator for the audio book, who voiced Emily and Wendell so well.