FraterFest Read-A-Thon Wrap Up & Reviews

Happy Wednesday everyone!  The last few days I've been taking part in a new-to-me readathon - the FraterFest Read-A-Thon hosted by the Caffeinated Book Reviewer.  The goal was to read or listen to as many mysteries, thrillers, fantasy, horror, paranormal, supernatural books and novellas as you can.  You also needed participate in at least challenge over the course of the readathon.  You can see everyone's progress on Twitter (or Instagram) with #FraterfestRAT.  Anyway, I managed to complete all four books from my TBR.  Yay me!!  Read on for my thoughts on each of them:

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I had Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard on my tbr for way too long, but I'm glad I decided to finally pick it up for the FraterFest Read-A-Thon. I mean, this steampunk and zombies story is perfect for this time of year. I'm really looking forward to book two, A Darkness Strange and Lovely. I expect you'd enjoy this if you also like The infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare, The Diviners by Libba Bray, and Lady Helen by Alison Goodman.

I read this novel from October 11 - 12, 2018 and my review is also on Goodreads.

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This series has definitely improved since book one. A good deal of that is because we already know so much about the cast of characters and it was great to be back with them. We also get to see more of the supernatural and paranormal elements which was fun. It was also pretty cool to see those references and characters who appeared in the Southern Vampire Mysteries. I'm looking forward to continuing the book series - bring me season two!

I read this book from October 13 - 14, 2018 and my review is also on Goodreads.

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A decent Edgar Allan Poe inspired YA steampunk dystopian romance. The world building is pretty great although slow as we get to know Araby's depressingly atmospheric city. Araby herself is quite flawed and on paper she should be a fascinating lead, but she's quite underwhelming and I wasn't all that interested in her the further I got through the story. Now, just to warn you, there is a love triangle which got old - Araby is very indecisive. I didn't really care about Will one way or another in the long run, but Elliott makes the story. He's definitely more of an intriguing character than even our MC. Overall, I doubt I'll be back for the sequel. However, I do highly recommend Bethany Griffin's The Fall which retell Poe's classic short story "The Fall of the House of Usher" from Madeleine's point of view.

I read this from October 13 - 14, 2018 and my review is also on Goodreads.

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Gabriel Squailia's Dead Boys is an urban fantasy all about the journey. There is so much to love about this, but my favorite aspect hands down is the atmospheric world building along with the author's brilliant descriptions. While I enjoyed following the main character Jacob, Remington is the true stand out scene stealer. My only real issue, though, I wish I felt like the characters made it to destination. In the mood for the movie Coco as told by Neil Gaiman, then you totally need this fantasy novel.

I read this novel between October 14 - 16, 2018 and my review is also on Goodreads.


Have you taken part in this readathon before?  Have you been reading spooky things for Halloween coming up?  As always, thanks for visiting my blog and perhaps even commenting down below!