Tuesday’s Top Ten Spooky Reads

Are you still chasing that Halloween feeling? If you’re not ready for spooky season to end, check out these recommendations…

This great tag was originally created by The Broke and the Bookish but is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Have you read any of these books? What’s a book you’ve read that defied your expectations? Have you tried this Top Ten Tuesday? Let me know in the comments!

1. The Ex Hex

This book has all the perfect ingredients for a spooky spell: romance, a curse and badass witches. I wasn’t expecting how much I loved this book – it’s just so fun. I can’t recommend The Ex Hex enough. Both protagonists are independent and fiery (plus one of them is Welsh), which really makes the romance shine. And coming in at just over 300 pages, it’s the perfect book to curl up with on an autumn night.

2. Ninth House

Whilst certainly a different vibe to feel-good romance The Ex Hex, Ninth House still centers on curses. Alongside secret societies, college sororities and a darker kind of magic. I love Leigh Bardugo, and while Ninth House couldn’t replace the Grishaverse in my eyes, find out why I was fell head first into this complex, dark academia novel in my review.

3. Gideon The Ninth

Are you on a sugar crash from all the Halloween sweets? Would you like your head to hurt even more? Welcome to the world of the Locked Tomb, where nothing is as it seems. Ever. In any way. If you think something finally makes sense, don’t worry because that feeling won’t last for long. However, it’s that exact complexity and the series horribly dark characters that make it my favourite science fiction series. And with even more badass, lesbian bone nuns in the second and third books, this is a series that will keep you busy until at least Christmas.

4. Jane Austen Investigates

I was lucky enough to be provided with an ARC copy of the first and second books of this series and was immediately in love with the idea of a young Jane Austen and her friends solving murders in a (slightly anachronistic) country manor house. While aimed at a slightly younger audience, this book is still incredibly fun and deals with several hauntings… of an undetermined nature. Find out why in my review here!

5. Afterlove

If you’re chasing a book centered around a different celebration, look no further. I read Afterlove every New Year’s Eve because it perfectly encapsulates the restlessness and liminality of the celebration. Plus, it’s really, really sad! When Ash dies on New Year’s Eve and becomes one of many badass, girl reapers, her new ‘life’ is centered around seeing her first love Poppy again. Even for a moment. Dead or alive…

Whilst spooky enough to read just after Halloween, I’d also strongly recommend this book in the lead up to New Year’s celebrations!

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Have you done this week’s Top Ten Tuesday? Have you read any of these books? What’s your favourite spooky read? Let me know in the comments!