Hello, fellow bookworms! Welcome, or Welcome back! My name is Amanda, and this is where I share spoiler-free book reviews and other bookish things. Thanks for visiting. Join the conversation and share your thoughts. Let’s get Smitten for Fiction!

I’m a little late getting this wrap-up out (as usual, haha). I’m trying to make it a habit to post them each month, as there are books I read that I don’t review on the blog. Here’s my reading wrap-up for September 2025!

Books Read: 7
DNF (did not finish): 0
Number of Pages: 2381
Average Rating: 4.14

I re-read Bunny by Mona Awad for the third time. This is one of my all-time favourite books. With an unreliable narrator, peculiar parties, and spoiled rich girls, Bunny by Mona Awad is a sinister, puzzling, edgy, funny, and fast-paced fever dream about perception, projection, desire, transformation and imagination, that raises a compelling conversation about the recycling of literature. This is not a book you can skim. You must read every word and between the lines.
Genre: Horror, Dark Academia, Contemporary
★★★★★
Click here for my review
Goodreads Link

September must be my month to read Dark Academia. Katabasis by R. F. Kuang is getting mixed reviews, but this reader loved it. Katabasis is a satire about academia and the toll it takes on students. This book is about feeling inadequate, forming relationships with reluctant allies, and learning how to love and trust. It discusses the relationship between memory and identity and questions the meaning of life. If you liked Babel, then I think you’ll like Katabasis, as they have a similar academic vibe.
Genre: Dark Academia, Horror, Satire
★★★★★
Click here for my review
Goodreads Link

After loving Priory of the Orange Tree, I was excited to read a prequel, Among the Burning Flowers, by Samantha Shannon. Sadly, this was a miss for me. It was interesting to learn about the events leading up to Priory; however, it just fell flat for me. It has a high rating on Goodreads, though, so don’t take my word for it!
Genre: Fantasy
Goodreads Link

I enjoyed Sisters of the Lost Nation in 2023, so I decided to give another Nick Medina book a try. The Whistler is a powerful story about hardship, grief, loss, resilience, friendship, and truth. The horrors of the cultural lore and ghosts are nothing compared to the discrimination that indigenous and disabled people face. This is an unforgettable story, and I can’t wait to read what Medina publishes next.
Genre: Horror
★★★★
Click here for my review
Goodreads Link

The next book I read was What Stalks the Deep by T. Kingfisher. This is the third book of the Sworn Soldier series. The terror of the pitch-blackness of a coal mine, the quiet sounds, and the danger of gas create a dreadful feeling in What Stalks the Deep. Kingfisher’s background in the arts helps her create visual stories that play like a movie. The scenes in the mine are ones I won’t soon forget. I’m looking forward to reading Snake-Eater (December 2025) and Wolf Worm (March 2026). 
Genre: Horror, Novella, LGBTQ+
★★★★★
Click here for my review
Goodreads Link

Chuck Tingle is one of my all-time favourite authors. I recommend the Camp Damascus audiobook. I didn’t write a review for this one, but gave it four stars. The atmosphere, characters, writing style and message are extremely well-done. Highly recommend!
Genre: Horror, LGBTQ+
★★★★
Goodreads Link

The next two books I finished were two novellas I read for The Literally Dead Book Club, Killer on the Road and The Babysitter Lives by Stephen Graham Jones. He’s another all-time favourite author. I’ve read five books by him now, and my favourite is I Was a Teenage Slasher.
Genre: Horror
★★★★
Goodreads Link

And that’s it for my September wrap-up! What books did you read lately? Find any new favourites? Let me know in the comments. I’d love to hear from you.

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