5 Scary YA Books Perfect For Halloween Reading

Hi guys! It's that time of year again, the weather gets cooler, the leaves begin to change colour and the spookiness is ramped up.

So why not embrace all things Halloween this October by reading some creepy and scary books that I recommend....

If you have any spooky YA books that you think I would  enjoy, please leave a comment below and I will definitely add them to my Goodreads TBR! Click the book covers to read my full review on each title...let's get the spooky recommendations started



Series: First book in a duology
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Why this book is spooky and perfect for Halloween;

This book was absolutely terrifying, like almost sleeping with the light on scary! 
The book centres around an alternative Ireland where children are sent to a school / military academy to prepare themselves for the day when they are kidnapped by evil fae creatures and tortured beyond comparison. 

The writing style is extremely captivating, the main character Nessa is just so badass and powerful. The gruesome and haunting descriptions of the horrors of this novel are terrifying. Definitely a perfect novel for Halloween. 

Review: The Good Luck Girls by Charlotte Nicole Davis

Publication Date: October 1st 2019

Publisher: Hot Key Books

Source: Review Copy from Publisher

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Blurb: 

Aster. Violet. Tansy. Mallow. Clementine.

Sold as children. Branded by cursed markings. Trapped in a life they never would have chosen.

When Aster's sister Clementine accidentally murders a man, the girls risk a dangerous escape and harrowing journey to find freedom, justice, and revenge - in a country that wants them to have none of those things. Pursued by the land's most vicious and powerful forces - both living and dead - their only hope lies in a bedtime story passed from one girl to another, a story that only the youngest or most desperate would ever believe.

It's going to take more than luck for them all to survive.

 A huge thank you to Hot Key Books for sending me an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. 

[* Trigger Warning*: rape, sexual abuse, PTSD, substance abuse, violence*]

This book completely took me by surprise. As a book sold to me as girl driven, western with slight paranormal aspects - I did not expect to be completely gripped and consumed by the novel within the first 50 pages. I honestly could not put this book down or stop thinking about it. This was so refreshing for me as I've been in such a reading slump lately. 

The book centers around 5 girls - Violet, Aster, Tansy, Mallow and Clementine. The girls have grown up in a world where they are second class citizens, Dustbloods, as they are born without a shadow. Raised in extreme poverty, their parents sell them to a Welcome House out of desperation. Welcome Houses are brothels where girls are raised from children to be slaves until they turn 16 where they are then sold sexually to men who come to the welcome house. 

Review: Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

Publisher: Walker Books
Publication Date: December 2011
Source: Borrowed from library
Series: The Infernal Devices #2
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Blurb: 
In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray has found safety with the Shadowhunters. But that safety proves fleeting when it becomes clear that the mysterious Magister will stop at nothing to use Tessa’s powers for his own dark ends.

With the help of the handsome, tortured Will and the devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister’s war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal and fueled by revenge. To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors. When they encounter a clockwork demon bearing a warning for Will, they realize that the Magister knows their every move—and that one of their own has betrayed them.

Tessa is drawn more and more to Jem, though her longing for Will continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa answers about who she really is? As their search leads to deadly peril, Tessa learns that secrets and lies can corrupt even the purest heart.

So finally picking back up this series months after I was gripped by Clockwork Angel.. I know, I suck at being a blogger- can I insert "hectic life" excuses here?

Anyway, I'm so glad I started getting into this series after years of loving The Mortal Instruments, I am kicking myself fro not caving to the book peer pressure sooner! (Speaking of, please pressure me into reading some more of your favorite books in the comments below!)

So for me, Clockwork Prince was the character development book in the series. I feel like Clockwork Angel was the book to introduce the characters, story-line, villain and main story thread that will run through the series and this book was to delve deeper into the relationships and characters themselves while also engaging with the plot. 

The characters of the novel are really the main driving force behind this series. I think everyone who begins the series just wants to hear more and more of the characters and also have the plot and action going on in the background. The Will fan-girls would honestly pay Cassie for a 500 page novel of a week in the life of Will Herondale at this point! 
But back to my review..the characters definitely o through a lot of development as the reader begins to learn more about them and about what motivates them both individually and as their slightly dysfunctional Institute family. 

Review: Clockwork Princess (TID #3) by Cassandra Clare

Publisher: Walker Books
Publication Date: March 2013
Source: Borrowed from library 
Series: The Infernal Devices #3

Blurb: 
A net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute. Mortmain plans to use his Infernal Devices, an army of pitiless automatons, to destroy the Shadowhunters. He needs only one last item to complete his plan: he needs Tessa Gray.

Charlotte Branwell, head of the London Institute, is desperate to find Mortmain before he strikes. But when Mortmain abducts Tessa, the boys who lay equal claim to her heart, Jem and Will, will do anything to save her. For though Tessa and Jem are now engaged, Will is as much in love with her as ever.

As those who love Tessa rally to rescue her from Mortmain’s clutches, Tessa realizes that the only person who can save her is herself. But can a single girl, even one who can command the power of angels, face down an entire army?

So the last book in The Infernal Devices series hit me hard, even though literally everyone told me it would do so, I still felt overwhelmed. 
This review may contain spoilers for the other books in the series and possible this one as I cannot CONTAIN MY EMOTIONS FOR MUCH LONGER!

So here is your **SPOILER WARNING** . Stop reading if you have not read this book, but instead read my reviews of Cassandra Clare's novels here! 

Most Anticipated 2019 Releases

All The Lonely People  by  David Owens 

(January 2019)  (Review Here)              ( Goodreads )

Everyone tells Kat that her online personality - confident, funny, opinionated - isn't her true self. Kat knows otherwise. The internet is her only way to cope with a bad day, chat with friends who get all her references, make someone laugh. But when she becomes the target of an alt-right trolling campaign, she feels she has no option but to Escape, Delete, Disappear.

All the Lonely People is a timely story about online culture that explores the experience of loneliness in a connected world, and the power of kindness and empathy over hatred.

The Paper & Hearts Society  by  Lucy Powrie
(June 2019)                          (Goodreads)

Tabby Brown is tired of trying to fit in. She doesn't want to go to parties - in fact, she would much rather snuggle up on the sofa with her favourite book.

It's like she hasn't found her people ...

Then Tabby joins a club that promises to celebrate books. What could go wrong? EVERYTHING - especially when making new friends brings out an AWKWARD BUZZING feeling all over her body.

But Olivia, Cassie, Henry and Ed have something that makes Tabby come back. Maybe it's the Austen-themed fancy-dress parties, or Ed's fluffy cat Mrs Simpkins, or could it be Henry himself ...

Can Tabby let her weird out AND live THE BEST BOOKISH LIFE POSSIBLE?

Teen Titans: Raven  by  Kami Garcia 
(July 2019)                       (Goodreads)
When a tragic accident takes the life of seventeen-year-old Raven Roth's foster mom--and Raven's memory--she moves to New Orleans to live with her foster mother's family and finish her senior year of high school.

Starting over isn't easy. Raven remembers how to solve math equations and make pasta, but she can't remember her favorite song or who she was before the accident. When strange things start happening--impossible things--Raven starts to think it might be better not to know who she was in her previous life.

But as she grows closer to her foster sister, Max, her new friends, and Tommy Torres, a guy who accepts her for who she is now, Raven has to decide if she's ready to face what's buried in the past...and the darkness building inside her.

Pumpkin Heads  by  Rainbow Rowell

(August 2019)                        (Goodreads)

Deja and Josiah are seasonal best friends.

Every autumn, all through high school, they’ve worked together at the best pumpkin patch in the whole wide world. (Not many people know that the best pumpkin patch in the whole wide world is in Omaha, Nebraska, but it definitely is.) They say good-bye every Halloween, and they’re reunited every September 1.
But this Halloween is different—Josiah and Deja are finally seniors, and this is their last season at the pumpkin patch. Their last shift together. Their last good-bye.
Josiah’s ready to spend the whole night feeling melancholy about it. Deja isn’t ready to let him. She’s got a plan: What if—instead of moping and the usual slinging lima beans down at the Succotash Hut—they went out with a bang? They could see all the sights! Taste all the snacks! And Josiah could finally talk to that cute girl he’s been mooning over for three years What if their last shift was an adventure?

There's Something About Sweetie  by  Sandhya Menon
(May 2019)                                          (Goodreads) 
Ashish Patel didn’t know love could be so…sucky. After he’s dumped by his ex-girlfriend, his mojo goes AWOL. Even worse, his parents are annoyingly, smugly confident they could find him a better match. So, in a moment of weakness, Ash challenges them to set him up.
The Patels insist that Ashish date an Indian-American girl—under contract. Per subclause 1(a), he’ll be taking his date on “fun” excursions like visiting the Hindu temple and his eccentric Gita Auntie. Kill him now. How is this ever going to work?

Sweetie Nair is many things: a formidable track athlete who can outrun most people in California, a loyal friend, a shower-singing champion. Oh, and she’s also fat. To Sweetie’s traditional parents, this last detail is the kiss of death.Sweetie loves her parents, but she’s so tired of being told she’s lacking because she’s fat. She decides it’s time to kick off the Sassy Sweetie Project, where she’ll show the world (and herself) what she’s really made of.

Ashish and Sweetie both have something to prove. But with each date they realize there’s an unexpected magic growing between them. Can they find their true selves without losing each other?

Hot Dog Girl  by  Jennifer Duggan 
(April 2019)               (Goodreads)
Elouise (Lou) Parker is determined to have the absolute best, most impossibly epic summer of her life. There are just a few things standing in her way:

* She's landed a job at Magic Castle Playland . . . as a giant dancing hot dog.
* Her crush, the dreamy Diving Pirate Nick, already has a girlfriend, who is literally the Princess of the park. But Lou's never liked anyone, guy or otherwise, this much before, and now she wants a chance at her own happily ever after.
* Her best friend, Seeley, the carousel operator, who's always been up for anything, suddenly isn't when it comes to Lou's quest to set her up with the perfect girl or Lou's scheme to get close to Nick.
* And it turns out that this will be their last summer at Magic Castle Playland--ever--unless she can find a way to stop it from closing.

Review: Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

Publication Date: August 2010
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Source: Bought
Series: The Infernal Devices #1

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Blurb: 
In a time when Shadowhunters are barely winning the fight against the forces of darkness, one battle will change the course of history forever. 

The year is 1878. Tessa Gray descends into London’s dark supernatural underworld in search of her missing brother. She soon discovers that her only allies are the demon-slaying Shadowhunters—including Will and Jem, the mysterious boys she is attracted to. Soon they find themselves up against the Pandemonium Club, a secret organization of vampires, demons, warlocks, and humans. Equipped with a magical army of unstoppable clockwork creatures, the Club is out to rule the British Empire, and only Tessa and her allies can stop them...

I know, it's shocking that I have not read any of The Infernal Devices series before now...#BadBlogger 

I'm so glad to be finally getting back on the Cassandra Clare book wagon! I have just started reading more of The Mortal Instruments series and decided it was time to read The Infernal devices before I accidentally spoiled myself! 

So this book started off badly for me. It took me a long time, maybe 150 pages, before I felt any connection to the characters or felt the plots pace was picking up. The very beginning of the novel with the  dark sisters was written very slowly and I found myself quite bored. Thankfully, the book picked up and I found myself enjoying the steady pace of the novel. 

Tessa was an up and down character for me, I found myself loving her one minute and then cringing at her the next. I know the book is set in Victorian England, but Tessa's anti-feminist views and slight stand offish relationship with other women was not my favourite thing to read about. I especially cringed / eye rolled when she said she wanted to move into a flat with her brother and clean the house and cook for him all day long... 

Review: Internment by Samira Ahmed

Publication Date: 07 March 2019
Publisher: Atom Books
Source: Review Copy (#Gifted)

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Blurb: 

Rebellions are built on hope.
Set in a horrifying near-future United States, seventeen-year-old Layla Amin and her parents are forced into an internment camp for Muslim American citizens.

With the help of newly made friends also trapped within the internment camp, her boyfriend on the outside, and an unexpected alliance, Layla begins a journey to fight for freedom, leading a revolution against the internment camp's Director and his guards.

Heart-racing and emotional, Internment challenges readers to fight complicit silence that exists in our society today. 

 A big thank you to Atom Books for sending me this book in exchange for my full and honest review. 

This is probably one of the most scary and hard hitting books I will read. I found the novel so terrifying as the events unfolding in it could easily begin to happen tomorrow. The novel centers around Layla, a seventeen year old American Muslim whose life is turned upside down when her and her family are shipped off to an internment camp against their will. It is the life inside these internment "anti- Muslim" camps that really make for harrowing reading.