October Reading Wrap Up 📚 Why Are BookTok Books So Disappointing?!

Our October 2026 reading wrap up is here, and after reading 27 new books between us, we have some serious questions for BookTok. 📚🖤 Welcome back to Tired Witches Podcast! Olivia and Ashley are breaking down everything we read in October, from dark romance and Omegaverse to fantasy romance, Sarah J. Maas, and some seriously disappointing BookTok recommendations. We're talking about the books we DNF'd, the popular series that didn't live up to the hype, our controversial Crescent City reviews, and why so many dark romances are starting to feel like the same story with different characters. And yes, we're discussing A Court of Splintered Harmony, our four-star ratings, and why Nesta Archeron continues to be the moment. **IN THIS EPISODE:** 📚 27 new books read between us 💀 Our October DNFs and biggest disappointments 🔥 Dark romance, bully romance, reverse harem & Omegaverse reviews 👀 Popular BookTok books that didn't work for us 🌙 Crescent City and ACOTAR reread reactions ⭐ Our four- and five-star reads 🖤 The Sinless Trial — Olivia's five-star hidden gem 💬 Goodreads reviews, author criticism & unpopular book opinions **SOME OF THE BOOKS DISCUSSED:** - A Court of Splintered Harmony — Sarah J. Maas - House of Earth and Blood, House of Sky and Breath & House of Flame and Shadow — Sarah J. Maas - The Sinless Trial — Diem Norty - Queen of Hearts — Sarah Blue - The Brutes of Bristlebrook series — Rebecca Quinn - Viciously Yours — Jamie Applegate Hunter - Malice — Natalie Bennett - After Midnight — Teresa Medeiros - Emperor of Corruption — Lilith Vale - Her Pretty Things — Delilah Darling **LET'S DISCUSS:** Are you finding that popular BookTok recommendations are actually living up to the hype? What was your best and worst read of October? Tell us in the comments! We want your unpopular book opinions, your favorite hidden gems, and the books you think deserve more attention. **JOIN THE COVEN 🖤** Subscribe to Tired Witches Podcast for fantasy romance reviews, ACOTAR theories, Sarah J. Maas deep dives, BookTok news, and unapologetically opinionated book discussions. Instagram: Tired Witches Podcast Olivia: @purrfectbookpages Ashley: @archivesofashley Join our Discord and Fable book club, and catch our ongoing A Court of Splintered Harmony deep-dive series here on YouTube! **CHAPTERS** 00:00 Welcome to our October reading wrap up 01:49 How many books did we read? 02:24 Our DNFs and disappointing series 04:59 ACOTAR, Crescent City & Ironside Academy rereads 06:51 Our lowest-rated books 10:45 Why Crescent City isn't working for us 15:37 Olivia's three-star reads 19:27 Are BookTok books becoming too formulaic? 22:45 The Goodreads review controversy 28:00 Dark romance disappointments 32:44 Ashley's four-star reads 35:14 Crescent City and A Court of Splintered Harmony 36:32 Olivia's four-star reads 39:52 House of Flame and Shadow & Nesta Archeron 41:20 Our favorite five-star hidden gem 44:31 Reading slumps, comfort reads & October reflections 47:07 What's next for Tired Witches? #OctoberReadingWrapUp #BookTube #BookTok #FantasyRomance #DarkRomance