Challenge: 50 Books discussion
Finish Line 2023
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dori’s 50 book challenge!!!
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dori
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Nov 08, 2023 11:57PM
i’ve been trying to do 50 books for 3 years, but i think i got it this year!!!
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1. the assassin’s blade by sarah j maasfantasy
465 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
glad i read this fourth in the series! a couple of the stories i felt dragged a bit but that’s to be expected with any novella collection in my opinion. cried so hard at a certain one. iykyk. having finished the series now, it’s crazy how much these stories come back to link up in the final books! do not skip this!!!
2. every summer after by carley fortune romance
295 pages
⭐️⭐️
this might be an unpopular opinion but i did not like this. i think because i read love and other words a couple weeks prior and they’re basically the same plot. but this one included cheating which is a trope i do not like. especially with his brother??? love and other words was soooo much better in my opinion. it also ended super abruptly which i hated and the fmc was annoying.
3. i’m glad my mom died by jennette mccurdy memoir
320 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
this is just such a heartbreaking story, i can never watch icarly again. a lot of it was very hard to read and i really applaud jennette for having the courage to tell a story like this. i was a bit shocked by how it ended, not in a good or bad way, just wasn’t what i was expecting. i thought it was going to end with her being happy and moved on, but it wasn’t. it’s evident that she’s still very much dealing with the consequences of her mother’s actions. i think she’s so brave and it’s just crazy how oblivious we were as children.
4. queen of shadows by sarah j maasfantasy
562 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
this is such a turning point in the series. the ending is so crazy. i love this book and this series more than anything in the world. i’m obsessed with this i want to reread the whole series. this is one of my favorites in the series and one of sarah’s best books for sure. the tension, the plot developments, it was all just amazing. and dorian is perfect thanks
5. book lovers by emily henryromance
417 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
i live, breathe, and die for emily henry’s books. honestly i need to reread this because i don’t remember too much about it, but i remember absolutely loving it and connecting with it so much. this became my favorite book, which is very impressive especially for a romance. i find most romances horribly cringey with no plot. but i wonder if emily henry can do wrong.
6. chain of gold by cassandra clarefantasy
624 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
read twice
reread this trilogy for the chain of thorns release! i think these are my favorite characters in the shadow hunter universe… though the infernal devices comes really close. cordelia and james…. i think this romance was the most frustrating to read but that’s what made it so good??? i thought the plot was super interesting too. i’m just obsessed with this series. her victorian/edwardian london books are just unmatched.
7. chain of iron by cassandra clarefantasy
688 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
i think this book permanently altered my brain chemistry. when i read this for the first time, i was absolutely crushed by the ending. my heart broke for james. this was also the first time ever when i was left on a massive cliffhanger and had to wait for the next book to come out. and it didn’t come out for almost 2 years. this has got to be one of her best books. i couldn’t stop thinking about it for months. this is in my top favorite books of hers.
8. chain of thorns by cassandra clarefantasy
784 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
from a romance perspective, this gave me everything i needed and more. it was the most satisfying conclusion for james and cordelia. from a plot perspective…. it was a little bit all over the place. but honestly, when you’re writing a million series’ in the same universe, there are only so many endings to come up with. and i am just so attached to these characters that i enjoyed every second of reading it anyways. christopher broke me. i really thought he was going to end up with grace. matthew’s storyline was really well done and developed too, thomas and alastair’s was amazing too. her characters are just so lovable and i will come back to them over and over again.
9. daisy jones & the six by taylor jenkins reidhistorical fiction
393 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
read twice
reread for the show release! this book is incredible. just incredible. i don’t know how tjr’s mind is able to come up with these things. it breaks my heart over and over again. i also think that the show was AMAZING. the scene where she throws out her italian husband is so good. everyone knows this book is good. i’ll just be another one of those people.
10. the no-showromance
353 pages
⭐️⭐️
this was pretty bad. the plot is genuinely all over the place because for some reason there are three main characters that predictably end up connecting in the end. i think the plot twist was supposed to be mind blowing but it really wasn’t. it also took me sooo long to read because i just didn’t care about the characters at all. it’s just a no from me.
11. seven days in june by tia williamsromance
287 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️
i thought this story was really beautiful. i had never read an adult romance before, and i really liked this one. love is portrayed in a realistic way. also there were pop culture references that didn’t make me cringe! yay! there are very heavy topics in this book but it definitely adds to the plot and it’s very insightful. overall this was a good book, but over time it just became a little bit forgetful for me. and it also took me like a month to read.
Mod
Woohoo! Good luck!
12. normal people by sally rooneyromance
239 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️
obviously everyone and their mother has read this book. i was scared it was going to put me in a slump so i put it off for a long time, but it actually didn’t and i really sped through this one. the thing about this book is that it won’t be for everyone. whilst i was reading it i just felt sad because of what was going on with the characters. i really thought the writing style was so beautiful and melancholic, it felt like a stream of consciousness. i haven’t seen the show, but i pretty much knew what it was about and how it ended since it’s so popular. i didn’t love it, but i can understand why people love it so much, and i can also understand why people wouldn’t like it either. love is a complex thing. and anyone who has ever experienced any sort of love with pain attached to it will be touched by this book. i think their story is a realistic one, even though the miscommunication trope is on 1000. 9 out of 10 times, love ends in heartbreak or pain or longing. because of its relatability i think that’s what makes it a great book. so maybe this book wasn’t necessarily for me, but i can still appreciate it objectively. maybe i’ll reread it and raise my rating, who knows.
13. and then there were none by agatha christiemystery
272 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️
i feel it’s a rite of passage to read an agatha christie mystery. and honestly it did what it needed to do. there was just nothing necessary compelling about it to me. i was surprised by the killer because i can never see anything coming. so there’s that. it was reminding me a lot of clue and knives out, but those were probably inspired by this book. so i have to give credit where credit is due. i think agatha christie is an incredible author and i’m glad i read this book, it was enjoyable.
14. the housemaid by freida mcfaddenthriller
336 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️
everyone on tiktok thinks this is the greatest book to ever exist. well i thought it was fine. yes, it did shock me and i thought the plot was interesting but the writing was nothing special and i just didn’t connect with any of the characters. and to me that’s what makes me love a book. though it was a super quick read and it made me feel a bit uneasy after reading it. i would recommend to those who like thrillers, but maybe this genre just isn’t my favorite.
15. haunting adeline by h.d. carltondark romance
608 pages
⭐️
i should have known that this book wasn’t for me. but i saw the extremely high rating and everyone raving about it on tiktok. and it was free on kindle unlimited so i decided to try it out. i was in the mood for a little bit of spice too. i found out that i do not like dark romance. i’m already very picky about my romance books, but this made me sick. i don’t really understand people that like dark romance. someone needs to check on them. i dnfed this after the first smut scene because it was just awful to read. non consensual stuff is just horrifying and i don’t understand how it can be justified. it feels genuinely like r*pe and how could you be into that? also zade is not a dreamboat. just because he kills sex traffickers (or something i don’t remember) doesn’t mean he’s a good person. he’s literally a stalker. like that is not cute. the writing is bad and i genuinely could not care less about the mystery aspect of this book with the grandma or whatever. how is this allowed??? i can dislike genres and still understand why people like them. but dark romance is something i just can’t get behind.
16. writers and lovers by lily kingliterary fiction
324 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
it’s books like this that remind me why i love to read so much. this is a beautiful coming of age story about a writer who lost her mom and is really struggling with it. i love the story but what stood out to me about this book was the writing. the writing was just exquisite. it’s the kind that creates a narration in my head. when that happens, that’s how i know i’m reading a good book. i don’t know if that happens to anyone else. but anyways i really liked this.
17. happy place by emily henryromance
401 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
emily henry does it again. i don’t think there will be a book of hers that i ever don’t enjoy. she is my favorite author and the only one that has consistently created romance books that i love. i honestly do not remember why i didn’t give this five stars, so i’ll have to do a reread. but i love a second chance romance and the writing is just the best ever. it feels as if emily henry writes specifically towards me. and her books are never just about the romance which is what makes them so phenomenal. this book tackled growing up and friendships too which really impacted me. no other author can perfectly balance these plots like she can. it’s always so well developed and so beautifully done. i cannot wait for funny story. here is my ranking of her books favorite to least favorite:
1. book lovers
2. happy place
3. people we meet on vacation
4. beach read
18. in the dream house by carmen maria machadomemoir
298 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
i heard so many amazing things about this so my expectations were high and wow they were exceeded. the writing is just fantastic and i had never read about a true toxic relationship before let alone a queer one. the metaphor of the “dream house” is just oh so fantastic and i just feel it would be an injustice if this was anything but five stars. it was incredible and one of the best books of the year for me.
19. my dark vanessa by kate elizabeth russell psychological fiction
399 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
reading this was just so bittersweet. at times there were scenes that made me feel sick to my stomach. i was honestly very cautious about reading this because i didn’t know if i could stomach it, but i’m glad i didn’t the writing is so so good. even though it hurts to admit it, i found myself charmed by him too. just shows how his manipulations worked. i also was not expecting him to die, making the story that much more complicated. i loved seeing the two different timelines, showing vanessa in that situation and her decades out of it, still being manipulated by him even in his death. i remember being a little bit annoyed by her naïveté when she’s older, thinking “how could she still defend him?”. but it’s because this relationship is something so deep rooted and she has to believe that it was something good because the other option is just too cruel. i read two super deep books in a row and they did not disappoint. but i definitely needed something lighter after.
20. part of your world by abby jiminez romance
410 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️
i don’t remember hating anything about this, it was actually really good. but it just took my months to read and put me in a huge slump. i’m not sure if it was the book or just a busy time in my life, but i remember struggling to get through it. the only thing that stands out to me about this was the fact that it takes place in minnesota, which i am from. that is a very rare occurrence. but i mean, i think it was just average for me. probably could’ve been 4 stars if i read in a more timely manner.
21. survive the night by riley sagerthriller
338 pages
⭐️⭐️
i just find it really hard to enjoy thrillers because most thrillers need something called a very stupid protagonist. i can see the appeal of this book, and it’s an interesting concept, but i just think it was executed poorly. it was just ok. and obviously i have no love for any of the characters and i don’t even remember how it ended. i know there were times where i was shocked but i don’t know it just wasn’t amazing to me. like it’s whatever.
22. misery by stephen kinghorror
432 pages
⭐️⭐️
i had been wanting to read a stephen king author for a while just to see what it had been about, and i chose misery. i don’t think it was necessarily bad, but it just wasn’t for me. the writing did what it needed to do. but again, for me a story is so much about the characters. i didn’t like any of them. probably because there are only two. but it was very suspenseful. however i found it odd how many times the world “cockadoodie” was used when i had literally never heard of it before. i was even less of a fan of how the n word was used too. i get that it’s annie’s character saying it, but that doesn’t make it right. anyways maybe this is just another example of how a thriller doesn’t work for me. i want to like them but i’m not sure if it’s possible.
23. tower of dawn by sarah j maasfantasy
692 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
i think i could talk about this book forever. it exceeded my expectations wildly. this book was very intimidating to me and i put it off for a while because of the tandem read and everything. i didn’t tandem read these books because i just didn’t think i needed to. and i still believe that. i know everyone hates chaol, but i was very neutral on him in this book. i really thought this would bore me but i was not bored for a second. the plot in this book is incredibly well developed. it did not matter if i didn’t like the characters, there was so much happening. yrene being from the assassins blade was just genius and she became one of my favorite characters. i love her and chaol so much and i thought the representation for disabilities was super cool! i loved being somewhere different and getting to know chaol more, i am a chaol defender for life. listen i am not a fan of spiders at all but they were cool in this book. i did find myself more into chaol’s plot line than nesryn’s but i loved sartaq and all his siblings. the plot is genuinely just one of the best i have ever read. this is one of sarah’s best books objectively. it’s so underrated.
24. the memory book by lara averyfiction
288 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️
this was really sad. and it’s one of those books that you know are going to be sad. i cried so so hard. the writing isn’t the greatest, but it’s supposed to be written by a little girl so i’ll let it slide. it’s not the best book ever, but it made me very emotional and there’s something to be said about that. i thought the girl to be cringey at times, but she was living a very sad life. i liked it but i won’t read again. this is one of those books you read when you want to feel something.
25. empire of storms by sarah j maasfantasy
724 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
this book was so amazing i cannot even begin to explain it. i gave it four stars because since i read this series over such a long period of time, some of the details of the politics get confusing for me because i can’t remember some things. but this book was amazing. the ending KILLED ME. i don’t even know what to say other than this was absolutely impeccable and i will never be the same. this series just does something to me. so. good.
26. kingdom of ash by sarah j maasfantasy
998 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
this book ruined me. i will never be the same. everything about it was just perfection over and over again. i cried 10 separate times. it was so epic and wonderful and amazing and every other word. by the time i get to the end of a long series like this, i am so attached to the characters and the fact that it’s ending is so bittersweet. i’m happy they’re finally going to live in peace but i want more content forever. aelin’s continuous suffering was done so well it was agonizing. manon and her thirteen. i will never be recovering. sarah j maas please pay for my therapy. this was the greatest series i’ve ever read and i will never get over it.
27. after i do by taylor jenkins reidromance
352 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️
i read this because i wanted something light before diving into acotar and i love taylor jenkins reid. i think she has some of the best characterization and i’ve loved every book that i’ve read of hers. i just think this book wasn’t for me. i’ve said time and time again that romances are really hard to get right for me. and i had been loving this one pretty much up until the very end. it details a couple that decide to take a break from each other. since my breakup i had never seen a breakup in a book, especially one that was done so well. i related to everything that lauren was going through and it felt nice to be seen. but that all was thrown away when ryan comes back in the end. i wanted lauren to heal from everything and realize that she was actually better off without him in the end, but he came running back and she happily accepted him. i get that this is a love story, but i guess i just wanted to see a story that doesn’t have a fairytale ending for once because that’s not what real life is and that’s not what i experienced. i wanted validation that i wasn’t alone in the pain i was feeling, and i got a glimpse of that in their breakup but lost it in the end. who i was a year ago would have loved this book, it would’ve given me hope that my ex would come back. but now, reading it after my ex had come back and all of the ways that messed me up even more, that’s not what i wanted from this book.
28. a court of thorns and roses by sarah j maasfantasy
451 pages
⭐️⭐️.5
this book is just not that good. i mean it’s fine. people just act like this is the greatest thing to ever exist and it’s just not. it’s pretty immature for a fantasy novel and i think it’s a good introduction into fantasy but other than that there are so many better fantasies out there. i’m a broken record but throne of glass is just so much better and it was very hard for me not to compare the two because i know what sarah is capable of and this just fell so flat for me especially after just finishing
kingdom of ash. the world is interesting for sure, but i often found it hard to care about anything that was happening. i was pretty bored for the majority of the book until the trials took place. feyre is such an insufferable fmc, especially compared to aelin who i love so so much. i do agree that the series gets better going forward, but this book felt like such a drag. and i hate tamlin. and that riddle was so easy. but sarah does do plot twists well so i’ll give her that. it just feels like such a different person wrote these two series’.
29. a court of mist and fury by sarah j maas659 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
and yes the series did get better. i really liked this! i actually rated it five stars at first because the reader high i got off of it was crazy. but it’s not my most favorite thing i’ve ever read. it was really good though. i just think with this series as a whole the “mate” thing is taken a little bit too far and it gets to be cringey. it’s just so much more focused on the romance than the politics and i can appreciate that, but for me a romantasy just doesn’t hit the same when the romance is so prominent. i like the romance to be a side plot with such a slow burn that it actually hurts. that’s what i want. but anyways the end of this book was literally insane. and i did like getting to know rhys and co. this was kinda wild looking back
30. a court of war and ruin by sarah j maasfantasy
724 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
for some reason this put me in a huge slump and it took me a long time to read it. but i really did enjoy this book. i cried at the end with their dad. i enjoyed feyre becoming a part of this family but i still don’t like her that much. i haven’t read acofas or acosf yet but i think nesta’s story will be better and i’m looking forward to that. i’m so sorry to bring this up again but it simply does not hold a candle to throne of glass. every character is better, the plot is so much more developed, and the politics just makes so much more sense. the politics in this series just seem like it’s for the sake of the plot which i know is how these books work, but throne of glass was just so much more natural. and i actually care for every single one of those characters unlike this. i like rhys but not that much. overall good series but will i read again… probably not.
31. archer’s voice by mia sheridanromance
407 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️
i expected this to be the greatest book i’ve ever read with the way people talk about it. and it was good. i appreciate the mute representation, but like did there need to be that much trauma. it seemed like the author was just adding these things for the sake of archer being traumatized. like i get his childhood, but did he really need to be shot at the end. and is travis really that much of an ass? i don’t know. whatever. this was fine. the one thing i really liked about it was the spice. something about an inexperienced boy is really appealing to me… i loved those scenes. but anyway this is just another book that’s sadly… overhyped.
32. maybe you should talk to someone by lori gottlieb memoir
433 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️
this took me over 2 months to read. i did find myself interested in the patients and it was really interesting to see the perspective of a therapist and what goes through their minds. i think it’s easy to think that your therapist is a perfect person who always knows what to say, but that’s not the truth. they often wonder whether they said the right thing to you, and often find themselves at a loss for words at a tough patient. i read this because i wasn’t in therapy and i really needed to be. this was a time in my life where i couldn’t be alone with my thoughts because they literally ruined me but i didn’t know why. later i realized that it was because i was making terrible decisions for myself and my brain didn’t know it, but my body did. i thought this book might fix me. obviously it didn’t and i am in therapy now. i read the synopsis and saw that the therapist got dumped and was dealing with that while also dealing with her patients and i thought that would be helpful to me. but anyways. i cried a lot at this book, especially because of julie. it really touched me. although i did not care for the part where she talks about the journey of her book becoming what it was, i don’t care for that kind of “and that’s how i got to where i am today!” sort of thing. but overall it was insightful and i’m glad i read it.
33. better than the movies by lynn painterromance
384 pages
⭐️⭐️
again with me and the popular romances… we just don’t get along. i had heard that this was the best romance of all time. i think it was haley pham that said that. everyone talks about wes bennett being the perfect book boyfriend too. so it’s safe to say that i had very high expectations for this book and from the very first page i was thoroughly disappointed. i know that the point of this book is that it is very cliche and follows lots of tropes. i get it. but the fmc is actually the most annoying person to ever exist. she’s a senior in high school and acts like she’s in elementary school. i actually could not stand her. why is she lying to every single person in her life. she’s just stupid. i’m sorry that’s harsh but whatever. she’s not a real person. the writing was god awful. it was so cringey i could not read it without shivering. ON EVERY PAGE. wes is fine. is the bar on the floor? he’s just a normal guy. maybe i’m jaded. maybe i’m used to fantasy romance where the couple would quite literally die for each other. there’s nothing wrong with him but he’s also nothing special. and also the coveted “she. isn’t. you.” didn’t do much for me either. also it ends super abruptly which i guess is fine but it just wasn’t what i was expecting. it did get a little bit better cringe wise in the second half which is why this is two stars and not one. and i went soft because of certain things happening in my life so maybe that’s it. i’m so sick of the “girl who is antisocial going to her first party” thing. like it’s just annoying. anyways i could talk forever about not liking this book at all. i’ll stop talking now.
34. icebreaker by hannah grace romance
448 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
i enjoyed this! the spice is really good… but that’s the best thing going for this book. i feel that most spicy books don’t really have much else going for it. i get that there is a lot more going on but it doesn’t really do much for me. i recognize that this book was definitely insta love but sometimes you need that for something spicy. like this is nothing serious. it was fun and i enjoyed reading it. it’s not like it’s the most advanced piece of literature but it doesn’t need to be. of spicy books, this is my favorite series. i really think the characters are memorable.
35. the namesake by jhumpa lahiri fiction
347 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
yes i think this is a beautiful story, but that’s not why i loved it. i think it’s an amazing story about family and immigration but the writing was just phenomenal. this is the second book this year where the writing specifically really affected me. writers and lovers was the first. it did the thing where narration starts in my head and i start writing unconsciously about my life. everything starts moving in slow motion and i’m so hyper aware of every single detail in my life and i think it’s so cool what amazing writing can do for a person. i wish everyone could appreciate that.
36. the seven year slip by ashley poston romance
353 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
a romance i liked??? what’s going on??? this was phenomenal. the magical aspects are not overdone. i felt so attached to this relationship and the way it’s set up is so unique yet so cool. plus who wouldn’t want a professional chef boyfriend who cooks for you? and i usually cringe at nicknames but this was cute. i just picked this book up at b&n because the cover looked like fall. but i’m so glad i ended up loving it. i think i often only pick up books i’ve heard of, so i need to take more chances. anyway, this was amazing and i’m so happy i read it
37. dance of thieves by mary e pearsonfantasy
513 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
overall i did like this. the world was cool and it was a super easy read, i couldn’t put it down! my favorite part of this duology is when kazi and jase are struck together in the very beginning. however, can you call it an enemies to lovers if they are kissing in the first 100 pages? i don’t think so. it’s pretty insta love and i think it’s so focused on the love story in this book that the plot pretty much gets lost. i won’t read again but i’m glad i did.
38. vow of thieves by mary e pearsonfantasy
430 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️
this was more plot focused and i think it was successful but as far as fantasy plots go, it was a little bit forgettable. i know that there’s only so much you can do in two books, but i’m just so used to huge fantasy books that dive so deep into the characters and the worlds. often i was questioning if this was even fantasy because there were no fantastical elements except for some random magical powder at the end. however the found family was cute and it really reminded me of six of crows for that reason. overall it was enjoyable!
39. wildfire by hannah graceromance
345 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
i love russ. i’m obsessed with russ. i thought aurora was ok. but i did like this better than icebreaker. xander(?) i think is russ’ roommate’s name and i’d never found myself laughing harder at a book than when he spoke. and of course… the spice is crazyyyyy. the whole secret relationship thing gets me. and the pining the banter ughhh it was so good. maybe this is horrible of me to say but i didn’t really care about the whole familial issues thing. that’s the thing with these books i think it tries to have more plot than just the romance but doesn’t really succeed on that front. but other than that i wildly enjoyed this AND I CANNOT WAIT FOR HENRYS BOOK THAT JUST GOT ANNOUNCED YAY
40. the ex hex by erin sterlingfantasy/romance
248 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
i liked this a lot more than i thought i would! i picked it up solely for the spooky vibes it was giving off and i actually really enjoyed it. overall it was a cute book that i really enjoyed reading. there’s nothing inherently special about it, but it was a fun quick read. and the spice wasn’t too shabby either.
41. pride and prejudice by jane austenromance
432 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
i just think this is automatically a five star read. while it may not be the easiest thing to read, you have to take into account the cultural impact of this novel. it essentially created enemies to lovers and the fact that jane austen wrote a social satire in the early 1800s is just astonishing to me. the prose is exceptionally beautiful too. this was a reread from when i had to read it for school my junior year and i just think this is a timeless piece. i did find myself dragging through the book around the time when lydia and wickham run off together, but that letter… i need a mr darcy.
42. things we never got over by lucy scoreromance
560 pages
⭐️
this was the worst book i’ve read this year. i wasn’t going to read it because of my track record with popular romances, i just had a feeling i wasn’t going to like it. but one of my friends said i should read it so i obliged. i’m going to try and keep this succinct because i went off on my review already but here’s my rant again. i get the whole grumpy sunshine thing. but this takes it a bit far… the mmc was overly aggressive and masculine. he is a child inside a 43 year old man’s body at the same time however. i didn’t absolutely loathe this book until the classic third act breakup. i haven’t read many of them but i HATED this one. when he was literally inside of her and he was thinking about how he was going to dump her really struck a cord with me. i just think in general i’m very sensitive to breakups and how they’re handled in books because it’s something very personal to me. and i think if they’re done right it can have a place in a book. but this was just all sorts of wrong. the way knox handled the breakup was very triggering to me and it took everything in me not to dnf this book. but i was already so deep in at this point i just wanted to see it through. i can pick on little things like the stupid nicknames and the way the book randomly turns into a thriller at the end. but when it comes to the immaturity and insincerity of this man during the breakup, i just can’t do it. i definitely won’t be continuing this series.
43. a good girl’s guide to murder by holly jacksonmystery
492 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
this was a really great read, everything id heard about it was true. it took me on a wild ride with twists and turns i had not expected. i of course love ravi. who wouldn’t? after finishing this series, looking back on this book it was just such a great start. it stands so perfectly on its own too, but i’m so glad it continues into a series. there’s nothing really wrong with this book at all, but it just didn’t have that one thing that would’ve pushed it over the edge into five stars. it was still fantastic and i enjoyed it so much. the one scene i didn’t like was when pip was trying to buy weed and kept calling it “that za” or “mary jane” and a million other names😭. i think the anti social girl going to a party trope is a little bit played out.
44. good girl, bad blood by holly jacksonmystery
418 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
i wasn’t sure where the story was going to go from the first book just because it felt like such a standalone. but this makes sense. it kinda feels like a filler book to me after finishing the whole series. there’s no doubt that this is a great book though, it has all of the qualities of the first one but i just wasn’t as attached to the mystery as i had been with andie’s. obviously this is very important for pip’s development for the third book too. there was a lot less of ravi in this book which made me sad but the scenes we did get of him were just perfect. he’s the perfect boyfriend. the plot was super well developed and i definitely did not see the ending coming. but honestly this is just a lead up to the final book…
45. never let me go by kazuo ishigurosci-fi
288 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
i read this for my modern fiction class in school. through the majority of it i felt boreddddd. it just felt like little anecdotes of their lives and it felt hard to really get into the story. but that ending just crushed my soul. i think this is one of those books that holds so much symbolism. there’s a deeper meaning within every sentence and just the way it ends is so sad and it really makes you think. aside from that i really think i connected with this book because of the characters. ruth reminds me so much of a friend i had growing up in elementary school. obviously she wasn’t a very good friend. but the manipulation felt so familiar to me, but when you’re just kids you don’t really understand that it’s happening. kathy reminded me of myself in that friendship. i’m not a confrontational person, so all of my retorts would come indirectly. it’s just interesting how i’ve never seen a friendship like that come to life in a book and it was cool to see. but back to the ending. it’s just so heartbreaking how there’s hope for tommy and kathy. the author creates that hope that both the characters and the reader hold onto even if deep down they know it’s empty. but it hurts all the same when it’s taken away from us. i think this book is brilliantly painful and while it is sci-fi, it’s not too far out of reach from our reality. and that’s scary.
46. as good as dead by holly jacksonmystery
455 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
this is one of those books that changes lives. i wasn’t that thrilled going into this book because i thought it was just going to be another season of her podcast, solving another murder. but boy was i wrong. it took me a few days to really get into it, but once i got to part two…. this threw me for a loop. the part where she gets taken was actually really scary! and everything that comes after is just insane. this is one of those books that gives you so much anxiety, keeps you on the edge. of course pip is severely traumatized from the events that occur in the previous books. she is not the same girl we met in the first one. i think this is a bold book to write and not everyone is going to like it. but i did. i think this turn is so interesting for her character. when detective hawkins pulled out the headphones i was so scared!!! and i’m so glad there was justice for max in the end. but the scene with ravi at the end. it broke me. i was sobbing so hard. how dare holly jackson create such an attachment to ravi just to rip it away. my heart was shattered. but that final page… this book was just phenomenal. the best in the series by far. reading the whole series is worth it just to get to this book. definitely one of my favorites of the year.
47. the ballad of songbirds and snakes by suzanne collinsdystopian
517 pages
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
i didn’t think i was ever going to read this, but with the movie coming out i feel like i had to. my obsession with the original trilogy was reignited and i was really curious about lucy gray. seeing into the mind of snow was definitely interesting. his spiral into his obsession with power was realistic and i really believed it. his affair with lucy gray was definitely my favorite part of the story. i found this book a little bit hard to get through at times and i think that was its biggest fault. i do believe that he loved lucy, but only in the way he knew how. that final scene haunted me for a while and i really loved the ambiguity of it all. lucy gray will forever be a mystery. i definitely enjoyed this but probably won’t read it again during my hunger games rereads.
48. the wall of winnipeg and me by mariana zapataromance
483 pages
⭐️
absolute snooze fest. now listen. i can appreciate a slow burn. but i got 200 pages in and there was nothing. nada. it was so boring and i cannot believe they call this author the queen of slow burn. also i am sick of these romances having the absolute cringiest writing. going on and on about how big and muscular he is. i get it. it’s so infuriating that no romance books these days value anything other than smut. there is just simply no plot! i want to love romance so bad but the only author i like is emily henry. i’ve given it so many chances this year and i’m just frustrated with it. but yeah i dnfed this about 40% through. i don’t think i’ll be taking tiktok recommendations ever again. i know i’m picky with romances but honestly these are just getting offensive. i’m not sure if i’m just jaded but they make me feel nothing. except book lovers by emily henry which we’ll get into.
