#book re

[romanreadsbooks]

Favorite (and least favorite) Books of 2024

Stand-alones:

#1 - Monday's Not Coming by Tiffany D Jackson (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

YA Mystery -  An absolute heartbreaking and tragic story that I cannot recommend enough (check trigger warnings though). A harrowing look at how life and society treats those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds - especially young black girls. Whenever harm comes to them, no one seems to care, and so the abuse continues. 

#2 - Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins(⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

YA Dystopian Fantasy - Prequel to The Hunger Games and I know a lot of people have mixed feelings about this but I think it is a masterpiece of a character study. You take Snow who, at the start, is actually a kind of underdog hero in rich society that you want to root for until you remember what he becomes. Then you wonder -- how the hell does that this boy become that man? And worst of all? You find out. You see every step of his corruption and while you don't agree with him, you understand why he made the choices he did. 

#3 - Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Adult Literary fiction - An examination of the public response and perception of sensationalized serial killers. How society often weirdly idolizes violent men and sees them as some kind of tragic victim or unrealized genius instead of what they are - horrible people who violently slaughter because they just felt like it. I've been largely indifferent to "true crime" sensationalism so far in my life, but this book left me being wary of media perception of (white) violent criminals.

#4 - My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russel (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Adult Literary Fiction - Indepth look at grooming/pedophilia through the eyes of a young teen victim. A horrifying and too real example of how things like this can and do happen. Shows the long lasting effects of groomed and how that can often lead to the victim throwing themselves into more and more toxic situations. 

Annnnd my last one is much less serious/heavy lmao:

#5 - Bride by Ali Hazelwood (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Adult Supernatural Romance (romantasy? Idk) -  people say it's Omegaverse, but it's not, it's really just Vampires and Werewolves. But! Still very fun and has great, fun dialogue. It's a little unserious, but it knows and plays into it. Very very good pallet cleanser book.

Honorable mention:

Radio Silence - Alice Oseman (⭐⭐⭐⭐.5)

YA Contemporary fiction - I really liked all the characters and the reality that can come with doxxing a faceless creator online. Not five stars just cause it was missing that special spark but very good! (also demi rep in published fiction lets goooo)

Series:

Three Dark Crows Series by Kendare Blake (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

4-book YA Epic fantasy series - Three triplet sisters with different magical powers must fight to the death to become the queen. A little teen angsty at some point but I find teen angst incredibly amusing/entertaining so I had a good time. Is it the best writing? No. Was it very entertaining? Absolutely.

Goldstone Saga by Jocelynn Drake (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

6-book Adult Epic Fantasy Series - On Kindle unlimited. Very much Marauders fanfic vibes. I loved all the characters a lot. Not one of those where it's like "it's worth it once you get to the third book!", you'll know if you like it by the end of book one. I was rooting for every romance and the plot was fun to follow along with.  Some serious topics weren't handled great imo, but altogether very enjoyable series.

Least Favorites:

Corrupt by Penelope Douglas (⭐⭐) 

Adult Dark(?) Romance - I heard a clip from the audiobook and was like 'Damn that's hot', turns out the clip is from the fourth book in the series ^-^' This book however was awful to read. It got two stars instead of 1 cause it was so absurd at times it made me laugh

Not in Love by Ali Hazelwood (⭐⭐)

Adult Erotic Romance - Some parts felt vaguely aro-phobic, the Rue(FMC) was just meh over all, and Eli(MMC)is just awful. Only good point was that I think it handled reality of food insecurity pretty well, so also 2 stars

The Perfect Marriage by Jeneve Rose (⭐)

I'm sorry, but what was this book?? All of the characters were annoying. The "mystery" was just the MC leaving out crucial details so the reader wouldn't know just for fun. So many plot points were picked up and dropped (I assume they were supposed to be red herrings?).. Overall, it was a very poorly executed mystery.

[amphibimations]

[strigoi-diabolicum]

Lucy and Mina If Lucy lived and they teamed up to murder Dracula.

[egophiliac]

idia was an absolute treasure this update. you agree.

Idia really went "time for me to be a hero! but in, like, a super meta way" and if that isn't incredibly in-character then what is.

and of course we can't forget

I kinda hope he and Riddle get to do another game jam again sometime! it's nice to see them get along! and now they have, inexplicably...shared skills and interests???

[saiintofawe]

nona the ninth will always be one of the most beautiful and most painful books in the world to me because. it is about love in its every possible form. it's about the love you have for someone who takes care of you and the love you have for those you care for. it's about loving someone after seeing all their rough edges and ugly sides and choosing to love someone even if it hurts and even if you know it might doom you. it's about not choosing to love someone, but loving them anyway because sometimes it's not up to you to choose. it's about loving the dogs on the street and the stranger you met at the park and the child that never speaks to anyone in class. it's about loving the creases in someone's face when they laugh and the way their hips sway and how they can't stand still. it's about your love for the sea and the pang of grief at the tought that it is being poisoned. it's about the immense pain that comes with the loss of someone you loved. it's about bearing that loss, it's about letting that cut burn because its presence means that there was love. and that cannot be taken away. you have loved, you have been loved, and you always will. and the fact that it hurts and it ends doesn't erase the fact that at the end of the day, it's always love at the core of it all. in its every form and expression, by turning into rage, or kindness, or utterly destructive force, it all starts and ends in love. you can't remove that. you can't take loved away.

[yeehawpim]

[another-chaotic-bisexual-vampire]

Van Helsing & Mina: We're going to defeat Dracula with the power of friendship!

Quincey: And this gun I found!

[turndecassette2]

[thefandomlifechoseme]

me, when Jonny Sims appears in any piece of media he's been part of: oh hey. what's Jonny Sims doing in this piece of media I started consuming solely because Jonny Sims was in it.

[intothestars23]

One thing I don’t think the Fourth Wing fandom seems to acknowledge or appreciate enough is just how quickly Sawyer is willing to kill anyone who slights Violet

Jack comes back? “We should kill him again”

Cat’s still being rude? “We could bury her and nobody would find her”

Rhiannon & Ridoc will shut their ass down verbally & physically, but Sawyer will jump straight to murder lmao and I love that for him

[hoeswater]

the mortifying ordeal of being Jack Seward. God, can you imagine- you get rejected by a girl. Fine. You're a bit emo about it but you're holding up. She accepts a proposal from your close pal. Ok, that stings, but you do love Arthur and at least you have your work to focus on. You get cc'd on a message from your second close pal and it says you WILL be attending a celebratory dinner. Yeah, to celebrate your dream girl saying yes to Close Pal #1. Ok, whatever, you're a man of honor. You go. Girl falls ill. Close Pal #1 says hey man, please go medically examine my fiancee - yeah, the one that rejected you. I know it'll be weird but I insist. Please man, you're my Close Pal. Ok. Fine. This girl is still important to you. You do it. You're sitting by said Ill Girl's bedside, trying not to think about that embarrassing time when you sat on your hat, asked her out, and then got rejected, and then her MOTHER walks in and goes wow, dude, why don't you have a wife yet? You and the girl Do Not Look at Each Other Dear God Lucy Do Not Make Eye Contact With Me Right Now I Swear to God. Girl gets sicker. You phone a friend. Your friend comes and promptly breaks the ice with your Mortally Ill Dream Girl (who rejected you after watching you sit on your hat) by being like Well, You Know Jack. He Doesn't Know Anything about Women. Probably Why He Sat on His Hat and then You Rejected Him. Christ. Mortally Ill Dream Girl dies and you find yourself enmeshed in Horrors Beyond Your Comprehension and you think, well, ok, at least if I'm focused on the Horrors Beyond My Comprehension I won't be thinking about my tragic and thus far very embarrassing love story. Let me just focus on picking up this nice lady from the train station because she and her husband have some important information for us. And then the FIRST THING OUT OF THE NICE LADY'S MOUTH is Oh Yeah I Know You Lucy Told Me How You Sat on Your Hat and Then She Rejected You. Ohhhhhhh my god

[cathyartie]

Hot Cocoa Experience

Probably better than peasants’ blood.

[amphibimations]

[cutetanuki-chan]

Baru trying to hide Aminata from Tain Shir seeing her is so precious to me

from now on every woman around Baru should wear armor as strong as Aminata's

they are literally like that one meme of two people bending over each other to protect from a gunshot

I'm still not finished third book but if something happens with Aminata I'm gonna revolt

[egophiliac]

queen of diamonds, upright + reversed 💎

I've redone this like eighty times, I have to just be done with it now and stop staring at all my mistakes oh no 🫠

[valhalla-awaitsfor-us]

the way tv shows are ALLERGIC to create interesting and plot relevant ace/aro characters, my god.

Yes, im looking at you sex education and Heartstopper. There is a bunch of tv shows and movies that i can also name, but those two are just big disappointments since they should actually uplift different sexualities… I guess we are not fun, guys.