**Favorite Five-Star Reads**

As I sit down to write this article, I am filled with joy and nostalgia. I'm about to share with you my favorite five-star reads, books that have left an indelible mark on my heart and mind. These are the stories that I've re-read multiple times, that I've recommended to friends and family, and that I'll continue to cherish for years to come.

**Human Contact with an Alien Life Form**

One of my favorite five-star reads is about human contact with an alien life form, a collaboration between humans and aliens that is both heartwarming and fascinating. This book was like nothing I'd ever read before, and it left me feeling uplifted and inspired. The author's writing style was engaging and effortless, making it easy to become fully immersed in the story.

**Midnight Sun by Stephanie Meyer**

Another favorite of mine is Midnight Sun by Stephanie Meyer. I finally got my hands on this book after years of waiting, and it did not disappoint. It was like revisiting an old friend, a love letter from Edward to his beloved Bella. The writing was beautiful, the characters were complex and relatable, and the story was both romantic and suspenseful.

**The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave**

I also recently read The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave, which is one of my favorite mysteries. This book kept me on the edge of my seat, turning page after page to find out who done it and what happened next. It was a thrilling ride that had me guessing until the very end.

**Romance in Thrillers**

Romance is often overlooked in thrillers, but The Whispers by Ashley A is a perfect example of how it can be woven seamlessly into an edge-of-your-seat story. This book was like a mix of domestic drama and intrigue, with just the right amount of tension to keep me hooked.

**Domestic Drama with an Edge**

Another favorite of mine is Yellow Face by AR Kuong, a book that tackles some heavy themes with sensitivity and nuance. This book was a thought-provoking exploration of identity, culture, and community, with characters that felt real and relatable.

**Killers of a Certain Age**

I also recently read Killers of a Certain Age by Di Rayborn, which is like a cozy mystery on steroids. This book had me laughing and guessing until the very end, with a cast of characters that were both quirky and lovable.

**Unreliable Narrators**

If you like books with unreliable narrators, None of This Is True by Lisa Juel is a must-read. This book kept me on my toes, guessing and trying to piece together the truth alongside the protagonist.

**Romance that Will Make You Cry**

And finally, I want to talk about Left of Forever by Tara DT, which is one of the most romantic books I've read in a long time. This second-chance romance was like nothing I'd ever experienced before - it was both heartbreaking and beautiful, with characters that felt real and relatable.

**A Shameless Plug for Rao Fanfiction**

I also want to give a shout-out to Not Another Love Song by an anonymous author, who writes some amazing Rao fanfiction. This book is like a love letter from the author's heart, pouring their soul onto the page in a way that feels both intimate and vulnerable.

**Revisiting Favorite Reads**

As I finish writing this article, I'm filled with nostalgia for all of these books. Some of them have become favorites of mine because they're just plain fun to read, while others are because they've left a lasting impact on my life. I've decided that I'd love to revisit some of these favorite reads in the future, and maybe even share more recommendations along the way.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhello welcome back to my channel today's video I'm going to be reviewing ranking talking all about all of my festar reads I've been doing this screen recording series over here on my channel uh for the past couple of months and I've just had so much fun with it so I'm like dreaming up new ways to talk about the books I have on my Goodreads shelf I've been an active Goodreads user for almost a decade at this point and I have been recording the books that I have been reading since 2012 so I have quite the plethora books spanning over a decade that we can check B about talk about and I can I guess reflect on whether or not these Five Star reads hold up over time I also thought this one could be fun because I am a notorious hater which I think we all know and I recently went on my contemporary romance shelf and showed you all my Five Star reads then it just got me thinking like what have I given five stars to that just isn't in Romance so we're going to go ahead and check those out I have sorted my red shelf for my five-star reads first up wow blast from the past we have seiz the Night by cherylyn Kenyan closely followed by lover unbalance by J.R Ward cherylyn kenyon's dark Hunter series was one of my first paray into I guess what we could parallel to Romany back in the day Romany didn't exist quite as it does today that's not to say that there have not been Fantastical romances but I think the focus especially in sort of like the early 2000s was on things that were very paranormal demons demon Hunters ghosts vampires things like that and after reading Twilight I was really looking for things in that same vein that were maybe just like a little bit sexier and I really found that whenever I found jar Ward's black tiger Brotherhood series and I couldn't find anything else that was like vampiric in that way that I really with but I did find the dark Hunter series which I read so many of you're going to see a lot of those on this list and I distinctly remember downloading them all for my Kindle and then taking them to the beach when I was in like high school and college and just pounding my way through those books now that I'm saying it founding maybe not the best verbiage there but the series is about these demon Hunters I guess who are blessed by goddess basically when they are dying they can uh call out to her for help and she can like save their lives and then they have to be indebted to her and hunt for her these evil demons each story follows one of these guys hunting down these demons and falling in love at the same time if you fall in love you can no longer be in service and they have to like bargain with this goddess to like get out of their service I loved these books I thought they were so fun at the time they kind of like straddled the line between like iCal urban fantasy romance and dark romance and I really loved them the author has an interesting past and you can look that up or I guess interesting present if you are so inclined think she accused her husband of trying to poison her which is kind of wild that there's a whole story there I haven't really read any of her stuff in recent years but I have such fondness for that series but the series that I like ultimately have the most fondness for I've really probably any series that I've ever read is ultimately the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by Jr Ward these are paranormal vampire romances they're smutty they have all the 2000's Vibes is the content sometimes questionable sure could there have been a gay relationship earlier on in the series that we were all craving sure but genuinely loved the series so much and realizing that books could have sex in them was transformative for me wild I guess to consider how many women in their early 20s are like getting into reading romance now and just have this like plethora of options especially targeted towards like their age demographic cuz when I was picking up Romance there really wasn't that much out there targeted towards a younger age demographic it was like most of the heroins were like in their 30s and were getting with like billionaires or like Cowboys I don't know there just wasn't as much as there is today and there definitely wasn't KU so yeah such a fness for the black dager Brotherhood series and that's probably going to be the series that we start with over on my podcast whenever we get that go in I with these so heavily lover Unbound I believe is Butch and I cannot remember his partner's name but Butch's story Vampire Academy again this was just that time in my life oh I have it on here twice it's just this time in my life where was craving more vampires and while this wasn't Twilight it still had a romance that I was into I think this probably sparked my love for like student teacher romances not as big of a fan now but when I was younger I was just so into that honestly stand by my f star rating I have read this book so many different times read this in March of 2024 it just stands up it holds up it's fun love the movie and I don't care who knows it I really want vampires to make a Resurgence in in the same way in like a very fun way maybe I'll just have to write one myself moving on oh God lord of Scoundrels by Loretta chase this is one that I kind of want to read though I guess I reread it most recently in 2022 this is a historical romance throwback it does not have modern sensibilities whatsoever but our heroine shoots at our hero at one point she is a very fiery and feisty woman and this book is just one of those classic historicals that like I just can't get enough of I think that it's such a winner all of these books I'm just gushing about and like am I giving you any context for what they're about not really in this book He's a total Nar dwell she is very like straight laced and I think her brother's like a gambler and she's trying to get them out of like a bad situation and so she marries this guy yeah their relationship's quite fiery we gone to some high school Throwbacks some Middle School Throwbacks in some cases Star Girl by Jerry Spinelli I love books or at least I did when I was younger that had main characters who were a little bit of a freak a little bit off a little bit strange because I was not exactly cool growing up could relate deeply to characters like this was I as like kind a star girl no something to Aspire to perhaps the truth about forever and just listen by Sarah dsen are books that I ate up I had paperbacks of both of these and parents were actually giving me some of my old books to bring home and those books like are tattered cuz I tore through those I loved them something that Sarah desen does that I really can see in my like adult reading is really focusing on that blend of like angst and real world issues I guess in her romances while still having a romance that you kind of of swoon for I need that perfect balance you know and I think maybe that's what I crave as an adult now that I'm really thinking about it is that I feel like I'm seeing so much smut and not enough about how I don't know like family and family relationships can affect us and can like affect how we engage in our romantic relationships I might have to revisit one of these in the future and I really wish I could remember which one of these was my favorite I kind of want to say that I prefer just listen I remember the hero would listen to like rain noises like he was really into like all kinds of music what fondness I have for those they were so fun more Black Dagger Brotherhood lover awakened is easily the best of all of these books the hero is the quintessential damaged hero sparked my love of damaged Heroes it's so it's so fun honestly looking at these formative so many of these books are and how much they have colored my love of romance in the future but I love a good damaged hero I think my damaged hero taste has changed a touch in that I don't really like them when they are to everyone and just nice to the heroin or when they're just because of what's happened to them and to the heroin hero definitely has to heal from his trauma over the course of the story but he is in my opinion nothing but kind to the heroin so I guess maybe he like still falls into the kind of Heroes I like but and we have like a high school required reading The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien I want to say this one's about the Vietnam War the narrative style and like the way the story is told I think was pretty interesting moving on we've got loveer Eternal we don't need to get into more black Decker Brotherhood but this one I mean also a Banger the first five books in the series I think I rated all five stars loved all of them then things kind of fall off and like there's a couple five stars here and there but not all of them another historical throwback a kingdom of Dreams by Judith MCN this one I think is like perfect for lovers of like Game of Thrones or Outlander it's got that kind of like medieval feel and I don't feel like very many historicals have like a medieval setting very fiery heroin I'm finding that that's what I like just those like old school historicals with heroins who don't take I feel like right now we're in the Heyday of the wall flower and like that's great too but I personally can relate much more to the spirited heroins so I really I love this one and I think this is one that's like worth revisiting and jth MCD we don't totally get along I think her most popular Whitney my love oh uh it has a couple of scenes that I find questionable but this this book I with I feel like a great and Terrible Beauty sort of like slips under the radar too often cuz this one all Vibes and I feel like so so so many people could benefit from The Vibes of this book like if you were a historical fantasy person oh it is exactly that I just don't feel like this series gets the love that it deserves this is really the only series by Lia bra that I've enjoyed I know everybody with the divers but like this shit's underrated something that's probably not underrated but but uh my most read book of all time City of Bones by Cassandra clir how do I defend this one really I love and still probably love a questionable romance like give me The Angst give me a forbidden romance right uh for those that are uninformed this is technically Harry Potter fanfiction Ron and Jenny fanfiction it is questionable you know and I'm not here to defend that I love the world that Cassandra Clare has built I love the shadow Hunters Universe I just think it's so fun the politics and the characters and everything that she's built I really I do have fondness for still and every time I read this book it just feels like a warm hug reread this so many times in the summers in high school and I was so looking forward to like every new book that came out I remember when the The Infernal Devices series came out after the Mortal Instruments like these were just so formative for me I I stand by that five star reading I love these books next up is the name of the Wind by Patrick rothus and this one it's like so upsetting that I gave this one five stars and so upsetting that I loved it because this man is never going to publish more in this series he's published two books he claims he's going to write more it's just not going to happen more jward more sh and Kenyon we can chaa real smooth okay can I just say though this one right here is it asheron she went a little too hard with the damage hero like a little little too hard I the the abuse and the trauma that this character faces is mayhaps a bit much be reading on page it tugs on your heartstrings I mean look at that 4.56 overall rating right people with this book heavily but maybe not great Twilight is not what got me into reading and I feel like a lot of people say that Twilight is what got them into reading it is not what got me into reading but Twilight is the mus of my life Twilight has inspired so much of what I love in Romance in fiction in life when there's a good rainy day in the Texas Hill Country I'm just like oh I'm in Forks let me turn on the Twilight soundtrack like so much of this book has had such a big impact on my life started making YouTube videos because of Twilight and I think a lot of people can probably say that as well but the series is just everything to me I ride or die for it you know I really do you know it's questionable doesn't necessarily hold up over time and I am you know the first to admit that but it uh just has such an impact on my life it brought me my two best friends too so love love love gracing by Kristen gure under rated book I think Graceling is getting the love it deserves kind of now I think there was like not a republishing of this book but I think she published some more books in this series semi- recently I think these books got new covers this is just one of the most solid ya fantasies and I distinctly remember this series does not do what other ya fantasy series often do which is to like pull punches and not have characters die I feel like I remember distinctly um the character death and being just like and the character didn't come back to life you know there's so many like heartbreaking and amazing moments in the series uh it kind of makes me want to revisit it you know maybe that's what this video is doing for me right just like reminding me of all the things I used to love oh my God I just saw I just saw a book out of my Peri that I'm like I need to rad that God I need to reread some of these like like the original romantices you know what I mean the things that like got me excited fantasy romance okay Moving On The Lightning Thief by Rick ryen this book I did read when it came out I think I was like a little bit past this age demographic though I think this came out when I was past middle-grade age but I still read it I still enjoyed it but I never carried on with the series I never continued and I still haven't frankly although I do own all the books The Lightning Thief I reread in 2020 was kind of Blown Away by how solid this series is and how much it holds up today I watched the TV show with Hayden and we both actually enjoyed it he didn't enjoy it quite as much as me there's something so fun about the series and I don't think there is a lot like it I mean maybe now there is more of it cuz like you know this is the OG the original but there hadn't been a lot of like Greek god and goddess retellings especially for like this age group and I I feel like this really got people excited about this that we were like learning in school so yeah fondness definitely fondness although I don't have that like Nostalgia that I think uh people who are a couple of years younger than me have then we have the Awakening by Kelly Armstrong I feel like was so underrated this is like a paranormal romance series The heroine has a couple of different love interest and she ends up with the love interest that you do not expect which I feel like doesn't often happen in why you normally have like a love triangle really like handsome interesting fun maybe potentially bad boy Choice and then you have like the best friend or whatever or like the blog guy the guy she ends up with is just not who you expect at all and I ate it up The Angst and the tension I remember like ring their kiss scene like a million times ate the series up I don't exactly remember like the context but I think they like all had slightly different powers and they were all living in like a group home together because they got kicked out of like other like situations because of their powers goddess of the hunt by Tessa there this is one of the only books that I've given five stars to by Tessa there I really like Tessa stuff but once you have read almost all of her books which I have at this point you realize that a lot of her stories her Heroes her heroins tend to follow similar formulas right you've got like the Wallflower and the rake you've got the damaged hero and the flucky heroin who's going to like save him from himself it kind of repeats over and over again goddess of the Hunt is actually the first book the test ever published and it does not follow that formula whatsoever ever I talked about it and actually recommended it in my Summer Romance recommendations video which I'll link in the description I really loved this one because it's horny and sometimes you want that you also learn way too much about authors when you've read almost every one of their books might I say that all of the guys in Tessa's books are booby obsessed I don't know is that weird is it like too personal I kind of feel like it is I feel like I know too much after I see like the same sexual preferences over and over again in the book I see the same thing with Tessa Bailey you know Tessa D Tessa baile it's the Tessa the titty tesas the curse worker series by Holly black this series I think is pretty underrated I don't remember very much about it I do remember really with it I think the hero of the book has to like bear a glove because he touches people they die or something to that effect fever serious by Karen Marie moaning I a shadow fever so so heavily I feel like this was such a good conclusion to a series she probably shouldn't have continued it the fifth book I thought was really really solid and it's so rare for a fantasy or Romany series to stick the landing and I feel like this one really did as evidenced by that 4.39 rating though I will say like fantasy series with cult followings do tend to have high ratings on Goodreads this one I think actually deserves I thought it was really good Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn is truly one of the best mystery thrillers out there I don't care if it's basic I don't give a the cool girl monologue going to go down in history as just one of the best I mean it just speaks to a problem that I think that we as a collective have acknowledged even more so since this book was in its Heyday I just eat it up every time I read it I reread it this year and I loved it so I fully stand by that rating so good daughter of smoken B by Lany Taylor yet another series that really set the mood and set the tone for the things that I enjoy granted I've never found anything even remotely similar to this this is a book about Love and War and being enemies on such a grand scale it's about reincarnation reincarnation is something that comes up often in some of the books that I've Loved but it is one of the most interesting and inventive worlds I think I've ever read a monster calls by Patrick NES this is one of the best books on Grief that I have ever read and it is so sad that I don't know if I will ever pick it up again attachments by rampo Rowl was a book that I read and I was in a very weird place in my life this is an adult contemporary romance that kind of leans more into the women's fiction side of things you've got a kind of Jim and Pam type Dynamic I would say and not in the sense that like they work super side by side more in the sense that the longing is definitely there I have to say the whole gy and Pam Dynamic before they get together is quite juicy and is something that like I don't know I just I I vividly see that scene where he like kind of comes on to her in the parking lot and she like walks away from him I could just see it I can just see in my head same Vibes and attachments slightly different in that I believe he's like either emailing her or like monitoring her emails which sounds really up but's something so quaint about this book there's something so quaint so Charming grave Mercy by Robin Le fever this is a killer nun series assassin nun series these were surprisingly horny for the time and it's kind of crazy how many books wound up on my five star list when I was in like high school just purely because they're horny just purely purely because I was into romance and I was looking for stuff like that so grave Mercy Dart Triumph they all kind of fit that fit Bill Isa and the happily ever after so many people like to dunk on an and the French kiss and I frankly can't even remember why but apparently I liked Isa and the happily ever after player one by Ernest Klein I know I know I should be too cool for this and yes there are some especially problematic like fat phobia issues in this book but but good God if it is no fun one the Scorpio Races by Maggie stod is all Vibes all the time it's about water horses horses that just come out of the water and people race them and a lot of people die in the races but if you win I don't remember what happens but I really liked this book Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson is one that I just read and I very much enjoy might be a adult fantasy garly I don't know I'm going to find that out pretty soon here because I'm reading some of Hayden's favorites uh this month for his birthday for a little taste test Winger by Andrew Smith I remember this is one of the first books that I ever like cracked up at don't really remember much about it I do remember that like the only gay character dies so not great ftner Stars by John Green this is one that I Revisited again in 2024 I I made a video at the beginning of the year revisiting some uh books that I loved in 2014 just as like a you know decade ago sort of situation there's something about this book that still holds up for me it's not perfect there's definitely issues with it the critiques that it gets I think are harsh and unkind and I actually do think that teens occasionally talk like this Aristotle and Don discovered the secrets of the universe this I remember really enjoying I read it so long ago that I honestly can't remember much about it this was one of the first like queer YA books that I read for that I am thankful moving on to more queer stuff the less than Epic Adventures of TJ and AAL there are a couple of like web novels I guess or like I don't know graphic novels that are on web comics read back the like 2017 2018 time period I liked these because when I was in college or grad school I could be on my computer looking like I was busy and then just like read sweet romances um this was like a road trip novel I think these like two strangers kind of love over the course of the story I don't know if I stand by my five star rating but I certainly did enjoy this Eden Brooke my favorite happy accident this book I read for a list video my first ever list video and there were very few books that I read for that list that I enjoyed but Eden Brooke was one that surprised me because it's a going to say clean romance but I don't like that word and I want to push back against the idea that romances without sex are clean it is a romance without sex shall we say it is very much like an of Green Gable's Whimsical historical romance it was very fun really enjoyed the sister dynamic in this book too every day by David Levan I really liked David Levan back in the day I remember like going to the public library and like grabbing a lot of his books in the Summers want to say this person like wakes up in a different person's body every day and so they don't have their own body to live in and they make a connection with someone and they try to get back to that person every day his books are always kind of tragic but I remember really liking that one forgive me Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick I think this one had questions about mortality and about unal living yourself maybe something like that lady midnight by Cassandra Clair the dark artifices series is underrated I'm going to say I think it's underrated everybody loves The Infernal Devices and I just could not get into those but the dark artifices I was like oh my god oh more angst more tension I just think she does a really good job with that and you know technically you've got that in The Infernal Devices but about them little Victorian lace up boots just does not ever do it for me so Dream Thieves by Maggie stod I mean it's the Raven Cycle Series if you're unaware I don't know what to tell you but what a crazy inventive World very similar to goodness daughter smoking bone by Lany Taylor not in terms of the vibe or the fantasy world but just picking up something that you felt like you had never read before loved the series I wish the last book hadn't have sucked so bad in my humble opinion but so many good books in that series and just such incredible and impeccable Vibes acatar you know I'm not too good for aatar I'm I'm simply not I do not think the Crescent City series is any good but Throne of Glass series a cord of thorns and Roses series I like them I I do okay I'm a girl the burning Sky by Sher Thomas I don't remember this but I have pictures of this book next to my bathtub and next to nugget my first cat I remember working my way through this book I could not tell you a single thing about it though so I always like to think that my memory holds up well over time uh and then there's some books I'm like no clue like genuinely no clue what this is about a different Blue by Amy Haron student teacher relationship this was like the KU time period where everything was like not angsty per se but just like overwrought with emotion that were like really trying to make you cry think about Colleen Hoover everybody was trying to be Colleen that's the vibe here a court of M and fury a court of wings and ruin I don't know if I'd give them both five stars at this point probably aamf but maybe not a court of wings and ruin so I don't necessarily stand by that one unteachable by Elliot wake talk about the wildest student teacher book that has ever been I think more people need to read this it is kind of an unsettling student teacher relationship the imagery and just like the beauty of this book I think is top-notch so you definitely need to read that all for the game series by noris sakovic this I read in 2017 so before I started book and these books I ate up I read them again on a vacation what is it about vacations just like having such Immaculate book Vibes I need to go on more vacations in adulthood so I can like rekindle that same love I read all of these back toback and I remember the first one having a really hard time getting through the writing it was so strange nothing like I'd ever read before but I was so addicted to the series it's just unlike anything I've ever read forbidden not even forbidden nature of the romance but how deeply damaged both of the heroes were in this book how they somehow found solace in each other it was very nice and it was kind of like a Ian and Mickey sort of relationship like Shameless but like on 10 such a good time honestly feel like those have such a cult following and I'm surprised that they have not been like picked up by like a a publisher or series hasn't like got a spin-off or anything illumin by Jay Kristoff and Amy Kaufman this is one of the first sci-fi books that I actually really enjoyed I think because of the way that it is written it's like I believe told in like interesting little text conversations um between hero and heroine I can't remember much else to be honest the Wrath and the dawn Pate aier the guy kills his wives every day or whatever but like this girl is like telling him stories and so he doesn't kill her and she comes back every night and whatever anyway they're married and I liked it Simon versus the homo sapiens agenda a classic a classic queer book and honestly there are a lot of queer books on this list especially in the like 2016 2017 time period i' I've known about my sexuality I've known about my queerness since I was quite young I didn't really explore those feelings until 2020s I guess you know like the the 2016 2017 time period for me was definitely a time of self-discovery and self-exploration and I read a lot of queer stories I wish that I had read more female female stories that probably would have been more applicable to my own life but there was a lot of like male male romance and I am forever grateful that I went through that time period of my life and that I got to you know read so many different stories that I guess like encouraged me to explore myself more number in the ashes by sabad is one of the best ya a fantasies richly interesting world again kind of dark different than anything I've ever read before I never carried on with series I tried to read the second book a couple of times and just couldn't get into it but that first book Is genuinely very good Radiance by Grace Draven I think is just a perfect Opposites Attract romance he is like kind of a beast and she is a human type person they are promised to each other in marriage and I don't know fun time the kindor killing is one of the most Bonkers and off-the-wall thrillers I like that sometimes Peter Swanson I think has written two books that I've enjoyed and this is one of them just delightful paranormal urban fantasy romance series The Hidden Legacy series by Alona Andrews I love the this is set in Houston I love Nevada Baylor as a character forever grateful for this series for again kind of like re invigorating my love and my passion for the the sub genre for the Paranormal urban fantasy romance sub genre cuz you know I read a lot of that when I was younger and then I just kind of fell off and got into contemporaries and stuff um but this one definitely kind of got me back into it in the 2020s so very much love this series I don't know if this or Rock by need to Sunday like really holds up for me beneath the stain is a queer romance one of the heroes endures like a ton of trauma and abuse I think he like Falls for his bodyguard or something he's like a rock star I'd have to revisit the to see if this one like held up but my mind's eye probably not rock by neita Sunday has an interesting twist at the end that I'm not going to spoil for you and I've already talked about this one so I'm going to move past some of these contemporaries um that I've kind of already talked about at this point Harry on by rainbow Rowl this is really my first foray into rubed fanfiction might I say that I really like it you know I say that technically technically City of Bones is rubed fanfiction but like didn't it didn't quite have fanfiction Vibes to me carry on does and it seems like all of the romances that I've really loved as of late also are like that I don't know what it is I don't know what it is I think it's maybe like the built-in angst intention that nother is able to capitalize on that's already kind of been built the original work and they just kind of like build on that in their own that I don't know just I really love it I love the tropes involved the lightning struck Heart by TJ cloon is one of the most like campy fun fantasy books I feel like TJ's newer series or newer books get a lot of love I think you would really enjoy this if you like his Vibe and also like fantasy Winter Song by SJ Jones this was one of the first arcs I ever received I remember just being so excited for it and maybe not loving it to like a five star level but giving it five stars because I was just so excited to have received one of my first arcs yeah I definitely don't let Arc status influence my reviews at this point but back in the day I think the first couple of arcs that I got I was just like so giddy and so excited to get them that I was like oh my God this five star is amazing so good um even when it like maybe wasn't my favorite dress codes for small towns by Courtney C Stevens this one I have fond to SP because I believe I read this for one of my first taste test videos Kayla from books and laa I did really enjoy this book just such Nostalgia I guess for the beginning of my book career check please wow what a throwback this is a queer graphic novel I feel like this got a lot of hype back in 2017 and I feel like I never hear people talk about this anymore but very fun series and has kind of like heartstopper Vibes lots of stuff that I have already talked about the cruel Prince the wicked king queen of nothing the cruel print series again is just like one of those formative series for me and it's weird to call something formative when like I was already a grown ass adult when I read these right back in 2018 but again start of my book career start of just like finding new things that I was into not reading all of the same series over and over again I stand by those ratings I really do queen of nothing maybe not five star material but I just love that Series so much all right more ya uh we've got autobiography summer of salt and Scythe I don't feel like I have anything really groundbreaking to say about any of these like these are all very solid books I liked these two because they are what's the word I'm looking for just like very good coming of age stories but I do not want to talk about all this ya wow I think it's cuz my taste has changed so much right like some ya is nostalgic and is like formative for me and I will forever talk about those but the ya that I read before I could really like find my taste in books is just not stuff that I really care to like talk about a lot Eliza and her monsters birthday the poex far from the tree furyborn all of these are like great books and I probably would stand by my five star ratings for them but I'm also like I don't really want to talk about them like that's not really what I'm into now or things like I like would recommend now I recently got called out for giving this one five stars I love this book I personally with Lee's writing I was going to say I really like dark Academia I don't really and I like when dark Academia it doesn't take itself too seriously I think something about like the classic secret history or whatever is that like it kind of takes itself a little too seriously like it's not fun right and this one has like fantasy elements so I'm all about that good daughter is my favorite Karen Slaughter book this one I think it's just so juicy because it's so psychological and I think it's better than pretty girls and and um if you've read pretty girls and you were like oh this is too gory or like I want something better read the good daughter right STI by Courtney Summers is the one ya coming up that I will actually talk about because it's one that I remember and one that I really loved this book is so wild the ending of this book is absolutely baddy I loved the podcast style this is one of the first books I ever read that kind of like toos a true crime podcast with like present day narrative and I think what I like so much about this one is that the podcast tries to follow the events of what happened to uh stie getting like s's perspective as the podcast like documents what happened to her it just works so well for me this book was genuinely very very good and it's like I think a new classic in in the ya genre more stuff that I've already talked about another tadir that I've given five stars to the governance game I actually think the governance game is probably my favorite I do also like that first book in the want and dairy Made series but the governance game is just I think the perfect representation of Tessa's bread and butter which is the reformed rake and the Wallflower I also love the kids in this book they're hysterically funny and I really need to revisit this because this is like a comfort read hisorical romance that isn't going to take itself too seriously or be too hard to read and you like Bridger tan govern this game babes govern this game Skyward by Brandon Sanderson okay this one is ya but it's science fiction and I actually really really enjoyed this book the heroin is like a little bit immature and a little bit irritating but she has such gumption and such a passion she wants to like lie spaceships essentially in this like sci-fi World take after her dad I want to say and she uncovers a lot of stuff about her world like as the book goes on I remember finishing this and being like what the like do I actually like science fiction the answer is sometimes I haven't like you know had some great Epiphany that like science fiction is the best but this book really and I need to read more in this series I always tell myself I'm going to continue on and I never do but I think the last book has either just come out or will come out soon so yes love that long exposure is one of the prettiest online graphic novel sequential art things that I've ever read I don't believe it's finished there's kind of a weird relationship between these two I want to say it's like a bully kind of and his love interest love interest has like superpowers and I just like I'm picturing rainbows like kind of going around every but very beautiful very beautiful it's queer obviously to the silent patient by Alex meles I need to revisit this one because I always say that this is like one of my faves I think it was like my favorite book in 2019 or one of my favorites and like I have not liked from this man since so does it hold up who knows a heart and a body in the world one of the saddest books that I think I've ever read talks about gun violence so more contemporary romance that I have already chatted to you about Legend born by Tracy Dion I don't feel like I need to talk about this one because so many people I feel like lately have picked up on the greatness of the series but it's so good and I think I've only read the first book actually I might have read the sequel I can't remember this book's so good it's so good it's got like the nights of the Round Table sort of thing dig by as king is one of the most interesting YA books that I've read in that it is so interconnected in ways that you don't expect boxs a lot about like intergenerational trauma it's good as king writ some really really interesting and hard-hitting YA books girl guide to murder I really want to watch this on Netflix now that it is out what a fun book I did not expect to enjoy this as much as I did I've read this one in 2023 I think for like reading your best books of the year or something and this is like one of the only ones I liked so I feel like that says something the Wallflower wager by tadir this is additionally a very horny Tessa Dare book the heroin is like you sexy and I'm going to climb it like a tree even though she's supposed to be like chased or whatever and I love that for her lock every door by Riley Sager this is in my opinion Riley Sager's only good book a gal is like apartment sitting I guess for this person in this apartment complex and she has to follow very specific rules and then she uncovers the secrets of the apartment complex I liked it I liked it quite a bit I also really liked the lady's guide to Celestial mechanics this is a queer historical romance and I remember this is one of the first female female romances that I read that wasn't totally soft I don't have that issue as much anymore because more and more are getting published and are kind of going there pushing the envelope with the sex scenes but I remember reading this and being like this is godamn sexy The Space Between Worlds by Mia Johnson I really enjoyed this it's a science fiction book that I don't remember much about but it is queer feel like we need more queer science fiction books like give me your recommendations in the comments stage Dreams by Melanie Gilman this is such a good graphic novel we have a trans heroin I believe like a wild west sort of like I don't say Bandits kind of story but sort of they like Rob people anxious people by Frederick Bachman I really liked when I was going through a really really hard time and it just gave me like hope for the future and I I love that about books I love that a book can hit you at just the right time and have such an impact on your life that being said this is not a book that I would probably like nowadays I feel like Frederick Bachmann writes a lot of like how do I say this without being insulting hope core kind of stuff right like he's he's writing things to be inspirational and that's not normally the kind of story that connects with me I'm just kind of um not into that kind of but at the time I was okay at the time I was sad and so I did it chasing Cassandra by Lisa clus is so fun this whole series The ravenel's is one of my favorite historical romance Series so again if you're looking for something to read after Bridgerton there you go the push by Ashley audrain is one of my favorite books of all time it is a very harrowing story shall we say about motherhood and the wild feelings and emotions that motherhood can bring up also intergenerational trauma with your mom yeah yeah yeah it's a it's a banger it's very very good so is the only good Indians by step Graham Jones I don't want to chaa past that one um it's been a while since I've read this one so I don't remember that much about it but it is a horror novel and it has some native main characters which I love I remember that it was graphic in a way that I was not expecting and was quite horrifying so would recommend when no one is watching by Lissa Cole another incredible horror novel again I don't really remember much about it what is it with me not remembering that happens to horror novels it's like I'm horrified and then I forget this one is genuinely very good and um I don't feel like this one got the love that it deserves so you should pick this one up as well Lis sixs by Olive You Blake was so much fun this is one of the first books that I read off of recommendation from Tik Tok and I can't say that I've gotten very many amazing recommendations since then but this is one of the most like viby fantasy books that I've ever read I have not read any of the other books in the series and I have all three of them so I feel like maybe at some point I need to do a little reread and or read of the series but this is about a bunch of people who are like competing I guess to be like Protectors of the Library of Alexandria or something like that what an interesting what an interesting book I personally really enjoyed the way this was written I think that's what turns a lot of people off from it it is very close to the characters there's not a lot of plot it's more about character interactions and the potential ships and you know there's one thing I'm about it's it's a ship things by Sarah Anderson is a like graphic novel like vignettes of this relationship between a vampire and a werewolf and it's very cute project H Mary by Andy Weir honestly like the more I'm looking through this list the more I'm like why is there so much science fiction on here is science fiction just actually good maybe so genuinely phenomenal it is about human contact with an alien life form the collaboration that goes on between the two and it's very heartwarming you know it's given kind of like Frederick Bachman in space in a way that didn't irritate me Midnight Sun by Stephanie Meyer reading this in 2020 getting this gift that I have been waiting for for many years was quite informative and quite great this is one that I'd probably revisit cuz like obviously I've read like all the Twilight books many times and I've only read this one once so maybe I need to get into Edward's weird little horny head again the last thing he told me by Laura deave is a mystery and it is one of my favorite Mysteries I feel like we need more Mysteries can I say that for the record I feel like Thrillers are a diamond dozen but where are the good Mysteries this one really had me turning my page not actually I was listening to the audio book but like mentally turning my page just like wondering what's going to happen like who who it who done it and where did this man go and it's also very like sad and kind of romantic at the same time love this book so good more romance honestly so much romance it's not that surprising that so many of my five stars are romance but also you know not as much to talk about as I had expected The Whispers by Ashley a another Banger by Miss girl this one's like if you like domestic drama with like an edge mayhaps You' pick this one up and enjoy it yellow face by AR kuong I feel like I've talked about this book so much I don't need to go into detail but but this is a book that I think genuinely everybody needs to read especially if you are someone who reviews books or talks about books on the internet killers of a certain age By Di Rayborn all right this one is about a group of Assassins who worked for I believe like the British government or like maybe CIA something to that effect now they're old and they are going to be killed off but they' figured out they're going to be killed off now they want to go after the person who is after them this one was so much fun it's like kind of a cozy mystery but a lot of like stakes and tension and definitely something that I think that a lot of you would enjoy honestly this was like a book of the month pick and I probably wouldn't have pied it up had it not been but honestly so much fun none of this is true by Lisa juel is one of the most recent Thrillers that I've read and if you like a good unreliable narrator this is definitely a book that you are going to want to pick up one romance that I gave five stars that I have not talked about on my channel I think this is the last five star that I've given Tara DT's newest book left of forever I sensitivity read this and this was my favorite book that Tera has ever written it is so phenomenal so deeply romantic it is a second chance Romance we get to know the characters a little bit in savorite if you've read that one I don't want to spoil because you know it's not out yet and I don't know how much is going to change between me reading it and it getting edited and published but what a Charming story what an incredible Second Chance romance I feel like marriage and trouble Second Chance romance is especially between divorced people it'd be really hard to make work but something about this one just really did it for me if you like Kennedy Ryan's first book Is It Before I Let Go like that one I think it'll really enjoy left of forever and I will give a Shameless plug for it because again I just sensitivity read this book and I give it five stars is very good another book that I just like could honestly have about all day is Not Another Love Song because I'm sorry we need more raof fic published we do I'm sorry I don't give a I like Rao fanfiction I think more of it needs to be published that's it those are all my Five Star reads I obviously skipped quite a bit because a lot of it is contemporary romance which I've already talked about but it was honestly fun to like walk down memory lane with all of you and just talk about all of the that I loved for many years a lot of this stuff I kind of want to revisit maybe I'll do another like revisiting my Five Star reads um like ya Edition because there is many a ya book that I loved and just yearned for thanks for sticking with me this is a long one I am planning on doing another video like this but for my onear reads where I get to just really but thanks so much for watching love you all so much and I'll see you in the next one byehello welcome back to my channel today's video I'm going to be reviewing ranking talking all about all of my festar reads I've been doing this screen recording series over here on my channel uh for the past couple of months and I've just had so much fun with it so I'm like dreaming up new ways to talk about the books I have on my Goodreads shelf I've been an active Goodreads user for almost a decade at this point and I have been recording the books that I have been reading since 2012 so I have quite the plethora books spanning over a decade that we can check B about talk about and I can I guess reflect on whether or not these Five Star reads hold up over time I also thought this one could be fun because I am a notorious hater which I think we all know and I recently went on my contemporary romance shelf and showed you all my Five Star reads then it just got me thinking like what have I given five stars to that just isn't in Romance so we're going to go ahead and check those out I have sorted my red shelf for my five-star reads first up wow blast from the past we have seiz the Night by cherylyn Kenyan closely followed by lover unbalance by J.R Ward cherylyn kenyon's dark Hunter series was one of my first paray into I guess what we could parallel to Romany back in the day Romany didn't exist quite as it does today that's not to say that there have not been Fantastical romances but I think the focus especially in sort of like the early 2000s was on things that were very paranormal demons demon Hunters ghosts vampires things like that and after reading Twilight I was really looking for things in that same vein that were maybe just like a little bit sexier and I really found that whenever I found jar Ward's black tiger Brotherhood series and I couldn't find anything else that was like vampiric in that way that I really with but I did find the dark Hunter series which I read so many of you're going to see a lot of those on this list and I distinctly remember downloading them all for my Kindle and then taking them to the beach when I was in like high school and college and just pounding my way through those books now that I'm saying it founding maybe not the best verbiage there but the series is about these demon Hunters I guess who are blessed by goddess basically when they are dying they can uh call out to her for help and she can like save their lives and then they have to be indebted to her and hunt for her these evil demons each story follows one of these guys hunting down these demons and falling in love at the same time if you fall in love you can no longer be in service and they have to like bargain with this goddess to like get out of their service I loved these books I thought they were so fun at the time they kind of like straddled the line between like iCal urban fantasy romance and dark romance and I really loved them the author has an interesting past and you can look that up or I guess interesting present if you are so inclined think she accused her husband of trying to poison her which is kind of wild that there's a whole story there I haven't really read any of her stuff in recent years but I have such fondness for that series but the series that I like ultimately have the most fondness for I've really probably any series that I've ever read is ultimately the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by Jr Ward these are paranormal vampire romances they're smutty they have all the 2000's Vibes is the content sometimes questionable sure could there have been a gay relationship earlier on in the series that we were all craving sure but genuinely loved the series so much and realizing that books could have sex in them was transformative for me wild I guess to consider how many women in their early 20s are like getting into reading romance now and just have this like plethora of options especially targeted towards like their age demographic cuz when I was picking up Romance there really wasn't that much out there targeted towards a younger age demographic it was like most of the heroins were like in their 30s and were getting with like billionaires or like Cowboys I don't know there just wasn't as much as there is today and there definitely wasn't KU so yeah such a fness for the black dager Brotherhood series and that's probably going to be the series that we start with over on my podcast whenever we get that go in I with these so heavily lover Unbound I believe is Butch and I cannot remember his partner's name but Butch's story Vampire Academy again this was just that time in my life oh I have it on here twice it's just this time in my life where was craving more vampires and while this wasn't Twilight it still had a romance that I was into I think this probably sparked my love for like student teacher romances not as big of a fan now but when I was younger I was just so into that honestly stand by my f star rating I have read this book so many different times read this in March of 2024 it just stands up it holds up it's fun love the movie and I don't care who knows it I really want vampires to make a Resurgence in in the same way in like a very fun way maybe I'll just have to write one myself moving on oh God lord of Scoundrels by Loretta chase this is one that I kind of want to read though I guess I reread it most recently in 2022 this is a historical romance throwback it does not have modern sensibilities whatsoever but our heroine shoots at our hero at one point she is a very fiery and feisty woman and this book is just one of those classic historicals that like I just can't get enough of I think that it's such a winner all of these books I'm just gushing about and like am I giving you any context for what they're about not really in this book He's a total Nar dwell she is very like straight laced and I think her brother's like a gambler and she's trying to get them out of like a bad situation and so she marries this guy yeah their relationship's quite fiery we gone to some high school Throwbacks some Middle School Throwbacks in some cases Star Girl by Jerry Spinelli I love books or at least I did when I was younger that had main characters who were a little bit of a freak a little bit off a little bit strange because I was not exactly cool growing up could relate deeply to characters like this was I as like kind a star girl no something to Aspire to perhaps the truth about forever and just listen by Sarah dsen are books that I ate up I had paperbacks of both of these and parents were actually giving me some of my old books to bring home and those books like are tattered cuz I tore through those I loved them something that Sarah desen does that I really can see in my like adult reading is really focusing on that blend of like angst and real world issues I guess in her romances while still having a romance that you kind of of swoon for I need that perfect balance you know and I think maybe that's what I crave as an adult now that I'm really thinking about it is that I feel like I'm seeing so much smut and not enough about how I don't know like family and family relationships can affect us and can like affect how we engage in our romantic relationships I might have to revisit one of these in the future and I really wish I could remember which one of these was my favorite I kind of want to say that I prefer just listen I remember the hero would listen to like rain noises like he was really into like all kinds of music what fondness I have for those they were so fun more Black Dagger Brotherhood lover awakened is easily the best of all of these books the hero is the quintessential damaged hero sparked my love of damaged Heroes it's so it's so fun honestly looking at these formative so many of these books are and how much they have colored my love of romance in the future but I love a good damaged hero I think my damaged hero taste has changed a touch in that I don't really like them when they are to everyone and just nice to the heroin or when they're just because of what's happened to them and to the heroin hero definitely has to heal from his trauma over the course of the story but he is in my opinion nothing but kind to the heroin so I guess maybe he like still falls into the kind of Heroes I like but and we have like a high school required reading The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien I want to say this one's about the Vietnam War the narrative style and like the way the story is told I think was pretty interesting moving on we've got loveer Eternal we don't need to get into more black Decker Brotherhood but this one I mean also a Banger the first five books in the series I think I rated all five stars loved all of them then things kind of fall off and like there's a couple five stars here and there but not all of them another historical throwback a kingdom of Dreams by Judith MCN this one I think is like perfect for lovers of like Game of Thrones or Outlander it's got that kind of like medieval feel and I don't feel like very many historicals have like a medieval setting very fiery heroin I'm finding that that's what I like just those like old school historicals with heroins who don't take I feel like right now we're in the Heyday of the wall flower and like that's great too but I personally can relate much more to the spirited heroins so I really I love this one and I think this is one that's like worth revisiting and jth MCD we don't totally get along I think her most popular Whitney my love oh uh it has a couple of scenes that I find questionable but this this book I with I feel like a great and Terrible Beauty sort of like slips under the radar too often cuz this one all Vibes and I feel like so so so many people could benefit from The Vibes of this book like if you were a historical fantasy person oh it is exactly that I just don't feel like this series gets the love that it deserves this is really the only series by Lia bra that I've enjoyed I know everybody with the divers but like this shit's underrated something that's probably not underrated but but uh my most read book of all time City of Bones by Cassandra clir how do I defend this one really I love and still probably love a questionable romance like give me The Angst give me a forbidden romance right uh for those that are uninformed this is technically Harry Potter fanfiction Ron and Jenny fanfiction it is questionable you know and I'm not here to defend that I love the world that Cassandra Clare has built I love the shadow Hunters Universe I just think it's so fun the politics and the characters and everything that she's built I really I do have fondness for still and every time I read this book it just feels like a warm hug reread this so many times in the summers in high school and I was so looking forward to like every new book that came out I remember when the The Infernal Devices series came out after the Mortal Instruments like these were just so formative for me I I stand by that five star reading I love these books next up is the name of the Wind by Patrick rothus and this one it's like so upsetting that I gave this one five stars and so upsetting that I loved it because this man is never going to publish more in this series he's published two books he claims he's going to write more it's just not going to happen more jward more sh and Kenyon we can chaa real smooth okay can I just say though this one right here is it asheron she went a little too hard with the damage hero like a little little too hard I the the abuse and the trauma that this character faces is mayhaps a bit much be reading on page it tugs on your heartstrings I mean look at that 4.56 overall rating right people with this book heavily but maybe not great Twilight is not what got me into reading and I feel like a lot of people say that Twilight is what got them into reading it is not what got me into reading but Twilight is the mus of my life Twilight has inspired so much of what I love in Romance in fiction in life when there's a good rainy day in the Texas Hill Country I'm just like oh I'm in Forks let me turn on the Twilight soundtrack like so much of this book has had such a big impact on my life started making YouTube videos because of Twilight and I think a lot of people can probably say that as well but the series is just everything to me I ride or die for it you know I really do you know it's questionable doesn't necessarily hold up over time and I am you know the first to admit that but it uh just has such an impact on my life it brought me my two best friends too so love love love gracing by Kristen gure under rated book I think Graceling is getting the love it deserves kind of now I think there was like not a republishing of this book but I think she published some more books in this series semi- recently I think these books got new covers this is just one of the most solid ya fantasies and I distinctly remember this series does not do what other ya fantasy series often do which is to like pull punches and not have characters die I feel like I remember distinctly um the character death and being just like and the character didn't come back to life you know there's so many like heartbreaking and amazing moments in the series uh it kind of makes me want to revisit it you know maybe that's what this video is doing for me right just like reminding me of all the things I used to love oh my God I just saw I just saw a book out of my Peri that I'm like I need to rad that God I need to reread some of these like like the original romantices you know what I mean the things that like got me excited fantasy romance okay Moving On The Lightning Thief by Rick ryen this book I did read when it came out I think I was like a little bit past this age demographic though I think this came out when I was past middle-grade age but I still read it I still enjoyed it but I never carried on with the series I never continued and I still haven't frankly although I do own all the books The Lightning Thief I reread in 2020 was kind of Blown Away by how solid this series is and how much it holds up today I watched the TV show with Hayden and we both actually enjoyed it he didn't enjoy it quite as much as me there's something so fun about the series and I don't think there is a lot like it I mean maybe now there is more of it cuz like you know this is the OG the original but there hadn't been a lot of like Greek god and goddess retellings especially for like this age group and I I feel like this really got people excited about this that we were like learning in school so yeah fondness definitely fondness although I don't have that like Nostalgia that I think uh people who are a couple of years younger than me have then we have the Awakening by Kelly Armstrong I feel like was so underrated this is like a paranormal romance series The heroine has a couple of different love interest and she ends up with the love interest that you do not expect which I feel like doesn't often happen in why you normally have like a love triangle really like handsome interesting fun maybe potentially bad boy Choice and then you have like the best friend or whatever or like the blog guy the guy she ends up with is just not who you expect at all and I ate it up The Angst and the tension I remember like ring their kiss scene like a million times ate the series up I don't exactly remember like the context but I think they like all had slightly different powers and they were all living in like a group home together because they got kicked out of like other like situations because of their powers goddess of the hunt by Tessa there this is one of the only books that I've given five stars to by Tessa there I really like Tessa stuff but once you have read almost all of her books which I have at this point you realize that a lot of her stories her Heroes her heroins tend to follow similar formulas right you've got like the Wallflower and the rake you've got the damaged hero and the flucky heroin who's going to like save him from himself it kind of repeats over and over again goddess of the Hunt is actually the first book the test ever published and it does not follow that formula whatsoever ever I talked about it and actually recommended it in my Summer Romance recommendations video which I'll link in the description I really loved this one because it's horny and sometimes you want that you also learn way too much about authors when you've read almost every one of their books might I say that all of the guys in Tessa's books are booby obsessed I don't know is that weird is it like too personal I kind of feel like it is I feel like I know too much after I see like the same sexual preferences over and over again in the book I see the same thing with Tessa Bailey you know Tessa D Tessa baile it's the Tessa the titty tesas the curse worker series by Holly black this series I think is pretty underrated I don't remember very much about it I do remember really with it I think the hero of the book has to like bear a glove because he touches people they die or something to that effect fever serious by Karen Marie moaning I a shadow fever so so heavily I feel like this was such a good conclusion to a series she probably shouldn't have continued it the fifth book I thought was really really solid and it's so rare for a fantasy or Romany series to stick the landing and I feel like this one really did as evidenced by that 4.39 rating though I will say like fantasy series with cult followings do tend to have high ratings on Goodreads this one I think actually deserves I thought it was really good Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn is truly one of the best mystery thrillers out there I don't care if it's basic I don't give a the cool girl monologue going to go down in history as just one of the best I mean it just speaks to a problem that I think that we as a collective have acknowledged even more so since this book was in its Heyday I just eat it up every time I read it I reread it this year and I loved it so I fully stand by that rating so good daughter of smoken B by Lany Taylor yet another series that really set the mood and set the tone for the things that I enjoy granted I've never found anything even remotely similar to this this is a book about Love and War and being enemies on such a grand scale it's about reincarnation reincarnation is something that comes up often in some of the books that I've Loved but it is one of the most interesting and inventive worlds I think I've ever read a monster calls by Patrick NES this is one of the best books on Grief that I have ever read and it is so sad that I don't know if I will ever pick it up again attachments by rampo Rowl was a book that I read and I was in a very weird place in my life this is an adult contemporary romance that kind of leans more into the women's fiction side of things you've got a kind of Jim and Pam type Dynamic I would say and not in the sense that like they work super side by side more in the sense that the longing is definitely there I have to say the whole gy and Pam Dynamic before they get together is quite juicy and is something that like I don't know I just I I vividly see that scene where he like kind of comes on to her in the parking lot and she like walks away from him I could just see it I can just see in my head same Vibes and attachments slightly different in that I believe he's like either emailing her or like monitoring her emails which sounds really up but's something so quaint about this book there's something so quaint so Charming grave Mercy by Robin Le fever this is a killer nun series assassin nun series these were surprisingly horny for the time and it's kind of crazy how many books wound up on my five star list when I was in like high school just purely because they're horny just purely purely because I was into romance and I was looking for stuff like that so grave Mercy Dart Triumph they all kind of fit that fit Bill Isa and the happily ever after so many people like to dunk on an and the French kiss and I frankly can't even remember why but apparently I liked Isa and the happily ever after player one by Ernest Klein I know I know I should be too cool for this and yes there are some especially problematic like fat phobia issues in this book but but good God if it is no fun one the Scorpio Races by Maggie stod is all Vibes all the time it's about water horses horses that just come out of the water and people race them and a lot of people die in the races but if you win I don't remember what happens but I really liked this book Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson is one that I just read and I very much enjoy might be a adult fantasy garly I don't know I'm going to find that out pretty soon here because I'm reading some of Hayden's favorites uh this month for his birthday for a little taste test Winger by Andrew Smith I remember this is one of the first books that I ever like cracked up at don't really remember much about it I do remember that like the only gay character dies so not great ftner Stars by John Green this is one that I Revisited again in 2024 I I made a video at the beginning of the year revisiting some uh books that I loved in 2014 just as like a you know decade ago sort of situation there's something about this book that still holds up for me it's not perfect there's definitely issues with it the critiques that it gets I think are harsh and unkind and I actually do think that teens occasionally talk like this Aristotle and Don discovered the secrets of the universe this I remember really enjoying I read it so long ago that I honestly can't remember much about it this was one of the first like queer YA books that I read for that I am thankful moving on to more queer stuff the less than Epic Adventures of TJ and AAL there are a couple of like web novels I guess or like I don't know graphic novels that are on web comics read back the like 2017 2018 time period I liked these because when I was in college or grad school I could be on my computer looking like I was busy and then just like read sweet romances um this was like a road trip novel I think these like two strangers kind of love over the course of the story I don't know if I stand by my five star rating but I certainly did enjoy this Eden Brooke my favorite happy accident this book I read for a list video my first ever list video and there were very few books that I read for that list that I enjoyed but Eden Brooke was one that surprised me because it's a going to say clean romance but I don't like that word and I want to push back against the idea that romances without sex are clean it is a romance without sex shall we say it is very much like an of Green Gable's Whimsical historical romance it was very fun really enjoyed the sister dynamic in this book too every day by David Levan I really liked David Levan back in the day I remember like going to the public library and like grabbing a lot of his books in the Summers want to say this person like wakes up in a different person's body every day and so they don't have their own body to live in and they make a connection with someone and they try to get back to that person every day his books are always kind of tragic but I remember really liking that one forgive me Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick I think this one had questions about mortality and about unal living yourself maybe something like that lady midnight by Cassandra Clair the dark artifices series is underrated I'm going to say I think it's underrated everybody loves The Infernal Devices and I just could not get into those but the dark artifices I was like oh my god oh more angst more tension I just think she does a really good job with that and you know technically you've got that in The Infernal Devices but about them little Victorian lace up boots just does not ever do it for me so Dream Thieves by Maggie stod I mean it's the Raven Cycle Series if you're unaware I don't know what to tell you but what a crazy inventive World very similar to goodness daughter smoking bone by Lany Taylor not in terms of the vibe or the fantasy world but just picking up something that you felt like you had never read before loved the series I wish the last book hadn't have sucked so bad in my humble opinion but so many good books in that series and just such incredible and impeccable Vibes acatar you know I'm not too good for aatar I'm I'm simply not I do not think the Crescent City series is any good but Throne of Glass series a cord of thorns and Roses series I like them I I do okay I'm a girl the burning Sky by Sher Thomas I don't remember this but I have pictures of this book next to my bathtub and next to nugget my first cat I remember working my way through this book I could not tell you a single thing about it though so I always like to think that my memory holds up well over time uh and then there's some books I'm like no clue like genuinely no clue what this is about a different Blue by Amy Haron student teacher relationship this was like the KU time period where everything was like not angsty per se but just like overwrought with emotion that were like really trying to make you cry think about Colleen Hoover everybody was trying to be Colleen that's the vibe here a court of M and fury a court of wings and ruin I don't know if I'd give them both five stars at this point probably aamf but maybe not a court of wings and ruin so I don't necessarily stand by that one unteachable by Elliot wake talk about the wildest student teacher book that has ever been I think more people need to read this it is kind of an unsettling student teacher relationship the imagery and just like the beauty of this book I think is top-notch so you definitely need to read that all for the game series by noris sakovic this I read in 2017 so before I started book and these books I ate up I read them again on a vacation what is it about vacations just like having such Immaculate book Vibes I need to go on more vacations in adulthood so I can like rekindle that same love I read all of these back toback and I remember the first one having a really hard time getting through the writing it was so strange nothing like I'd ever read before but I was so addicted to the series it's just unlike anything I've ever read forbidden not even forbidden nature of the romance but how deeply damaged both of the heroes were in this book how they somehow found solace in each other it was very nice and it was kind of like a Ian and Mickey sort of relationship like Shameless but like on 10 such a good time honestly feel like those have such a cult following and I'm surprised that they have not been like picked up by like a a publisher or series hasn't like got a spin-off or anything illumin by Jay Kristoff and Amy Kaufman this is one of the first sci-fi books that I actually really enjoyed I think because of the way that it is written it's like I believe told in like interesting little text conversations um between hero and heroine I can't remember much else to be honest the Wrath and the dawn Pate aier the guy kills his wives every day or whatever but like this girl is like telling him stories and so he doesn't kill her and she comes back every night and whatever anyway they're married and I liked it Simon versus the homo sapiens agenda a classic a classic queer book and honestly there are a lot of queer books on this list especially in the like 2016 2017 time period i' I've known about my sexuality I've known about my queerness since I was quite young I didn't really explore those feelings until 2020s I guess you know like the the 2016 2017 time period for me was definitely a time of self-discovery and self-exploration and I read a lot of queer stories I wish that I had read more female female stories that probably would have been more applicable to my own life but there was a lot of like male male romance and I am forever grateful that I went through that time period of my life and that I got to you know read so many different stories that I guess like encouraged me to explore myself more number in the ashes by sabad is one of the best ya a fantasies richly interesting world again kind of dark different than anything I've ever read before I never carried on with series I tried to read the second book a couple of times and just couldn't get into it but that first book Is genuinely very good Radiance by Grace Draven I think is just a perfect Opposites Attract romance he is like kind of a beast and she is a human type person they are promised to each other in marriage and I don't know fun time the kindor killing is one of the most Bonkers and off-the-wall thrillers I like that sometimes Peter Swanson I think has written two books that I've enjoyed and this is one of them just delightful paranormal urban fantasy romance series The Hidden Legacy series by Alona Andrews I love the this is set in Houston I love Nevada Baylor as a character forever grateful for this series for again kind of like re invigorating my love and my passion for the the sub genre for the Paranormal urban fantasy romance sub genre cuz you know I read a lot of that when I was younger and then I just kind of fell off and got into contemporaries and stuff um but this one definitely kind of got me back into it in the 2020s so very much love this series I don't know if this or Rock by need to Sunday like really holds up for me beneath the stain is a queer romance one of the heroes endures like a ton of trauma and abuse I think he like Falls for his bodyguard or something he's like a rock star I'd have to revisit the to see if this one like held up but my mind's eye probably not rock by neita Sunday has an interesting twist at the end that I'm not going to spoil for you and I've already talked about this one so I'm going to move past some of these contemporaries um that I've kind of already talked about at this point Harry on by rainbow Rowl this is really my first foray into rubed fanfiction might I say that I really like it you know I say that technically technically City of Bones is rubed fanfiction but like didn't it didn't quite have fanfiction Vibes to me carry on does and it seems like all of the romances that I've really loved as of late also are like that I don't know what it is I don't know what it is I think it's maybe like the built-in angst intention that nother is able to capitalize on that's already kind of been built the original work and they just kind of like build on that in their own that I don't know just I really love it I love the tropes involved the lightning struck Heart by TJ cloon is one of the most like campy fun fantasy books I feel like TJ's newer series or newer books get a lot of love I think you would really enjoy this if you like his Vibe and also like fantasy Winter Song by SJ Jones this was one of the first arcs I ever received I remember just being so excited for it and maybe not loving it to like a five star level but giving it five stars because I was just so excited to have received one of my first arcs yeah I definitely don't let Arc status influence my reviews at this point but back in the day I think the first couple of arcs that I got I was just like so giddy and so excited to get them that I was like oh my God this five star is amazing so good um even when it like maybe wasn't my favorite dress codes for small towns by Courtney C Stevens this one I have fond to SP because I believe I read this for one of my first taste test videos Kayla from books and laa I did really enjoy this book just such Nostalgia I guess for the beginning of my book career check please wow what a throwback this is a queer graphic novel I feel like this got a lot of hype back in 2017 and I feel like I never hear people talk about this anymore but very fun series and has kind of like heartstopper Vibes lots of stuff that I have already talked about the cruel Prince the wicked king queen of nothing the cruel print series again is just like one of those formative series for me and it's weird to call something formative when like I was already a grown ass adult when I read these right back in 2018 but again start of my book career start of just like finding new things that I was into not reading all of the same series over and over again I stand by those ratings I really do queen of nothing maybe not five star material but I just love that Series so much all right more ya uh we've got autobiography summer of salt and Scythe I don't feel like I have anything really groundbreaking to say about any of these like these are all very solid books I liked these two because they are what's the word I'm looking for just like very good coming of age stories but I do not want to talk about all this ya wow I think it's cuz my taste has changed so much right like some ya is nostalgic and is like formative for me and I will forever talk about those but the ya that I read before I could really like find my taste in books is just not stuff that I really care to like talk about a lot Eliza and her monsters birthday the poex far from the tree furyborn all of these are like great books and I probably would stand by my five star ratings for them but I'm also like I don't really want to talk about them like that's not really what I'm into now or things like I like would recommend now I recently got called out for giving this one five stars I love this book I personally with Lee's writing I was going to say I really like dark Academia I don't really and I like when dark Academia it doesn't take itself too seriously I think something about like the classic secret history or whatever is that like it kind of takes itself a little too seriously like it's not fun right and this one has like fantasy elements so I'm all about that good daughter is my favorite Karen Slaughter book this one I think it's just so juicy because it's so psychological and I think it's better than pretty girls and and um if you've read pretty girls and you were like oh this is too gory or like I want something better read the good daughter right STI by Courtney Summers is the one ya coming up that I will actually talk about because it's one that I remember and one that I really loved this book is so wild the ending of this book is absolutely baddy I loved the podcast style this is one of the first books I ever read that kind of like toos a true crime podcast with like present day narrative and I think what I like so much about this one is that the podcast tries to follow the events of what happened to uh stie getting like s's perspective as the podcast like documents what happened to her it just works so well for me this book was genuinely very very good and it's like I think a new classic in in the ya genre more stuff that I've already talked about another tadir that I've given five stars to the governance game I actually think the governance game is probably my favorite I do also like that first book in the want and dairy Made series but the governance game is just I think the perfect representation of Tessa's bread and butter which is the reformed rake and the Wallflower I also love the kids in this book they're hysterically funny and I really need to revisit this because this is like a comfort read hisorical romance that isn't going to take itself too seriously or be too hard to read and you like Bridger tan govern this game babes govern this game Skyward by Brandon Sanderson okay this one is ya but it's science fiction and I actually really really enjoyed this book the heroin is like a little bit immature and a little bit irritating but she has such gumption and such a passion she wants to like lie spaceships essentially in this like sci-fi World take after her dad I want to say and she uncovers a lot of stuff about her world like as the book goes on I remember finishing this and being like what the like do I actually like science fiction the answer is sometimes I haven't like you know had some great Epiphany that like science fiction is the best but this book really and I need to read more in this series I always tell myself I'm going to continue on and I never do but I think the last book has either just come out or will come out soon so yes love that long exposure is one of the prettiest online graphic novel sequential art things that I've ever read I don't believe it's finished there's kind of a weird relationship between these two I want to say it's like a bully kind of and his love interest love interest has like superpowers and I just like I'm picturing rainbows like kind of going around every but very beautiful very beautiful it's queer obviously to the silent patient by Alex meles I need to revisit this one because I always say that this is like one of my faves I think it was like my favorite book in 2019 or one of my favorites and like I have not liked from this man since so does it hold up who knows a heart and a body in the world one of the saddest books that I think I've ever read talks about gun violence so more contemporary romance that I have already chatted to you about Legend born by Tracy Dion I don't feel like I need to talk about this one because so many people I feel like lately have picked up on the greatness of the series but it's so good and I think I've only read the first book actually I might have read the sequel I can't remember this book's so good it's so good it's got like the nights of the Round Table sort of thing dig by as king is one of the most interesting YA books that I've read in that it is so interconnected in ways that you don't expect boxs a lot about like intergenerational trauma it's good as king writ some really really interesting and hard-hitting YA books girl guide to murder I really want to watch this on Netflix now that it is out what a fun book I did not expect to enjoy this as much as I did I've read this one in 2023 I think for like reading your best books of the year or something and this is like one of the only ones I liked so I feel like that says something the Wallflower wager by tadir this is additionally a very horny Tessa Dare book the heroin is like you sexy and I'm going to climb it like a tree even though she's supposed to be like chased or whatever and I love that for her lock every door by Riley Sager this is in my opinion Riley Sager's only good book a gal is like apartment sitting I guess for this person in this apartment complex and she has to follow very specific rules and then she uncovers the secrets of the apartment complex I liked it I liked it quite a bit I also really liked the lady's guide to Celestial mechanics this is a queer historical romance and I remember this is one of the first female female romances that I read that wasn't totally soft I don't have that issue as much anymore because more and more are getting published and are kind of going there pushing the envelope with the sex scenes but I remember reading this and being like this is godamn sexy The Space Between Worlds by Mia Johnson I really enjoyed this it's a science fiction book that I don't remember much about but it is queer feel like we need more queer science fiction books like give me your recommendations in the comments stage Dreams by Melanie Gilman this is such a good graphic novel we have a trans heroin I believe like a wild west sort of like I don't say Bandits kind of story but sort of they like Rob people anxious people by Frederick Bachman I really liked when I was going through a really really hard time and it just gave me like hope for the future and I I love that about books I love that a book can hit you at just the right time and have such an impact on your life that being said this is not a book that I would probably like nowadays I feel like Frederick Bachmann writes a lot of like how do I say this without being insulting hope core kind of stuff right like he's he's writing things to be inspirational and that's not normally the kind of story that connects with me I'm just kind of um not into that kind of but at the time I was okay at the time I was sad and so I did it chasing Cassandra by Lisa clus is so fun this whole series The ravenel's is one of my favorite historical romance Series so again if you're looking for something to read after Bridgerton there you go the push by Ashley audrain is one of my favorite books of all time it is a very harrowing story shall we say about motherhood and the wild feelings and emotions that motherhood can bring up also intergenerational trauma with your mom yeah yeah yeah it's a it's a banger it's very very good so is the only good Indians by step Graham Jones I don't want to chaa past that one um it's been a while since I've read this one so I don't remember that much about it but it is a horror novel and it has some native main characters which I love I remember that it was graphic in a way that I was not expecting and was quite horrifying so would recommend when no one is watching by Lissa Cole another incredible horror novel again I don't really remember much about it what is it with me not remembering that happens to horror novels it's like I'm horrified and then I forget this one is genuinely very good and um I don't feel like this one got the love that it deserves so you should pick this one up as well Lis sixs by Olive You Blake was so much fun this is one of the first books that I read off of recommendation from Tik Tok and I can't say that I've gotten very many amazing recommendations since then but this is one of the most like viby fantasy books that I've ever read I have not read any of the other books in the series and I have all three of them so I feel like maybe at some point I need to do a little reread and or read of the series but this is about a bunch of people who are like competing I guess to be like Protectors of the Library of Alexandria or something like that what an interesting what an interesting book I personally really enjoyed the way this was written I think that's what turns a lot of people off from it it is very close to the characters there's not a lot of plot it's more about character interactions and the potential ships and you know there's one thing I'm about it's it's a ship things by Sarah Anderson is a like graphic novel like vignettes of this relationship between a vampire and a werewolf and it's very cute project H Mary by Andy Weir honestly like the more I'm looking through this list the more I'm like why is there so much science fiction on here is science fiction just actually good maybe so genuinely phenomenal it is about human contact with an alien life form the collaboration that goes on between the two and it's very heartwarming you know it's given kind of like Frederick Bachman in space in a way that didn't irritate me Midnight Sun by Stephanie Meyer reading this in 2020 getting this gift that I have been waiting for for many years was quite informative and quite great this is one that I'd probably revisit cuz like obviously I've read like all the Twilight books many times and I've only read this one once so maybe I need to get into Edward's weird little horny head again the last thing he told me by Laura deave is a mystery and it is one of my favorite Mysteries I feel like we need more Mysteries can I say that for the record I feel like Thrillers are a diamond dozen but where are the good Mysteries this one really had me turning my page not actually I was listening to the audio book but like mentally turning my page just like wondering what's going to happen like who who it who done it and where did this man go and it's also very like sad and kind of romantic at the same time love this book so good more romance honestly so much romance it's not that surprising that so many of my five stars are romance but also you know not as much to talk about as I had expected The Whispers by Ashley a another Banger by Miss girl this one's like if you like domestic drama with like an edge mayhaps You' pick this one up and enjoy it yellow face by AR kuong I feel like I've talked about this book so much I don't need to go into detail but but this is a book that I think genuinely everybody needs to read especially if you are someone who reviews books or talks about books on the internet killers of a certain age By Di Rayborn all right this one is about a group of Assassins who worked for I believe like the British government or like maybe CIA something to that effect now they're old and they are going to be killed off but they' figured out they're going to be killed off now they want to go after the person who is after them this one was so much fun it's like kind of a cozy mystery but a lot of like stakes and tension and definitely something that I think that a lot of you would enjoy honestly this was like a book of the month pick and I probably wouldn't have pied it up had it not been but honestly so much fun none of this is true by Lisa juel is one of the most recent Thrillers that I've read and if you like a good unreliable narrator this is definitely a book that you are going to want to pick up one romance that I gave five stars that I have not talked about on my channel I think this is the last five star that I've given Tara DT's newest book left of forever I sensitivity read this and this was my favorite book that Tera has ever written it is so phenomenal so deeply romantic it is a second chance Romance we get to know the characters a little bit in savorite if you've read that one I don't want to spoil because you know it's not out yet and I don't know how much is going to change between me reading it and it getting edited and published but what a Charming story what an incredible Second Chance romance I feel like marriage and trouble Second Chance romance is especially between divorced people it'd be really hard to make work but something about this one just really did it for me if you like Kennedy Ryan's first book Is It Before I Let Go like that one I think it'll really enjoy left of forever and I will give a Shameless plug for it because again I just sensitivity read this book and I give it five stars is very good another book that I just like could honestly have about all day is Not Another Love Song because I'm sorry we need more raof fic published we do I'm sorry I don't give a I like Rao fanfiction I think more of it needs to be published that's it those are all my Five Star reads I obviously skipped quite a bit because a lot of it is contemporary romance which I've already talked about but it was honestly fun to like walk down memory lane with all of you and just talk about all of the that I loved for many years a lot of this stuff I kind of want to revisit maybe I'll do another like revisiting my Five Star reads um like ya Edition because there is many a ya book that I loved and just yearned for thanks for sticking with me this is a long one I am planning on doing another video like this but for my onear reads where I get to just really but thanks so much for watching love you all so much and I'll see you in the next one bye\n"