Everything I Read from October to December 2024
Hello reader friends! Welcome to the first blog post of 2025. I'm going to try and post every 2 Fridays. Today, I'm going to give you a rundown of what I read between the months of October and December. I'll list the title, author, rating score out of 5 stars, and a simplified review (yes, they're simplified) for each book. I hope you enjoy!
Funny Story by Emily Henry (4 stars)
I was obsessed with this book the first day I read it. I read 62 pages in a single day, which I've never done. I really liked the characters right from the start. I think this book was soooo much better than Beach Read. Don’t get me wrong; Beach Read was good, but I didn’t love it. I didn’t really see anything special about it. With this book, though, I did. I love this book. I had such a great reading experience, and I definitely recommend it to anyone who likes a roommates-to-lovers story-that’s what this book should be marketed as. This book is not a fake-dating romance! Like, yeah, they fake-date for like a chapter or two, but that’s it! It’s a roommates-to-lovers story. This was still a good book despite the confusing last act conflict.
Half A Soul by Olivia Outwater (4.5 stars)
This book was sooo cute. I absolutely love it. I keep rereading the quotes and just fall more in love every time. Dora and Elias were such great characters. I loved the representation of neurodivergence in Dora. I liked this book a lot more than I thought I would, honestly. As someone who isn’t a fan of Bridgerton (especially season 2. Don’t even get me started, babe), or really historical romance in general, this book really surprised me. I can see why some like the Regency Era so much. This is the only piece of media set in that time that I’ve actually really liked. Highly recommend this book to anyone looking for wholesome, cute, sweet romance. It’s still a little dark because children are being kidnapped by faerie, but for the most part, this book is very cozy. I absolutely loved it.
A Good Girls Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson (4 stars)
The Stars Are Dying by Chloe C. Pe(2.5 stars)
I think I’m a lot more upset this book wasn’t amazing because the limited special edition is so beautiful. I love the gold-foiled cover, the art on the case laminate, the art on a good number of pages, and the chapter headers, but unfortunately, this book wasn’t as good as I thought it would be. I don’t hate this book by any means. I’ve read worse. But this book wasn’t good, and I wouldn’t really recommend it, not even to melt your brain on something. I genuinely felt like I read a first draft. It’s so funny when I see the author on social media say this book was picked up from self-published and made traditionally published. I have to ask: Did no one choose to line edit? This book NEEDED to be edited. I don’t know if the author just self-published her first draft; it got picked up by a traditional publisher, and they said, “Yeah, that’s fine. Doesn’t need to be edited.” Because, dead ass, THAT’S HOW I FELT READING THIS BOOK!!! Yeah, this was definitely disappointing for me. Again, not the worst thing I’ve read, but sadly it wasn’t great either.
In My Dreams, I Hold a Knife by Ashley Winstead (4 stars)
Not exactly sure how this book made me cry like a baby, but it did. Around the part where I thought a certain character was the killer, I started to spiral. I bawled my eyes out. Thank goodness another plot twist came, and we found out who the actual murderer was. Overall, it was a good thriller. This was my first time reading a psychological one. Because it made me spiral, I don’t know if I’d read another. We’ll see, though. For what it was, it was good!
Five Broken Blades by Mai Corland (4-4.25 stars)
You don’t know how sad—HOW BROKEN—I feel to not give this book 5/5 stars. Like, seriously! I was going to ignore SO MANY issues with this book. I was going to ignore the writing, the way Royo was written, and a bunch of other aspects of this book I didn’t like. But no, NO! The plot twists had to exist. Gosh, I literally wanted to cry and quit when that happened. I was going to have a new favourite couple and have three favourite couples of all time (thanks to 2 other books I've loved), but noooooo! I’m literally SO pissed off, like you don’t even know. This was so heartbreaking and heart-wrenching, but unfortunately, not in a good way.
You don’t know how sad—HOW BROKEN—I feel to not give this book 5/5 stars. Like, seriously! I was going to ignore SO MANY issues with this book. I was going to ignore the writing, the way Royo was written, and a bunch of other aspects of this book I didn’t like. But no, NO! The plot twists had to exist. Gosh, I literally wanted to cry and quit when that happened. I was going to have a new favourite couple and have three favourite couples of all time (thanks to 2 other books I've loved), but noooooo! I’m literally SO pissed off, like you don’t even know. This was so heartbreaking and heart-wrenching, but unfortunately, not in a good way.
Get A Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert (3.5 stars)
I liked this book. I thought it was funny and somewhat nicely written. It took me a while to finish, but that was mainly because school’s been killing me. Parts of the book were definitely a little slow and boring, especially at the beginning, but the more it went on, the better the story got. I would definitely recommend this book. This book isn’t my favorite romance I’ve ever read, but it is still pretty good. Honestly, if I reread this, I think I could like it more.
I liked this book. I thought it was funny and somewhat nicely written. It took me a while to finish, but that was mainly because school’s been killing me. Parts of the book were definitely a little slow and boring, especially at the beginning, but the more it went on, the better the story got. I would definitely recommend this book. This book isn’t my favorite romance I’ve ever read, but it is still pretty good. Honestly, if I reread this, I think I could like it more.
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna (4 stars)
This book was soooo cute, wholesome, and had the best vibes. I really liked, borderline loved this. The found family in this was so adorable. I loved the characters, the relationships they had with each other, the writing because it was pretty and quick to read, and how they overcame the trauma from the past. I think the theme of taking the leap is so beautiful, and this book did a really good job with that. The vibes, also, were just immaculate. The magic was so cute. Overall, it was a really good read.
Love from Scratch by Kaitlyn Hill (3.75 stars)
I bought this book when I was a junior in high school. I’m now a sophomore in college, so it took me a nice minute to get to it. All in all, it was a cute, quick read. I’m not much of a YA reader, but I thought it was still good. I’m eighteen turning nineteen, so I'm technically the same age as the characters. The relationship was cute, and I liked the setting of a food network company thing. I also really liked the feminist aspects of this book. I think I would’ve benefited from it if I had read the book at the age I got it. Good read.
Kiss Her Once for Me (3.75 stars)
This was my first time reading/finishing a sapphic romance and my first time reading a Christmas romcom. It was definitely a good story; I really enjoyed it. Definitely good for the winter and Christmas time. It’s a bit over the top sometimes because the main character is over the top, but it was still good and cute. Highly recommend.
This was my first time reading/finishing a sapphic romance and my first time reading a Christmas romcom. It was definitely a good story; I really enjoyed it. Definitely good for the winter and Christmas time. It’s a bit over the top sometimes because the main character is over the top, but it was still good and cute. Highly recommend.
In 2024, I read 25 books in total. Most of the books were from this very wrap-up. I read more than double the number of books between July and December than between January and June. Before 2024, I wasn't a big reader at all. I read maybe one or two books in previous years. But I liked watching a lot of BookTubers, so I thought, "Why not try actually reading in 2024?" My original goal was to read 3 books, but we see how far I surpassed that goal. I couldn't be happier. This year, I set a goal to read 30 books. I also want to try and read books I don't normally hear Booktubers talk about because I want to formulate my own opinion while I'm reading, not before I've even read the book. I think if I hadn't heard so much about Get a Life, Chloe Brown, for example, I would've probably had a much better time with the book. I'm going to try to read books I haven't heard many people talk about, while still reading a few popular books, like Emily Henry's other books.
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