ALL THE BOOKS I READ IN 2025 RANKED

1. Now I Rise (The Conqueror's Saga, #2) by Kiersten White
2. One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid
3. Bright We Burn (The Conqueror's Saga, #3) by Kiersten White
4. 10 Things That Never Happened by Alexis Hall
5. In My Dreams I Hold a Knife by Ashley Winstead
6. And I Darken (The Conqueror's Saga, #1) by Kiersten White
7. The Christmas Tree Farm (Dream Harbor, #3) by Laurie Gilmore
8. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
9. Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games, #0.5) by Suzanne Collins
10. Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
11. I Who Have Never Known Men
12. Our Infinite Fates by Lauren Steven
13. Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix
14. All the Water in the World by Eiren Caffall
15. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab
16. Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera
17. The Favorites by Layne Fargo
18. Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
19. Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah
20. Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
21. Here We Go Again by Alison Cochrun
22. The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo
23. Make the Season Bright by Ashley Herring Blake
24. Sky Daddy by Kate Folk
25. Bunny by Mona Awad
26. The Pumpkin Spice Cafe (Dream Harbor, #1) by Laurie Gilmore
27. Most Wonderful by Georgia Clark
28. The Sirens by Emilia Hart
29. The Cinnamon Bun Book Store (Dream Harbor, #2) by Laurie Gilmore
30. Spread Me by Sarah Gailey
31. Jade City (The Green Bone Saga, #1) by Fonda Lee
32. Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica
33. Lightfall (The Everlands Trilogy, #1) by Ed Crocker
34. Hostage by Clare Mackintosh
35. Middle of the Night by Riley Sager
36. My Friends by Fredrik Backman
37. The Incandescent by Emily Tesh
38. A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk and Robot, #1) by Becky Chambers
39. Truthwitch (The Witchlands, #1) by Susan Dennard
40. Survive the Night by Riley Sager
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Earth's Children, #1) by Jean M. Auel
42. Butcher and Blackbird (The Ruinous Love Trilogy, #1) by Brynne Weaver
43. The Strawberry Patch Pancake House (Dream Harbor, #4) by Laurie Gilmore
44. A Fate Inked in Blood (Saga of the Unfated, #1) by Danielle L. Jensen
45. The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett
46. Fable for the End of the World by Ava Reid
47. The Merriest Misters by Timothy Janovsky
48. The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager
49. The Bones Beneath My Skin by TJ Klune
50. Half Wild (The Half Bad Trilogy, #2) by Sally Green
51. The Grace Year by Kim Liggett
52. The Great Divide by Cristina Henriquez
53. The Grace Year by Kim Liggett
54. We'll Prescibe You a Cat by Syou Ishida
55. Emma by Jane Austen
56. Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry
57. We Could Be Rats by Emily R. Austin
58. The Disappearances by Emily Bain Murphy
59. The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater
60. We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
61. I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid
62. Blob by Maggie Su
63. Half Lost (The Half Bad Trilogy, #3) by Sally Green
64. Outlander (Outlander, #1) by Diana Gabaldon
65. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
66. Wreck the Halls by Tessa Bailey 
67. Armored Hours by Stephanie Hansen
68. Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao
69. Boys with Sharp Teeth by Jenni Howell
70. Princess of Air (Elements of Royalty, #1) by Natalie Cammaratta

Not Ranked -

Sisaki and Miyano Vol. 1 by Shou Harusono

Everything Is Tuberculosis by John Green

The Hot Zone by Richard Preston

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

How to Kill a Witch by Claire Mitchell and Zoe Venditozzi

ALL THE BOOKS I READ IN 2024 RANKED

Some stats to go along with my ranking ~

Ranking all the books I read in 2024 ~

1. Like A Love Story by Abdi Nazemian
2. The Invocations by Krystal Sutherland
3. Dry by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
4. The Sword of Summer (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, #1) by Rick Riordan
5. Legends and Lattes(Legends and Lattes, #1) by Travis Baldree
6. The Only One Left by Riley Sager
7. Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy
8. Most Ardently by Gabe Cole Novoa
9. The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun
10. Wolfsong (Green Creek, #1) by TJ Klune
11. Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell
12. Lock Every Door by Riley Sager
13. Strange the Dreamer (Strange the Dreamer, #1) by Laini Taylor
14. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
15. Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid
16. A Games of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1) by George R.R. Martin
17. The Last Magician (The Last Magician, #1) by Lisa Maxwell
18. The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
19. Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid
20. The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
21. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
22. Everyone One in My Family Has Killed Someone (Ernest Cunningham, #1) by Benjamin Stevenson
23. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
24. The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite
25. As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh
26. Bride by Ali Hazelwood
27. Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood
28. The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff
29. Kiss Her Once for Me by Alison Cochrun
30. The Wicker King by K. Ancrum
31. Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher
32. The Guncle (The Guncle, #1) by Steven Rowley
33. Lore Olympus, Vol. 1 by Rachel Smythe
34. Lore Olympus, Vol. 2 by Rachel Smythe
35. That Time I Got Drunk and Saved A Demon by Kimberly Lemming
36. Blessings by Chukwuebuka Ibeh
37. Weyward by Emilia Hart
38. The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell
39. Vicious (Villains, #1) by V.E. Schwab
40. If the Tides Turns by Rachel Rueckert
41. The Ship of the Dead (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, #3) by Rick Riordan
42. A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson
43. Blade of Secrets (Bladesmith, #1) by Tricia Levenseller
44. The Women by Kristin Hannah
45. Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak
46. Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
47. Half Bad (The Half Bad Trilogy, #1) by Sally Green
48. Ravensong (Green Creek, #2) by TJ Klune
49. Lore Olympus, Vol. 3 by Rachel Smythe
50. The Stars Too Fondly by Emily Hamilton
51. A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon
52. I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself by Marisa Crane
53. Vera Wong's Unsolicited Guide for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto
54. The Christmas Guest by Peter Swanson
55. The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth
56. Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett
57. Her Majesty's Royal Coven (HMRC, #1) by Juno Dawson
58. Funny Story by Emily Henry
59. Bloodchild and Other Stories by Octavia E. Butler
60. She Gets the Girl by Rachael Lippincott and Alison Derrick
61. The Hammer of Thor (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, #2) by Rick Riordan
62. A Shore Thing by Joanna Lowell
63. The Eyes Are The Best Part by Monika Kim
64. Red Sister (Book of the Ancestor, #1) by Mark Lawrence
65. Ruthless Vows (Letters of Enchantment, #2) by Rebecca Ross
66. An Ember in the Ashes (An Ember in the Ashes, #1) by Sabaa Tahir
67. The Inheritance Games (The Inheritance Games, #1) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
68. Vox by Christina Dalcher
69. The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell
70. Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson
71. The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer
72. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
73. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
74. The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
75. The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz
76. Swan Song by Robert McCammon
77. Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood
78. The Fury by Alex Michaelides
79. Dig. by A.S. King
80. The Deep Sky by Yume Kitasei
81. Castles in Their Bones (Castles in Their Bones, #1) by Laura Sebastian
82. Where Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
83. Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See
84. The Sun and the Star by Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro
85. Half a Soul (Regency Faerie Tales, #1) by Olivia Atwater
86. The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten
87. The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
88. This Is Where We Talk Things Out by Caitlin Marceau
89. Bright Lights, Big Christmas by Mary Kay Andrews
90. The Book Haters' Book Club by Gretchen Anthony
91. The Pairing by Casey McQuiston
92. Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner
93. The Ferryman by Justin Cronin
94. All This Time by Rachael Lippincott and Mikki Daughtry
95. A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid
96. Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell
97. The House We Grew Up In by Lisa Jewell
98. The Gentleman's Gambit (A League of Extraordinary Women, #4) by Evie Dunmore
99. Heartsong (Green Creek, #3) by TJ Klune
100. The Program (The Program, #1) by Suzanne Young
101. Elektra by Jennifer Saint
102. The Holiday Swap by Maggie Knox
103. The Guncle Abroad (The Guncle, #2) by Steven Rowley
104. Graveyard Shift by M.L. Rio
105. Faebound (Faebound, #1) by Saara El-Arifi
106. Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant
107. Meet Me Under the Mistletoe by Jenny Bayliss
108. Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle
109. The Summer of Broken Rules by K.L. Walther
110. Normal People by Sally Rooney
111. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
112. The Christmas Murder Game by Alexandra Benedict
113. The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan

Color legend:

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Not rated:

• A Life on Our Planet by David Attenborough
• The House of Hidden Meanings by RuPaul
• The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson
• I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
• Pages to Fill (Legends and Lattes, #0.5) by Travis Baldree
• The Lord Sorcier (Regency Faerie Tales, #0.5) by Olivia Atwater

Review for "Normal People" by Sally Rooney

This book has been called polarizing: there's the group of people who think it's the most stunning prose ever, and then the group of people that can't get over the fact that it's super boring (me).

★★☆☆☆

I cannot get on board with Sally Rooney's characters. Marianne was this Mary Sue who was quirky and beautiful when it served the bare-bones plot, but socially awkward and ugly when that served the plot. Connell was somehow simultaneously the most flavorless character I've ever read and also a terrible person (and he's not supposed to be). The way he continually says something to the effect of "I knew how much power I had over Marianne. I could tell her to do anything and I know she'd do it. I like that feeling" was disgusting. It would be one thing if he started this way and then had some growth but nope he's like that right up to the end. I get that it was supposed to play on Marianne's trauma-induced masochism, but it's not for me. Other than the main two characters, no one stuck out to me except Alan. The one satisfying part of the book was when Connell decked him (as I wanted to in that moment). 

I felt like the pacing of the novel was off. It feels like there are decades supposed to be covered but it's really only a few years in their late teens/maybe early twenties. By the end of the book the characters are talking like they're so much older and wiser than they were in the beginning of the book, but they're still only like 20 and hardly wiser. It's hard to write a book with poor pacing when there's no plot to speak of anyway but somehow it was achieved here. I think that's one of those not-for-me things; I just can't read a book that doesn't have a driving force. The (uninteresting) characters are just ambling through life with a lot of narration and thoughts on life and the universe.

I think that last thing is what makes people love the book--they can ignore the lack of plot if the philosophy presented by the characters' inner monologue says something interesting or poetic. I definitely picked up on the philosophizing, but I did not like the messages therein. The big one that sticks out to me is Marianne saying that the perpetrator of bullying/abuse is just as traumatically affected as the victim and for even longer. This did not sit well with me at all. I guess Marianne gets a free pass to assert this as someone who was bullied in school, but it just grossed me out. There were other things that also didn't quite sit right with me but that was the biggest one. 

Final verdict: The book is plotless and full of lackluster characters.

Review for "Like a Love Story" by Abdi Nazemian

Love is our legacy. 

★★★★★

This review contains spoilers.  

This book was so near perfection I have to gush about it. Empirically, a story that takes place during the AIDS epidemic and is about it is already predisposed to get me emotional, but that doesn't change the fact that I cried three times while reading this. I think this is the first time in 5 years that I've cried while reading and I cried three times. So beautiful. The writing is so eloquent and yet so age appropriate. Every topic explored is thoughtful and thought-provoking.

The characters in this book were certainly flawed, but it only endeared them to me. Art made some decisions, said some things, and felt some feelings that made me uncomfortable at times, but he's 17 and coming from a hard home life. If anything, his temper and passion made him a believable teenager throughout. Plus, his development over time is made clear in the epilogue. The same goes for Reza. I was silently screaming at him to break up with Judy so much, but his fear and inhibitions were palpable. Judy was the most stable character, and I found myself relating so much to her. She had moments of insecurity, but overall she was just an icon and I loved her for it. In addition to loving the fact that we got each of their first-person narrations throughout, their friendship(s) were everything to me. The cross-section between their innocent young friendship paralleled against Stephen watching his lifelong friends die over and over again... I cannot overstate the emotional power of this story.

By the end of the book, I was floored by how satisfied I was with the plot. I thought it was brilliant that we got a good chunk of time experiencing Art and Reza being together, but that they go their separate ways and don't end up together in the end. So many YA romances leave you with the feeling that you're supposed to believe these teenagers in love stay together forever, but this handled their breakup so beautifully and made the whole story more plausible for me. I also love how it did set you up to have expectations about the continuation of their friendship (before the epilogue) by introducing Annabel as the new third member of the friend group. Sure, some of the plot points were messy in ways I didn't like to read about (i.e. Saadi and Judy "hooking up"), but it is for those reasons that plot came across so authentic and transparent to me. I felt like I was actually seeing into these teenagers' lives.

I am truly blown away by this book; my CAWPILE was 10-10-10-10-10-10-9. The 9 for Overall Enjoyment is only not a 10 because of 2 minor complaints. Firstly, I wish we had gotten more of Reza and Art's connection in the beginning of the novel. They kind of have a love-at-first-sight situation, and it's not made better by the fact that they avoid each other after Reza starts dating Judy. If they hung out at any point before Reza and Judy broke up, it would have made more sense to be that they immediately jump into a serious relationship because their chemistry is just so strong. I understand instant physical attraction, but I didn't buy that they would both betray Judy like that unless they had built up a deeper emotional connection in those months.

My second small issue is that the notecards spread throughout the story was such a cute and genius idea and there was just not enough of it. There were over a hundred cards, so I feel like there should have been a notecard break every three chapters (since every chapter rotated to a different perspective of our main three characters). I loved hearing Stephen's "voice"; it made me mourn him that much more in the end. I especially loved that the Love one was in there before we were even introduced to what the cards were. My complaint is just that I wish there had been more than 4 in the entire novel. Both of these complaints I've mentioned had very little impact on my love of this book, however, and I also understand both were probably limited by page count limits.

Final verdict: This is a stunning YA novel that moved me to tears.

Review for "She Gets The Girl" by Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick

~ and that's how it works, that's how you get the girl ~

This was really cute! I thought the pacing was spot-on and I was really rooting for Alex and Molly to get together. I related a lot to Molly in terms of her awkwardness and desperation to make friends (as well as her view on art museums). Alex was a bit more of a miss to me. I exist in the real world, so I tend to be skeptical of fictional characters that are "effortlessly cool" the way Alex is described/implied to be. I thought the 360 that was done in her relationship with Natalie was excellent, as evidenced by my feelings about the two of them in the beginning versus the end. In the first few chapters, I could not stand Alex. I found her so self-absorbed and stuck-up, ESPECIALLY when she pulled that stunt in Never Have I Ever. She did grow on me throughout the book as you learn her background, fears, and insecurities. Seeing that vulnerability was essential to her redemption by the end. It also helps that Natalie turned out to be so awful, so we as the reader can see how much of a skewed perspective we had of the situation in the beginning.


If I had to nit-pick at this, which I do because I didn't give it a full five stars, I would say I just didn't feel a big emotional hit from the book. As I mentioned, I related to Molly's fears and struggles a lot, but I felt like they did not have a satisfying end. She has this blow-up fight with her mom which is never satisfyingly resolved; it's just a quick "love you" and then it moves on back to her romance storyline. I was especially put off by how mean she was to her mom. I guess I was just disappointed because I expected her to be scared and anxious but never malicious. I think if, instead of the fight, it had been a breaking down moment where she says all her worries and fears and her mom was able to listen and then console her, I would have liked the book/especially the ending more.


Final verdict: It's sapphic, it's cute, read it!!

Review for "Most Ardently" by Gabe Cole Novoa

 I finished this several days ago and I'm still thinking about it! 

I am not actually a huge fan of Pride and Prejudice; in general, I just think it's overrated and not worth the hype. But a mlm featuring a trans character version of it? I ate it up. I found Oliver extremely sympathetic, and I was surprised by how much I liked Darcy. (One of the overrated aspects of the original is definitely Darcy as a male love interest; he is just so pompous and unlikable.) I loved how in this retelling he was this reserved bookworm who just wanted to support Oliver. I thought his aversion to women made sense in this story, whereas in the original he's just an exceptional misogynist. Beyond their individual characters, I felt they had chemistry together and I was definitely rooting for Oliver to finally come out to Darcy and for them to get together. 

★★★★★

One thing that's tricky with a retelling is that the author doesn't really get to take credit for the plot since its bones will always be related to a previous work. Depending on the context of the retelling, the plot might get more or less attributed to the author. This book had a particular challenge because the time, place, and central progression of the story were all the same as the original. Hence, the author has a burden of making this book exceptional through the writing, atmosphere, and characterization. I felt this retelling, though having a similar plot to the original story, far exceeded its predecessor in terms of writing style and the development of the story. Just like in the original, Wickham and Collins were extremely hateable and the conflict was logical and effective; both of these aspects translated well from the original story to this concept. This story just lends itself really well to Elizabeth (in the original) actually being a trans character because to me Oliver's fear of being a wife made perfect sense in a way I didn't really get with Elizabeth in the original.

It's strange to ponder the vibe of this book because to me it had such a cozy, uplifting feeling to it even though Oliver spends much of the book afraid and/or misidentified. Part of me knew this would have a happy ending, both regarding the romance and Oliver's coming out to his family, so I think that allowed me to feel like it's cozy instead of being stressed out while reading. That being said, I loved how accepting everyone ended up being. The characterization of Mrs. Bennett was perfect because she was still as insufferable as she was in the original story; however, her arc of accepting Oliver by the end of the novel was somewhat redeeming for her and I enjoyed it. I feel like people might question the historical plausibility of this total acceptance, but I'm able to suspend my disbelief because this is the story I want and how I wish it would go in any time period. 

Final verdict: This is a brilliant retelling of Pride and Prejudice, improving upon what is lacking in the original; plus, it's gay!

Review for "Lock Every Door" by Riley Sager

 This was so close to hitting that 5 stars (its CAWPILE is 8.52 and I count >8.59 as 5 stars) but the more I ruminated on this, the more issues I had with the logic of it, so I think my star withholding is fair. 

★★★★☆

Let's first go over the reasons I enjoyed this quite a bit. While it took me about 50% to warm up to the characters and the story, by the time I got to that halfway mark I was devouring this. The creepiness of the Bartholomew and the atmosphere created because of it, the connections between the characters, and the imploring feeling of I have to find out what happens next right now!! made this a very quick and engaging read. Jules wasn't my favorite thriller protagonist I've ever read, but she was all right. I really appreciated her background and how her traumatic past played into the decisions she made in the story. The background on her parents was horrific, if not completely original. I was surprised to find I was quite happy with the fact that Jane's disappearance did not factor into the story at all. I thought that at the last minute Jules would find a newspaper clipping that had one of Leslie's ads tucked into the pages of Jane's copy of Heart of a Dreamer. While I would have been okay with that too, I feel like keeping Jane out of the Bartholomew mystery kept the story more plausible because it would be too coincidental and didn't fit the M.O. (i.e. only choosing candidates with no family).

I will say I saw the other reveal that Nick and Leslie were mainly behind the disappearances and that Nick was the first doctor's great-grandson very early on. It almost seemed like the author didn't intend for it to be a twist but just a fact, because the breadcrumbs around it were so glaringly obvious. Other than that I was really fond of the side characters. Ingrid, Greta, and Dylan all played their parts well and kept me engaged in the story even when Jules was annoying me. 

I try not to nit-pick thriller logic because I'm just there to have a good time and to be honest there has to be some suspension of disbelief for any story you read. That being said, I must comment on the fact that Jules has apparently never heard of a digital copy of a photo (this having been written in 2019) which stuck out as odd to me. More importantly, I know this is rather esoteric but the whole premise of the human organ black market concept was not plausible. Full disclaimer: I am a medical laboratory scientist so I deal with patient testing daily. In truth, it's not possible to have a small network of organ transplants because the likelihood of finding a match is so rare (this is why most people who need an organ like a kidney or partial liver look to family members, because the probability of finding a match there is much higher). Being a match for an organ is considerably different than blood donation; instead of just a blood type you have to do Human Leukocyte Antigen testing which uses an immense amount of sample and time. There's a point where Greta says Ingrid was supposed to give her a kidney but she disappeared and Jules was "also a match" so they used her. I don't know what they mean by "match" because matching organs is an extremely extensive process that could not be done in the amount of time in the book. I also assume they used the blood from Jules's fall for testing and it is completely ludicrous that a smudge of dried blood on a piece of gauze would be used for HLA testing. So even if they had had the time, sample, and resources to HLA match, the math doesn't make sense for Jules and Ingrid to both be a match to Greta. The coincidence is just too much. To that point, how did they happen to find any matches with just random people off the street? Insanity. I understand that most of the audience does not have this kind of medical background so the consequence of this oversight is negligible, but if you're going to write about a subject you have little background on, you should do the research necessary so that people who do have that background can't call you on how wrong it's written. Again, perhaps that's nit-picky and definitely it's not a widespread complaint, but the more I pondered the book the more whackadoodle the basis of the plot seemed. Still... I enjoyed the reveal that the Satanistic cult was actually a human organ black market for rich people, so even with all that said it only slightly diminished my overall feelings on the novel. 

Final verdict: This is an engaging thriller with a satisfying reveal.