How do you choose which books to read? Many times, I’ll pick up a book because of the hype – or the buzz – on blogs or in the media. Here are 4 popular books I read this year, that I thought was totally worthy of the hype.
Fourth Wing, Rebecca Yarros
Fourth Wing has over 2.1 million ratings with an average score of 4.5/5! I have to say that I completely agree this book was worth the hype – and so was book 2 in the series, Iron Flame, which has 1.5 mil ratings with an average of 4.3/5. The tension, the action, the chemistry, the story, the betrayals – all made this unputdownable.
Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general – also known as her tough-as-talons mother – has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders. But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away … because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.
Yellowface, R.F. Kuang
No. of ratings: 680,000+ | Avg. Rating: 3.7+
This book completely lived up to the hype and good press. It’s about internet trolling, racism and cancel culture in the literary community, and it’s done in such a smart way. June steals her friend Athena’s manuscript on her death, refines it and passes it off as her own. Athena is Chinese-American and her book is about a part of Chinese-American history. June justifies the book as her own to herself (and others) in a number of ways. I won’t say much more, but the story unfolds in such a train wreckish way where you just can’t look away or stop reading.
The Teacher, Freida McFadden
No. of ratings: 575,000+ | Avg. Rating: 3.92
This is my first book by Freida McFadden and I get why she’s so popular! The pacing in The Teacher was break-neck speed. It held my attention throughout, but let me tell you – reading about a teenage girl who is making all the wrong decisions and who is totally, 100% convinced she is making the right choices is HARD work. But the fact that the character had me in such a tizzy is a testament to some good writing. I hate annoying characters – and Addie is annoying AF. But the story is also told from multiple points of view – each distinct – which was a really good choice in this case, as we got to see events unfolding from different perspectives. And of course, there’s other despicable characters.
Last year, Caseham High was rocked by a scandal involving a student-teacher affair, with one student, Addie, at its center. But Addie can’t be trusted. She lies. She hurts people. She destroys lives. At least, that’s what everyone says. But nobody knows the real Addie. Nobody knows the secrets that could destroy her. And Addie will do anything to keep it quiet.
The Guest List, Lucy Foley
No. of ratings: 1.1 mil+ | Avg. Rating: 3.81
A wedding at an exclusive, out of the way island; a wedding party with frat boy ways, and their obnoxiousness to boot + secrets = a recipe for suspenseful story in this author’s deft hands. Each person has a story to tell, or they play a part in someone else’s story. The suspense builds and builds with this one! Do yourself a favor and listen to the audiobook. I’m not normally a fan of audiobooks for multi-POV but in this case it works.
What’s the last popular or “hyped” books that you read and loved?
One comment
I haven’t read any of these so I’ll check them out and may add some to my list.