Antonia Bernardin

This is a series of posts where I go through the Goodreads list of Booktok books and give quick overview what I liked and disliked and why.

I am just covering the second lot of 10 books in the list in this post, you can read part 1 here, part 2 here and I’ll edit this to link the later parts once they’re up!

The rating I’m adding is purely subjective, my preferences generally tend to be that I’ll read pretty much anything but I like romance and fantasy the most, I like spice when it’s right for the book, I love well-written trash and I’m not stuck up about what’s consider ‘good’ literature. 

Use the links below to skip to the book you are interested in.

1. 21. The Midnight Library- Matt Haig – 5/10
2. 22. House of Earth and Blood – Crescent city book 1 – Sarah J Maas – 6/10
3. 23. The Hating Game – Sally Thorne – 8/10
4. 24. Red Queen – Victoria Aveyard
5. 25. These Violent Delights
6. 26. The Atlas Six – Olivie Blake

21. The Midnight Library- Matt Haig – 5/10

The Midnight Library follows Nora on the precipice of taking her own life, when she is transported to the midnight library. In this library she gets to live out different versions of how her life might have gone, had she made different decisions, with the option to stay in a timeline if she prefers it.

As she tries more and more lives out, she discovers how everything that happened in her actual life, happened for a reason, and that the timeline she came from is the one she’s meant to be in.

I can see this book being really helpful to a certain type of person but I don’t think this would work for everyone, as it places a bit too much emphasis on a simple shift in perspective being enough to undo years of depression and suicidial ideation. Like I said, could be right for some people but it just didn’t resonate with me. Plus I found the book a bit slow and the world building a little too loosey-goosey for my taste.

Read my full review here

22. House of Earth and Blood – Crescent city book 1 – Sarah J Maas – 6/10

This book follows Bryce, a powerless half fae after the brutal murder of her best friend, she gets roped into the investigation with a disgraced and indentured angel. As they delve into the mystery more, they discover how many pretty serious things Dannika was involved in and how they tie into the way their electrical grid is powered and the power of their rulers.

Out of the three big series’s of SJ Maas, this series was my least favourite. It’s still good though! It’s a really interesting world that blends modern technology with magic, the romance in it is good. I will say you probably spend at least the first third of book 1 getting to grips with the world-building and who everyone is. This is a fun read but this whole series is massive books so they are a commitment to read.

Read my full review here.

23. The Hating Game – Sally Thorne – 8/10

Two book publishing companies get merged into one, except they have very opposing ideals, one is all business, the other is artsy. Sitting across this divide is the two executive assistants to the co-CEO’s, who have been engaged in a bitter rivalry since day one. All the care about is winning the game until a series of circumstances throw them together more and more, and suddenly the fire of the rivalry becomes a different kind of fire, even while they are competing for a promotion at work.

Look, on the face of it, this is a semi-ridiculous concept but this book is honestly one of the best ‘enemies to lovers’ set in ‘real life’ (i.e not fantasy) that I’ve read. The banter and the competitiveness, doesn’t go away as their relationship develops, it’s just used to increase the spicy tension. I really like how it ends, it’s funny and enjoyable.

Read my original review here

24. Red Queen – Victoria Aveyard

In this world people are divided by Reds and Silvers, Reds are a slave race and Silvers have powerful gifts that allow them to have absolute rule. Any Red not in a job by 18 is conscripted to fight in a war that’s been raging for 100 years against an opposing country.

Mare is saved from conscription by a mysterious stranger she meets whilst out pick-pocketing but on the day she begins serving in the house of the royal family there is a tournament to choose the bride’s of the royal princes. When the magic of one of the competitors goes awry and Mare is thrown onto the electric shield around the arena and, instead of dying, her body absorbs and projects the electricity. The silvers are faced with a Red with powers that were witnessed by thousands of people, so they concoct a lie: she is a Silver adopted by a Red family in the war. To make her comply, they hold her family against her but Mare cannot let go of the injustices she has witnessed from being amongst both the Reds and Silvers so she becomes involved with the underground rebel movement. Mare is playing a game beyond her capabilities and she cannot trust anyone.

This book is one of those ones that really absorbs you into its world, the main character is flawed but part of that is to drive home how young she is to be dealing with these things. I’ve really enjoyed book one and intend to continue with the series!

25. These Violent Delights

This is a Juliet and Romeo retelling set in Shanghai 1926, with the heirs to rival gangs who attempt to work together to find the cause of a mysterious illness sweeping through Shanghai.

Look, I know some people really enjoyed this book but I didn’t, I came pretty close to DNF’ing it. It’s slow and the tension between the characters isn’t very believable. The historic setting of the book is really interesting but beyond that, the book just did not grip me.

Read my full review here

26. The Atlas Six – Olivie Blake

This book is about an elite secret society called the Alexandrian Library, each year they take a selection of 6 perspective new members with gifts and put them through a series of tests, only five will succeed. Under the tutelage of the myserteous Atlas Blakely, they must fight for their survival but over time they start to discover how literal that fight is.

I liked this book, the concept is really interesting, all the characters are well rounded people who are not always wholly likeable, they all go on different journeys and have interesting powers. It’s very much in that Dark Academia style and the plot behind Atlas’s motives takes the whole book to unpick. I’ve been meaning to go back to this series since I read the first!

Read my full review here

That’s it, this officially all the booktok books in that Goodreads list that I’ve read reviewed! Any books you want to me to try out? Comment or contact me!