Hey guys! I can’t believe that it is already 2024, and I thought I’d kickstart this year with a 2-in-1 post. So this post is going to be all about my favourite books of 2023, as well as all of the books I am excited to read in 2024! These are going to be shorter reviews, where I rate them out of 10 as well as make recommendations for who would like these books. Also, I had to change my podcast because the website that I used to make my podcast on got bought out. My podcast is now called “Isha P’s Book Reviews”, and you can find it on Spotify. So sorry about the inconvenience guys! Now without further ado, let’s dive into it!

2023 Favourite Books

1.The Thousandth Floor (Full Series)

Katharine Mcgee

The Thousandth Floor series is set in 2118, in New York. At this time there has been lots of innovations, and humans have figured out how to build a tower that is 1000 floors and is 2.5 miles high. This book tells a story from 5 different teenagers that live in this Tower, whose lives intertwine in unexpected ways. I absolutely loved this series, and feel as though it is so underrated. It is futuristic, it’s got romance, action, and suspense. I would rate this series an 8/10 with my only complaints being that some of the characters felt a little unnecessary, and I wold have loved to see some characters perspectives.

2. The Summer I Turned Pretty (Full Series)

Jenny Han

The Summer I Turned Pretty is the story of a 16 year old girl named Belly who has spent every single summer of her life with her mother, brother, and their close family friends. Their family friends are the Fishers. The fishers include their mother, Susannah, and her two boys Jeremiah and Conrad. The series takes you through 3 summers that Belly spends with Jeremiah and Conrad, during which Belly has to decide which boy she will fall for. This series has lots of romance and drama in it, but it does also have themes of heartbreak and grief. I love The Summer I Turned Pretty more than any book that I’ve read this year, and it is so good that I am going to rate it a 10/10.

3. If He Had Been With Me

Laura Nowlin

This book tells the story of a girl named Autumn. She has always been best friends with her next door neighbour Finn, but they grow apart during high school. The book takes you through Autumn’s feelings towards Finn, and is ultimately a heartbreaking book. I don’t even have words for this book. Just typing this review makes me sad. This book is a romance, coming of age, incredibly sad novel. Though, this book, however heartbreaking, was a really amazing book so I will give it a 9/10. The points are taken off because of how much it made me cry.

4. Throne of Glass (Full Series)

Sarah J. Maas

Throne of Glass is a series that follows Celaena Sardothien through her journey as the tyrannical King of Adarlan’s deadly assassin. Throughout the series Celaena forms bonds, finds love, and ultimately sets out on a quest to save Erilea (her country). This book series was honestly the best fantasy series that I’ve ever read and it is just so well written. Big shout out to my uncle Pavan for recommending me this series! This series has lots of fantasy, romance, action, and suspense. I would rate this series an 8/10. My only dislikes about Throne of Glass are that it is very detail oriented so you have to really be paying attention, and it is a commitment to read the whole thing.

5. The Cheerleaders

Kara Thomas

The Cheerleaders is a book told from the perspective of a girl named Monica. 5 years ago, 5 cheerleaders died in Monica’s town. 2 girls passed away from a freak car accident. 2 girls got killed by their next door neighbour. Finally, Monica’s older sister killed herself. On the 5th anniversary of the cheerleaders death, Monica is asked to speak in a memorial service for her sister and her friends. However, Monica’s world starts to unravel when she starts questioning the death of these cheerleaders, and finding more evidence to support that these deaths were not coincidences. This book has lots of suspense and action, and is definitely more of the murder mystery type. I really liked this book because all of the loose ends tied up really neatly in the end. I would rate this book a 7/10, simply because it was not the best book I read this year.

6. Twilight (Full Series)

Stephenie Meyer

Twilight is about a girl named Bella who moves from sunny Phoenix, Arizona to rainy Forks, Washington, to live with her dad. When she goes to high school she falls in love with this mysterious guy named Edward who turns out to be a vampire who has been alive for 100s of years. The series basically just takes you through their relationship. Twilight has romance, drama, and action. To be honest, Twilight was not all that I was expecting it to be. The writing was not really that good, and the plot was pretty bad. However, I did still read all of the books, and watch all of the movies, so I would rate this series a 6/10.

2024 To-Read List

1.The Grandest Game

Jennifer Lynn Barnes

I am so excited for this release! The Grandest Game comes out on July 30, 2024, and it is part of one of my favourite series, The Inheritance Games. I have very high expectations for this novel, because this is not the first spin-off novel for the Inheritance Games. There was another book called “The Brothers Hawthorne” that was released in 2023 and it was absolutely amazing! The overview on Indigo says that it is “Designed to give anyone a shot at fame and fortune, this year’s game requires one of seven golden tickets to enter. With millions on the line, those seven players will do whatever it takes to win.” I hope that this book includes parts with the Hawthorne Brothers an Avery because I just absolutely adore those characters. Overall I have very high hopes for this book, and can’t wait for it to be released.

2. If Only I Had Told Her

Laura Nowlin

This is definitely the book that I am most excited to read in 2024! If Only I Had Told Her comes out on February 6, 2024 and I just can’t wait! This is not quite a sequel to If He Had Been With Me, but more of a companion novel. As you guys now, I LOVE If He Had Been With Me, and I hope this book makes me cry as much as the first one did. This book is told from three different perspectives. Finn, who is in love with Autumn. Jack, who is Finn’s best friend. Finally, it tells the perspective of Autumn as well. I am excited to see what point of time they decided to write this from. I am not going to leave any spoilers for If He Had Been With Me, so I can’t exactly specify but ifykyk.

3. Shatter Me (Full Series)

Tahereh Mafi

I have already read the first book of the Shatter Me series and I am absolutely in love with this series. It is about a 17 year old girl named Juliette Ferrars, who is touch is lethal. The planet has been taken over by a dictatorship called the Reestablishment, that is attempting to heal our world from climate change. When the leader of the Reestablishment, Aaron Warner, takes an interest in Juliette she must choose if she wants to stay with him, or the soldier she is in love with, Adam Kent. I have very high expectations for the rest of this series, especially because the Internet has really hyped this series up.

4. Shadow and Bone (Full Series)

Leigh Bardugo

I have also read the first novel in this series and I did like it quite a bit. This book is about a girl named Alina Starkov, who is a teenage orphan in a land called Rakva, and one day she unexpectedly finds out she has a dangerous power that can change her entire life. This is def more streamline fantasy, and I think this book is really entertaining and engaging!

I hope that you guys like this post and I will definitely keep you updated on my to-read list of 2024. Just an fyi, these are not all the books I want to read in 2024, and I can do another post about some more books I plan to read this year. Anyways that’s it for today. BYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!