Ep 72 Mid Year Book FREAKOUT!! 85+ Book Reviews and Ratings thru Mid Year 2025

It’s our mid-year one sentence spoiler free book review episode! How is it the middle of 2025? We have no idea how we got here but we know we only did it through a healthy amount of disassociation and yapping… courtesy of books.

Stick around if you want to hear 85+ rapid reviews on every single book we’ve read for the podcast, for personal enjoyment, and for science! A bit of a Mid-year book freakout tag, if you will. Get your pen and paper out to start adding to your TBR. Or maybe cross some of those off the list because we read it so you didn’t have to. 

We cover our top three reads of the first half of the year, our bottom three (some might surprise you 👀), and talk about our reading goals and how close we are to achieving them. 

And of course we have a fave or fail involving Labubus, date nights, and a popular dystopian series. And a smash or pass, extraterrestrial edition.

Don't be shy, subscribe! New Podcasts every Tuesday!! (And sometimes Friday!…)

Check out these author interviews? ⬇️

Penn Cole talks with us about Strong Female Characters, Feminist Themes, and her debut bestselling Spark of the Everflame Series! https://youtu.be/7ukNImyoObw?si=7C3Y9kOUMN4hfcKb

We interviewed Callie Hart all about her NYT Bestseller Quicksilver! Watch it here! https://youtu.be/CED5s7qDBdQ?si=8xtIRO1IzX6Rsld4

Check the official Author Interview with Lindsay Straube of Split or Swallow! Now a Barnes & Noble & Amazon best seller titled: Kiss of the Basilisk!  https://youtu.be/fknhocSNIKM

Need more ACOTAR in your life? Cook your way through Velaris with the help of Chelsea Cole and her cookbook A Feast of Thorns & Roses. Check out our author interview here! https://youtu.be/fjzmqd-x3OA?si=kNJ4D9cxvUjhp-Ik

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Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to Besties and the Books!
• 3:34 Fav and Fail of the Week!
• 13:20 Star and Spice Rating System
• 14:29 Our Book Reviews of the Year So Far
• 53:58 Top 3 and Bottom 3 Reads of the Year
• 1:05:05 Reading Goals for 2025 Progress
• 1:08:10 Unhinged Smash or Pass

Transcript

5: 0:00

00 in the morning. Extremely tall and grumpy. Shadow Daddy, five stars. It's contemporary with a bit of magic involved. Because I would go insane. Okay, that's why. Cuz we're floating on a rock in outer space.[Music] Hey everyone, I'm Ashley. And I'm Liz. And this is the Besties and the Books podcast. Welcome for a completely spoiler-free episode today. Super exciting. Um, a little unhinged, a little bit chaotic. If you guys have been around for a while, then you've seen us do this before. Yeah. Yep. Um, this is going to be our one sentence star ratings of every book that we've read so far, January through June of 2025. So, this year. So, Congratulations, you guys. We've made it halfway through the year, dude. We have We've survived against all odds. Here we are. Yeah, we're filming this. It's very end of June, so you know, we'll be bringing you our July through end of December. Probably sometime in January or February time. Um, but you know, hey, we're actually on it. I feel like last year we didn't get to this episode until maybe like August. So, we're doing good. We're like right on time. It wasn't It was completely on accident as well. So, hey, we had some changes that we needed to make in our schedule and I was like,"Oh, shoot. We don't even have the halfway one in." Perfect. Perfect. Literally perfect timing. Not too late. So, yeah, we just give you our little like chaotic one-s sentence review. Um, you know, with no there's not going to be any major spoilers or anything like that, so don't worry about that. We'll also give you our goal for the year, for the total year, and then where we're at as far as, you know, meeting that goal. So, essentially like if we have a goal, how many books we're hoping to read, and where we are now. Um, but before we Oh, and we'll also make sure that we're going to end with our top three and our bottom three, so you guys know what our three best and three worst are. So, get out your pen and paper. If you want to add a whole bunch of books to your TBR or, you know, maybe you'll be screaming at us because you love something that we didn't like or vice versa, that's always fine, too. Um, and yeah, disclaimer, just because we didn't like something doesn't mean we don't think that you should like it. So, more power to you if you did. Um, and I'm sure that we like stuff that other people thought was terrible. So, that's all. These are just our vibes and where we stood, man. Hey, exactly. It's all good. So, yeah, if that sounds good to you, you're wanting to get some uh new book recommendations, stick around. But before we get into that, we just want to say thank you for being here. Thank you guys so much for being here and taking time out of your day and your book and probably your never- ending TBR stack like us to just add some more to your never- ending TBR stack. Maybe we would love to hear what some of your favorite reads have been so far this year. So definitely drop us a comment. You can now do that on the Spotify podcast if you're listening and then of course on YouTube. We are at all the places you like to listen to your favorite podcast including YouTube at besties in the books podcast everywhere. And it's not just a blank screen talking at you on YouTube. We're just hanging out. And we're also on Instagram, Tik Tok at Bessies in the Books podcast. We're just hanging out everywhere. So come hang out. If you want a buddy to read, we're on Fable, okay? If you want a buddy to read, if you want a buddy to read with, we're over on the Fable app at Bessies in the Book Club. We have our monthly book club picks there, and then our random buddy reads, sometimes popular books, sometimes what we're reading for the podcast, all those things. So come hang out. Good variety. There's something for everyone. Yeah. Yeah. All right. So, let's just kick this off with our fave and fail of the week. So, we are just going to be talking about literally what's going on in our lives right now. Yes. My fail of the week, aside from the fact that I have not been able to actually fold any laundry in two weeks and suing in a literal mountain of laundry for work, for my personal, for the house, etc. That's driving me slowly to madness because I just have no time to do it. Yeah. Um, I do want to say that I did go over to my sister's house for a girls night before anyone says like, "Why are you having a girls night if your house is in disorder?" Because I would go insane. Okay? Cuz we're floating on a rock in outer space. That's why we got to do what we got to do. I can't actually have a girls night with my sister and my friend Rosinda unless we plan it two months in advance. That's why. Yeah. So, by the time it finally gets here, we do it. Um, we finally finished the new season of The Handmaid's Tale, which was the for anyone curious or who anyone who doesn't know is actually the series finale. So, it is done. Um, we've been watching this since when? 2019, something like that. In my opinion, the ending, as Joey would put it, was abysmal. Oh. So, yeah, it was definitely like quite a let down. And we were bummed too because everyone was like talking about it like,"Oh my god, it was so shocking and it was crazy. It was twisty. It was turny." And so we're expecting something insane to happen. And we're just kind of like,"Nope, the same exact plot that's been going on for three seasons too long is exactly what happened." And so we're just kind of like very underwhelmed by it. Um, I put a little poll up on my Instagram story and it seems that is the general consensus amongst almost everyone as well. Yeah. Um, so, you know, for a series that I feel like was really important and, um, you know, for the most part, well done. I think it just dragged on way too long and they did not need to make it as many seasons as they did. Yeah. They also are making a spin-off series um for The Testaments, which was the sequel, which I really liked. If you hadn't if you haven't read The Testaments by Margaret Atwood, I highly recommend that you do so. It was excellent book. Um, but I'm kind of curious to see how they're going to handle that now and if I'll even watch it, to be honest. Yeah. Yeah. Um, so those were my fails of the week. The unending pile of laundry that's literally the bane of my existence and the Handmaid's Tail letting us down after so much. We've been through so much together. How could you do this to us? So, yeah, not great. Um, my fave of the week is that my husband asked me out on a date last night. So cute. And so I actually like fully got dressed up and like did my hair and my makeup which I like do never now, you know, like everything everything looked put together like I actually care. Um and yeah, we went out to it's not a new restaurant, but it's a restaurant that's been around for a while. They just recently like changed up the menu a lot and they actually had a vegan pasta, which is impossible for me to find anywhere where I live. Um and I love pasta and it was actually so good. Oh, yum. So, that I, you know, I went into it expecting very low expectations. Like, this is probably either I'm going to get there and they're going to be like, "Oh, yeah, we don't have that anymore and I'm just going to have to like eat fries for dinner or like I'll eat it and it'll just be like whatever." You know what I mean? Like Cheesecake Factory where they just kept bringing you more vegetables. I felt like Oh my god. And they were like bland and completely unseasoned. More microwave vegetables, but you're vegan. You want more? Can I get some like seasoning? Yeah. Yeah. with like uh pasta, just plain noodles. Yeah. I'm like, what is going on here? Yeah. No, that is not what happened. It was delicious. It was amazing. It was well thought out. We will actually go back, which for my husband who worked in restaurants down in SoCal for a long time, that's like a tall order because he is not impressed by a lot. Um, so yeah, that was great. We had a good time at dinner. And then after dinner, we wanted to go acquire a dessert. And so my husband found me a slice of pie that I wanted. He was like,"Well, I think they have it here." We went there, they didn't have it. So then he drove to another store and they did have it. And so then we just watched House Hunters in bed and ate our pie and it was a lovely evening. So a That's great. 10 out of 10. That's great. Yeah. So what about you? What's your fave and fail of this week? Well, I looked at our schedule to see if it aligned. I'm pretty sure the week that went the video that went up last week was my um Laboo crash out. So, I have an update cuz I think the timing is right or else cuz the timing is off, it's not going to make any sense. Um, my I'll talk about this briefly. I won't keep you guys for too long, but my labu fail of this week. No, my update is going to be I finally got the ones that we wanted. Oh, good. But at what cost? Okay, so my fave is that Yeah, I finally got him. It took me Okay, so it's for anybody that knows the the Lab Boooos. They're the big into energy. It's like a cute tie-dye collection, right? We had decided we were trying to get the set so that we wouldn't get duplicates and then we could just give out the other ones that we don't want, you know? So, we don't need a million of them. And that was impossible. Okay, like two weeks probably. At first, I was casual about it, but then then becomes an obsession. Then becomes a hyperfixation. Okay. And I would always get when they would drop, they were doing like silent drops cuz they're trying to limit, you know, all the scalpers and so you just have to randomly check and they would get in my cart and it I would hit proceed to payment and it would just constantly error out, you know, and error error error error. So it but then it makes you like it's right there just let me check out. So that went on for far too long. And then also I was checking the lives every night for the silent drops they're doing on TikTok and there's like three accounts you have after school. It was just it's too much, guys. It's too much. But thankfully, my favorite thing is that it's over. Last night, it's over.

Stayed up stayed up till 5: 9:41

00 in the morning, maybe. Um I was You did not. I did.

5: 9:48

00 in the morning.

Listen, I got up at 4: 9:52

00 a.m. But then I couldn't go back to sleep. Well, I know. So, I'm um packing right now for our big twoe trip. So, I'm very amped. Like, I'm very chaotic energy right now. Like, I'm doing like a million things and I cannot calm down at night to sleep. So, every night I've been staying up like past midnight, which is very weird for me. Also, I've been stalking this stupid app to try to see and it's like an addiction, okay? It's like a gambling problem. Okay, so I uh was doing other things in bed and I was listening to Anna Green Gables and I was like I had to place some Amazon orders. So, I was kind of like going back and forth in and out of the app and doing that, you know, and so then I get like that stupid second wind when you stay up too late, you know? So, okay. Well, so I was and then I have to we're also going to Oani in the later in the summer. So, I had to set a alarm.

So, I it was 2: 10:51

00 and I'm like, "Okay, it's going to I'm going to go to bed." And then my alarm went off that in an hour I need to make this reservation cuz it's like Disney World you have to like get up at a certain time and then it's the Hawaii time zone. So it's midnight

there but it's 3: 11:04

00 my time. So super annoying. So I was like okay well I'm I might as well stay up obviously. So I did that. I got the reservations. It wasn't an hour before. It was like 15 minutes before I think it was. So I did the reservations and I'm like let me just check one more time. Well, they do these like popups that you have to like pick from the Laboo boxes and you can like It's very weird. It's called Pop Now. So, anyways, I got one of the boxes. I'm like, "Oh crap." Well, here we go. So, cuz I got there's three of us that want it, you know? So, I have to try to get two more else it's not worth it. And you can hold it for 5 minutes and then it tells you like it's called So, you like get you find out what it is before you get it. So, it gives you hints on what it's not. I was like, "Okay, those aren't the ones we wanted, so I should just do this and then be done with it cuz I just want to be done." Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, I ended up getting all three of them in like 30 minutes, whatever it was. What is time and space? I don't know. I look at the clock and I'm like, "Oh my gosh." So, I think it

was by like 4: 12:05

00 that I was done and I'm like, "Oh, yay." But then I'm all like,"Yay, finally I got it." And then I couldn't go back to sleep. So, um, it's settled. It's done, guys. I've got it. That's good. So, you got the like little like rainbowy one that you wanted. Um, no. That's a secret. That's only one out of 72 sets will have it. So, I got the green one that I wanted, but my girls don't know. I didn't tell them that I got it. So, hopefully they're not easedropping right now. Um, so, uh, because the shipping's going to take a while and I don't want them asking me every day, where is it? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We're going to be gone anyways. So, I'm going to act like that's done. It's settled. I don't out of sight, out of mind. I just don't want to be stalking the app anymore cuz it becomes like a annoying habit, you know, of like it's that they're doing it on purpose and I don't want to be a part of the system anymore. So, it's done. That might be my favorite thing is that I don't have to do it anymore even though I did it to myself and nobody made me do this. So, hey, it's the little things. There you go, guys. There you go. So, okay. So before uh we actually start in with our reviews of every book that we have read so far this year. Since ever forever since the beginning of time, we did want to Yes. Since the beginning of time. We'll be here a long time. We can only keep you here till 4. Okay. So um we did want to mention that we do have a whole episode that explains our star and spice rating system. Uh so we've already talked about what makes a book five stars, what makes a book one star, and everything in between. And you can check that out and we will link it below. Yes, we will. Correct. Okay. And also, I mean, if we're talking about any of these books and you know, you say you read it and you want more because I get that you finish a book and you want more. Most of these books like we read for episodes. I would say not all of them, but there's there's going to be a lot of overlap that Liz and I have obviously with the podcast. Um, so if you're wanting more or if you're like,"Ooh, that sounds interesting. I want to hear a little more but not too much." You know, we give a spoiler warning and everything in each of the episodes that cover it. I mean, we even have, you know, Quicksilver, for example. We even interviewed the author, Cali Hart, you know, and then we have the follow-up deep dive episode in that. So, there's a lot of extra content if you so choose. Yep. Yep. Is there? Yep. All right. Should we just We're just going to ping pong down the list, right? We're just going to go for it. Yep. Let's go. All right. My first one is Quicksilver by Cali Hart. Mhm. Five stars. He's an extremely tall and grumpy shadow daddy. She's the one who can help him save his world with Anthony Palamini narrating MMC. It just might be the perfect book. I will have Quicksilver as well at the beginning. Five stars. Romanty with fast pacing, twists and turns and new takes on our favorite tropes. Yeah. Mhm. Yeah. Okay. My next one is Hex by Emily McIntyre. Oo. Five stars. It's a The Little Mermaid retelling in reverse where Ariel is the villain, Vanessa is the one we're rooting for, and quote unquote, Prince Eric is in the mob. Oh, I need to read that one. It's so good. That's probably what would be my favorite of hers, I think. More up my up my speed, whatever that means. You've only read Hooked, right? Yeah. Yeah. A lot of them. Pearl. I love all of them, but Hex Hex was really good. Twisted was or not twisted. What was it called? I guess I could just look right back here. Wretched um is Wizard of Oz. You'd like that. Yeah, maybe after our wicked read. Yeah, there you go. Mhm. Uh Yellow Face by RF Kong. Five stars. It's an interesting piece on plagiarism and a look at the toxic side of publishing with a dark twist at the end. H it was really good. I think you would enjoy it and I listened to the audio. Really good. Okay. Yeah. Nice. Mhm. Uh The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Reread. Five stars. Rereading this in 2025 was such an important experience. It's extremely entertaining dystopian YA fiction about a group of kids that are forced to fight to the death as penants for an uprising. 100 years ago that I'm certain adults actually get more out of when it comes to an examination of current political events. Yeah. Mhm. Little Lies and Valentine's. This was part of our cringey Valentine's Day reads or Unhinged or something. Whatever we title that was three stars for me. It was just fine. If you kind of want like a really short version of what is it called by Nessa Allen? Um, lights out. Lights out. There we I keep mixing it with caught up cuz everybody's talking about that right now. If you want like a really short quick, well, not at all. Okay, it's the vibes of Lights Out, but like Valentine's Day themed. They did bring the Valentine's Day vibes, so you know, it's like 150 pages. You know, you could add it to your Valentine's list. Liz loved it. I think we'll find out. I was three stars for me. It was just fine, but I'm not a dark romance girly, so take that with what you will. Mhm. Yeah. Uh my next one, Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. Uh, again, five stars. M, the perfect follow-up to The Hunger Games that is just as fast-paced and entertaining, which is a middle book, is sometimes hard to do as book one, but a bit more political critique. Mhm. Mhm. Yeah. Catching Fire, five stars. Obviously, you know, you get a new perspective on the Hunger Games and you get to peel back the curtain a little bit more on what's going on in that world, in that dystopian world. Loved it. Loved it so much. Uh, my next one is Mocking Jay. Also five stars. the final installment in the original Hunger Games trilogy and my personal favorite because it's all about the real implication of years of tyrannical rule and authoritarianism on an oppressed population. So, war and uprising and the ethical dilemmas that come from building a new society. Yeah. Okay. Mocking Jay, five stars. Opposite of Liz though, if I had to pick a least favorite in this book, which we had to when we were doing our overall ranking of the Hunger Games in that video, it's by a decimal a point. Mocking Jay would be technically my least favorite just because they're underground the whole time. So, you know, that's really it. I had to find something. But yeah, it's still really good. And the ending, guys, I'm not going to give it away. Spoilers, but wow. Very good. Very good. Mhm. Um, my next one, Little Lies and Valentine by Lelle Rain. I gave this one a four stars. I put the perfect fun Valentine's Day themed stalker romance with a sweet happily ever after, but only because of the FMC and MMC's tendency towards a strong dark side. Yes. Think Dexter vibes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yaros. Three stars. What a mess, guys. What a mess. I know. Some people are yelling at me. You love it. I'm so happy for you guys. I am so I wish I was one of you. Okay. Yeah. It's not holding up to the level of what the first book, Fourth Wing, was for me. So unfortunate if if you like chaotic energy, you know, in a book, a fantasy book for you, go for it and it's for you good. But yeah, that's all I'll say on that. Again, we have a whole video on it. Yeah. Yeah. Uh my next one is Mistorn by Brandon Sanderson. Four stars. A well-written snoozefest about a bunch of dudes plotting to overthrow their government with the help of a surprisingly talented yet devoid of all personality teenage girl. Okay, I literally couldn't say it better myself. So, ditto miss four stars for the same reason. Beautifully said. That book was so easy for me to sum up in one sentence. Like, now that I have enough distance from it, yeah, five sentences or less not needed, I'll go with the last one sentence. Sorry. I know. And that's another beloved beloved one. And also the hype was really really high. Like I was like, "Okay, I don't know if I'm ready to like get into this whole I what is it the alchemy? Is it alchemy series? What is this series called?" No, it's the cosmir. It's called universe world, you know? Like am I ready for that kind of thrown in a glass level? Cuz that's what it's often compared to. And I was like, "Oh, just kidding. I'm one and done." Yeah. Sorry. But still four stars technically, you know. Well, that's what I said. It was well written. I didn't have any issues with the writing. It just was boring to me. Yeah. It's very And the FMC to me is very much um stereotypical female written by a male in my opinion in fantasy. Oh, a million%. Yeah. So, I didn't enjoy that. Uh my next one is Shades of Red by Willow Prescott. You guys have heard me scream the praises of this book a million times, but we'll say it again. Five stars. Uh, think the TV show The Bear meets the TV show You, but extremely dark romance. Yes, chef. Whatever you say, Chef, this book is perfection. Nice. Yeah. Loved it. The Ever King by LJ Andrews. That was a book club pick. It was five stars. I had a really good time. It's, you know, sorry I didn't write the sentence back then, so it's a little fuzzy now. It's like a pirate fantasy and there's it's fun and but not and it's emotional and trauma. Sorry, I don't remember much about it now. It's a terrible review. But it was five stars. But it was five stars. It just didn't stay in there as much as I thought it would actually purely because I don't remember anything now. I'm going to go with four stars. I just changed it. Sorry. Because if it didn't stick with me enough, sorry. That's a five star. That would have to be. So, I'm going to go with four stars. Okay. Changing my vote. Makes sense. Uh, my next one is The Darkly Madly Duet by Trisha Wolf. So, this is actually two books. Um, but I didn't feel it necessary to write a separate for each one. Uh, four stars for both of them. This is like if Saw, yes, the horror movie was actually about hot Jigsaw and his psychologist falling for each other because of their troubled past and then the twisted games that they play together. Very good. Very, very Trisha Wolf for sure. The Measure by Nikki Eric. Five stars. I listened to the audio of this. It is a thought piece on what would you do if you were given the opportunity to find out how long of a life you will live. So the premise with and it's not given anything away, but everybody in the world is delivered a box with a string that allegedly will predict how much longer you have to live. Would you open the box? It's not mandatory, but you can't get rid of it. So, would you open the box? Probably not. No, I wouldn't open the box. But that is a thought piece. And it goes and it follows along different people's stories. So, it follows along all different You would really like it because it follows along different couples, different people. It's very interesting and it's really like whoa to think about, you know. Yeah. No, I definitely um glad that you are reminding me about that because I remember you talking about it before and I forgot to write it down. So, very good. Mhm. It's also definitely it's always I although I thought I was reading this when I was like oh I have read a lot of fantasy if you listen to that list like that was a lot of fantasy we just read and I need a little brain break. Um it's still very emotional. It's still very sad and crazy. So it's not an emotional break but it was a break from kind of fantasy. I mean, it's still fantastical in a way, but it's more so just contemporary, but with this weird thing that happens. Uh, my next one is My Bloody Valentine by Ma Crawford. Three stars. A short and smutty palette cleanser about a deranged dude and his female obsession. Literally no plot, but Teddy Hamilton's voice. There you go. Three stars. You know, it was fine. It was just kind of like is what it is. It accomplished its goal. Yeah. Great. Because you get a consolation prize or a participation trophy. Yeah, exactly. All right, guys. Sunrise on the Reaping H obviously by Suzanne Collins. It is Hey Mitch's story pre Katniss, prehunger games. So, it's his time in the Hunger Games. Five stars. I cannot wait to reread this series once my daughter comes of age to read it and I'll read it with her because I wonder if my like ranking order of favorite books and least favorite books, you know, will change because I I love Sunrise on Reap. Everybody loved it, but it's like a different it's just so wow balling my eyes out the whole time. So, hey. Yeah. So good. My next one is The Unworthy by Augustina Baz Tar. I gave it four stars. Uh, it's a dystopian horror about a young woman who finds herself part of a murderous religious cult after the fall of modern society. Truly horrific imagery and eye ideas that will probably stick with you long after you finish this short novella. Oo. So, yeah, she really knows how to write them. She wrote Tender as the Flesh for anyone who got into that. And both of them were very short but very impactful. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Yep. All right. Glint, which I believe is the fourth or sorry, second book in Plated Prisoner series by Raven Kennedy. Four stars. No, I don't know. I waffle between three and four stars. Listen, this one's pretty slow for me. They were traveling for a really long time to nowhere, which is kind of what bugs me. It's a journey to nowhere kind of vibes until the very end. So, I'm going to have to go with three stars on that one. But I see the potential and it's not worth giving up on, if that makes sense, you know, but it's also because the whole entire community has told me keep going. It's just the first couple books that take a while. So, see, I liked book two. Book one was okay, but I did like book two a lot. You don't mind Journeys to Nowhere as much as I do. I don't. So, I really do enjoy a good journey. A good But then we're just camping, you know? We're just camp for 500 pages. just camping. So, I we're learning lessons and stuff, but hey, who are you camping with? That's what matters. Well, you know. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So, my next one is uh The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins. Five stars. Back to our Hunger Games journey. I just put Oh, whoops. I villain. Yeah. Oh, I just put a villain. Why hot? But truly, this first prequel to the Hunger Games is essentially Coral Elena Snow's villain origin story, and it is perfection in the ways that it ties so much together while giving us his backstory so that we can view Snow as an actual person. Yes, I love this book. I get chills just thinking about it every time. I don't know what's wrong with me. So, Ballot of Songbirds and Snakes, five stars. This was, in case anybody doesn't know, I read Hunger Games for the first time for a miniseries. It was a reread for Liz. And I got to say, coming into the fandom at this point, there is a lot of hate for Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. I think from what I've gathered, it seems like a lot was mixed up between the movie and the books and people thinking by based on the movie, which is what I did too. So, I get it. I based everything on my previous previous opinion before reading the books on the first Hunger Games and I thought it was a kids movie like love triangle. Um yeah, so Ballad of Songbirds on surface level it seems like an author is going to be trying to give the villain like a soft spot and try to make people like him. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. That's not what it is. Also, the hot take is that he's just a simp that's scorn and mad because he didn't get the girl. No, no, no, no, no, no. Please read the book. If you read it and you didn't get read it again, I loved it so much until you understand. Like, I get it's a different tone because it's his totally story. It's going to feel different and it should feel different and you see his kind of descent into madness without giving too much away. But, oh, I just thought it was so well done. Loved it. Loved it. Yeah, same. Uh, my next one is Sith and Sparrow by Bin Weaver. So, the wrap-up to the Ruinous Love trilogy. Five stars. Uh, perfect wrap-up to the original book series that taught me that I can like romcoms as long as there's murder and and broody MMC's in them. I laughed out loud the most in this book, and the FMC is my favorite. Nice. Yeah, it was a good time. Yeah, I listened to a lot of it when I was at your house last and like I would just have my headphones on doing my makeup and I would just be cracking myself up. Good. It's great. It was good. I'll get to it. I have to get to it. It's on my goals list this year. Okay. Um, this Monster of Mine by Shellini Abaser, who we also interviewed on the podcast and did a deep dive on. five stars because also this was kind of another take on political fantasy and I really loved all of the elements that she wo in this book and the political unjustice like the heavily heavily themed political unjustice that is in it. So, and then you have that little bit of magic that's going on in there. So, if that sounds something that you like, give it a try. really good. Uh, my next one is The Ever King by LJ Andrews. So, I gave this one a four stars. It's a pirate romance with an easy to understand but captivating world and magic system that gives Pirates of the Caribbean vibes. But listen to the audio because dear Lord, Eric. Yeah, true, true, true. Very good point. I know. I need to go I need to uh listen to the next one. I'm going to do the audio. Yeah, I'm committed to the audio on that series. Yep. Yeah. All right. Gleam, which is book three in the Plleated Prisoner series. Five stars. Finally. Loved it. Such a good book. Such a good book. Um, yes. So, if you're like me and you read the first two and you're like, well, it it's all in three. It's all in three. And it just gets literally So, I've had to take a break. I had to take a break at the beginning of I think it is book four. Excuse me. And it sucks that I have to take a break and I'm going to have to restart it cuz now I barely even remember what happens. But we had to prioritize things. But yeah, it was so good. Just trust me. Everything you've been waiting for. There you go. Yep. It all happens and it's and then and then it keeps on going. So you got more to come. So don't feel sad cuz it's not over yet. Uh, my next one is Animal Farm by George Orwell. Uh, five stars. An allegorical classic I had never read before. So, this was a first time read for me about a group of animals that overthrow their farmer masters in order to create a utopia for themselves to live without authoritarian rule. But, do they then simply recreate the mistakes of those they fought to overrule? Excellent political commentary. I'm so mad I got that on Libby. Finally, it was like pending for like two months and I forgot about it cuz I was reading other things and it went and got returned. I'm pretty sure maybe I have one day left on it. I got to look, but I don't got time anyway, so it doesn't matter. It's so Yeah, one of these days. All right, we've entered our Fifty Shades of Gray time frame of our podcast uh rehash. So, book one, Fifty Shades of Gray, three stars. Like I did not sign up for this. Supposed to be a Twilight retelling. Um no fanfic originally and I do see the Twilight in this book. So it's the best of the three if that helps. But it unfortunately all goes downhill from there. Uh very cringy but not for the reasons you would think. Problematic but not for the reasons you would think. And uh I'm I'm I guess I'm glad I did it, but I'll never do it again. Yeah, we've left it. We've left it in the past and we're fine with that. This the last time I'll talk about it. Uh my next one is Phantom by HD Carlton. Four stars. Um this is the stalker mafia romance we all needed because it's set in the 1940s and it's old timey in all the best ways while still being connected to the original cat-and- mouse duet. So, if you're thinking about reading it, but you're not sure and you liked cat and mouse duet or you like HG Carlton, read it. It's excellent. Yes. Spark of the Everflame by Pen Cole, who we also had the opportunity to interview. Very good. Four stars. romanty and a great introduction into fantasy or romance. If you're coming from the contemporary world and you want something that is fast-paced, simplistic enough for book one, I will say book one is a good intro book, but it does turn into high fantasy by book three. Um, but it's really good and especially the younger audience I think would really like I think if I was in my early 20s I probably would have given this five stars. Mhm. Yeah, I could see that. Or even high school because there's no Well, there's a little spice scene. There's a little bit. There's a little but it's not it's not graphic. No, it's there's one very mild spice scene. That's it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Uh my next one is Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins. Five stars. Can this woman stop dropping extremely relevant five-star dystopian novels just when society needs them? I guess not. Hey Mitch's prequel story is just as tragic and heartbreaking as you'd assume, but the story is beautifully well written and the government critique is unfortunately more relevant than ever. Yep. Yep. Oh my gosh. Like guys, if you read The Hunger Games and you're like, I don't know if I want to read Sunrise on the Raping. No. Who says that? First of all, just do it. You get You you see other characters like glimpses into their you know past too. Some beloved characters from different books as well. Yeah. You got a lot of good tie-ins and a lot of tieins. Lot of like oh okay moments which is great. I just eat that up. Agreed. All right. 50 Shades Freed which is book three. Three stars I guess. Um like okay go check out the episode. We could talk for 45 minutes. I don't know. That's all I could say, dude. The ending, the whole all here's this. All three books could have been one book. So, why are we still here? Why are we still here? Where am I trapped inside 50 Shades of Gray? Yeah. Get me out. Uh, my next one is This Monster of Mine by Shellini Abbe Sakara. I How do you say her last name? I think Sakara, I'm pretty sure. Okay. Okay, great. Sorry, messing all of it up. Four stars. Extremely unique romantic with a murder mystery and a government conspiracy at the forefront that the badass FMC and Grouchy Shhatty Da Shadow Daddy together makes him sounds kind of like shady though. Shady Daddy. Yeah. Uh they work together as enemies to solve enemies. Yeah. In air quotes. Mhm. Yeah. Glow of the Everflame book two in the Kindred's Curse Saga. Four stars. This one become you're getting more political intrigue in this book. You're getting a bit of a fight to the death dual action situation. You're getting a lot more high fantasy building up and some more tension perhaps between different love interests. And it's a good time. I liked it. Yeah. Yeah. Mhm. Uh, Shallow River by HD Carlton, four stars. a dark romance about an FMC escaping an extremely abusive relationship with the assistance of his so her abusers estranged police officer detective brother that goes off the rails at the end. Oh wow. Yeah. All right. 50 Shades of Earl Gay, which is our parody book from 50 Shades of Gray series. Three stars. You know, it it was funny. We had a good time listening to it. It wasn't what did you say? Um, specifically clever, but it was funny and it was just like an Yeah, whatever. It was funny. Just an easy good time. It was nice to hear some like, oh yeah, that was ridiculous, right? We're not just making this up because they make it more outlandish, obviously. So, it's a parody book. What are you gonna do with that? You know? Yeah. Yeah. How do you rate that? Yeah. Yeah. Uh, my next one is Fifty Shades of Gray by Eel James. So, book one, four stars, though. Yeah. Okay. This is when I still had hope. Okay. Uh, like almost I know. So young, so naive. Um, like almost exactly like Twilight, but instead of Edward's secret being he's a vampire, the secret is that Gray is a tiny bit kinky. And instead of Bella being a clumsy high schooler with angsty taste in music, Anastasia is a clumsy college graduate who likes to say, "Oh my," and hates it when rich guys buy her stuff. Yep. Yeah. Yeah. There was a lot of hope at the beginning. I'll give you that. Fahrenheit 182 by Mark Hoppus of Blink182. So, this is a memoir. Five stars. Again, that was such a fun episode for us to film because it was just so so heavy on the millennial vibes. It was great and so much that Liz and I like related to literally because we grew up in similar areas like crazy. So, I loved it. It was a good time. But it was also fun getting to know some of the reasons why Blink182 182 did some of the things that they did, the choices that were made and insight behind some of the behind the scenes stuff. So, and then also his personal life. So, I definitely recommend this read if you love Blinkin 82 or the pop punk scene in general. I agree. Yeah. Uh, my next one is Spark of the Everflame by Pen Cole. I gave it a four star. Perfect kickoff to a romanty series about an unlikely chosen one and the grumpy quote unquote enemy prince she must learn to work alongside to get the answers she seeks. Plus, political commentary in an expertly built world and magic system that's super easy to understand. Yeah. Bride by Alli Hazelwood. That's how you say it. Yep. Uh, four stars. This was just a fun, easy vampire werewolf read and it's kind of like it has like a it's not dystopian by any means, but it's like what if there was a vampire and werewolf society among the humans and what would that look like? And then it basically follows a relationship between a vampire and a werewolf in different territories. A lot of political intrigue, but it really isn't heavy in the theming. It's more light-hearted and easy and like a fun kind of read. It took me way too long to read it, so sorry, but um it was still fun. It was a fun time. Yeah. Mhm. Good. Uh Fifty Shades Darker by Eel James. I gave this one three stars. This was the super long middle book where nothing happens and it's not like Twilight anymore. Now I'm questioning my life's choices. Very well said. Catwoman Soulstealer by Sarah J. Mass. What? Five stars, guys. Leave it to Sarah J. Mass to get me to like a superhero book retelling because I had such a good time and it was so well written, just as we would want from Sarah J. Mass. So, just give it a try. Why not? If you're if you're needing some more of her in your your life, her writing in your life, and you're like,"Well, I can't reread Throne of Glass for the ninth time, try this." I mean, you could you could Yeah, you could. Yeah, it'll mix it up. It'll mix it up a little bit. Uh, Maro. So, Maro by Trisha Wolf and Bin Weaver. Four stars. Did you know that two of the most iconic dark romance authors of right now co-wrote a book together? I did not know this until someone told me. Okay. It's a dark one about two serial killers who fall in love no less. Like Butcher and Blackbird, but way more twisted. Wild by Cheryl Strade. Five stars. So feel like this one it you would think it's fresh in my mind, but we recently did the episode on this one. a journey story about not only literally journeying on the Pacific Crest Trail as a woman, but sorting through her recent traumas and discovering herself in a path of healing and stuff. Yeah. I mean, literally though, that's exactly what it's about. It was great. It was good. Very well written. Uh, my next one is Cash by Jessica Peterson. Four stars. This woman wrote such a sweet story and such a hot cowboy that I guess I like cowboy romance now. Listen to the audio. It was great. Yeah. There you go. There you go. Literally, I have the physical copy. I bought the Cowboy Romance physical copy. Yeah. So, it's now in my collection. Mhm. It changed me. A year ago, Liz would be like, "What? That's crazy." Yeah. But it was great. And it wasn't even dark. It was just a good old time. Helps if he doesn't have an earring. So, he did not have an earring. Dear lord, he did not have an earring. All right. Heat of the Everflame, also by Pen Cold. It's book number three in the Kindred's Curse Saga. Five stars. We are in the high fantasy. The hit stop stone. Wait, what did they say? The hits don't stop coming and they don't stop coming. Like, there's a lot that happens in this book. Please don't ask me to summarize it. You're going to have to go check out I think it was last week's episode if you want the deep dive cuz my brain is recovering from a lot of information. Think Crescent City level information, but it's not the first book. You are eased into it. And if Liz and I didn't have to take so many breaks, we wouldn't have had such a hard time in our brains, I think. Yeah. My next one, Fifty Shades Freed by Eel James. Three stars. Lackluster plot and a boring couple. Gray is a normal boyfriend with past trauma and lots of money. And Anna is young and not concerned enough about him being a manchild. Not hot and no BDSM. There you go. There you go. Right there. Was it worth it? No. Beyond the Fallen Realm by TJ London. This was four stars for me. think like a fun it starts off kind of like you would think of those like high school um fun movies that we like but add fantasy into it and what is the show uh that I'm what's the show what's the show the show I don't know you need to give me more information what is it help me out here um I mean I compared it to supernatural thank you I see. I knew you knew it. Yeah. Supernatural type of vibes with the portals and the different and the demons and things like that. And um it I I really like the diff they have the juxtaposition between like someone who's just trying to be a high school kid and somebody who just found out, oh, maybe they're part supernatural creature and they have to help combat this supernatural uh realm. So, it was a fun time. Yeah. Yeah. Uh Catwoman by SJM. Five stars. A fun collab with DC to tell Catwoman's origin story. I loved it. I have no notes except for why is no one reading this. Yeah. Yeah. Really? Okay. Ann of Green Gables book one. I'm going to say no review because you're going to have to wait. I know my review, but you guys are going to have to wait because the mini episodes are coming out in the end of August. So sorry, but you're going to have to come back and watch. But what I will say right now is will recommend young every young old kids, not everybody could benefit from this. I took out so many things from it as an adult and I could see all the things that I could take out as a kid. My 9-year-old is absolutely loving it. It's a little bit of a more difficult physical read. So, you could always do the audio if you're younger, but if I feel like that probably what 11 to 12year-old age is probably like literally perfect. Um, but my 9-year-old's getting a lot from it. And the more I'm reading, the more I'm like, ah, I I love it and I wish I read it as a kid as well cuz it would have benefited me on a lot of anxiety issues that I had. So, we'll talk all about that. I'll be talking to you about that miniseries episodes. So definitely subscribe if you haven't yet and follow that way you don't miss out cuz I you know some people are like oh I love Anna Green Gables and some people like why are you guys reading an Green Gables? So I got to say I didn't know I didn't know nothing and much like Hunger Games I'm like wow it's crazy. Yeah, it's good lot in there. Super important. Super good. Yep. Um Glow of the Everflame by Pen Cole. Five stars. Um, as expected, the story has now built enough to become a five-star romanty read and is still standing strong with the slowest burn of all time. Yep. Among the Cursed Gods, also by TJ London. So, we'll be having a whole deep dive episode up on this one and I don't remember if the interview is out yet with TJ London. So, I will say this, it's available right now for pre-order Among the Cursed God. She is an indie publisher. And if you loved The Mummy, uh, National Treasure, or any of those kind of fun, you know, treasure hunting, conquest type movies or shows as a kid, but you want that, but for adults, maybe some spiciness, maybe some trauma healing. Seriously, go pre-order this book right now because it is so good. Five stars. 50 Shames of Earl Gay by Fanny Mkin. Three stars. a funnyish and entertain an entertaining enough short parody of Fifty Shades. Yeah, like that's all I have to say about it. Yeah, it's hard. Parodies are hard. And it, like you said, since it wasn't particularly clever, it's like h three stars. Sure. I wouldn't like recommend it per se, but it was just like okay. Enchantra, which is our book club read, which we are now doing our lives officially on YouTube when we do book club. We had such a fun time with the new template that Liz came up with. We have like games and stuff that we do uh that has to do with the book and it was super fun. So, Enchantra by Kaylee Smith is second book following up to Fantasma. Four stars. The big question is, do you need to read the first book in order to read Enchantra? I don't think you do because it is a totally different vibe. Not totally different vibe. It's a different You don't need to You don't need the backstory necessarily. You can read it there. It's more about following the little sister. She's a different type of personality than the first one. I preferred Fantasma personally, but Enchantra, I liked to frame it in my headsp space about like a haunted mansion, like what would happen if the haunted mansion was real and like, you know, someone came across that and there was a game involved, a fight to the death kind of game. And so I had a good time. Mhm. Yeah. Okay. Uh, Honeysuckles by January Rain. Three stars. Okay. So these crazy scientists turn this dude into a part vampire, part Kraken, part werewolf, and then he escapes to tear through the world and find his mate. So there's lots of unhinged monster D. Nice. It was interesting. It was an interesting one. Yeah. Okay. Other than my top three and bottom three, I'm done. So I've got some more. Okay. One and a Millennial by Kate Kennedy. Five stars. An excellent feminist critique and examination of popular media and its implications through the eyes of someone growing up female in the days of Backu Boy, Save by the Bell, The Limited Two, and the Internet when it was brand new. Yes. Really? Can't wait. Silver Elite by Danny Francis. Three stars. Overhyped and over advertised military romance with hints of dystopia. And magic, question mark, with absolutely no follow-through on any ideas that would make it impactful. It felt hollow to me. Yeah. Uh, Wild by Cheryl Strade. Five stars. An adventure memoir about a woman going on a 12,200 mile hike alone in order to process her grief and heal herself. Relatable and extremely well written. Enchantra by Kaylee Smith. Three stars. The less entertaining or meaningful version of Fantasma, but still mildly entertaining, I guess. Yeah, it just wasn't as deep as Fantasma also. Yeah, it just wasn't my favorite. Didn't hate it, but yeah, didn't love it. Uh, Forgive Me Father by Katarina Stlair. One of my new favorite dark romance authors. Four stars. Priest romance and make it very dark. Like crosses go in places. If that's your thing, you'll love it just like I did. Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strade. Four stars. A compilation of self-help questions answered. I enjoyed hearing about different people's experiences and how strayed non-judgmentally helps them work through their issues and perhaps see things in a different way. It was uplifting and insightful. It was a good listen too because it's like it kind of started off as a radio show, you know. Um, okay. So, here's the question. My next one is Ann of Green Gables by LM Montgomery. Do you want me to rate it since this is a reread for me or do you want me to keep it secret as well? Keep it secret. Keep it safe. Okay, I'll keep it secret and keep it safe. Um, what Ashley said, looking forward to talking to you guys about it. Yeah, that's all. We will just skip on by. Okay. Yeah. Uh, Crescent Kingdom by Tessa Hail, four stars. Reverse Hermum about wolf shifters who own a boxing gym. You can't go wrong. Heat of the Everflame by Pen Cole, five stars. Probably the longest and most complex book I've read so far this year, but I'm obsessed with it. But I'm obsessed with the way so much is getting set up for the final book four. Oh, and they finally do it. For anyone wondering if that's ever going to happen. Yeah. Yeah. The world building's amazing, but yes, it is Crescent City level stuff, so just be prepared. Uh, another dark romance by Katarina St. Clair. Teachers pet. Four stars. If you like age gap, professor student taboo romance where the professor has dark tendencies, ties to the mob, and a toucher and die vibe, you'll love this book. Nice. Yes, I love it. I love the professor student taboo romance. Okay. Among the Cursed Gods by TJ London. Four stars. Treasure hunting spicy romance with an enemies to lovers. The mummy style vibe. Unique, entertaining, and super fun. Can't wait for the sequel. Solid four stars. M. And then my last one is Caught Up by Nvesa Allen. Four stars. She's a sex worker and he's in the mob, but they have a love that goes all the way back to childhood. This is lovers to enemies to lovers with excellent spice and representation with Teddy Hamilton narrating. I loved it. Nice. It's been getting low reviews. I'm kind of curious. I think I'm going to post something on my story asking people why they didn't like it. Everyone loved Lights Out and I mean I did too. It was five star read for me for sure. The narration was amazing. Um, for some reason though, Caught Up is getting consistently I'm seeing three stars across the board, which I think is kind of interesting because most people rated Lights Out of five. I gave it four because I didn't love it as much as Lights Out, but I still really liked it a lot. So, I don't know. Interesting. Interesting. H. Okay. So, should we get to our top three, bottom three? Let's do it. All right. Why don't you start with your bottom three? All right. So I, you know, it's been a good year so far. You know, that's a lot of good. I feel like uh almost the end of last year, last half I had a lot of not good books. This it's opposite. There's a lot of four four and five stars mostly, man, except Fifty Shades. Um, so my top three, what I did was, cuz there's a lot of five stars that I had to choose from, is I tried to just do three different categories in my top three in those. I did that, too. Oh, well let's exactly what I did. We did not pre-iscuss. Yeah, we did not. So, and then as you saw, we talked about the Hunger Games series a lot, and I did not mention Hunger Games book one yet because it is in my top three reads of the year. Honestly, all of the books would be, but that's not fair to the other books. So, I just picked my also within the categories dystopian. So, I did my favorite book in Hunger Games, or else I'd just be talking about Hunger Games for another hour. And we've already done that. So, Hunger Games book one, I'll give it to them because it was my first time and it was what made me obsessed with the series, right? It's emotional roller coaster crying constantly in a good way. It's not a good thing, but it's like I like books that can rip my heart out like that and she does it so well. So, that was that. Are we doing all three? I don't remember. Yeah. Um, we could go back and forth as well. That's fine. Let's just do all three and then all three. Okay, sounds good. Switch it up. Um, and then I did Quicksilver for our fantasy romantic category. Five stars. Did I already talk about Quicksilver? I did. I'm so sorry. I did. I'm going to do this twice. Um, I forgot to delete it up there. But like I said, fast-pacing romantic and badass FMC from the get-go. Okay. Yeah. So, I love that. And I love the twists at the end. And it's a great read. Uh, and then, sorry, also I picked a memoir. So, Fahrenheit 182, another top three for me. Sorry, I forgot to delete the ones and not be repetitive, but again, read it if you liked Link 182 or the pop punk scene. Okay. So, I was going to start with my least favorite three and then end on a high note. Oh, whoops. Yeah. Well, hey, so that's what I'm going to do. Okay. Okay. So, because then we'll go to your We promised chaos. We're delivering it now to the end. Sorry. Um, so my bottom three are Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon. Oh, I've been wondering about that one. H, yeah, three stars. Uh, I just put a group of women in space crash land on a planet full of single, eligible, kind, and extremely well-endowed good and bad aliens. So, shockingly, they decided to stay. Um, the reason why I rated this, um, I mean, it was a three star. I had a lot of three stars, but the reason why I put it in my bottom three was because of one simple reason. I listened to the audiobook and the audiobook was fine. What it did not have and what my old copy of my book did not have were trigger warnings. So the actual and I you guys know me, okay? I will read everything under the sun. I am triggered by basically nothing, okay? Like I joke that my triggers are like a cowboy wearing an earring, okay? Because truly like that's what triggers me. Okay? Um, but there was a pretty substantial uh sexual assault scene in the very beginning. Um, not by any of the um main characters to the main characters or anything like that. It was like a side kind of thing going on. Um, but it was very intense and it came out of nowhere. And if you were listening to the audio, there was no trigger warning in the audio. And then my old published version with like the actual alien cover cuz they've been republished since then. Um, also did not have cuz I checked did not have any printed trigger warnings in there either. So there's no way for me to know. And the reason why I was listening to this was because I wanted a short, fun, yeah, like lighthearted read. And everyone told me that this would be a good one for that. And so I put it on and then within the first 15 minutes there's like this really graphic scene. Um and so for that reason I put it in my bottom three because I really feel like I would have liked a heads up. Yeah. For sure. Yeah. To prepare myself mentally. Yeah. Yeah. Uh my next one was Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yuros. Three stars. Um, I put this in my bottom three because I just said the confusing, jumbled, and frustrating third installment in the Imperion series that I hoped would be better. So, the reason why I included this, even though I had a lot of three star reads, was because I think it was my biggest disappointment. Yeah. Um, I really hoped that book two, which I rated four stars, but it was very chaotic. I was really hoping book three would be like the redemption we needed, and it just didn't. It went the other direction. So, losing hope. Yeah. Losing hope, losing steam. Uh, again, we have a whole video on it if you're wanting to know more about our feelings. Yeah. Um, and then the third lowest was Valentine's Day with a Vampire by Tabitha Love Lace. Yeah. Two stars. I just put nonsensical paranormal monst with with vampire sex. So, it was just kind of like, what is even happening? Like, we read it as part of our Valentine's Day unhinged reads. Uh, and I mean, it delivered, I guess, in that way, but it just wasn't even very entertaining. I was just kind of like, what is happening? I'm so confused. Yeah, for sure. So, those were my bottom three. Okay. So, why don't you give us your bottom three? So, we're making a sandwich. We're making a top. So, we did the top, then we did the bottom, which would be the middle, and then another middle bottom, and then another top just to make a nice complete top and bottom sandwich. Well, that way we end on a high note, and that's just like on a bummer. Yeah. Yeah. That's great. That's great. We, like I said, we promised chaos. Here it is. Uh, bottom three. Here we go. in order for me of most least least worst to best to best worst like most I don't know what that means least like I hated the most the last one that I'll say okay okay so silver Elite by Danny Francis three stars because this was not worth the hype that it was getting okay I don't I shouldn't say it wasn't worth the hype but for me it wasn't worth the hype Um, it was I was promised so many things that this book just wasn't. And because they specifically did this in the advertising of the book, it makes me upset because it just felt salesy and they didn't deliver on what was promised. And if I just read this blind without all this crazy advertising, I mean, I still probably wouldn't like it, but I probably wouldn't be so mad at it. Does that make sense? Yeah. Yeah. Totally. You just That wasn't great, but whatever. Some people cuz I could see how some people would like it cuz it is they're heavily it's contemporary with a bit of magic involved. Like contemporary military romance with a bit of magic. So, and uh for the reasons we don't like Onyx Storm and Iron Flame, that's kind of what was in this book. Those things like the petty drama between other cadets and stuff and it just yeah, didn't like it. Book number two, Valentine's Day with a Vampire. So, basically, for all the reasons Liz said, it's like, "What was that?" Also, specifically because the name the title Valentine's Day and it was like barely, they were like, "Oh, it's also Valentine's and we're on a date. Oh, cool." You know, they could have done it could have I had such high hopes for this one actually cuz I like a good cringy fun read and it was just a mess. So, yeah. Yep. And then my last one, we'll go to book number two. 50 Shades Darker because darker is darker in the room with us. Is darker and it's bubbing me out cuz it sucks. Like I don't know. Not good. Not good. Not good. So that Okay, so just to recap, Fifty Shades Darker was your least favorite book that you read from January until June. Yes. Okay. So I would say if I had to pick my least favorite from January till June, it probably would be Ice Planet Barbarians. Yeah. Okay. So, all right. Just so that's established. So, your favorite book from January till June, if you had to pick one, which one would you give? Hunger Games. Hunger Games. Hunger Games. Okay. All of them, though. All of them. All the consolation prizes. The other books that made it to the list. I would have literally just listed as many. I shoved all of them. I'd have to narrow it down to three favorite Hunger Games books. Yeah. such a good series that I can't believe I didn't read it for so long, but I am so glad that I finally did and I got to read it with you. So, thank you for trying to get me to read it for so many years and I'm glad I finally glad you finally wore me down. Yeah, happy to be here. Okay. Um, I did not include any of the Hunger Games in my top three because they were all rereads for me. I try not to include rereads in my top and bottom just because I feel like I've already been there. You know what I Well, except some on the reaping, but hey. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So, my top three Mhm. were Goldfinch by Raven Kennedy. Five stars. Saying there's a chance. Oh my god. Literally infinity stars. Okay. Oh yeah. Okay. So, I just put this is the last book in one of my favorite series of all time, the Plated Prisoner series. If you haven't read it, this is the only book I can compare to this book. Kingdom of Ash. Okay. So, take from that what you will. It was perfect in every way. No notes. Great. Yeah. Mhm. I need to catch up. Literally so good. Okay. Uh my next one is Under Your Scars and Delilah, which is the little uh like companion nolla by Ariel N. And Anderson. Five stars. Not for the faint of heart, as these are two of the darkest books I've ever read, but also now at the top of my list of favorite books of all time. Think a Batman Bruce Wayne romance where he is truly toxic, but is also desperately in love with her and will gladly watch everything burn if he can't have her. Yeah. So, yes, amazing. Check the trigger warnings on that for sure. Uh my last one, Fahrenheit 182 by Mar Copus. Five stars. Uh, this memory told the nostalgic story of my entire middle and high school experience growing up in the SoCal punk punk rock scene of the early 2000s, and I am obsessed with it. So, if I had to pick a favorite though, I would have to give it to Goldfinch. Nice. Yeah. Yeah. Amazing. Yeah. So, what was the other thing I was going to say? Oh, I was going to say, uh, so let's recap our goal then. So, where are what's your goal and where are you in accordance with your goal? My goal is 75 books for the year and I'm at 36 plus I'm reading two currently that I'll finish probably today or tomorrow. So, I think I'm on track. I'm good, which is crazy to me. I think I read 54 56 last year. So, cool, dude. I'm going to hit that soon. That's crazy. Awesome. Just guys, just a couple years ago, it was one book every other year. So, you can do it. Everyone can. What about you? How's your goal doing? Uh, my goal is again to hit 100 books. That was my goal last year and I think I got to 91 maybe. I can't remember. Um, so right now I'm at 49. Oh, see. Yeah. And I too will finish two more books technically before the end of this month. So, I will be right on track. So, we're doing good. We're just plugging along for sure. It's been a good time. The holidays get a little chaotic. So, sometimes we lose our lose our, you know, time that we have to do it. But for me, I've found summer is the hardest anyways cuz my kids are home from school. So, you know, we're busy a lot and I don't have a lot of downtime to read. So, we'll see. We'll see. But it's very hit or miss for me. It's like it depends because I feel like October I feel like in October and September I read a lot because it's like it's my September is my birthday month. So I usually will take some days off like I have my birthday weekend off and I schedule nothing on purpose. So I have four days where I literally just get to like wake up in the morning and like do whatever I feel. So like we'll see how it goes. But I should I mean I love being able to just sit down and read a whole book in a sitting, you know, cuz I never get to do that. So, I think I'll probably do that. Um, and then in October, I'm like in cozy mode and that I read a ton in October usually because I've got my Halloween decorations up and it's like a whole thing. Yeah. And then Yeah. As soon as November hits though, it's like November until the beginning of January is a little hit or miss. So, we'll have to see. Yeah. It's a little like uh stressful times in life because there's just so much to do, so much going on. So, yeah. Well, we'll see. So, we'll see. We'll come back and check in on us and see if we made it. List your goals, too. I want to know your guys' reading goals, you know, down in the box. And don't be overwhelmed if our goal is high because we do this for a living now. Well, not a living, but we do this as a job. We do. Yeah, we we do this and we do love it and we made time. We figured out. Anyways, I'm getting tired. Um, okay. So, do you want to Well, let us know. Do you agree? Did you disagree? Were there any that we rated super low that you're like, "What?" Were there any that we rated super high that you were like, "Girl, what is wrong with you? That was crazy." Um, we want to know your input and should we just sign off with a smasher pass? Let's do it, guys. Let's go. Okay. Okay. So, I'll go first this time. All right. Uh, so I stuck with the alien theme because of Ice Planet Barbarians. So, Smash or Pass the guy from Avatar but in his alien avatar form. Pass, but because of his personality, I don't like it. Oh, interesting. You're like, Yeah, it's all good. I mean, I don't He has a sucky personality. No, even it's a pass all around for me. A pass all around. Mhm. Yeah. What about you? Uh, he's a smash for me for sure. Nice. Good. I haven't seen the second one. Uh, I think I did. I don't remember anything. I don't like the movies. Like I feel like the movies are super problematic. Uh, so I do not enjoy, but as far as the actor who play I do like his personality and I do like the actor who plays him and I feel like he's cool. So, and he's got neat uh skills and abilities. So, we're going with Smash. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Well, you inspired me with the aliens. So, hey, this is I'm going to know I'm going to know your answer, but you're going to freaking freak me out if I don't. So, this is more for the people cuz hey, someone's for everyone. Everyone has someone to love. The alien in Signs by Might Shalon. Absolutely not. I thought you were going to say the alien from alien and I was going to have to do like that meme, you know, where it's like, well, well, we'll have to save that one for another time. Um, yeah. Any any creepy alien like the one from Signs? Like, absolutely not. No. No. If you can write a book that convinces me otherwise, that would literally be like a life-changing experience for me because uh yeah, I've I have a thing where I just can't even They give me the ick too much. Yeah. So ick. Yeah. Mhm. So ick. But so that's a no for you as well. It's a pass. Is this Yeah, that's a hard pass. Is this going to be the one that finally we get? No one votes for yes, you know, or no or whatever. I mean, you never know. You never know. I think we've had a guess on everything so far, right? Yeah. There's been and the thing is we've been in this community long enough now to know that like, you know, we all feel, I think, empowered to be our most genuine selves. So, I don't really think people are going into those votes just messing with the vote. Like, I really feel like people are voting genuinely and I love that. And so, that means that there's just something for everyone out there, you know? And if that's the aliens uh or the I think a lot of us are going to say smash for the alien alien. Um, but yeah, if it's for the signs alien and that's your thing, then more power to you. I get, you know, I don't get it, but like good for you. Good for you. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Talk about long fingers. Oh my god. Oh, golly.[Music] They're like, I really like how his wrist open up and like puts that steam in there. Smoke poison. Absolutely not. Nope. I really like how he has no nose and just two holes for nose. And we're just we're just gonna leave it there. You guys, thank you so much for hanging out with us and listening to our ratings and reviews so far for this half of the year. Yeah. Yeah. It's awesome. Let us know what yours were. I'm so tired. Okay. Make sure to like, follow, and subscribe anywhere you like. Listen to your favorite podcast, including YouTube. We're also on Instagram, Tik Tok, Besties of Books Podcast. So you guys, we'll see you another time or we'll see you next next Tuesday or Friday or sometime we're everywhere. See you later. Bye bye.[Music]