Top Ten Popular Books that Lived Up to the Hype

So I can be pretty picky with what books I give 5 stars or even 4.5. We also know the constant struggle of trying to enjoy a book that is loved in the bookish community and not getting overhyped for it. 

These were some of the books within the last couple of years that weren't overhyped for me and I enjoyed it just as much as the rest of the community.

1. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas 

Almost a year later, this book is still well talked about in the bookish community but I still managed to fall in love with the book. I've even read this book 3 times now and have fallen even deeper in love with it.

2. Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

This book. This was my favorite book of 2016 and while I received an ARC, there was so much talk of this book that I really was nervous going into it. The next book had even more hype that I just decided to wait until all the books had come out so I could read in peace without any hype. (Of course, that meant avoiding spoilers). 

3. Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

Who remembers the absolute HYPE that this entire series had? I remember that it was such a popular book that I had the most difficult time to get ahold of it from the library. This entire series was (and still is) at the top of my favorite contemporary novels. 

4. Caraval by Stephanie Garber 

This series is still ongoing and when this book came out--the community went wild. I am so excited to read book 2!

5. The Selection by Kiera Cass

This is possibly one of my favorite series of all times. None of these books disappointed me and I am eagerly waiting for her next novel. 

6. My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

So a very interesting thing happened with this book. I absolutely loved this book so much that I ended up not liking the next two books that Fitzpatrick came out with. I was expecting so much after this book and I wanted to fall in love with the characters like I did with Jase and 

7. The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

I think something that helped a lot was not reading 5-star reviews for books that were talked about a lot in the community. I would read reviews that were 4 stars or below. I found that the more 5-star reviews I read the more excited and overhyped I got. 

8. Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Who remembers this series?! This was one of the series that I was so unsure of due to the hype but reread to this very day. 

9. Die for Me by Amy Plum

When this series was coming out, it was one of my favorites of all time. Zombies were huge at the time so it was really popular. 

10. Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

There is only one thing that I have to say about this--everyone had a crush on Patch, and everyone still has a crush on Patch. 

BookTube-A-Thon 2018

We are participating in Booktube-a-thon 2018! We are so excited to be participating in this because I think we both need to get back into reading a little bit. I personally have been going through a bit of a slump recently, so I'm excited to take books off my TBR list. A list of this year's challenges is below, and our TBR lists are in order of the challenges.

1. Let a coin toss decide your first read. 2. Read a book about something you want to do. 3. Read and watch a book to movie adaptation. 4. Read a book with green on the cover. 5. Read a book while wearing the same hat the whole time. 6. Read a book with a beautiful spine. 7. Read seven books.

Harleen's List:

    

   

Harman's List:

   

 

1. Let a coin toss decide your first read. -99 Days by Katie Cotugno

2. Read a book about something you want to do. -Mariam Sharma Hits the Road by Shera Karim (Who doesn't want to roadtrip with some friends?!)

3. Read and watch a book to movie adaptation. -Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

4. Read a book with green on the cover. -Push by Eve Silver

5. Read a book while wearing the same hat the whole time. -Snow Falling by Jane Gloriana Villanueva

6. Read a book with a beautiful spine. 

7. Read seven books. -Always Never Yours by Emily Wibberley 

Are you participating? What books are you planning on reading?

Review: White Rabbit by Caleb Roehrig

Author: Caleb Roehrig
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Number of Pages: 320
Goodreads | Amazon

Synopsis:

"Rufus Holt is having the worst night of his life. It begins with the reappearance of his ex-boyfriend, Sebastian—the guy who stomped his heart out like a spent cigarette. Just as Rufus is getting ready to move on, Sebastian turns up out of the blue, saying they need to "talk." Things couldn’t get much worse, right?
But then Rufus gets a call from his sister April, begging for help. And then he and Sebastian find her, drenched in blood and holding a knife, beside the dead body of her boyfriend, Fox Whitney.
April swears she didn’t kill Fox—but Rufus knows her too well to believe she’s telling him the whole truth. April has something he needs, though, and her price is his help. Now, with no one to trust but the boy he wants to hate yet can’t stop loving, Rufus has one night to prove his sister’s innocence…or die trying."

I have been such a sucker for thrillers lately that this came to me at the most perfect time. I think this book was mentioned by the Hey YA! podcast by Book Riot but other than that I hadn't heard much but the synopsis had me hooked.

The main character, Rufus, is really shrewd in his sleuthing skills and he was such a fun character to follow. I loved being able to take a look into his memories with the flashbacks. It was executed really well.

Sebastian and Rufus's relationship was a really cute and I loved that it didn't take away from the overall story. The romance was subtle and didn't overshadow the fact that they were in the middle of a murder mystery. There was the addition of homophobia which might be triggering for some but it also added some interesting character development and drama. 

The only thing that really bothered me about this book was Rufus's self-esteem. He only seemed to find validation or self-worth when Sebastian was with him. I don't agree with any of the people who completely dismissed the book due to that character flaw. To be honest, I've only been out of high school for two years and I can attest to the fact that there are a lot of teens out there who feel less because they aren't in a relationship or haven't been. So hating the book due to a realistic character trait doesn't make sense. I was hoping that eventually Rufus would realize this flaw and try to fix it but that didn't happen. 

If you are a fan of thrillers then I would highly recommend getting your hands on this novel!

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars!!

Review: Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu

Author: Jennifer Mathieu
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Number of Pages: 330
Goodreads | Amazon

Synopsis:

"Moxie girls fight back!
Vivian Carter is fed up. Fed up with her small-town Texas high school that thinks the football team can do no wrong. Fed up with sexist dress codes and hallway harassment. But most of all, Viv Carter is fed up with always following the rules.
Viv’s mom was a punk rock Riot Grrrl in the ’90s, so now Viv takes a page from her mother’s past and creates a feminist zine that she distributes anonymously to her classmates. She’s just blowing off steam, but other girls respond. Pretty soon Viv is forging friendships with other young women across the divides of cliques and popularity rankings, and she realizes that what she has started is nothing short of a girl revolution."

I was so excited when I finally picked up Moxie and overall I really enjoyed the book. 

I big part of what pulled me out of the novel was the fact that I felt pretty disconnected from what was happening in the book. I related with the parts about sexist behavior regarding certain remarks and dress code, but the part about administration disregarding everything was foreign to me. I've been out of high school for two years now but I was fortunate to go to a school where sexual harassment was taken seriously with a no tolerance policy. With that, I felt that things were pretty exaggerated until I remembered all the things I read about in the news and on various social media platforms. For me, it was a really big eye opener even though I consider myself to be pretty knowledgeable about feminist issues. I always felt that these things only happened on the streets and that school was a safe space.

The characters in this book were phenomenal. Mathieu touches upon females who don't consider themselves feminists or don't seem to be allies which I think is rarely talked about. I also loved Lucy's character and her liberal contrast in a seemingly conservative town. Even Viv and some of her interactions with her boyfriend were so refreshing. He was a guy who actually made mistakes rather than the YA male hero who is always perfect and never seems to make a mistake. 

I highly recommend picking this up and soon as you can! 

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars