We’re now well past the midyear mark of 2024, but it’s time to do a roundup of the books I finished in the first 6 months of 2024.
01. The Guest List by Lucy Foley – 2 stars
I’d heard so many great things about this one, but ended up not vibing with it. I didn’t like any of the characters, and although it had been slowly set up from the beginning, the twist just seemed lacklustre for me.
02. Heartstopper Vol. 1 by Alice Oseman – 5 stars
I absolutely loved this series and have nothing bad to say about it.
03. Heartstopper Vol 2. by Alice Oseman – 5 stars
04. Heartstopper Vol 3. by Alice Oseman – 5 stars
05. Heartstopper Vol. 4 by Alice Oseman – 5 stars
06. Heartstopper Vol 5. by Alice Oseman – 5 stars
07. Midnight by Amy McCulloch – 3 stars
This felt very similar to The Guest List for me. People acting irrationally and purposely in a way to advance the plot even when it doesn’t make sense. The main character just frustrated me with the decisions she made.
08. Eleanor Jones is Not a Murderer by Amy Doak – 3 stars
The main character being a teenager definitely brought my enjoyment of this down, which isn’t the authors fault, as I knew it was a teenager going into it. But, it has made me realise I need to stop reading books where the main characters are teenagers/younger/juvenile.
09. Fool Me Once by Harlan Coben – 4 stars
The fact this was written by Harlan Coben brings the score higher, and if it had been any other author, I probably wouldn’t have rated it as high. I enjoyed the premise of this story, but the resolution/reasoning just fell a bit flat for me.
10. The Dinner Party by Rebecca Heath – 2.5 stars
I love a book that’s a mix between the typical POV and something different, so I was really excited to read this as it’s a mixture of a present-day podcast and flashbacks to when the crime occurred, but the story itself just didn’t really hit for me.
11. The Simple Truth by James Buckley – 4 stars
I almost DNF’d this book when I began it since the beginning is very slow, but then I was hooked and couldn’t put it down. The twist isn’t as twisty as I was expecting, but overall I really enjoyed it.
12. I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy – 5 stars
This book was extremely harrowing/difficult to read, and although I’m glad I did read it, I’ll happily never pick it up again.
13. Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson – 4.5 stars
This book was a fun take on a typical thriller, more of a cosy one, where the main character is also writing their own story, so there’s frequent fourth wall breaks. I really enjoyed the style, and had a few good chuckles along the way.
14. Yellowface by R.F. Kuang – 2 stars
This is another hyped book that I had high hopes for, but ended up just not enjoying it. Both main characters were extremely unlikeable, and I realised I didn’t care how it ended.
15. Everybody On This Train Is A Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson – 3 stars
A sequel to the first, the fourth wall breaking style of this book didn’t work quite as well for me. I think it was the scene/characters more than the style, but I think I enjoyed it more when I’d only read the first.
16. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman – 4 stars
This is another book that took me a little bit to get into, but I ended up really falling in love with the characters. At first I found them to be really offputting (Joyce, especially), but as I continued with the series, I became so attached to them all.
17. The Never Game by Jeffrey Deaver – 3.75 stars
This was a re-read for me, as StoryGraph was showing I hadn’t read it. I love the Colter Shaw series, so this book still holds up well, even if it’s not a 5-star.
18. The Fandom by Anna Day – 2 stars
This was another re-read, so I could read the sequel which is on my 24 in 2024 list. I enjoy the premise of this book, but the ending always lets me down, and since I know how it ends, my enjoyment of the book as a whole is now lower any time I re-read it. But, now I’ve finished the duology, I never need to read it again.
19. The Fandom Rising by Anna Day – 2.5 stars
This book features a lot of the issues I had with the first book, so I didn’t enjoy it as much as I hoped I would. My other main issue is that I just don’t feel like it needed to be a duology. I wish more books were just standalone books.
20. Board to Death by CJ Connor – 1.5 stars
Another book I had really high hopes for – I love thrillers & I love board games, so a mixture of the 2 is right up my alley, but this one really fell flat for me. The writing wasn’t great, the characters were very cardboard, and overall the story just felt quite bland.
21. Solitude Creek by Jeffrey Deaver – 3.5 stars
This one had a really great premise, and the Kathryn Dance stories are always great, but the ending of this really brought my rating down. A certain situation where Kathryn doesn’t really act in a great way didn’t sit right with me.
22. Five Survive by Holly Jackson – 2.5 stars
A big pet peeve of mine is purposeful lack of communication, and this book features that heavily (It’s literally the entire point – they all have a secret that they’re hiding). I just felt like the secret really wasn’t good enough to hide, or to cause all that drama. Also, the brother was horrific and I hate him.
23. The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman – 4 stars
Not much to say on this one – I enjoyed it. It’s definitely a series where you go in not expecting reality/seriousness. Everything is a little larger than life or too convenient to be real, but the characters are what makes up for it.
24. The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman – 4 stars
25. The Watchmaker’s Hand by Jeffrey Deaver – 3.75 stars
I really want to see the end of the Watchmaker, I just don’t find him to be that interesting of a villain. I thought the crimes were interesting, and they would definitely be terrifying if experienced in real life, but I’m just sick of The Watchmaker.
26. The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson – 3.5 stars
I think Holly Jackson just isn’t the author for me, mostly because the protagonists are always teenagers and I just need to stop reading those books. But, this one was better than the others, since Rachel (the mother) is also featured quite heavily and brings some maturity to the story, which is normally lacking with a teenager.
27. The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman – 3.5 stars
Another where there’s not much to say, because I just enjoy the series as a whole. This one definitely made me shed some tears.
28. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus – 5 stars
I absolutely loved this story – both characters were so unlikable in their own ways, and seeing them fall in love was beautiful. It’s sad that so much of the experience she has is still so accurate these days.
29. How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin – 3 stars
This was alright – I don’t have much to say, it was just.. alright. It looks like it may be getting turned into a series, and I definitely won’t be reading any follow up books, since I don’t see how a series would work.
30. The Good Lie by A.J. Torre – 2.5 stars
Another pet peeve of mine? Conflict of interest, which this book is based on. This entire book just made me feel uncomfortable, and I didn’t enjoy reading it, knowing that they were both doing the wrong thing.
31. The Inmate by Freida McFadden – 2.5 stars
I read a lot of thrillers, so of course I was going to end up reading a Freida McFadden book at some point. Now that I have, I’m happy never to pick up another. This book is very similar to the one prior, where it’s just conflict of interest advancing the plot. She’s told from the very beginning “Do not tell inmates about your personal life” and then breaks it with the very first inmate. Unbelievable.
32. Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn – 2 stars
I saw the twist from the beginning, which really lowered my enjoyment of this book, but more so the way she acted with her prepubescent sister was really gross and made me very uncomfortable.
33. Normal People by Sally Rooney – 0.5 stars
This is the lowest I have ever rated a book, and the amount I disliked this book is astronomical. I really wish I had just DNF’d it, even though it’s on my 24 in 2024 challenge and would’ve left a blank spot. This book isn’t a cute tale of missed communication, it’s just 2 characters who don’t know how to talk to each other. So much assuming and mind-reading, where they could’ve just used their words.
34. One Of Us Is Lying by Karen McManus – 2 stars
Reminiscent of the Breakfast Club – a group of teenagers thrown together even though they’re nothing alike, and it appears one of them may be a murderer! This book also featured my pet peeves (Lack of communication, convenient plot advancement, etc), but I genuinely really liked Addy. She was very stale/two-dimensional in the beginning, but seeing her grow and flourish was genuinely enjoyable.