Books have started to become more popular thanks to the help of ‘BookTok’. ‘BookTok’ was able to recognize people’s favorite books and authors and even recognized smaller authors and helped them become more popular. I have read many of ‘BookTok’s’ recommendations and here are some of my favorites of 2023.
- A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder has been one of my favorite books this year. The book is about a murder case that happened 5 years ago in a small town. The case is about the murder of a senior girl, Andie Bell, who was killed by her then boyfriend, Sal Singh. It was suspected that after Sal Singh killed Andie, he ended by suiciding. 5 years later, a girl named Pippa Fitz-Amobi, decides to research this case for her school project and find out the truth. She believes that Sal Singh did not kill Andie Bell and she strives to prove his innocence to find the real murderer.
- We were Liars by E. Lockhart
We Were Liars is my go-to recommendation for anyone who doesn’t enjoy reading or is in a reading block. This book is about a wealthy family who spends their whole summer on a private island. The main character, Cadence, gets into an accident and suffers from a head injury. This causes her to forget almost everything from that trip from the island. Luckily, she’s told by the doctors that she’ll slowly start to remember things as time passes on. Years have passed after the incident and she finally returns to the private island for a summer. She reunites with the Liars. Johnny, Mirren, and Gat. They all notice things have been different around the adults and atmosphere so they decide to dig up the dark truth.
- The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
If you love or you’re interested in romance books, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is the perfect book. The book is about Evelyn Hugo coming from a poor family and background but eventually makes her way to the top and becomes one of the world’s adored actresses. She marries her first out of seven husbands to make her way to Hollywood and start her acting career. She risked everything to become who she was. But soon, she has grown old and has retired from acting. But she wants to tell her story to the world and what she has experienced through Vivant Magazine. But she specifically requests Monique Grant to write her biography. Monique is confused why because she’s only a junior journalist, but Evelyn states that she won’t have anyone else if it’s not Monique. But as she interviews Evelyn Hugo, she finds out her dark past.
- The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
The Song of Achilles is also another good recommendation for the genre for romance. This story takes place during the Trojan War. The main character, Patroclus, is forced by his father to present himself as a suitor with a bunch of other men, to a beautiful woman named Helen at just nine years old. Helen ends up picking her husband, Menelaus. All the men including her new husband decide to make an oath to defend her and her choices. A year later, Patroclus ended up accidentally killing a boy which caused him to be exiled to Phthia. Phthia is where he met Achilles. At first, Patroclus didn’t want to become friends with him, but later on, they started bonding. Then, the Trojan War starts. Both Achilles and Patroclus learn that Paris of Troy has kidnapped Helen of Sparta. Patroclus remembers his oath and is now worried he’ll be drawn into the war. Eventually, Achilles also gets called into war and Patroclus decides to follow him because they both want to be separated from each other. They go into war together and share a strong love for each other.
- Scythe by Neal Shusterman
If you enjoy reading dystopian books, Scythe is a good place to start. In the future, 2042, the world is perfect. There’s no world hunger, war, or disease. Due to this, there has been a problem with overpopulation. Scythes are the only ones who can kill, it’s their job to keep the population under control. Our main characters, Citra and Rowan, are randomly chosen to be apprenticed by a Scythe. They’re both teenagers who both don’t want this role. They must go through a process to perfect this job. If they fail, it could lead to losing their life. They both learn that a ‘perfect world’ comes with dangerous consequences.