So are we all just struggling to like books at the moment? Are the books just not as good or is the stress of just everything (gestures wildly) getting to us? 😂
I swear so many Booktubers are struggling! I am a recent victim of slumps and low interest in my books, it must be in the air 🥲 (or maybe that’s the pollen)
everyone including myself seems to be in a rough patch reading-wise in the last few months. ive been reading a ton but very few of them have been five stars.
I’ve seen a lot of people saying that we’re in the midst of all of the books written during the pandemic (which timeline wise makes sense) but all I know is that I haaaaate whatever’s happening in publishing right now lol
your thoughts on emily henry and leigh bardugo are EXACTLY what i’m going through with them. unless funny story or the familiar blow me away, im going to stop reading them. i cant keep picking up books that are guaranteed to be a 3.5
I had such a slumpy April, so I guess we can all come together in harmony and struggle to find a good 5 star read. Let’s hope May treats us better. Oh and obsessed with the shirt. 🔪🦌
19:00 I don't know if you're explaining that well either, but it's EXACTLY what I felt about A Botanical Daughter. I gave it a 4-star rating too, had a great time with it, and am also slightly mourning the cottage-core-story that I thought it would be, but we didn't get...
"The Berry Pickers" by Amanda Peters (Canadian/Mi'kmaq heritage) was my 5 star read in April, you should check it out! The book is about a 4 year old Mi'kmaq girl from Nova Scotia that goes missing in the blueberry fields in Maine and how her family deals with the grief and trauma spanning 50 years.
I am currently reading a botanical daughter, so thanks for the heads up on the book’s tone! 🌿🌼 I am so ready for all of the dark Victorian cottage core Frankenstein -y vibes 😂
Your experience with Lisa Jewell is basically my experience with Mary Kubica. I've read 4 of her books and only liked one (hated the ending though so it was 3 star in the end). And yet, when I see that she has a new book coming out, I always want to pick it up just because her writing style is so palatable???? and then the joke's on me when I end up disliking the book, ehhh
I know the intent of the 'Reading books from previous 5-star authors' is to get another 5 star but like... What are you going to do if none of those end up being a five star 😂
I'm excited for may and to start reading again. I'm trying to finish two fantasies and trying to make my may tbr 🤔 definitely want a Frieda McFadden thriller. 🎉
I feel you about the 5 star slump! I usually average 15-20 five star books a year, then out of nowhere I didn’t have a single 5 star in all of 2023, I genuinely thought I was broken and didn’t love reading anymore. Thankfully broke that awful streak this year but wow am I still haunted by it 😅
@@lairofbooks4484Hello, I made an argument against you and invited you to learn about Islam, but you refused. I hope you will reconsider a lot before it is too late. I am speaking to you about your eternal destiny. It is very dangerous. Can you imagine finding that Islam is the religion of truth, and you refused to even learn about it?
@@lairofbooks4484وانت رفضت حتى التعرف عليه تندم يوم القيامة لكن يكون الوقت فات ولا توجدة فرصة ثانية انا احب لك الخير واخاف عليك ربما أكثر من اشخاص تعرفهم خذ بي نصيحتي
And you refused to even recognize him. On the Day of Resurrection, it will be too late and you will regret it on a day when regret will be of no use. Take my advice. I love you, you are well, and I fear for you perhaps more than people you know.
Hi, I‘m new to your channel - this was my first video actually but I will be back for more ;) I was wondering which app do you use to track your reading? It looks so much better than the one I’m currently using.
Girliepop, I just read Thirst by Marina Yuszczuk and I think you would like it a lot. Vampiric, almost like a memoir, somewhat sapphic (definitely queer) explores the intricacies of death, and the COVER.
Video idea: reading books with the same rating and ranking them. Or books you’ve already read? I don’t think I’ve seen this one before but I could be totally wrong 🤣
@@brooke5258 definitely recommend it! Everything I’ve read by him has been wonderful! Trees was good though I do think it’s a book that gets better when it’s reread (like Kayla said!) once you get into the story there’s so much to take in!
Kayla can you do a more in depth chat about the Indian Lake Trilogy? I LOVED book 1 but dnf’d book 2 at like 90% I loved Jade as a character but she was barely in the second book and I found the writing of book 2 SO bad - it wasn’t his weirdness, it was his sentence structure. I felt like I was having a stroke in every second sentence because they were like written backwards. There were also way too many side characters that had no memorable features - I couldn’t tell the difference between half the characters. I’m so sad because I adore Jade but the second book was a mess! I’d LOVE a spoiler filled series review now you’re done (especially since you don’t read lots of series).
I read my heart is a chainsaw based on Kayla’s rating and I hated it and am trying to decide if I need to try again because the concept of the trilogy sounds so good!!
I capital L Loved MHIAC-- it was rough going at first admittedly, but it wraps up so beautifully. Book 2 was very cinematic- could see everything going on in my head clearly, truly a slasher film tribute. Book 3, which I am slogging through and halfway in, has been so confusing. Its bumming me out and putting me in a slump and I was SO excited for it.
@@andiland211 I found book 2 extremely confusing - couldn’t keep track of the characters, they had no memorable features (other than Letha and Jade) and the sentence structure was all over the place.
@@eleanorhenderson9896 book 3 is definitely MORE of that unfortunately. I still felt like I could get into it for book 2, like having a fever dream. For angel I have no idea what’s going on and who all these people are. lol
I gave The Familiar like 2.5 stars.... It felt like it would be historical fiction/political intrigue and than it switched up and became an unconvincing and rushed historical romance, which is FINE but that was not the synopsis 😩. Diavola let me down, too.
good to know this! i feel like lately SO many books have been letting me down due to poor marketing. so many books lately have ended up letting me down because they aren’t what they said they were going to be.
I thought I was the only one who felt this way about Emily Henry! Same with Abby Jimenez. I want a romcom - it’s great that the MCs work through their trauma but it’s not giving me what I need in my romances
If it makes you feel any better, I’ve read 50 books this year and have only had one five star… and it was the first book of the year 😭 I’ve pretty much given up. 😅
For other Percival Everett books I'd recommend Erasure and Telephone. Erasure is his best imo, but Telephone is interesting because there's actually three versions of the book and they have different scenes scattered throughout and all have different endings.
I regards to rating books in a series, I am the opposite in that I am more likely to rate sequels 5 stars than the 1st book. The more time I spend with the characters, the more I connect which is one major factor to me loving a book.
there is one book called Navigating through time by an American author Named Eric jones the book is quite expensive but it isa mind-blowing book the ebook costs 490 rs but every penny was worth spending i am a book lover and this book blows my mind importance of time time management time i have never read a book better then this one on time management ONE must at least Once in life read itread it once in life man
Ok ok ok. Hear me out. I think you should try Marrow by Trisha Wolfe. I think it’s a much better take on two serial killers than Butcher and Blackbirds!
Ah yes, ... the elusive 5 star book. Its SO magical when you find a book that steals all of your attention and is so immersive its like waking up from a five hour nap, not knowing what planet you're on. lol. I've only had one five star book so far this year: "Birnam Wood" by Eleanor Catton, so the bar is set pretty high.
I would definitely recommend the Tuva Moodyson mysteries by Will Dean. Messy, queer, disabled lady main character. I love them, even if they’re not perfect.
I’m currently reading the last one because it sounded up my alley from your vlog, but I actually lost interest after the first main reveal that you’re talking about because that wasn’t the direction I wanted the plot to take. Now I’m probably only gonna finish it to find out “why her?” And find out how it ends. But I don’t really care what happens along the way anymore.
I don't give books 5 stars, 5 stars are for my favorite books of all time and I'm not taking applicants XD An excellent book gets 4 stars, and I give most books 3
Not a booktuber but I have read more this year than I have in years (like 50/month) and I finally feel like I'm loving reading again instead doing it because I "know I like it."
Luzia isn’t affront of the inquisition because of she has magic. It’s because she is Jewish and her magic comes her Jewishness. She fears they will find out her magic comes from her Jewishness, her incantations are Hebrew and ladino. It’s a the main plot of the book. But yeah go ahead and misconstrue it and erase the main plot of the book. 🙄
The Spanish Inquisition is pretty....well known for being a horrific persecution of Jewish folks, I can't imagine someone going into the book not knowing that? (Before or after hearing my 3 minute summation of my thoughts.)
@@BooksandLala it’s literally a second mention to say luzia magic is ladino and Hebrew and her fear of the inquisition is based of her Jewishness. You avoided the main plot point on propose. The fact you doubled down on it, lets me after you are called out, lets me know you could less about the antisemitism. It’s gross
@@BooksandLalacalling out antisemitism isn’t a weird take. Intentionally or not your erasure of the importance Jewishness in the book is antisemitic. you telling a Jewish person what they find offensive is gross. But you go off with your bigotry
@@sternpc it's not antisemitic to give an off the cuff 2 minute review of a book and not mention every element. I also didn't mention plenty of elements of every other book. Your hyperfixation on saying that it was *intentional* (which doesn't make sense because what would I accomplish by doing that? Wouldn't I just not read the book in the first place or not mention that I read it if I was antisemitic?) that I didn't mention a character is Jewish *is* strange. It sounds like you would do well creating a channel where you can highlight the books you love & want to support, while giving your own perfect version of reviews- I wish you the best of luck and success with that endeavor, it sounds like a good use of your time.
I thought the Lisa Jewel one was bad, the cruise ship one was one of the worst books I have ever read. If I could give it less than one star, I would. It was so repetitive and obvious, and the ending was one of the worst endings ever, if not the absolute worst. A thriller should not be four hundred and fifty pages long.
9:49 I REALLY dont want to be scolded by a fking book. If the character is stupid you bet I will blame them, AND the author. I dont want to read about stupid people.
I don't think the book scolds you in any way? It's just upon reflection that I had to check my own feelings about the character's actions. A character not making the same decisions as you would doesn't make for a bad or poorly written character.
So are we all just struggling to like books at the moment? Are the books just not as good or is the stress of just everything (gestures wildly) getting to us? 😂
I swear so many Booktubers are struggling! I am a recent victim of slumps and low interest in my books, it must be in the air 🥲 (or maybe that’s the pollen)
I think the books just aren't good this year. I've DNF'd so many. I've been re-reading books I liked from last year.
I've read... One adult book, and I finished it today. Every other book has been a kids picture book.😅
everyone including myself seems to be in a rough patch reading-wise in the last few months. ive been reading a ton but very few of them have been five stars.
I’ve seen a lot of people saying that we’re in the midst of all of the books written during the pandemic (which timeline wise makes sense) but all I know is that I haaaaate whatever’s happening in publishing right now lol
if y’all didn’t know, erin sterling, author of the ex hex is the same person as rachel hawkins, author of reckless girls.
wait WHAT
🤯
Maybe you should do a video rereading 4 star books that you've said could be 5 stars upon reread. That could be really interesting!
I swear she did something similar or someone did 🤔
rip kayla reading lisa jewell. you really hung around.
I’m glad you read None of This is True RIGHT before I was going to, so that I DONT have to ha. Love you, bestie!
So glad you felt THE ANGEL OF INDIAN LAKE resonated with you, especially as a trilogy-ender!
your thoughts on emily henry and leigh bardugo are EXACTLY what i’m going through with them. unless funny story or the familiar blow me away, im going to stop reading them. i cant keep picking up books that are guaranteed to be a 3.5
I had such a slumpy April, so I guess we can all come together in harmony and struggle to find a good 5 star read. Let’s hope May treats us better. Oh and obsessed with the shirt. 🔪🦌
19:00 I don't know if you're explaining that well either, but it's EXACTLY what I felt about A Botanical Daughter. I gave it a 4-star rating too, had a great time with it, and am also slightly mourning the cottage-core-story that I thought it would be, but we didn't get...
"The Berry Pickers" by Amanda Peters (Canadian/Mi'kmaq heritage) was my 5 star read in April, you should check it out! The book is about a 4 year old Mi'kmaq girl from Nova Scotia that goes missing in the blueberry fields in Maine and how her family deals with the grief and trauma spanning 50 years.
Just finished Pour One for the Devil last night and gave it 5 stars 🤩 Only knew about it because of one of your upcoming book release videos!
Frozen River was my most recent 5 star read - highly recommend
I am currently reading a botanical daughter, so thanks for the heads up on the book’s tone! 🌿🌼
I am so ready for all of the dark Victorian cottage core Frankenstein -y vibes 😂
Your experience with Lisa Jewell is basically my experience with Mary Kubica. I've read 4 of her books and only liked one (hated the ending though so it was 3 star in the end). And yet, when I see that she has a new book coming out, I always want to pick it up just because her writing style is so palatable???? and then the joke's on me when I end up disliking the book, ehhh
I read exactly one book in April but it was a 5⭐ so I'm calling it a win
What was the book?
A Botanical Daughter sounds amazing. I'll definitely have to pick it up. Sounds like Frankenstein meets Interview with a Vampire.
I dont know if you have read it, but I think you would love Follow Me to Ground by Sue Rainsford. It seems completely up your alley.
That's one of my favourite books!! 🙌🏻💞
I know the intent of the 'Reading books from previous 5-star authors' is to get another 5 star but like... What are you going to do if none of those end up being a five star 😂
Don't you dare put that energy into the world kartik 🤣
@@BooksandLala 😂😂
I'm excited for may and to start reading again. I'm trying to finish two fantasies and trying to make my may tbr 🤔 definitely want a Frieda McFadden thriller. 🎉
I feel you about the 5 star slump! I usually average 15-20 five star books a year, then out of nowhere I didn’t have a single 5 star in all of 2023, I genuinely thought I was broken and didn’t love reading anymore. Thankfully broke that awful streak this year but wow am I still haunted by it 😅
Hello, please learn about Islam and read the Holy Qur’an. It is the best book I advise you to read in your entire life. Thank you.
@@aidibachir6085 you do you, but I’m an atheist and not interested, sorry
@@lairofbooks4484Hello, I made an argument against you and invited you to learn about Islam, but you refused. I hope you will reconsider a lot before it is too late. I am speaking to you about your eternal destiny. It is very dangerous. Can you imagine finding that Islam is the religion of truth, and you refused to even learn about it?
@@lairofbooks4484وانت رفضت حتى التعرف عليه تندم يوم القيامة لكن يكون الوقت فات ولا توجدة فرصة ثانية انا احب لك الخير واخاف عليك ربما أكثر من اشخاص تعرفهم خذ بي نصيحتي
And you refused to even recognize him. On the Day of Resurrection, it will be too late and you will regret it on a day when regret will be of no use. Take my advice. I love you, you are well, and I fear for you perhaps more than people you know.
ur shirt is so cute and is flattering on you where did u get it from? 🥰
omg i cant even imagine going into a botanical daughter thinking it was gonna be a cozy fantastical romance
I read the arc of a botanical daughter and it was my favorite book of February :) I loved the greenhouse and the general vibes of the book
in case you didn't know erin sterling is rachel hawkins' romance pen name!
Hi, I‘m new to your channel - this was my first video actually but I will be back for more ;) I was wondering which app do you use to track your reading? It looks so much better than the one I’m currently using.
Girliepop, I just read Thirst by Marina Yuszczuk and I think you would like it a lot. Vampiric, almost like a memoir, somewhat sapphic (definitely queer) explores the intricacies of death, and the COVER.
Video idea: reading books with the same rating and ranking them. Or books you’ve already read? I don’t think I’ve seen this one before but I could be totally wrong 🤣
I’ve been on a Percival Everett kick lately!! I really really enjoyed Erasure and James! Definitely recommend both
I hadn't been interested in Trees, but the way she pitched it, now I am.
@@brooke5258 definitely recommend it! Everything I’ve read by him has been wonderful! Trees was good though I do think it’s a book that gets better when it’s reread (like Kayla said!) once you get into the story there’s so much to take in!
I am in the slumpiest slump of all time. So I'm rereading favorites until I feel alive again 😅 hoping for a 5 star for you in May!
I wish you luck as well getting out of the slump!!
Parable of the Talents may be a sequel 5 star for you?
Kayla can you do a more in depth chat about the Indian Lake Trilogy? I LOVED book 1 but dnf’d book 2 at like 90%
I loved Jade as a character but she was barely in the second book and I found the writing of book 2 SO bad - it wasn’t his weirdness, it was his sentence structure. I felt like I was having a stroke in every second sentence because they were like written backwards. There were also way too many side characters that had no memorable features - I couldn’t tell the difference between half the characters. I’m so sad because I adore Jade but the second book was a mess!
I’d LOVE a spoiler filled series review now you’re done (especially since you don’t read lots of series).
i would be interested in this too! i have been interested in the series but not enough to read them lmao so i would love to know what happens
I read my heart is a chainsaw based on Kayla’s rating and I hated it and am trying to decide if I need to try again because the concept of the trilogy sounds so good!!
I capital L Loved MHIAC-- it was rough going at first admittedly, but it wraps up so beautifully. Book 2 was very cinematic- could see everything going on in my head clearly, truly a slasher film tribute. Book 3, which I am slogging through and halfway in, has been so confusing. Its bumming me out and putting me in a slump and I was SO excited for it.
@@andiland211 I found book 2 extremely confusing - couldn’t keep track of the characters, they had no memorable features (other than Letha and Jade) and the sentence structure was all over the place.
@@eleanorhenderson9896 book 3 is definitely MORE of that unfortunately. I still felt like I could get into it for book 2, like having a fever dream. For angel I have no idea what’s going on and who all these people are. lol
I gave The Familiar like 2.5 stars.... It felt like it would be historical fiction/political intrigue and than it switched up and became an unconvincing and rushed historical romance, which is FINE but that was not the synopsis 😩. Diavola let me down, too.
good to know this! i feel like lately SO many books have been letting me down due to poor marketing. so many books lately have ended up letting me down because they aren’t what they said they were going to be.
I thought I was the only one who felt this way about Emily Henry! Same with Abby Jimenez. I want a romcom - it’s great that the MCs work through their trauma but it’s not giving me what I need in my romances
If it makes you feel any better, I’ve read 50 books this year and have only had one five star… and it was the first book of the year 😭 I’ve pretty much given up. 😅
Just read the book of the most precious substance thanks to you, and thoroughly enjoyed it
Ooh yay!!! 💝 I'm so glad
have you ever read the book House of Hollow??? i feel like you would REALLY enjoy it
I thought I would really like it too 😭 I only gave it a 3
Hi Kayla! I think you should read The Employees by Olga Ravn. It’s short and weird and got me out of a slump!
Oh my god I'm living for your T shirt. 🤣
Immortal Pleasures is giving me like...Queen of the Damned, Anne Rice vibes. Maybe inspired by?
Have you read Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo?
omg I need to know where you got that shirt!!
The website is called tragicgirlsco 💞
They don't ship international 😭
For other Percival Everett books I'd recommend Erasure and Telephone. Erasure is his best imo, but Telephone is interesting because there's actually three versions of the book and they have different scenes scattered throughout and all have different endings.
Oh this makes me wanna pick up his books
Yesss I think Erasure is the one I plan to pick up first!!
Erasure was so good. I laughed way more than I expected. Will look into Telephone.
I’m in a 5 star drought too, I feel your pain
I don’t have a single 5-star this year, it’s brutal out here.
I regards to rating books in a series, I am the opposite in that I am more likely to rate sequels 5 stars than the 1st book. The more time I spend with the characters, the more I connect which is one major factor to me loving a book.
there is one book called Navigating through time by an American author Named Eric jones the book is quite expensive but it isa mind-blowing book the ebook costs 490 rs but every penny was worth spending i am a book lover and this book blows my mind importance of time time management time i have never read a book better then this one on time management ONE must at least Once in life read itread it once in life man
Ok ok ok. Hear me out. I think you should try Marrow by Trisha Wolfe. I think it’s a much better take on two serial killers than Butcher and Blackbirds!
a botanical daughter sounds like an alternate, probably much less violent, yet softly beautiful version of interview with a vampire lol
I love your shirt! Where did you get it?
The website is called tragicgirlsco 💞
I love Leigh Bardugo and The Familiar is one of the most boring books I've ever read/listened to. I only gave it a 2.5 and was so disappointed in it.
Same 😬
Your t shirt… where can I purchase? It’s too good.
The website is called tragicgirlsco 💞
I jusr finished The Book Lovers by Emily Henry. I almost stopped reading but after almost half it got good!
If you haven't read ninth house by leigh bardugo then you really should 😮
I did not enjoy it 🥸
I know I might be late to say this, but I think a mood-reading vlog may help you get a five-star.
What if I told you I was in the mood for almost all of these? 😅
@@BooksandLala 🙃
I read A Botanical Daughter in April too and I’m so thankful you have the same views as I do 😂 I thought I was just too dumb to get it
next time maybe you can sort it out alphabetically but from z to a. it can be fun
Ah yes, ... the elusive 5 star book. Its SO magical when you find a book that steals all of your attention and is so immersive its like waking up from a five hour nap, not knowing what planet you're on. lol. I've only had one five star book so far this year: "Birnam Wood" by Eleanor Catton, so the bar is set pretty high.
I would definitely recommend the Tuva Moodyson mysteries by Will Dean. Messy, queer, disabled lady main character. I love them, even if they’re not perfect.
I feel like thinking "A Botanical Daughter" was going to be sweet was a wild move. That's so funny to me, it's giving gay frankenstein.
I’m currently reading the last one because it sounded up my alley from your vlog, but I actually lost interest after the first main reveal that you’re talking about because that wasn’t the direction I wanted the plot to take. Now I’m probably only gonna finish it to find out “why her?” And find out how it ends. But I don’t really care what happens along the way anymore.
❤❤❤
i’m so sad your having such a long 5 star drought 😢😢
KAYLA I need you to find me 2024's Monstrillio!!!
None of this is true was my first and last Lisa Jewell 😂😂
SAME 💯
The last one was a one star for me- thought it was absurd and so boring
I don't give books 5 stars, 5 stars are for my favorite books of all time and I'm not taking applicants XD An excellent book gets 4 stars, and I give most books 3
That has been me more lately. The more books I read, the more the bar gets higher.
I wonder if it is because as booktubers they have to read so much so fast that the joy of reading is diminished.
If that was the case I wouldn't have had a 5 star in the past 5 years I've been reading at this pace then 🤷🏻♀️
@@BooksandLala true. It wasn't mend as a criticism just wondered if that could explain it.
Not a booktuber but I have read more this year than I have in years (like 50/month) and I finally feel like I'm loving reading again instead doing it because I "know I like it."
Luzia isn’t affront of the inquisition because of she has magic. It’s because she is Jewish and her magic comes her Jewishness. She fears they will find out her magic comes from her Jewishness, her incantations are Hebrew and ladino. It’s a the main plot of the book. But yeah go ahead and misconstrue it and erase the main plot of the book. 🙄
The Spanish Inquisition is pretty....well known for being a horrific persecution of Jewish folks, I can't imagine someone going into the book not knowing that? (Before or after hearing my 3 minute summation of my thoughts.)
@@BooksandLala it’s literally a second mention to say luzia magic is ladino and Hebrew and her fear of the inquisition is based of her Jewishness. You avoided the main plot point on propose. The fact you doubled down on it, lets me after you are called out, lets me know you could less about the antisemitism. It’s gross
@@sternpc this is a truly weird (and incorrect) take, but go off I guess.
@@BooksandLalacalling out antisemitism isn’t a weird take. Intentionally or not your erasure of the importance Jewishness in the book is antisemitic. you telling a Jewish person what they find offensive is gross. But you go off with your bigotry
@@sternpc it's not antisemitic to give an off the cuff 2 minute review of a book and not mention every element. I also didn't mention plenty of elements of every other book. Your hyperfixation on saying that it was *intentional* (which doesn't make sense because what would I accomplish by doing that? Wouldn't I just not read the book in the first place or not mention that I read it if I was antisemitic?) that I didn't mention a character is Jewish *is* strange. It sounds like you would do well creating a channel where you can highlight the books you love & want to support, while giving your own perfect version of reviews- I wish you the best of luck and success with that endeavor, it sounds like a good use of your time.
I thought the Lisa Jewel one was bad, the cruise ship one was one of the worst books I have ever read. If I could give it less than one star, I would. It was so repetitive and obvious, and the ending was one of the worst endings ever, if not the absolute worst. A thriller should not be four hundred and fifty pages long.
9:49 I REALLY dont want to be scolded by a fking book. If the character is stupid you bet I will blame them, AND the author. I dont want to read about stupid people.
I don't think the book scolds you in any way? It's just upon reflection that I had to check my own feelings about the character's actions. A character not making the same decisions as you would doesn't make for a bad or poorly written character.
So basically you don’t understand Latinx Horror
Hello, please learn about Islam and read the Holy Qur’an. It is the best book I advise you to read in your entire life. Thank you.
I'm determined to make wrap-ups fun for you🥹