Category: Book Reviews

Best Books of 2020

Hello everyone,

Okay, so you seen my least favorites of 2019, now took a look at my most favorite of 2019!! I just wanted share with you the books I read during 2019, that I really loved. Hope you guys check out these books too!! ENJOY!!

#murdertrending by Gretchen McNeil 5★stars

WOOOOW, just wow!! I have nothing to say. I didn’t see the plot twist at the end of the book coming at all. #murdertrending was a great book to start with for the new year. I love how this book was not predictable AT ALL. Some of the mystery books I read, always give away the killer before I finished reading the book. While reading the book, I was laughing my head off because of Griselda’s sarcasm and Ethan’s funny remarks and movie liners. Ethan was my favorite character in this book. Gretchen McNeil is an excellent author; I know that I will be reading other books by her, especially the book #2 of this book. I would highly recommend this book to anyone!! You wouldn’t regret it! 5★stars 🙂

Twilight Director’s Notebook: The Story of How We Made the Movie Based on the Novel by Stephenie Meyer 5★stars

I love reading about my favorite movie/book. It was nice to see the vision behind it. 5 ★stars

Coraline by Neil Gaiman 5★stars

I read Coraline last night and, oh my gosh, this book is much scarier than the movie!!! Like the hand is an actual human hand with bone and all!! 😮🖐🏻 None of the less, I still liked it anyway!! 😂😅🤷🏾‍♀️ 5★stars

Divergent by Veronica Roth 5★stars

I always wanted to read this book, now this year I finally read it!! When I read the first page of Divergent, I was already hooked! I really liked Beatrice “Tris” as the main character, mostly because she was not annoying like other main characters I have read before. Divergent was an interesting and wonderful read. I really loved it! My two favorite characters are Tris and Four. Veronica Roth did a good job on this book, this first book I read by her. I would recommend this book to anyone because it has romance and action, if they are not into the lovey dovey types of books. 5★stars

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys 5★stars

It was a good read. It was nice that after the book, you learned the history behind the boat. This book was heart wrenching to read. The ending was really sad. I would recommend reading this book. 5★stars 🙂

Mary Wears What She Wants by Keith Negley 5★stars

I LOVE IT!! I wanted to read it when I saw an ad for the book on Instagram. I’m glad that I read it. Girls need books like this to tell them that they can wear whatever they want and not to care about other people’s opinions. I would highly recommend reading this!! 5★stars 🙂

As Old as Time by Liz Braswell 5★stars

As Old as Time was a wonderful read. It was interesting a new cool different version of the Disney classic Beauty and the Beast. I read this book is because my best friend told me how good they were, and the description sounded interesting enough for me to read it. I would recommend reading this book if you like fantasy, Disney, and different storytelling. 5★stars

Once and for All by Sarah Dessen 5★stars

Once and for All was a wonderful read. Sarah Dessen wrote this book very beautifully. I really loved Ambrose and Louna. I would recommend this book. 5★stars 🙂

Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson 5★stars

Monday’s Not Coming was a chilly story. The moment I started reading, I was hooked, I started the book yesterday and finished today. The storyline was that interesting to hook me in. However, the timeline that Tiffany D. Jackson used was confusing. There was a “The Before”, “The After”, and “One Year Before The Before”. I had a hard time figuring out which one was Claudia’s past with Monday and which was the present where Monday is missing. At the end of the story, I really love the plot twist, I really did not see it coming. It was sad to read about Monday’s home life and also how no one noticed that she was missing, but people noticed when Claudia was out for an hour. But that is the difference between having people who love vs. people who really don’t care. Tiffany D. Jackson really shined a light on child abuse and can help when no one really cares/pay attention. I would recommend this book to anyone to read, they might like it. 5★stars 🙂

A Kiss in the Dark by Gina Ciocca 4★stars

The book was a nice read. I liked it! 🙂

3:59 by Gretchen McNeil 5★stars

I love this story, it was interesting to read. I love books about parallel universe.

Crave by Tracy Wolff 5★stars

I started this book on July 3, and I fell in love with the story and characters immediately!!! I’m a HUGE fan of vampires, so I quickly fell in love with this book. I heard about this book from a twilight facebook group. Crave is this century Twilight 2.0 and I love it cause I LOVE Twilight. I recommend reading this book, you might like it. 5★stars

Soft Thorns by Bridgett Devoue 5★stars

I loved the poems in the book

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins 5★stars

The book was really interesting. I really felt for Rachel, but HATE Anna. Like everything she come up, I just wanted her part to end, like ughhh I do not like you b*tch 5★stars

Alone by Cyn Balog 5★stars

The two plot twists in Alone I did not see coming AT ALL!!!! The book was really well-written. If you like mystery books, you will like this book. 5 stars 

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides 5★stars

The Silent Patient was a fascinating book. When I opened the book, and started reading about Alicia and how she killed her husband, Gabriel, I was already draw in. While reading, I noticed that Theo had a messed obsession with Alicia. He was not just there because he wanted to be a therapist, he was fascinated by her, which I find borderline unhealthy. These two characters have a lot in common. They both had traumas that messed them up inside. The plot twist I did not see coming at all!! I would highly recommend reading this. 5 stars

All Your Twisted Secrets by Diana Urban 5★stars

j I been waiting for forever to read All Your Twisted Secrets. When I saw the description and over, I know I had to read the book, and the story did not disappointment me. I started the book on Sunday and finished this at 5am today, the story was just really interesting that I wanted to keep founding ou more. The timeline of the story was easy to follow along. The six main characters were interesting to learn about. However, there was one main character that I wanted to slap every time she opened her mouth. Also, the plot twist at the end I did not see coming. I recommend reading this book!! 5 stars 

A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi 5★stars

A Very Large Expanse of Sea was really fascinating book!! Reading about Shirin’s story about being a Muslim girl dealing with the aftermath of 9/11 was interesting to me. Whenever I read a part about her getting hate for being Muslim, I just wanted to scream. It reminded me of a post I saw about 9/12 and how everyone was united, but in related not everyone was united. Muslims were being treated horribly because what a group of terrorists did. They were a part of hateful group that Muslims were not apart of. Muslims are for peace. I wish people could understand that not all Muslims agree with what happened on 9/11. They did not and still not deceive the hate that they were receiving from back then and now. I really love the relationship between Ocean and Shirin. They made a really cute couple. I highly recommend reading this book. 5 stars

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson 5★stars

I been waiting since July to read the audiobook of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. Ever since I saw the cover and title, I wanted to read it. I was not disappointed in the hype that I created. The book was really interesting. I started it yesterday (11/1) and finished it today (11/2). I did not see all the plot twists in the book. Also, Pip and Ravi were sooo cute!! I recommend reading this book!! 5 stars

Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin 5★stars

I kept seeing the book, Blood & Honey all over my bookstagram feed, it made me curious and want to read it. However, I did not know it was a series. Once I learned that I knew that I had to read the book, Serpent & Dove. I read this book for a book club (Double Booked), and I immediately fall in love with the story and characters. Lou is my favorite character. She is a badass woman who is not afraid to speak her mind and I liked that about her. The chemistry between Lou and Reid was sooooo cute!! The book was hilarious! I find myself laughing at different parts in the book. Serpent & Dove was really well-written. Shelby Mahurin knows how to get a readers’ attention and she did just that. I did not put the book down. I can’t wait to read the second book Blood & Honey. I recommend reading this book if you are into fantasy, enemies to lovers, and witches. 5★stars

Blood & Honey by Shelby Mahurin

The book was really good. I can’t wait to read the third book in the series.

Home Body by Rupi Kaur 5★stars

Home Body by Rupi Kaur was really powerful read for me. I liked this book better than Milk and Honey. I highly recommend reading this book if you like poetry 5 stars 🙂

Worst Books of 2020

Hello everyone!

I just wanted share with you the books I read during 2020, that I really didn’t love. Enjoy!

The Fallen and Leviathan by Thomas E. Sniegoski 3★stars

Part 1 of the book was interesting to me, but once I got to Part 2 of the book, I just started losing interest in the book I was reading. So I won’t be recommending this book to anyone. 3 ★stars

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt 1★star

*review too long* https://taishasbookreviews.home.blog/2020/03/10/the-goldfinch-book-review/

Pretty Little Liars #1 by Sara Shepherd 3★stars

I watched the show I read the book. However, when I first watched the show, I did not know it was based on a book. The book is completely different from the tv show Pretty Little Liars. I did not really like the book version of my favorite tv show. 3 stars

Vampire Academy #1 by Richelle Mead 2★stars

I have been wanting to read this book since forever….and now that I read it, I am not impressed. The main character Rose is annoying as heck. Rose is supported to be this badass, but she just acts like a brat that just punches anyone that she can’t stand. Also, she is full of herself. Rose thinks she the hottest girl in her school 

Into the Water by Paula Hawkins 3★stars

It was ok. Just too many characters to remember and keep track of.

The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards 1★star

It was really boring!! Also the main character David was a horrible person, giving away his wife’s baby and letting her believe she was dead was better then her suffering the grief when Phoebe died if she went home with them.

Following by Jeffry W. Johnston 1★star

This was just boring. his first book that i read from him The Truth was much better. It did not start picking up until the very end of the book. 1 star

The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford 1★star

I had to read this for my college english class and my gosh it was a struggle just trying to listen to the audiobook on youtube. I stopped reading at Part 4 Section I. The narrator is just annoying. It was hard to understand where I was and what Dowell was talking about because he just kept rumbling on to another topic. I would NOT recommend this book to anyone !!!!! 

Frozen Beauty by Lexa Hillyer 1★star

When I saw the cover of Frozen Beauty, I was draw in because it looked interesting. By choosing a book to read, I judge by the covers and titles; however, sometimes amazing, beautiful covers could be disguise as bad books. Unfortunately, this book by Lexa Hillyer was a letdown. The description sound interesting: Kitty was found in a bra and pants, frozen from hypothermia. Her sisters, Lilly and Tessa, have no clue what happened, but also are hiding secrets of their own. That alone was enough to draw me in. However, what I got was flat characters, sisters who did not act like sisters. The characters were flat, meaning that if something happened to them, I would not care because the author did not help create a relationship between her readers and characters. I did not like or hate them, just was “meh” to them. It felt like I was pulling tooth, just to read the book, but sometimes you have to stop and close the book. I had to DNF at chapter 17. The way Lexa Hillyer set up her timeline for the murder of Kitty was confusing. “Before” (when Kitty is alive) and “Now” (Kitty is die). Also, it was hard to tell who the narrator of each character because there was not name at the top to let readers know that it another character speaking. From other reviewers on goodreads, the killer was revealed in part 3 of the book; however, he was never mentioned in part 1 or 2. Do not introduce a character (especially in a murder/mystery book) at the end of the book, it just confuses and irritate the readers. I was really annoyed when I learned that. I feel like Lexa Hillyer’s book, Frozen Beauty, could have potential. Beautiful cover though. 1★star

Vox Book Review

Hello friends, we have reached the end finally lol. 🥳 This is my last book review of 2020. 😕 Vox was a really captivating book for me. It was short and interesting. None of the characters were annoying, well except one was annoying, but they changed in the end. Dystopian books are my favorite types of books. I recommend reading this book because it’s basically a book that is like our world, but suddenly women were not able to speak words, they were degraded to what they were back in the ’50s and years back. That is a scary to think that this could happen and is happening in our world, cause there are people who tell women to shut up when talking about issues that are important to them. It’s scary because the world in Vox was not dystopia or utopia. 5★stars

The Upside of Falling Book Review


I have no comments for the book, The Upside of Falling. Only chapter 1 was bearable lol. After that, I was laughing at how cringing and cliché the book was lol 😂. Cliches in book: fake dating, nerdy girl who LOVES reading, girl hates romance cause divorce parents, main male character is a very A-MA-ZING football player who is the captain (shocker 😱), girl’s dad left to start a new family, girl has no friends, except one; ex best friend who is a cheerleader (again shocker 😱), who is mean to the protagonist, guy’s dad is acting sneaky. All of these cliches were just all wrapped in one pretty little bow. I and other readers who are familiar with Wattpad will immediately be able to tell it is a Wattpad book. Wattpad books are filled with cheesy, cringy cliches; however, there are some gems hidden on the site. The main character, Becca, was just……😒😐️😑🤦🏾‍♀️ There is a scene where she is throwing books into a lake because *dramatic break up breakdown*. I could not stand her after chapter 1. There was no build up to the main characters fake dating, everything was really rushed. Lol 3★stars 😂🤣

Serpent & Dove Book Review

I kept seeing the book, 𝘉𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 & 𝘏𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 all over my bookstagram feed, it made me curious and want to read it. However, I did not know it was a series. Once I learned that, I knew that I 𝗵𝗮𝗱 to read the book, 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵 & 𝘋𝘰𝘷𝘦. I read this book for a book club (Double Booked), and I immediately fall in love with the story and characters. Lou is my favorite character. She is a badass woman who is not afraid to speak her mind and I liked that about her. The chemistry between Lou and Reid was sooooo cute!! The book was hilarious! I find myself laughing at different parts in the book. 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵 & 𝘋𝘰𝘷𝘦 was really well-written. Shelby Mahurin knows how to get a readers’ attention and she did just that. I did not put the book down. I can’t wait to read the second book 𝘉𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 & 𝘏𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺. I recommend reading this book if you are into fantasy, enemies to lovers, and witches. 5★stars

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder Book Review

I been waiting since July to read the audiobook of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. Ever since I saw the cover and title, I wanted to read it. I was not disappointed in the hype that I created. The book was really interesting. I started it yesterday (11/1) and finished it today (11/2). I did not see all the plot twists in the book coming. Also, Pip and Ravi were sooo cute!! I recommend reading this book!! 5★stars

The Silent Patient Book Review

The Silent Patient was a fascinating book. When I opened the book, and started reading about Alicia and how she killed her husband, Gabriel, I was already drawn in. While reading, I noticed that Theo had a messed obsession with Alicia. He was not just there because he wanted to be a therapist, he was fascinated by her, which I find borderline unhealthy. These two characters have a lot in common. They both had traumas that messed them up inside. My theories on Alicia was that she actually killed her husband and was also mentally ill. The plot twist I did not see coming at all!! I would highly recommend reading this. 5★stars

The 5th Wave Book Review

I started this book back in February, but I got sidetracked by other things. I finally was able to finish reading . From what I remember, the story was not that interesting (maybe that is why I paused on reading? 🤔). It only got interesting until the middle to end of the book. There were some parts that I found interesting and funny to read about. For example, the relationship between Evan and Cassie. 🥰 But there were some things that I was little confused on: Silencers; they are human, but they are not? I looked it up online and it said that they are enhanced, so if you read the book and can explain in a way that I can understand comment down below. I do not know if I would recommend it. It would depend if you like science fiction or books that are dystopian. 4★stars