RTR: Reading BookTubers’ Best Books – Part 3

RTR: Reading BookTubers’ Best Books - Part 3

I follow many BookTubers on YouTube. I’ve started a series where I read their favorite books of 2024 to see what I think of them. This is the third installment.

Welcome, book friends!

To listen to my real-time reaction to these books, you can check out the full episode on The Bookmarks ‘n Blankets Podcast on your favorite podcast platform or listen below.

I’d love to know your thoughts on any of these books if you’ve read them. I invite you to hop over to  X (aka Twitter)Facebook, and Instagram, where you can comment.

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My third episode of my Real-Time Reactions series, BookTubers’ Best Books, is here!
(You can read/listen to the first episode here and the second episode here.)

As an avid BookTube fan, I love following creators who share their reading journeys, thoughtful reviews, and all-time favorites. With 2024 behind us, I thought it would be exciting to explore their top picks from last year, read them for myself, and share my honest reactions as I go.

Since not every BookTuber ranks their choices or highlights just one favorite, I decided to pick the book that intrigued me most (and that I could easily get my hands on). My goal for this series is to explore a mix of genres and authors, see whether my opinions align with theirs, and hopefully discover a few new favorites along the way.

In this episode, I chose these BookTubers and read their favorite books from last year:

My Reaction to 3 Thriller Books

To read my reviews, click on the button in each book profile below.

You Will Never Be Me by Jesse Q. Sutanto

You Will Never Be Me

by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Published:
Genre:
Format:
Narration:
GoodReads:3.63
My Score:
Spice:None

Book Summary

Influencer Meredith Lee didn’t teach Aspen Palmer how to blossom on social media just to be ditched as soon as Aspen became big. So can anyone really blame Mer for doing a little stalking? Nothing serious, more like Stalking Lite.

Then Mer gets lucky; she finds one of Aspen’s kids’ iPads and swipes it. Now she has access to the family calendar and Aspen’s social media accounts. Would anyone else be able to resist tweaking things a little here and there, showing up in Aspen’s place for meetings with potential sponsors? Mer’s only taking back what she deserves—what should have been hers.

Meanwhile, Aspen doesn’t understand why her perfectly filtered life is falling apart. Sponsors are dropping her, fellow influencers are ghosting her, and even her own husband seems to find her repulsive. If she doesn’t find out who’s behind everything, she might just lose it all. But what everyone seems to forget is that Aspen didn’t become one of TikTok’s biggest momfluencers by being naive.

When Meredith suddenly goes missing, Aspen’s world is upended, and mysterious threats begin to arrive—but she won’t let anything get in the way of her perfect life again.

He Started It

by Samantha Downing
Published:
Genre:
Format:
Narration:
GoodReads:3.48
My Score:
Spice:None

Book Summary

Beth, Portia, and Eddie Morgan haven’t all been together in years. And for very good reasons—we’ll get to those later. But when their wealthy grandfather dies and leaves a cryptic final message in his wake, the siblings and their respective partners must come together for a cross-country road trip to fulfill his final wish and—more importantly—secure their inheritance.

But time with your family can be tough. It is for everyone.

It’s even harder when you’re all keeping secrets and trying to forget a memory—a missing person, an act of revenge, the man in the black truck who won’t stop following your car—and especially when at least one of you is a killer and there’s a body in the trunk. Just to name a few reasons.

But money is a powerful motivator. It is for everyone.

They Never Learn by Layne Fargo

They Never Learn

by Layne Fargo
Published:
Genre:
Subgenre:
Format:
Narration:
GoodReads:3.91
My Score:
Spice:

Book Summary

Scarlett Clark is an exceptional English professor. But she’s even better at getting away with murder.

Every year, Dr. Clark searches for the worst man at Gorman University – professor, student, or otherwise – and plots his well-deserved demise. Thanks to her meticulous planning, she’s avoided drawing attention to herself…but as she’s preparing for her biggest kill yet, the school starts probing into the growing body count on campus. Determined to keep her enemies close, Dr. Clark insinuates herself into the investigation and charms the woman in charge. Everything’s going according to her master plan…until she loses control with her latest victim, putting her secret life at risk of exposure.

Meanwhile, Gorman student Carly Schiller is just trying to survive her freshman year. Finally free of her emotionally abusive father, all Carly wants is to focus on her studies and fade into the background. Her new roommate has other ideas. Allison Hadley is cool and confident – everything Carly wishes she could be – and the two girls quickly form an intense friendship. So when Allison is sexually assaulted at a party, Carly becomes obsessed with making the attacker pay…and turning her fantasies about revenge into a reality.

Kelly Matsudaira
About Kelly

Books have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, and today, I read more than 150 each year. Through Bookmarks ‘n Blankets, I love sharing my reading journey, favorite book lists, and reading tips to help you make the most of your own reading life.

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