I Read 140 Books & These Are the Ones That Survived
These Are the Books I Actually Remember…. So They Must Be Good
I read one hundred and forty books this year. That is not a flex. That is a cry for help and a full-time hobby. Somewhere between morally questionable men, accidental murder vacations, unhinged villains, and thrillers designed to spike your cortisol, most of those books evaporated from my brain like steam off a cup of coffee I forgot to drink.
Important context. I am a vibe reader. I am not here to academically dissect sentence structure or hand out gold stars for literary merit. These books are not always polished. They are not always realistic. Some of the plots are, frankly, weird as hell. The writing is sometimes messy. The choices are often questionable. That is part of the charm.
These are the books that made me feel something. Entertained me. Unsettled me. Kept me up too late. Made me say what did I just read but in a way that felt affectionate.
No rankings. No order. Just vibes, trauma, and books that refused to leave my head even after I closed the cover.
If I remember it months later, it did something to me.
Tourist Season by Brynne Weaver
This book lives rent free in my brain. Dark humor, chaos, and characters who feel like they crawled out of a crime documentary and asked if you wanted snacks. It is violent. It is funny. It is unsettling in a way that makes you laugh and then question yourself. Brynne Weaver writes like she knows something about you. Something she should not.
Dance With My Demons Series by Steph Macca
BUY IT HERE
This series said, what if we emotionally devastate you but make it hot. The vibes are dark, intense, and deeply addictive. Trauma everywhere. Chemistry everywhere. I do not remember every plot detail, but I remember how it felt. Which is usually how you know a series has you in a chokehold.
Den of Vipers by K.A. Knight
This book is feral. Unhinged. Unapologetic. It does not ask if you are okay. It does not care. It simply throws you into the chaos and expects you to keep up. Multiple morally bankrupt men, a heroine who matches the energy, and vibes that scream, this is not for everyone and that is the point.
The Tenant by Freida McFadden
Freida McFadden is a menace to society and I mean that lovingly. This book is fast, sharp, and impossible to put down. You think you know where it is going. You do not. You think you are safe. You are not. I remember this one because it made me distrust everyone, including myself.
The Neverland Chronicles by T.S. Kinley
BUY IT HERE
This series is pure indulgence. Dark fantasy, twisted fairytale energy, and a why choose setup that understands the assignment. It is messy. It is dramatic. It is spicy. I remember it because it committed fully and never pretended to be anything else.
Phantasma by Kaylie Smith
Atmosphere. That is the word. This book wrapped itself around my brain with mood, magic, and a sense of unease that lingered. It felt immersive in a way that made the world stick with me long after I finished. Quietly haunting. The good kind.
Kingdom of Lies Series by Stacia Stark
BUY IT HERE
This series earned its spot through pure emotional investment. Political intrigue, slow burn tension, betrayals, and characters who make questionable choices for reasons that somehow make sense. I remember this one because I cared. Deeply. Sometimes against my will.
Obligatory Honorable Mentions
Because I am not a real book girly unless I make the list complicated.
These books did not hit quite as hard as the first in their series, but I love the worlds and the characters too much to leave them out.
If you read 140 books and only remember a handful, those handful matter. These are not necessarily the most beautifully written books I read this year. These are the ones that left fingerprints. The ones I would actually recommend without staring into the void trying to remember what happened.
If a book survives the great mental TBR purge, it earned its place.
xoxo
