#AMonthofFaves 3 Popular Books Worth The Hype [and 2 Not Worth It]

Some books are hyped up like crazy – and it can go one of 2 ways. We think there’s too much hype and put off reading the book, or we jump on the bandwagon. Either way – here are some of the most hyped books we read AND LOVED … a 2 that didn’t work for us.

Believe the Hype – These Books are Worth Reading

❧ Tanya – yes, believe it!

The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead

Dude, first Oprah picks it for her book club and then it goes on to win the Pulitzer Prize for 2017. This was one of those books that I was late to the party – and thankfully, not too late. The book is raw, emotional and will freaking sucker punch you in the gut time and time again. Do yourself a favor, and read it if you haven’t already.

Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. Life is hellish for all the slaves but especially bad for Cora; an outcast even among her fellow Africans. When Caesar, a recent arrival from Virginia, tells her about the Underground Railroad, they decide to take a terrifying risk and escape. Matters do not go as planned and, though they manage to find a station and head north, they are being hunted.

The Hate U Give, Angie Thomas

This book has has a 4.6/5 rating on Goodreads from almost 62,000 ratings! That alone tells you how amazing it is – and is an indication of it’s popularity. I don’t know how the author did it, but she wrote a brilliant complex novel and made it relatable / educational for everyone. Seriously – give this book a try no matter how you think you may not relate. I guarantee you’ll fall for the characters and this book.

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.

Into the Water, Paula Hawkins

Paula Hawkins wrote Girl on the Train which was a runaway bestseller, and was on our list of 3 Popular Books Worth the Hype 2 years ago. Her next novel, Into the Water was on the NYTimes Best Seller List for months. It’s true to the author’s style of slowly teasing out the plot, and there are a lot of characters, but it has an intriguing plot and characters you’ll love to hate.

In the last days before her death, Nel called her sister. Jules didn’t pick up the phone, ignoring her plea for help. Now Nel is dead. They say she jumped. And Jules has been dragged back to the one place she hoped she had escaped for good, to care for the teenage girl her sister left behind. But Jules is afraid. So afraid. Of her long-buried memories, of the old Mill House, of knowing that Nel would never have jumped. And most of all she’s afraid of the water, and the place they call the Drowning Pool.

Don’t Believe the Hype

❧ Kim –

One of Us is Lying, Karen McManus

This book has been all over. I kept seeing it and decided to pick it up for a quick, fun read. It was quick and it was fun- but it wasn’t ingenious or anything when it comes to murder mystery plots. I kept waiting for this amazing twist but truth is, I guessed it in the first chapter.

Before the end of detention Simon’s dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn’t an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he’d planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder.

The Eye of Minds, James Dashner

I really just felt like this book went on and on and on. In true James Dashner fashion, there were a lot of questions that never got answered throughout this book and several things in the plot that left me scratching my head.

Michael is a gamer. And like most gamers, he almost spends more time on the VirtNet than in the actual world. Recent reports claim that one gamer is going beyond what any gamer has done before: he’s holding players hostage inside the VirtNet. The government knows that to catch a hacker, you need a hacker. And they’ve been watching Michael. They want him on their team.