 Hello gorgeous friends! How are we all doing? Today we're gonna be reacting to my most recent five star predictions list where I have now read all the books and we are gonna see how we did. So this time I read my five star predictions a lot quicker. I think I've only ever done two five star predictions. That's four. I've only ever done two five star predictions lists and the first time I did it it took me like over two years I think to read all the books which is kind of I don't know what I was doing. I obviously wasn't as excited as I thought I was to read these books but my last five star predictions list was 10 months ago and I have now read all the books. I get Tom to have a little list on his phone and he goes and checks what books I've read and whether I've read them. He just keeps track of whether I've read them for me and time is now. I have just read the final book on the list and we're gonna see how we did. We're going to track whether I rated them a five star or not a five star and this time I'm going to track a little bit different. I'm gonna track the four point five stars because I think the four point five star is kind of a win. The rules don't apply. Listen I don't know the rules but I do feel like four point five stars are basically could be a five star on another day in another situation. Different day, different time, different feeling, different things I'm going through my life. It could be a five star so I think last time I did this or the last this we had four five stars two four point five stars and four not a five star but we're gonna see if we did better this time. I don't know that's pretty good. She's really good. But shall we see? Let's react to my most recent five star predictions. I love making five star predictions there so let's see how I did. To my channel today we're doing new five star predictions. My hair was so blonde. I think this is one of the last times I just had it redone. I can't believe how blonde I was. That's crazy. I like being in my brown hair era. Let's just talk about this quickly. I think that on camera the blonde almost looked better but in person trust me the I think the brown is better. I mean I loved my blonde hair but I just think the blonde did look really good on camera but it didn't look like that really good in real life especially when it wasn't done whereas I feel like I can get away with more with my natural hair color. Anyways but my first prediction is Hellbent by Lee Bardugo. I love Ninth House. So here we have it. I take all the dust jackets off of my Lee Bardugo books because they have these lovely spines. Hellbent by Lee Bardugo was not a five star. Let me note it down. It was I believe I gave this four stars. Listen I don't blame me for making this prediction because Ninth House was such a five star for me. I read it right at the beginning of starting my channel and I was getting back into reading. It was really formative for me in terms of the fantasy I enjoyed but Hellbent I just don't think was quite as successful. For me personally I don't think it was as successful as Ninth House. However there is the alternative opinion that my dad he has read both and he loved Ninth House but he loved Hellbent. He is so mad at me I can't talk to him about Lee Bardugo because he gets so mad at me for having not given this book five stars. He's giving villain. He thought it was amazing. So in this we find Alex Stern who goes to Harvard I believe. I always get my American universities mixed up but goes to Harvard and it's given this role of overseeing the magical societies there and this one is getting more into like it's getting a bit darker it's getting a bit more I don't know frenetic shall we say is what's going on and I do think this was very successful. I did really enjoy it. I'm excited. Are we already getting one more in this series? That's so sad. Guys I always say this I went to the talk for Ninth House. I went to Lee Bardugo. She was in Leeds and I went to see her and she was like oh it's gonna be a seven book series. The things we have lost. The things we have lost in life. I'm just gonna stand in the middle of the road and if a car comes I ain't gonna move. But yeah I am not mad at myself for predicting this would be a five star because I can see why I predicted that. I think it was a good prediction to make but alas it was not. So next we have Lost in the Moment and Found by Shona McGuire. The next in the way recording series. Lost in the Moment and Found was a five star. Yay! I mean here's the thing it's kind of a cheat code. I'm honestly with you. You don't understand the sacrifice I just made to get this out. My bookshelves are a fragile ecosystem. I was still living here until we move out. And don't ask me it's stressing me out again. Let's just take a moment. Many of you know Tom and I have been saving up for a long time to move out and get our own place together and it's stressing me out. I feel like I can't envisage what I want my bookshelves, my new bookshelves to be like until we move out until we know what place we're moving into. Like I can envisage something and then that's not possible. So that's quite dramatic. It's like stressing me out not being able to envisage it because I want to know the place and then you plan around that, right? You plan to the space you have because we're probably going to give me a library room if I'm honest. Like an office. It's my job. It's my job. I'm going to have a home office where the books are. Anyways moving on. But yeah it's stressing me out that I can't plan what are my bookshelves going to be like. Anyways Lost in the Moment and Found was a little grand. I gave five stars but it's a cheat code because I give every book in this series a five star. Like this wasn't really you know I guess that's a clever thing to do but this was always going to be five stars. The next you know I'll be shocked at the day when I don't give away what children book five stars. They're just so special to me. They're like a warm hug. I'm so into the series. I love children guys writing so much. Oh I just love these books so much. You'll all know what this is about but we're following children who go into these fantastical portal worlds and in this one we're following antsy who kind of goes into this world that's like a portal to other worlds and it's very interesting we've never really seen anything like this in the series before. It tackles some really serious topics. There's an author's note at the beginning about that and I think it does it with such care with such attention. I always feel like Sean McGuire knocks out the park with handling topics with such love and like gentleness you know. So I love debt. I love debt. I love debt. And then next on the list is another author that I have given multiple five stars. If this one is a five star they cement themselves as one of my favorite authors all time and that is The Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune. Now I am a bit nervous for this one but you should have been nervous girl. You should have been nervous. In The Lives of Puppets was not a five star. That was like a three star for me. I have I don't want to talk about this. This is a painful one for me. Again it makes sense why I put this on here because House of Insurgency and Under the Spoon Door had both been five stars for me but this was like a three. This did not work for me. I um like I'm like retreating. This is like a trauma response. I'm just gonna shut down and I don't want to talk about it. I did not love this. This is pictures of Pinocchio retelling. Let me just tell you also this is a Wizard of Oz retelling. It follows particularly that's a half the plot beats of Wizard of Oz. This is a Wizard of Oz retelling. Fuck off with Pinocchio retelling. No one talks about this and it bothers me. It's a Wizard of Oz retelling. Anyways so yeah we're following this robot who lives there with his father and there's other characters and they have to go on this quest with one another and I won't tell you why it's but this is a kind of book that I'm like what what do I need to say about this? What was the plot? The writing just did not do it for me. I this made me understand why some people haven't loved TJ Cleans other stuff because there's a very strong it's very it is very intense with it's like messaging and like oh this is the meaning of life and whatever and if you just don't connect that messaging you're done for babes. I also don't feel like the message was very clear in this one. I didn't get what it was trying to say. Like House of Surrency and Under a Spring Door have very clear like lessons to learn from it and I just don't feel like this book did. It felt lost to me. It felt floundering. I didn't enjoy it. It felt slow. It felt bogged down and so that's mean of me but it's the truth. No yeah it makes me sad that I didn't love this but again makes sense that I gave it a 5 star prediction but was not correct. Then we've got an author that I have read from before but haven't given 5 stars but I feel like this is going to be the book that I gave 5 stars and that is My Best Friends Exorcism by Grady Hendrix. This is set in the 80s. It's horror. I gave that 5 star. Didn't I? I gave that 5 stars. I gave that 5 stars. I gave that 5 stars. I remember that was one of the books that I'd like gone so long last year without getting 5 stars and that was one of the books that like healed me as a woman. My Best Friends Exorcism by Grady Hendrix. How did I predict the only 5 star from Grady Hendrix I was going to have? Sorry. Cooler. I'm hearing the like genius. It's set in the 80s. We're following Besties and one of them thinks the other one is possessed by a demon and maybe is like wants to exercise the demon. Let's just say the devil made me do it. I loved. I love this book. Oh my god. I like World Into Existence that was going to be 5 stars. I love Grady Hendrix writing. I think he writes very like compulsively readable books. I loved what this was saying about female friendship. I thought he looked like and I'm like Grady, how do you know the secrets of the universe? I thought he really hit the nail on the head with what female friendships are like and the trials and tribulations of female friendships and I loved the camp 80s. Horror. Oh give me more 80s horror please. I will eat that up. Give me more books set in the 80s with horror. It's just so fun. Like look at this cover. You can't tell me this isn't like the most fun you've ever had. I got 5 stars. Okay we're doing okay so far. I absolutely absolutely loved this. I'm so excited. Just keep reading Grady Hendrix. I've got how to sell a haunted house looking at me right here. I think this was impeccable. Absolutely impeccable. Next we have Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Omfield. I did not give Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Omfield 5 stars. I think I gave this maybe like a 3.5. I honestly can't super remember. I think this is a very interesting book but I think it's one that like it's it's a bit difficult to give 5 stars. It's so out there. This is about this sapphic couple these two women and one of them has recently returned from a space mission and is like changed. He's not speaking, he's shutting down and it's about their relationship and it's a little bit weird and I don't want to spoil anything but I've got a vlog coming out this weekend where the first book, so you know which book I'm talking about, the first book in that vlog I think is doing a similar thing to this book and is saying similar stuff to this book but does it in a way that worked a lot better for me? I've got 5 stars. I've got 5 stars for you guys coming up. So I think what the themes of this book were, I could envision myself giving something like that 5 stars because I think I'm trying to talk in circles here because I don't want to spoil things for like either book if you read either of them. I think I could see that they would play up on certain emotions and like get me in certain ways and like do you know what I mean? I think I could see that that theme. Listen there was there were thoughts here. My brain is not entirely off but the execution of this one didn't work as well for me as that other book. If you guys can guess what that other book is I'd be very intrigued to know in the comments. You're gonna have to guess what the book coming out this weekend's vlog is. Yeah so it was not a 5 star but I can see she was cooking. Let her cook. Let her cook a little bit longer. Then we have perhaps a little bit of a controversial, not controversial pick, a dangerous pick. I'm going with The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz. This has been, I'm a genius. I'm so sorry. I am an absolute genius. Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep. Everyone told me I was insane. Everyone told me I was absolutely off my rocker giving this a 5 star prediction. It was 5 stars. It was 5 stars. It was like my third favorite book of last year. See I'm telling you I have the mind of a master, master, I have the mind of a master, what's that? I don't know but you know I'm so creative. I loved, I loved The Writing Retreat and anyone else who didn't is wrong baby they're wrong. I loved it. I really loved this book so much. It's about female friendship again. Oh I'm liking female friendship apparently and there's an exclusive writing retreat and it's about these women going to this exclusive writing retreat and shit hits the fan. Is essentially all you need to know. And this is like love hate. This is love hate. It was, it had too low an average rating to qualify for the Goodreads Choice Award last year which was, people don't like this. I don't, I just respectfully, you just don't get it. I loved, I loved this. I thought it was such a fun through that. I thought it really ticked on a ride. I loved the characters. I always say this is like a combination of Katharine House and Bunny. So if you've enjoyed either of those books I recommend it. If you haven't enjoyed either of those books maybe not because again Katharine House is my misunderstood girly. Like I forever will love Katharine House. What a book that is. I think it's so, I constantly go on Elizabeth Thomas's author page. I'm like Elizabeth, I'm waiting. Sorry about that. Because I'm like scared she's been scared off by you horrible people writing that book because I'm a liar. And evil evil. And like let me pray the same thing doesn't happen to Julia Bartz because you guys just don't recognize excellence when you say it. Oh sorry. But it's the truth. I absolutely, absolutely, absolutely loved this. What a five star prediction. That was really a risky move but it paid off. And then I feel like we've got another one that's going to be a hit or a miss. This is the only book I think on this list that could really be classed as a murder mystery. A because I feel like I get through a lot of my mysteries quite quickly so I haven't got a turn that I'm like not giving many murder mysteries five stars anymore. You know the last one to die or whatever. Last devil to die. I can't remember whatever the next third medical book coming out is but I always have five star books that are on my TBR. And also I feel like increasingly I'm giving less and less murder mysteries five stars because I'm becoming increasingly picky. So this I would say is a murder mystery but it's a bit of a different one and it's going to be a hit or a miss. I'm feeling sick for my stomach. And that is Night Film by Marisha Pestle. I, this almost, this wasn't originally a mystery. I swapped it out for something because I believe. I wonder what I swapped it out for. That's interesting. I gave Night Film, this was the one, this was the last book I had to read. Tom was like this is on the five star prediction. So I did know this was here. It's just interesting here and we say what I said about it because it's weird. It kind of is a murder mystery guess but it doesn't really follow the same format. This is our first 4.5 and if you've watched the vlog where I read this, this was in my swapping my screen time for reading vlog, you'll know this was like a five star for the majority of the book for me. For the first two thirds of the book and that's a long time because it's like a 600 whatever page book, this was a five star. The ending just wasn't quite a five star for me and this we're following an investigative journalist who's investigating the death of the daughter of this world-renowned movie director who kind of like underground horror like dark horror he's been investigating for years and the daughter dies and kind of looks into it and there's like a little gang of unlikely friends who are helping look into it and it's mixed media. I loved this. This book reminded me why I love reading long books sometimes because I love the depth we can really get into with a long book. I love short books, I love medium books but I don't read long books enough because they're so intimidating because they're so long but I there is something I love about a long book where we really get into the meat. I feel like we're just hunkering down and we're really getting into like the roots of a story and I thought the mixed media and then it was excellent. I really really loved this so it was a 4.5 but I do see this as a win because it was one I was very nervous about. Again like I'm saying it was going to be either a hit or a miss and it really was a hit for me just not quite a five star but for the majority of the reading experience I'd say it was a five star so maybe I was a bit picky. No it feels right giving it a 4.5 but like 2000s this book were a five star so it's kind of a win. Next we have one of the books that I am most excited to read. I really need to find a way to read this soon and that is Sleuthert by Brom. Just looking at this cover oh yeah babe ignite something in me it does ignite something in you five stars five stars five stars you're that girl I knew you were. Sleuthert is at the bottom of my horror thing here and it will just mess my life up getting out so just just bear with Sleuthert by Brom was a five star. I absolutely love this. We're following what was her name Apatha I want to say this is like old times old times and a girly like befriends a demon yes sorry sorry I loved this I think it's such fun horror I love oh the story the atmosphere that this set I thought was so vivid I love a strong setting I'm a little bit of a sucker for that like if you're giving me an ambiance if you're giving me a setting I love that that's why sometimes I think I struggle with more contemporary and romance because the setting is like our world and I'm like yeah that's why I love fantasy mystery historical like they're gonna give me like oh it's just a bit of extra oomph to it so I absolutely you know think of like Sufer my version of exorcism like they're giving me something you know the writing retreats snowy isolated like I want the setting to give me something that's an interesting realization I've just had add that to the five star audit list like the year of just realizing stuff and everyone around me we're all just like realizing things I love a strong setting so I thought this one was done incredibly well I'm very interested in reading more stuff by Brom because I know there's like the crampus one that seems very intriguing to me so yeah I mean I was kind of late to the party on this everyone and their mother had read it and I read it like a where is the airport got it usually flies 10 feet away I was a year late to the party but I was right in my prediction oh I forgot to mention this one is an author I have read from before who I think we're gonna get another five star from I think this is a fairly safe choice the tea dragon festival by K O'Neill I mean again this wasn't even fair there's a five star oh my god we're doing so well we've already done better than last time again like the way we're trying series this kind of feels like a cheat code because oh my little creatures smell all humans and little dragons in the tea dragon graphic levels I love them I love them I love them love them I was always gonna give these five stars I think this might be my favorite out of the three as well I need to pick up more stuff from K O'Neill because this series is just I don't even know to give you some nonsense it's tea dragons look at that I don't have to for grabbing on what I have to give you just look at it just look at it just look at it very stunning absolutely stunning you look stunning darling it's comforting it's positive about humanity I just you know I like reading dark shit you know murder mysteries whatever but I also love being positive yeah I want to fill my life with positivity and gratitude and I feel like that's how these books make me feel they make me feel like when I do yoga like this and yoga I've picked up the dots like they're the same thing in my brain so yeah a little bit of a cheat code I can't believe how I've done I only got one book left imagine if that's a five star as well and then my final pick is one that you guys if you've been on my channel a long time you'll know I always say oh this is one of those books that I want to read so bad but I've never I can't fit it into videos but this is when they slip through the cracks and it's finally gonna happen in the next couple months I am gonna read Unwell Women by Emily Clay-Corn a journey through medicine and myth in a man-made world I got a little bit excited there but I shouldn't have done that was not a five star that's all I start but listen we still don't worry at all you're talented you're thoughtful you do it all and I am very proud of you Unwell Women again is at the bottom of my nonfiction job here so don't ask me to get that out this just wasn't I don't think it was as well written as it could have been this was my problem with this nonfiction it's incredibly interesting like listen I love women's health I think looking into women's health in the way that it's been totally I love women's health that's a very it's a very strange way of phrasing that but I think our lack of understanding of women's issues is infuriating and I love us discussing that more so I think this was incredibly interesting but it just didn't feel incredibly well written like there were moments where I felt like we could have got more into stuff although there were moments where I felt like we got bogged down and didn't really we were saying a whole lot of words salad a certain point so I still think it's a valuable book to read but it was not a five star however we have had five five stars one four point five and four not five stars so we have improved we have improved let's say at six to four last time it was four to six oh no it wasn't oh but it's kind of the same last time it was four five stars two four point five stars and four not five stars so same now not five stars but one more five star like solid and these these were good five stars these were like outstanding five stars if I do say so myself this time so I think I did pretty well I think I did pretty well at this it's so interesting to look back I love I love doing this I love looking back on videos where I'm talking about the books I'm most excited to be that in my like big yearly tbr that I do or videos like this I love looking back at the videos I was excited to because it's so interesting you learn so much more about a book by reading it and I just find looking at myself in that kind of positive like oh my god I love these books standpoint very very interesting I think it's so interesting so I think I did pretty well so I will be making a new five star predictions list at some point in the coming weeks probably a couple weeks so I'm already kind of thinking what books I should add to it I think the strategy I had of like kind of half authors that I've read multiple five stars from before and then half authors that like maybe I haven't read from before and the premise sounds interesting I think that's a good tactic so anyways thank you guys so much for watching this video let me know how you think I did and I'll see you very soon in another video bye