When I got to college, I went from being a book lover to almost never picking up a book, unless it was for a class. I was in the BIGGEST reading slump of my entire life. What got me back into reading? BookTok. While scrolling through endless TikToks, my feed started filling with book recommendations, readers were going crazy over these books. I was out shopping and stumbled across the book section, where I recognized some of the books. I decided to pick one up and I have been out of my reading slump ever since. Here are five books to get YOU out of your reading slump (Five Star Ratings).
- Caraval
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Caraval by Stephanie Garber is a YA fantasy trilogy, with a two-person POV story. The book follows two sisters, Scarlet and Donatella, who become entangled with the legendary and magical show and game, Caraval. This fast-paced, page-turning book had me going to Barnes & Noble the day I finished Book One for the rest of the series. There are a couple of love tropes in this book, but it is not very intense in the romance.
- Fourth Wing
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Dragons? Betrayal? Love triangles? Hot and sexy? This is the book you NEED to read. With little world-building and short chapters, this book flies by but will leave you drooling for more. The second book is scheduled to come out in 2024 so don’t worry. This story follows Violet who is forced to go to an academy to become a dragon rider. She has always been fragile, but her mind is her greatest strength. Violet is one of the BEST female main characters out there. There are also VERY steamy scenes, with an enemies-to-lovers trope.
- The Song of Achilles
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The Song of Achilles, by Madeline Miller, is a Greek romance retelling of the legendary Achilles and the Trojan War. Looking for a heart-wrenching young adult romance? This is the book for you but fair warning it WILL make you sob. It isn’t very spicy, BUT it is a beautiful novel, that will leave you wanting to read more of Madeline Miller’s work. This book also sucked me into the world of Greek mythology.
- The cruel Prince
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The Cruel Prince, by Holly Black, is a trilogy, set in a Fae fantasy world, mixed with humans. Jude, the main character is a human raised in the world of Fae. Although there is a LOT of hype over the enemies-to-lovers trope in this book, the romance is secondary to the well-thought-out Fae Politics that the book depends on. I liked this book so much that I accidentally bought it twice when I got a “blind book date” book from Barnes & Noble.
- Throne of Glass
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Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas, is the first book in an incredible fantasy series. If you aren’t into long book series like Harry Potter and prefer stand-alone, duologies or trilogies, this is not the book for you. This book series is my favorite book series of all time, by my FAVORITE author of all time. One of her other series, A Court of Thornes and Roses, is also very popular, however, this series is my favorite. If you want more fantasy and action with a side serving of romance, this is the book for you. Everything that you read sneaks its way back around into future books in the series. These books will make you a Sarah J. Maas addict, so make sure you have a library card or a hefty book budget.
These are only five of the many many books that I have loved and dragged me out of my reading slump. You can find so many more book recommendations on Her Campus!
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