Top Ten VERY Strong Emotions

I feel like I pick a Susanna Kearsley book every Top Ten Tuesday (here and here), but for good reason. I love her use of dual storylines. It’s like two romance books in one. Normally I have a favorite couple in each of her books, but this one is a toss up. In A Desperate Fortune I loved both storylines equally and it still makes me cry after several rereads.

I love all of Emily Henry’s books, but Happy Place hit different. I loved experiencing Harriet and Wyn’s story through the dual timeline and I just felt so invested in their relationship and the friend group. It perfectly captures how relationships change over time, but the important ones will never fade.

I didn’t know much about In Five Years by Rebecca Serle before I read it. This is one where I wish I’d done some reconnaissance. The premise was great and I did like it, but it wasn’t the book I thought it was. And the ending left me so unsatisfied, that I was definitely angry.

Apparently it’s the endings that make me angry. The ending of The Last Letter by Rebecca Yarros gave me some pretty intense rage. It just didn’t have to end that way! I’m still mad about it.

Love and Other Words was my first book by Christina Lauren. This book… broke me. I’ve enjoyed many of their other books since, but none have compared to the emotions this one evoked. I purchased this book after reading it the first time (from the library), but I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to read it again. This is one I wish I could read for the first time again for those intense feelings.

My most devastating book has a pink cover and Happy in the title. Make that make sense. The Happy Ever After Playlist is another book I purchased, but may not be able to reread. This one was heartbreaking. Over and over. Reading The Friend Zone set the stage for Sloan’s story and I’m still not over it. That one hotel scene… sobbing.

Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney takes place over one day, but with flashbacks to Lillian’s past. If this hadn’t been a book club pick I doubt I could have finished it. It just didn’t hold my attention.

It’s Meagan again… I know I’m not part of this post, but HARD AGREE. I couldn’t finish it! Thank you for encouraging me to DNF this one, Alyssa.

For a thriller, The Sanatorium by Sarah Pierce just didn’t keep me in suspense. It wasn’t awful and I’m glad I finished it, but even the twist at the end didn’t entice me to pick up the next one.

Did she or didn’t she??? Lisa Jewell’s None of This is True was a page-turner for sure. And while I thought I knew what was happening the whole way through, the ending proved me wrong. I still don’t quite know what happened. I liked the continued speculation and had to text Meagan immediately. LOL.

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart was confusing for a whole different reason. Yes, there’s a huge twist and it was great, but the title never made sense for the book. You have to read the afterword by the author to understand the background that gave context for the title was removed in editing.