Her Campus Logo Her Campus Logo
The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the views of Her Campus.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at TX State chapter.

After a two-year reading slump, I finally picked up my old favorite hobby, reading! I was able to read 23 books in 2024, just two short of my goal (the majority were ‘Throne of Glass’ books – but whatever, it still counts). Since rejoining the book community, I have become well versed in the world of BookTok and have since formed many strong and controversial opinions. If you were in a slump this past year, don’t stress it – I’m gonna break down the books worth your time and those better off left in 2024. 

‘Ruthless Vows’ by Rebecca Ross: Buy

I am going to recommend the Letters of Enchantment duology until the day I die. This book came out in January 2024, and I am still thinking about it. Ross genuinely blended fantasy and realism to create a world that feels timeless. The second book follows the main characters Iris Winnow and Roman Kitt as they fight to find each other again after being separated by the gods. Iris and Kitt hold a special place in my heart because they are journalists who have been publishing articles to expose the truth of the ongoing war between the gods. As a journalist, I adored the way Ruthless Vows was written and how the author used their articles as a means of finding each other – highly, highly recommend. 

‘Taming 7’ by Chloe Walsh: Buy

Another release from 2024 that I highly highly recommend –this is the fifth book in the Boys of Tommon series and follows Gerard Gibson and Claire Biggs as they navigate going from childhood friends to something more. I have a lot of issues with this book, mainly the author’s obvious favoritism to certain characters *cough* Lizzie *cough*. The book, while advertised to be solely about Claire and Gibsie, somehow was not about… Claire and Gibsie. The author chose to pivot from her previous style of romance with a touch of tragedy, to just straight-up tragedy and maybe two pages of romance. This may be one of those things where the more you love something, the more critical you will be, because I adore this book series with my whole heart, so I want to see the characters represented fairly. I highly recommend the Boys of Tommon books but prepare to get your heart broken. 

‘Bride’ by Ali Hazelwood: Buy

Released in February 2024, this book was hella good. It is not a secret that Ali Hazelwood is one of my favorite romance authors. She writes feel-good romances with happy endings and feminist male characters (that’s how you know it’s fiction). Hazelwood books tend to be more or less the same story with different character names, but Bride is a breath of fresh air. The book is a paranormal romance that follows Misery, the daughter of the vampire king, and Lowe, the alpha werewolf. The pair are forced into an arranged marriage that was meant to be nothing more than political, but when Lowe sees misery for the first time, he realizes that they are mates. It sounds ridiculous – and it is, but that’s the fun of it! If you want to dive into the Hazelwood universe this year, I recommend starting with her best book to date, Bride.

‘Iron Flame’ by Rebecca Yarros: Bye

Unless you live under a rock, you have probably heard about Fourth Wing. If you somehow haven’t heard of the Emperyeon universe (lucky you) let me give a brief description. A chronically ill girl named Violet Sorringale is forced by her mother to become a dragon rider, and while at war college, she falls in love with the mysterious brooding bad boy, Xaden. The first book, I’ll admit, was good (to my standards). I cannot resist cringey romantasy books that are written for middle schoolers. Though it definitely says something that a reader like me, who is so easily entertained, despises Iron Flame. Unless you would like to read over 600 pages of the same argument over and over with no resolve, I encourage you to skip this one. (Side note: the argument could have been easily resolved if Violet was slightly less stupid, and Xaden learned to tell the truth.)

‘Daydream’ by Hannah Grace: Bye

Released in August 2024, I could not bring myself to read this after the monstrosity of Wildfire. There was not a lot of hype for this release – I think people forgot that this series existed. After the negative reviews Wildfire (rightfully) received, I wasn’t going anywhere near a Hannah Grace book. When the two love interests in Wildfire were just fooling around while they were supposed to be chaperoning literal children, I couldn’t deal with this author anymore. Daydream is about the quiet but irresistible hockey player Henry and his tutor Halle, who is helping him stay on top of his classwork while balancing being hockey captain. This book is tamer than its predecessors, and if you are under the age of fifteen, I think you will enjoy it. Everyone else, skip this one. 

‘House of Flame and Shadow’ by Sarah J Maas: Bye

Released in January 2024 the third Crescent City installment received underwhelming reviews. Last Christmas, before I discovered the library and Kindle Unlimited, I used my Barnes and Noble gift card to buy the Crescent City books. I was so excited because I loved Throne of Glass by SJM and thought A Court of Thorns and Roses was good, but goodness gracious, the book gave me a headache. I have never heard of an author writing progressively worse books, but that is what seems to be happening with Mass. I had the misfortune of reading leaks from the third book. If you just want to read Crescent City because characters from ACOTAR make an appearance, just spare yourself the 1800 pages and look it up on TikTok. I promise you are not missing anything.

Cara Cervenka

TX State '26

Cara Cervenka is a journalism major at Texas State University. She writes for the University newspaper, The University Star, in the Life & Arts section, as well as serving as the Junior Editor of the TXST Chapter of Her Campus. She has an unwavering love for iced coffee, live music, Taylor Swift and reading!