Since I was very young, I have found comfort between the pages of a book. When life becomes overwhelming, I channel the never-ending stress of each day into diving into the story within a new novel. Unfortunately, during my transition period between middle school and high school, I fell off the reading bandwagon. I found myself struggling to have the time and energy to engage in an activity that used to be as easy as breathing for me. This past year, however, I have once again found the reason that I started to read books in the first place: they offer me an escape from reality that acts as a stress reliever and teacher. While every book teaches me a different lesson in a different way, some hit the entertainment mark I desire to experience from reading while others fall short. Typically, the books that make me love reading fall within the romance or thriller genre. Therefore, in my opinion, these are my five best reads of 2023, all of which I gave a five-star rating.
Best of the Best (1 highest, 5 lowest)
5) A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham
Genre: Thriller
Rating: 5/5 stars
A Flicker in the Dark is a well-written psychological thriller that tells the story of a notorious serial killer’s daughter turned psychologist, Chloe Davis, who seeks to put her traumatic past behind her, so much so that she seeks to hide her new identity from even her beloved fiancé and those closest to her. However, when several of her young female patients are found murdered in an eerily similar way to which her father killed his victims, she fears that someone dangerous has discovered her secret identity and is now out to get her. With a double timeline with first-person point-of-views from both young Chloe and present-day Dr. Davis, this novel is certainly a page-turner. It kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the entire novel, and I did not predict the ending at all. The book shines a light on battling with one’s demons and the importance of coping instead of covering up trauma, so one who is easily triggered by heavy topics should not read.
4) A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder Trilogy by Holly Jackson
Genre: Young Adult Thriller
Rating: 5/5 stars
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder and its follow-up novels Good Girl, Bad Blood, and As Good as Dead are a trilogy that follows high school student turned detective Pip through her crime-solving adventures. The first novel revolves around a senior project in which Pip chooses to research her town’s infamous murder of high school senior Andi Bell who was allegedly killed by her boyfriend, Sal Singh. She ends up making plot-twisting breakthroughs that no one expected with the help of Sal’s brother, Ravi. In the second novel, Good Girl, Bad Blood, Pip’s close friend Connor asks Pip to pick her detective skills back up to aid in finding his missing brother, Jamie. With the help of her now-sidekick Ravi, Pip takes on a brand new mission and makes a shocking discovery along the way. In the third and final novel, As Good As Dead, the series takes a dark turn as Pip gains an eerie stalker whose idea of love letters is dead pigeons on her sidewalk. Instead of investigating for someone else, Pip’s focus turns to finding her stalker and putting an end to her situation before it gets out of hand, or worse, deadly. While As Good as Dead was my favorite among the three, this series stood out amongst the many books that I read this year. These books have heavy content such as substance abuse, familial trauma, and small-town murder, so if any of these things are a trigger, one should not read.
3) The Locked Door by Frieda McFadden
Genre: Thriller
Rating: 5/5 Stars
While at first glance, The Locked Door is very similar to A Flicker in the Dark, there are elements of both that make each so unique. Like A Flicker in the Dark, The Locked Door tells the story of an infamous serial killer’s daughter. In this novel, however, now-trauma surgeon Dr. Nora Davis shelters herself from even her love life to secure her secret identity. No one in her new life knows that her father is serial killer Aaron Nierling, but when a local killer targets patients in the same demographic as her father’s victims, Nora realizes everything is now on the line. The dual timeline in this novel is creepier than that of A Flicker in the Dark, as it goes into detail about the horrors Nora witnessed within her own childhood house’s basement as a young girl. The twist of The Locked Door at the end was astronomically unpredictable, and the fact that Nora ended up fearing every single person in her life had me on the edge of my seat. It’s simply no wonder that both copycat killer-based novels made it to my top five. This novel can get somewhat gory and has trigger warnings of divorce and childhood trauma, so those triggered by this should not read.
2) Every Summer After by Carley Fortune
Genre: Romance
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Every Summer After was the first book to ever be such a great novel that it brought tears to my eyes. The book incorporates second-chance romance and friends-to-lovers tropes in an incredible juxtaposition. The novel follows the story of childhood friends Sam and Perci whose families had summer lake houses next door to one another. Throughout a double timeline of then and now, readers get to see the blossoming of their romantic relationship throughout the years. After a horrific falling out, however, Sam and Perci stop talking altogether for seventeen years until Perci must return home for a funeral. They only have a few days to reconnect in the present, so is it possible for them to put their past behind them for a second chance at true love? This novel pulled at my heartstrings in every way and the anticipation buildup about why Sam and Perci stopped talking was done in a way that made me never want to put the book down. Carley Fortune’s use of imagery and characterization made me feel as though I was a part of the story myself. The book has some adult content and trigger warnings of parental death and mental health struggles, so those who are triggered by such subjects should not read.
1) Verity by Colleen Hoover
Genre: Romance/Thriller
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Verity was one of the first books I read in 2023, yet it still stood out throughout the twelve months of the year. I can’t say that any other book I read this year gave me the same experience that Verity did. A large reason for this is that the novel has both of my favorite genres, romance and thriller in one book. The story follows writer Lowen Ashleigh as she takes on the role of a ghostwriter for a famous yet recently mutely disabled author, Verity Crawford to complete an unfinished series for her. While living in her house to access materials used in the first few novels of Verity’s series, Lowen ends up discovering Verity’s manuscript of an unpublished autobiography that unveils so many mind-blowing secrets. While simultaneously getting romantically closer to Verity’s husband, Jeremy, Lowen seeks to uncover the truth of Verity’s past to protect her future. This book creeped me out in a way that made me discover a deep love for thriller novels. For those looking for a book to keep them entertained the entire time, I would recommend Verity in a heartbeat. It was an overwhelmingly good read and an arguably life-changing novel. This book contains explicit scenes and language and incorporates triggers of child loss and estranged marriage, so those who are easily triggered should not read.
While 2023 was filled with so many wonderful opportunities to read, I was blessed enough to find five of my new all-time favorite novels. I hope that others can experience the same great time I did while reading these five books. Here’s to a great reading year in 2024!
