were my five star predictions ACTUALLY five stars?!?

Hello everyone. Now a staple of BookTube content is five star predictions, where people say the books they think they are going to give five stars, but I don't think there's much point doing those videos if I then don't react to those five star predictions and see how well I did. And listen, I have finally read the books from my most recent five star prediction video that I made two and a half years ago. to read the books I was supposedly most excited for. I made my last five star predictions video in April 2024, maybe two and a half years ago, and I've just read the last book that I knew I hadn't read. I can't remember what was on the list apart from I knew this was the one book that I had to read. Spoiler alert, it wasn't a five star, so I don't know how the rest of the list is gonna go. But today we're gonna be watching that video back and seeing how many five stars Did I get correct? I'm super excited to see what's on the list. I'm also excited to see what kind of vibe I was going for because I think my reading has shifted somewhat in the past two and a half years. I think our reading tastes and our reading interests are always shifting. But shall we just get into it and see how many of my five star predictions was I correct with? Okay let's begin shall we? No waffle today, we're getting straight in. I may need to check the ratings of some of these because some of these I've probably read two and a half years ago. And I might not remember what I gave the post. I'm feeling very positive about this list, so let me know. Very positive. By the end of the video, how many do you think I ended up giving? Sure, babe. I think I've done a smashing job. Smashing job? First up, we have got The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Motherfucking Arden, baby. I love Katherine Motherfucking Arden. I don't know why I do it. I just can't, I can't stop. Okay, that was five stars. I don't need to check that. Warm Hands of Ghosts, five stars, ding, ding, ding. I need to make a note, actually. Of let me do it on my phone. Okay, we are off to a great start. The Woman Has a Ghost by Katherine motherfucking Arden. It might be a bit early in the video to say that but who cares? It's her name. This was five stars. God it's been so long since I made this video that we've since had another Katherine Arden book release that I felt like I waited an age for. So that's how long it's been since I made these predictions. The Winternight Trilogy is set in World War Two. No World War One. World War One. But I did tell a bit of a lie there. It's a book you don't really want to know too much going into it. We've got like a brother and sister relationship. She's a nurse in the war. He's a soldier. There is this kind of, there's a villain doing magical things with the soldiers and kind of with people in wartime. Listen, I love Catherine Arden. One of my favourite authors without a doubt. And The Winternight Trilogy really solidified her being able, me giving like an adult book from her five stars outside of the Beryl and the Nightingale Winter Night trilogy. I loved her. Her writing style is... I love the magic system. I say this every time I talk about Catherine Arden, so please forgive me for being like a broken record, but I think this book is really what led me to the realisation that her writing style and her magic system beautifully reflect... the historical time period that she is writing in. So this one I felt like the writing style really felt like we are in this World War One period. I really felt transported in and then the magic system is, I don't want to spoil too much because I really didn't know anything about it going into it, but it's to do with music and it's also to do with The stories, the kind of stories that soldiers would tell each other in the trenches to kind of get through the war, the things they would talk about, the tales they could spin to kind of give hope, but were also obviously tinged with tragedy and sadness because that's the situation they found themselves in. I loved it. I love Catherine. I did give her most recent release of Unicorn Hunters four. It wasn't quite a five for me, but like she's always going to be up there and we were correct. I mean, that was a pretty safe bet. I think I knew I was going to give that one five stars. But we are off to a win. Next we have got a book I will not shut up about and that is The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton. Oh! Yeah, I do love the sprayed edges. That wasn't a five star. I can't remember quite what I gave it. Let's look it up on Goodreads. 3.5. Let's read what I wrote at the time and then I'll give you my thoughts. So at the time, my review, I wrote, oh, I wanted to love this more, but because of the nature of some of the twists, I didn't really get attached to any of the characters and it meant I didn't really care about the ending slash reveal of the murder mystery element. However, I really admire how Stuart Turton always shoots for something. I would stand by that. So what made What made me think I was going to give this a five star is the The incredible synopsis this book has, like in terms of shooting for a synopsis, this book is second to none. Basically it's the end of the world, it's the last murder at the end of the world, it's the end of the world, we're in this kind of small commune of like a hundred or something people that are supposedly the last people existing on earth and there's this shield that protects the island that they're on. from the fog that has killed off the rest of the world and there's these scientists who've kind of invented the shield and are kind of keeping them all alive and one of those scientists is murdered and it triggers a lowering of the shield within like 48 hours or something but the security system has wiped everyone's memory including the murderers that's the setup which is like beyond incredible beyond incredible ah that's history Now, this book is doing a lot more, surprisingly, I know that sounds a lot already, but this book is doing a lot more than that synopsis suggests. I'm not going to even give you a hint as to what it's doing because it is so big, but it's really, really, really shooting for something. And I do love that about Stuart Turton. I have mixed reception with Stuart Turton. I think I gave The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, like a three. I gave The Devil and the Dark Water a five from him. I loved that one. But he does these murder mysteries that are very unusual, that are pushing boundaries and it doesn't always work but I don't want him to stop doing it because I think there is potential for such greatness there. I think there's potential for him to write one of the best murder mysteries of all time. But you soon find out stuff about these characters that does make it hard to get attached to them, like I said in that review. And kind of makes it difficult to care about what happens, and about the resolution. I think it kind of leaves you in this place of ambivalence, and I don't think that's what this book needed. However, the twists were interesting, the kind of new level that the book takes on was interesting. But... Yeah, just meant that I didn't really get attached. Next, we have a safe bet that I feel like I had to go with, and that is Love Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood. She has never let me down. I was toying between this and Bride. I knew I wanted to put an Ali on here, and I just feel like this may be the less risky option. I think you're right in that. I think I gave Bride four. Give love theoretically five, right? Why am I doubting myself? Oh, my review simply was Miss Ali can do no wrong. She gets me. She just gets me. I mean she does just get me. Okay, here is the thing I will say about this. Do the Alis blur together somewhat? Yeah. I don't remember, I don't remember love, I don't remember at all. I really don't, it was an awful long time ago. Can I pick apart what I think this one did so well compared to a lot of the other alleys? Not necessarily, which one is this? Oh yes, yes, yes. Oh I loved this one. I loved it. Can I remember exactly why I loved it? No. I just remember certain scenes. I just remember certain scenes. This is the one where she is a scientist. It's one of her feminist books. It's one of, you know, the scientist books. This one, the girlie runs a fake dating service. So she, at the opening of the book, is masquerading as this guy's girlfriend meets his family. She goes for like her dream job interview and his brother, who she just met, is one of people interviewing her she didn't realize he's like one of the top scientists in her field when she met him and so then I can't remember how quickly he finds out that she's not dating his brother. I feel like it's a little while in but they do start falling for each other but then it's awkward because then she's dating him but like her family thinks she was dating his brother and that he's stolen his brother's girlfriend it's crazy. Ali she just everything I want in a romance she gives me every single time. I don't even know how to put it into words. I think she's the best Romance author of our generation. I just love her. It's just such a fun time. I just sink into her books. I know she's not gonna do anything wrong. I know it's gonna be perfect. I know it's gonna be everything I want. The yearning, the longing, the the tension that she builds between characters. So good. So listen, I think I'm doing pretty well so far, but I think I knew to put books on that were likely to be five stars, like authors I've given five stars before. It seems to be the route I was going with. Next we have a book I actually have set plans to read next. This is actually the next book I'm going to be reading. And I realized, I was like, oh ----, should I put it on here? But I'm like, no, I, you know, it's not a bad thing that I've set plans to read it. We're going to find out soon. We're going to find out this weekend in the next video if it's a five star. And the book I'm going to be reading, I am so excited, is Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Oh, cheating a little bit. Perhaps not. I don't know. Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite books of all time. I love it. I mean, I'm, I'm so passionate about it. I don't even need to look at the review. I don't give a ****. I, oh my God. Okay. Here's the thing with Pride and Prejudice. Like when people ask me now what my favorite book is, I say, listen, I read widely. I read a variety of books. I read niche books, but like Pride and Prejudice. And I love Jane. Oh, Pride and Prejudice. Okay. I know I was just talking mad ---- in a good way about Ali Hazelwood, but Jane Austen, greatest, greatest, greatest romance author of all time. I stand on the hill. Oh, and Pride and Prejudice, greatest. Greatest love story of all time. I believe in love. Why I say this was cheating a little bit was I did read Pride and Prejudice when I was very young, when I was like eight, ten or something. I did like a buddy read of it with my mum. So I knew that I'd read it and enjoyed it when I was younger and I mean basically now that the 1995 Pride and Prejudice holds such a special place in my heart. Whenever I was ill growing up I would watch it. It's such a comfort watch for me. I'm so passionate about 1995, Pride and Prejudice. I think it's the greatest love story of all time. And I think if you just watch the adaptations of it, even though the 1995 one is as faithful an adaptation as you can get, you still miss moments. You still miss things. Jane's writing, Jane's prose is incredible. It's incredible. Original enemies to lovers, original grump sunshine. Like every grump sunshine, enemies to lovers is just a poor facsimile. of Pride and Prejudice like it's just there are so many layers to this book that any adaptation can't I feel truly shown like Mrs. Bennet is not evil and Mr. Bennet is not blameless they have both like kind of fucked up their children's lives in different ways and a lot of the adaptations showing Mr. Bennet is just like Oh poor long-suffering Mr. Bennet with crazy Mrs. Bennet as his wife and there's some really interesting dynamics there as to how he has made their family's life incredibly difficult and I think many adaptations because you're kind of looking at them through Lizzie's eyes kind of see her as blameless but she it's Pride and Prejudice is one of them One of them is Mr. Darcy, but one of them is Elizabeth, and seeing the journey that they go on in kind of letting go of their pride and prejudice is incredible. Oh my god, oh my god, what a pull. I mean surely I knew that had to be five stars, but like one of my favorite books of all time. We're doing so well here, I feel like it can't... I can't keep going this well though because I've only read one book from this author. It was beyond a five star and I'm just worried that this won't quite live up to it. But in the end I have gone with Bookshops and Bone Dust by Travis Baldree. I feel like at the very least this is going to be a 4.5. Five stars baby! So this one is a prequel to Legends and Lattes where we're following Viv who is in Legends and Lattes and she is like on this mercenary mission and she gets injured and has to kind kind of like stay in this town. While her troops go off and then they're going to come back and get her eventually but she has to yeah recover and she finds this bookshop, becomes friends with the bookshop owner and it's just perfect. Wow, another five star. Can you believe it? Let me just update the name. I love, love Travis Baldree's project. His most recent one didn't quite do it for me, but I just think he is the king of cozy fantasy. No one does cozy fantasy like him. I'm sorry. No one comes close. No one comes close to emulating his brilliance. It's just perfect. It's the perfect little like hug of a book. I love the journey that Viv goes on in this book. I love the relationship that's built. It's just perfect. I don't know what to tell you, I, I, I'm yet to really read a recurring cosy fantasy author that does it like Travis. I think he has the perfect writing style, he gets what it needs to be without making it gimmicky, without making it like cosy fantasy for the sake of it. He, he, he, he is cosy fantasy. I love Bookstops and Bone Dice, absolutely a five star. Okay, so those seem to be, I seem to put it into half. Authors I've given five stars before. And authors I haven't. So now we're gonna get, that did well. Four, five stars, one not. I feel like it's not gonna be quite as successful perhaps in the second half. So the other one I've gone with is Miss Austen Investigates by Jessica Boll, another Jane Austen related book. I love Janey, what can I say? I think this was also four stars. I gave this four stars. I say, the gimmick got me, gals. They got me gal! Ha ha ha! I loved how the author drew from true events in Jane Austen's life. I've got a cat hair in my eye. I love how the author drew from true events in Jane Austen's life, upbringing, family, etc. to form the basis of the novel, but at the end of the day it's a cute little murder mystery featuring Jane Austen. What more could you want? Yeah, this wasn't bad. It was a four star. I really enjoyed my time with it. It just wasn't a five. I think the writing wasn't strong enough enough to make it a five. It was a debut And I think you could feel the debut in us, but it is Jane Austen solving a murder mystery and like, it couldn't be more fun. And like I say, I enjoyed how it played on a lot of the truth around her family, like about her dad ran a school, I think technically like a school, and that plays a big part in the book, or one of her brothers was disabled and he is actually accused of the murder. So she has to defend him. And so there's a lot about like attitudes at the time towards mentally disabled people. and you know her defense of him i thought was really beautiful so i thought it was done really well i think the resolution to the murder mystery wasn't blowing my socks off and the writing was incredible like five star element but i had a really fun time with it so not a bad prediction i think maybe i shouldn't pick debuts in the future unless they're like you know critically acclaimed darlings because I think sometimes the writing in it I wonder how many debuts I've given five stars it probably isn't a ton because I think sometimes you can feel it with the writing a little bit not not too bad like I still really enjoyed this but in terms of what should be a five star prediction that could be something I need to think about next time because I am going to do another five star prediction video at some point in the new year. Next we've got another book That I almost read as my first book of the year and that is Monstrilio. Another one that I read the first chapter of and the first chapter this was wild. Yeah this is a wild book. I don't think this was five stars. I think again this was probably a four. Four stars. A gentle but also gritty meditation on grief told through some really unique and complex perspective. Thank you Megan. Yeah so this is about a boy dies. His mother decides to cut out a piece of his lung to keep. She like tears open his chest after he's died and cut out a piece of lung and that piece of lung becomes a monster like a little creature that she calls Monstrilio and that sounds crazy but I think I agree with actually my review that a lot of the book is actually quite gentle and slow and just sad and it's not this I think there are some kind of gory moments it's been a while I think since I read this but for the most part it's just kind of like depressing and sad. And again, I enjoyed this. Four star. Not a bad prediction. I think we need really to worry here if there are some like 2.5s or something. But I enjoyed this. I think I don't tend to give horror five stars a ton. I think it takes a really... I mean, I give Grady Hendrix some five stars. I give... I think I gave Slewfoot five stars. There are actually, there are a few five stars on here. But I think I prefer kind of like campy. silly horror whereas this is obviously more serious emotional horror so not necessarily the kind of thing I'm going to give five stars but I do think it is a wonderful book that deserves to be right but just wasn't a five star for me. And that is Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley. I just know I need to read this because okay Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley It's not five stars. Are we four for four? We were doing so well and then I started putting in authors I haven't read from before and it all fell down. Lesson of the story, put authors I've given five stars before in. The problem with this one is it is YA. I don't give YA highest ratings anymore but Angie Booley, I still want to read her books I haven't read. Waragoner and Sisters in the Wind. I still want to read them. This I gave four stars. Again so even the ones that I didn't give five stars I've enjoyed. So I said a really accomplished debut with a layered main character, difficult topics tackled in an impactful but sensitive way and a very mature writing style. Yeah this is an indigenous girl that we're following and I think it's like her A coffin? Or someone, she witnesses a shocking murder. Yeah, they're thrust into a criminal investigation. She goes undercover within the community. And I just remember feeling like the writing in this was really... accomplished, really beautiful. I just don't, I think I remember thinking I would have enjoyed this more if it was an adult book, you know? I really thought the themes, like I say, were handled really well. There's a lot to do with like things that indigenous communities are struggling with as a result of how they've been treated, like the personal problems, maybe like addictions or mental health. Uh things that kind of can spring up through being mistreated as a group for decades upon decades upon centuries, you know? And so I thought that was handled really well But again, it was it was YA and I just don't give YA five stars anymore I honestly don't know the last YA, it's been years since I gave one five stars I need to read a Courtney Summers YA and then I'll give YA five stars But yeah, I would definitely read more from this author. Again, this is a debut. Why am I putting debuts on this list? Am I crazy? Am I crazy? Am I a crazy woman? So yeah, that's a lesson for the new year. No debuts. And I know I will still put some in because I can't help myself. I can't help the hope. This next one's a little bit of a risk. It's a little bit of a outlier. It's a bit of a wild card, you know. But I'm going with Reach for the Stars by Michael Craig. I should have read this a long time ago. Five stars, baby! Reach for... This is like defined what I want to read more non-fiction like it so this is non-fiction about British pop from like 1995 to 2005 something in that in that realm and it kind of splits the chapters into really successful British pop. groups or artists. So there's like a Spice Girls chapter, there's a Girls Aloud chapter, there's a Sugababes chapter, there's a Steps chapter. Like, if you know your law, it's serious, baby. It is brilliant American literature. And I don't care what anybody, it is. It should be taught in schools. S Club 7? Ooh. And this is like an oral history, so it's told all through interviews, like completely. There is no narrative, there is no him writing things. It's all like interviews he's pieced together with. He managed to interview an incredible... selection of people who were part of British pop during this time. Like so many of the artists, so many of the managers, the PR people, but a lot of the, a lot of the stars, a lot of the groups he has managed to interview. And it was fascinating. As someone who, to this day, if I'm in the car, I'm listening to heart noughties. Like I love noughties pop. I love noughties pop. I love Girls Aloud, Sound of the Underground. I'm really into a bit of Will Young at the moment, a bit of Leave Right Now, Will Young, I've listened to that a couple times. I love, oh there's a five chapter, I love, keep on, keep on moving, five, everybody get up, sing it, what's the one? I just accepted that I'm kind of a cheesy bitch that loves pop music. Yeah. And I am not going to lie. I love reason five. This was fascinating. I cannot wait to read more from him. I think he is like who I want to be reading pop culture, nonfiction from. However, his most recent book was Kylie Minogue. And I think part of what makes these books so special, what makes them appeal is like if you are really into that topic. And I was never a Kylie Minogue fan. You know, that's, I know that's sacrilegious to say, it was never my, she was just never my jam, you know? I was like a Britney, I was like a noughties pop, Girls Aloud, I was never, I was never Kylie Minogue. I think just like, when you're that age, and this is when I'm a kid, right, these artists are like, you tend to listen to like what your parents listen to or whatever, and I just never got into Kylie Minogue. But I know she's an icon. But that was his most recent one. So I'm excited to see what he writes next. Because hopefully it'll be something I want to pick up. But I now just want to read these kind of pop culture non-fictions about stuff that I'm really into. Because it's done me well so far. Because then I read Disney High. Which I see these two as like very similar. And that was also five stars. So pop culture non-fiction that interviews people who are involved at the time. If you have any recommendations for anything that you know I'm into. I want more. Oh, no. I want more. So yeah, five star. What a success. And maybe the book that I know is on here is going to be the last book. And then the final book that we have on the five star predictions list is another book I've owned for a long time. And for whatever reason, I've felt a little bit intimidated by it. And that is The Last Way by Darcy Little Badger. This is one of those books that just, it's very heavy. It feels, oh, please don't slide up. Oh, look at that. Yeah. So I just read A Let's Wait. I knew this was the last book on this. I think I read a lot of these other books like a year and a half, two years ago. And I've only just read A Let's Wait. And I think it's bad I've already forgotten what rating I gave it. I think I gave it three stars. I was really sad. So this is our least successful. On the list so far yeah I gave it a three I said so sad I didn't love this one I thought the magic system slash what this book says of treatment of indigenous communities was wonderfully done but I unfortunately found the plot and writing lackluster I never quite figured out what this book was trying to be and felt the vibes shifted a lot throughout. Three stars this is our worst one so far. So this is about again we had two like indigenous girls on this list I didn't realize that but she uh Elatsoe or Ellie has the power to kind of bring uh dead things dead animals back to life or kind of commune with the spirit world and her cousin is murdered and he reaches out to her to say this person murdered me i need you to protect my family i need you to kind of bring justice and so she kind of knows who murdered him or thinks she does but she needs to kind of prove it or find evidence of that to kind of bring him to justice throughout the book and like i say i i think this book says interesting things that thematically I enjoyed it but the writing felt very young to me like this felt almost middle grade YA or just not middle grade because middle grade feels different to me this felt very very young YA to me. There was just a lot about the kind of speech in it that is very typical of YA that annoyed me and listen I don't this is not me dunking on YA it's saying this is me saying It's not for me anymore and thus like maybe I shouldn't read as much anymore because there are things that annoy me like the way her and her friend spoke to each other was like right on best friend you're so great everything you do best friend or just like two I don't know, overly positive it felt at times and the ending goes off in a completely different direction, kind of like Scooby-Doo. Some people compare it to Scooby-Doo but for me I love Scooby-Doo and this is Scooby-Dooish in not a good way. There's just like monsters everywhere and we're all just kind of running around after monsters and someone's trying to reenact the Carrie prom And it's all just a bit messy at the end. Yeah, it just, I was disappointed in this one. I think there are pros to it. I think the plot was interesting, thematically it's interesting, but that's our saddest one on the list. So at the end of this, I got half right. I got half five stars, half not five stars, but a lot of the not five stars were fours. So I feel like that's a success. Only I'd say a lap's away, really. Or maybe the last murder in the world. I gave that a 3.5. But those are only ones where there was kind of negatives to say about the book. On the whole, I think that's not bad. Maybe I'll try and up it next time when I'm gonna make a five star prediction some point in the first couple months of next year and I really need to think about what on my TBR. I am most likely to give five stars. Like I need to think about it seriously. I need to think about it long and hard. But anyways thank you so much for watching this video. Let me know what some of your five star predictions are at the moment. What is on your TBR that you are thinking could be five stars? Thank you so much for watching and I'll see you very soon in another video. Bye!