Halftime Leisure

One line reviews of every book I read during 2020

January 7, 2021


Credits to Flickr
    1. One Day In December by Josie Silver— A disaster of miscommunication
    2. The Toll by Neal Shusterman— Long and anticlimactic 
    3. Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston— serotonin in book form
    4. Caraval by Stephanie Garber— Cute, but not enough circus vibes
    5. Serpent and Dove by Shelby Mahurin— Why is this set in France?
    6. Sadie by Courtney Summers— Powerful but incredibly depressing
    7. Crescent City by Sarah J Maas— Badass women in an urban fantasy setting and men with angel wings. I liked it very much.  
    8. Tunnel of Bones by Victoria Schwab— Spooky ghost children activating my big sister impulse in France 
    9. The Steel Prince: Night of Knives by Victoria Schwab— It’s a prequel to a great series in graphic novel form. 
    10. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein— Incredibly powerful historical fiction book about friendship
    11. Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson— Wasted potential
    12. The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima— Strong middle-school-boy’s favorite-book energy. Not for me. 
    13. White Rose by Kip Wilson— WWII poetry that you can read very fast
    14. The Merciful Crow by Margaret Owen— Plague crows? I forget what happened in this.
    15. The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis— Fucked up but powerful
    16. Throne of Glass, Crown of Midnight, Heir of Fire, Queen of Shadows, and Empire of Storms by Sarah J Maas— Even better on second read-through with killer foreshadowing (yes I reread the whole series except for Kingdom of Ash)
    17. Artemis by Andy Weir— Andy Weir forces Mark Watney from The Martian’s personality into a young girl and describes welding way too much. 
    18. Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson— This book is lovely but the plot should’ve been split into three books (Alternatively: WHAT HAPPENED TO THE DEMON BUTLER?)
    19. A Sorrow Fierce and Falling by Jessice Cluess— A flop of a finale
    20. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde— Well this was not what I expected it to be but I loved it
    21. The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo— This audiobook is life-changing
    22. A Winter’s Promise by Christelle Dabos— Very intriguing fantasy story set on a floating island city; not enough snowy vibes
    23. Nevernight by Jay Kristoff— Badass assassin school with shadow powers: this is very good
    24. Talking As Fast As I Can by Lauren Graham— Lorelai from “Gilmore Girls” talks about “Gilmore Girls” and also some other things
    25. The Missing of Clairdelune by Christelle Dabos— slightly less good but still good intriguing fantasy story set on a floating island city (even less snowy vibes)
    26. Vicious by Victoria Schwab— This book is my all-time favorite and I reread it because I was sad about the virtual semester. 
    27. Ruthless Gods by Emily Duncan— Incredible sequel and proof that you shouldn’t listen to gods in your head
    28. You Don’t Know My Name by Kristin Orlando— NO NO NO
    29. This is How You Lose a Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone— A really cool romance across time and space that went above my head sometimes
    30. To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo— Dark Ariel with very attractive pirates and a slightly rushed ending
    31. The Honey Don’t List by Christina Lauren— HGTV but with relationship drama, not the authors’ best.  
    32. This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp— Horrible way of talking about an incredibly sensitive subject 
    33. Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff— Badass assassin with shadow powers but now there are GLADIATORS!
    34. Darkdawn by Jay Kristoff— Everyone should read this series about a badass assassin with shadow powers
    35. Shatter Me by Tahera Mafi— That’s a no from me
    36. If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio— I made lots of people write about books so I could write about how much I love this book
    37. Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall— A very cute and quick British romance (for fans of Red, White, and Royal Blue)
    38. An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir— Didn’t love it as much as I wanted to but I get why other people like it
    39. Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space by Amanda LeDuc— Great concept but it doesn’t add much to the discussion 
    40. The Steel Prince: The Rebel Army by Victoria Schwab— It’s another prequel to a great series in graphic novel form.
    41. The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune— This book is just so WHOLESOME
    42. The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by Victoria Schwab— A love letter to art that will make your heart full
    43. A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik— Terrible pacing, almost no plot, and so much info-dumping but two of the characters were kind of cool
    44. Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerrri Maniscalco— We have devils and we have Italy—I am very excited for the rest of this series. 
    45. Steel Crow Saga by Paul Krueger— A brilliant fantasy about the underexplored time period of countries recovering from war with incredible representation. 
    46. How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories by Naomi Novik— More Cardan, more Cardan, more Cardan
    47. I’d Tell You I Love You But Then I’d Have to Kill You by Ally Carter— nostalgia
    48. Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy by Ally Carter— More nostalgia but now with the spy boy who was my first fictional crush
    49. Don’t Judge a Girl By Her Cover by Ally Carter— I thought more of this book took place on a campaign trail… oh even more nostalgia
    50. Only the Good Spy Young by Ally Carter— I read them all at once and now they are bleeding together in my bran… nostalgia though 
    51. Out of Sight Out of Time by Ally Carter— Very impressed by how well this series holds up over time.
    52. The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea StewartA little slow and I saw the plot twist coming but I am definitely intrigued.
    53. Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas— Very predictable but it makes my heart happy 

Samantha Tritt
Samantha Tritt is a junior in the college studying linguistics and psychology and is a Contributing Editor. She loves reading, writing, traveling, and all types of dogs.


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