She said only 8 were 5 star (Stock Image) (Image: Getty)
As the grim January weather continues, one woman has come forward with her top book recommendations for those seeking the perfect cosy .
Avid readers familiar with Goodreads or any reading progress-tracking app will know after finishing a book, you can rate it out of five stars.
Your most cherished reads get a five, while those that didn’t resonate or were downright disappointing receive a one. Book enthusiast @em_ondrizek confessed to being frugal with her five-star ratings, revealing she read 65 books in 2024 but awarded just eight with top marks, and she’s eager to share why these titles are must-reads for this year.
She believes the books she rated as five-star represent “” and plans to “recommend them to everyone for a very long time.”
her list is ‘The One by John Marrs,’ which she considers worthy of six stars rather than five. She delves into its plot: “This takes place in a future society where science matches you with your perfect match based on your DNA. Obviously, it’s not as simple and easy as it sounds; things go wrong, and it is so freaking twisty, the twists literally never stop coming.”
…
She lauds the book as “so dramatic” and “messy,” commending its “extremely short chapters” that make you feel like you’re “feel like you’re just flying through it.” She even praised the audiobook version, describing it as “chef’s kiss”.
The next book on her list was ‘Appetite for Innocence’ by Lucinda Berry. She immediately issued a warning, stating that Berry’s books are “very dark, very traumatic, and very triggering for some people,” and advised readers to proceed with caution.
She described the plot as being about a man who kidnaps innocent teenage girls, labelling it as “disgusting.” She said: “This one’s not for the faint of heart, okay? […] I was literally reading and wanting to crawl out of my own skin. It was very hard to get through in parts. But I’m a weirdo, and I liked that.” Despite finding parts of the book difficult to get through, she admitted to enjoying the discomfort it brought her.
Her third recommendation was ‘The Last House on Needless Street’ by Catriona Ward. She described the book as initially confusing but praised its unexpected plot twist, which left her head “literally exploding”.
She found the book to be “dark and so messed up”, describing it as a “total mind f***,” but confessed she “loved it”.
…
The fourth five-star book she recommended was ‘The Winter People’ by Jennifer McMahon. She described the book’s atmosphere as “icy, bone-chilling, claustrophobic” and said it made her constantly look over her shoulder out of fear.
She admitted to being “creeped out” and “scared” by it but concluded that it was “absolutely perfect”.
Number five on the list was ‘The Drowning Woman by Robyn Harding,’ described by Em as a “messy domestic thriller”. She confessed once she started reading, she didn’t “want to stop reading” enthralled by the “there were twists and turns in every corner,” and just when she thought she had figured something out, she found herself proven wrong.
Another top-rated book for Em was ‘The Perfect Couple by Elin Hilderbrand,’ which she said featured a “messy relationship” and fell into the “mystery” genre. “It worked so beautifully,” Em lauded, captivated by the “messy, dramatic” and “entertaining” characters.
She noted the book made you “have a reason to suspect everyone” and it “did so much” for her during the read. “And the last two I’m gonna talk about together,” Em announced, gearing up to disclose books seven and eight in her compilation of five-star reads.
They were ‘A Court of Mist and Fury and A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas,’ the “second and fifth books in the ACOTAR series”.
Em divulged her adoration for the series, highlighting books two and five as particularly remarkable because they presented “the perfect mix of romance, fantasy, and action”. She admitted being “shocked” at the depth of her investment in the narrative.
In the comments, one user humorously remarked: “Every time I watch Booktok, I end up adding 800 books to my Amazon cart like I’m himself”. Another user shared her thoughts on rating books, stating: “I think 5 stars should be saved for books that were exceptional. I don’t trust reviewers with too many 5-star reads. I had 315 reads this year and only 15 5 stars. In 2023: 412 books, 26 5-star reads.”