Inspired by Niah Freed, @NovelNiah's, idea If You Didn't Like This, You'll Like This, in this episode, we're talking about If You Like This, Try This - Book Edition. What can I say? I'm an optimist.
If you tend to read stand alone books that don't belong to a series, but don't want to give up on the same trope or overall feeling, try one of my suggestions.
Inspired by Niah Freed, @NovelNiah's, idea If You Didn't Like This, You'll Like This, in this episode, we're talking about If You Like This, Try This - Book Edition. What can I say? I'm an optimist.
If you tend to read stand alone books that don't belong to a series, but don't want to give up on the same trope or overall feeling, try one of my suggestions.
Welcome back. I'm Kristen Bahls and you're listening to Where I Left Off, a bookish podcast. Hold on to your bookmarks, because today we're on the podcast talking about similar books in the YA genre, romance and thriller genre. And, as someone who really tends to read more like one off books that aren't necessarily in a series, I may not be finished with like a specific trope, plot line, or characters by the end of the book and I just really want something else that's going to evoke a similar feeling, even though that's not possible because it's not a series, right. So I got this idea for the episode from at Novel Niah on Instagram. I will have a link to her Instagram and the show notes, so don't forget to follow her for more book recommendations, and she actually tends to favor the fantasy genre, so you could get something a little bit different from what I talked about. And her post was technically if you didn't like this, then you're going to like this. But, because I liked both of the books that I'm recommending for each, I just decided that I was going to switch up her initial prompt a little bit and make it more like if you like this, then I think you'll also like that, and if you didn't notice, I changed my podcast name and I'm officially leaning into books full time.
Kristen Bahls:
I have made the decision and I think what really kind of pushed me over the edge is that I've just had so many good conversations with authors and other readers lately through Instagram and just getting a chance to talk to them, and it's just nice that it feels kind of like more of a community where we're constantly talking back and forth so, that and I mean I've just had fun creating book related episodes and there are a lot of people that I didn't really know, that read, that have listened just that I know and have talked to me about it. So it's brought up some really good conversations about books just in general. So anyway, that's how I found my new topic. I know I said I was going to try some things, but you know, sometimes it just works out on the first try and we're not going to question it. So now my podcast is officially book related. This entire season has been book related, so you'll probably notice that, but just in case you didn't, it is officially switched over. I have my new name. I will eventually have my new podcast cover art, if it's not already there, I'm getting a refresh on that. And before we get into the main main topic, I just wanted to give you a few of the books that are on my to be read list.
Kristen Bahls:
I know that you might have some gift cards. You might be ready to spend it. There might be some birthdays coming up as we get a little bit more into the deep winter early springish time, so I wanted to give you some ideas if you're looking for some more books or you happen to be browsing Barnes and Noble or any bookstore at all. You know it's great to pick out a book just based on the cover, one that you think that you'll like in your favorite genre. But I really like getting recommendations, especially if I'm going to spend my own money on a book and it's not something that's like available on Kindle Unlimited, which technically it is a subscription, so it's also your own money, but you know what I mean. If it's not something that I need, that I'm like spending my own money on, and books are expensive. Anyway, I just want to know that I'm gonna like it. So that's yeah. Those are some ideas.
Kristen Bahls:
Basically, I get my ideas from all over from friends, family members, Instagram, books, all that kind of stuff. So I get my recommendations really from a variety of people, also on Goodreads, sometimes it'll recommend things too. So yeah, that's kind of how I've gathered up my list from a bunch of different sources to decide what I want to read next, because there are just so many choices and so many authors I've never heard of and haven't read and that is one of my goals this year it's to read just like a greater variety of authors and try to find some new favorites, because I do feel like lately I've stuck in my like I really like this author, so let me read all of their books, which is fantastic, but I want to try other authors too and give them a chance and talk about them on the podcast, so that way it's not always just the same couple authors. So that is a goal of mine this year.
Kristen Bahls:
So you can tell I'm long-winded today. I had a lot of like technical difficulties trying to get this episode started, so each time I just really wanted to say more and I didn't get a chance because my equipment was off. So now that I have it all fixed and ready to go, I guess I guess I'm just feeling chatty today. But some books that are on my to be read, I broke it up into two categories, my main categories romance and thrillers. So in the romance categories, some books that I want to read are Morbidly Yours by Ivy Fairbanks, Mr. Fixer Upper by Lucy Score. I know that one is on Kindle Unlimited.
Kristen Bahls:
I already have it downloaded and waiting for me on my Kindle. Technically Yours by Denise Williams I just picked that up the other day and then Better Than Fiction by Alexa Martin, which I also just picked up the other day. For thriller, I would like to read 27 Minutes by Ashley Tate. I don't think this is out quite yet, but it's coming out soon. By the time I get to it It'll be out, I Did It For You.
Kristen Bahls:
by Amy Engel, First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston, and this is technically a YA thriller and I do have it coming to my book of the month box. And then, The Last Time I Lied, by Riley Sager this is already on my bookshelf. Everyone Here Is Lying by Shari Lapena, that is also on my bookshelf both of those, and then, Only If You're Lucky, by Stacy Willing ham to round it out. That's a thriller that I talked about in my upcoming releases for 2024 and it is coming in my book of the month box as well.
Kristen Bahls:
So I have a lot of the books already. I just need to read what I have and, yeah, a couple of them are available on Kindle Unlimited. I need to read more Kindle Unlimited, but from what I've seen and from what I've experienced, there are a lot of good romances on there, but for thrillers there isn't a lot. There's some, but there's not a lot. So, for romances it's pretty easy to find some on Kindle Unlimited. But yeah, thrillers just doesn't have the same it, just there aren't the same choices. And you know how I feel about the Kindle. I like a physical book better. So, you know, I'm not actually going to like pay outside of the Kindle Unlimited subscription, I'm just going to pick something in there, but it is nice because I like that
Kristen Bahls:
I don't feel so much pressure per book. If I don't like it, I feel like I can just DNF it and I don't have to feel bad about it. Because you know, sometimes we just don't finish books and that's okay. And I think, oh gosh, I'm trying to remember I think it was one of my English teachers that said one time like if you're on page, I thought this was a really good idea and I use it today, but she said if you're on page like 50 or 60, and you're still not into it, you've given the book a chance, you've seen how it is and you still don't like it. So that's a pretty good sign that it's okay to close it and find something that you do like, because of course books are supposed to be for everyone. So anyway, don't be afraid to close a book if you don't like it. Easier said than done sometimes, but I think in about page 50 or 60, if I'm not feeling it, then I will DNF it. But I don't have to feel bad with the Kindle Unlimited subscription, because then I can just move on to the next one and I don't feel like I just wasted my money like I would on a physical book, because as soon as I open it I just feel like I can't return it, even if I'm only like 20 pages in. I don't know, maybe I need to get over that, we'll see.
Kristen Bahls:
But before I get into the actual episode, just keep in mind that I do have all of the chapters linked in my show notes. There's a tab for the chapter. So if you want to skip to a specific book. Today I'm going to be talking about the YA, a new adult genre, romance and a lot of thrillers. I do have a decent amount of thrillers on this episode, so if you're only here for the romance, if you're only here for the YA a new adult, if you're only here for the thrillers, and you can always look at my chapters and you can skip between certain books, so that way you don't have to hear me talk through the whole thing. Or if you just want to hear me talk, then of course, just keep playing it in sequential order.
Kristen Bahls:
Okay, up first I went with YA and these are technically, one is YA romance and then one is new adult romance, slash fiction. They're kind of both like romance slash fiction. So if you enjoyed The Upside of Falling by Alex Light, then I think that you would like Begin Again by Emma Lorde. The Upside of Falling is the one that is YA and it's romance according to Goodreads and then Begin Again by Emma Lorde is technically, new adult fiction, slash romance, also according to Goodreads. If you did not know, young adults oh man, I can't remember what age it starts at. I think young adult is somewhere like 12 to 18 is who the target audience is that it's written for, and then new adult is supposed to be 18 to 29, I believe, so it's just kind of a little bit more mature, advanced adults. So not quite like full adult fiction, but not quite YA, so that new adults kind of like y ou're in between. So, anyway, that is all according to Goodreads, based on their information, but on this one
Kristen Bahls:
so, the books don't actually have a super similar plot per se, I would say, unlike the rest of my recommendations, which the rest of my recommendations do have some kind of like subtrope or plot point in common. However, both of these books just really gave me like the same type of feeling, and so I figured that that was close enough for my first recommendation. And both of these are not super intense books per se, but they both have a small amount of grit in addition to the actual love story that is taking place. And by grit here's what I mean, so in The Upside of Falling, Becca's dad left her and then Brett, the other main character, goes through some familial issues of his own, and the way that it's referenced in this book is just really well done. It's realistic and it feels relatable, so it's not cheesy. And then in begin again, the grit is that Andy's mom died and her dad left her, which leaves her with some things that she kind of has to work, work out throughout the book and you'll kind of go on the journey with her. And again, it's done really well, it's realistic and it's not cheesy, so I would recommend them both for adults.
Kristen Bahls:
I don't think that you're gonna get bored reading them as an adult, but if you did have a teen in your life who has gone through some similar issues, I think that it could feel cathartic for them to read it and I think that they would really be able to relate to the characters because it's like, like I said, it's a little bit of grit, so it's not hitting you over the head with it, but it's just kind of working it into the story. And for me personally, I felt like both of these just kind of read more like a fiction, like a YA fiction with a romance. I didn't feel like they were completely centered around the romance. I mean, like technically, like plot point wise, I guess they were centered around the romance, but as you're reading it you don't feel like you're just reading a romance book. You're getting a little bit more fiction of like their day to day life and other things are going on and there's sub plots and like sub tropes happening throughout the novel that are not focused on the romance and so it's also kind of like friendships and other things going on as well and other events that take place throughout the novels, both of them to where I don't feel like they're just super all about the romance . And both of them the spice level is very low on . both I would say, I would say that they're probably appropriate for high school and up. The only the only reason that I would say maybe not middle school is just because a little bit of that grit I mean again, both of them are pretty realistic and they deal with a little bit more like mature content. But, I don't know, at your own risk, if you had a middle school or that you might just want to like read it with them for that, but I think that they're totally appropriate for high school. Yeah, I think they're totally appropriate for high school. There wasn't really there wasn't really anything in either books, so I would just recommend it, most likely for high school and up. They were pretty tame, especially as far as as far as novels go, because YA can get pretty intense sometimes.
Kristen Bahls:
Next up, I am in the romance category and if you liked Hello Stranger by Catherine Center, which is her newest release at this moment that I'm recording, then I really think that you will like It's a Date Again and this is by Geneva Rose and she's actually normally a thriller author and this was her first like romcom romance book and it was an absolute delight. I just finished it. I will talk about it a little bit more in depth in a future episode where I'm talking about what I'm currently reading, but It's a Date Again by Geneva Rose was fantastic and there are a lot of similarities to Hello Stranger and some of the plot points. So if you were looking for something that is Hello Stranger adjacent, I think that this is the book for you.
Kristen Bahls:
Both characters have accidents that basically lead them to have to face a new reality, and in Hello Stranger it's facial blindness that she has, and then in It's a Date Again, it's amnesia, and in both books the main character is actually crossing the street in a big city when their accident happens to them. And through all of this they have to learn to cope with their new illness and both have the promise that things will most likely return back to normal by their doctors, that they will, you know, not be cured of facial blindness, but that it will fade in Hello Stranger, and that the amnesia will probably go away and It's a Date Again. And so they each have to find yeah, find out who they are with this new illness, slash injury that is obviously creating a really big obstacle in their everyday lives and they each have their own misadventures in love along the way of course. It it is a romance book, both of them are, and luckily they have supportive friend, friend groups or friends and kind of like found families to help them find their way. It's really cute all of the banter back and forth between between all of the supporting characters. I think both books do a really good job of including like strong supporting characters that really help move the plot forward instead of just kind of being like random extras. So I appreciated that in both. And then by the end of each book, both are changed for the better and they've grown stronger in the face of their illness, slash injury.
Kristen Bahls:
So I really enjoyed these. They are similar but in a fantastic way, and I think that if you liked Hello Stranger, you would really like It's a Date Again, which, like I said, it was a delight and, like I said on Hello Stranger, it just took me a second to get into it. So if you've read It's a Date Again and you're reading Hello Stranger, give it a chance. It does, it does get really good. Okay, then this is in the yeah, this is in the thriller category. The rest of these are going to be thrillers.
Kristen Bahls:
I have a feeling that, of course, I could have included a couple more romances. I just haven't read them all the way and I would like to finish them to be able to actually compare and contrast them to each other. So, of course, a part two could probably be coming in the future because, yeah, I think that I could make that happen with some more romance books. But for now we're going into all the thrillers. So if you liked Survive the Night by Riley Sager, then I think you will also like Five Total Strangers, and Five Total Strangers is by Natalie Richards, and in both novels there's a killer of foot who is most likely in the car with them as they carpool with strangers to get back home.
Kristen Bahls:
So in Survive the Night, Charlie, he's the main character. He's riding with one other person from a college ride share board, and then in Five Total Strangers it's a group of college kids that are riding home together and Mira the main character. She doesn't actually know the college kids. She's really trying to get home from her flight and then she's offered a ride from a group of kids that were on her flight and she ends up finding out when she's already in the car that no one in the group actually knows each other. She went in with the like preconception that all of the people in the car kind of knew each other. They went to the same college, but that is actually not the case. They don't know each other. So both Survive the Night and Five Total Strangers they have really creepy, slash, intense journeys as they try to survive the ride home and unearth the truth about the people in the car with them.
Kristen Bahls:
This would be my nightmare scenario. I am really glad that I either, okay, I'm trying to think back to college whenever I went home, because I was five and a half hours away from home. Oh my gosh, I cannot imagine making a drive like that with someone I don't know. Luckily, I pretty much drove myself or I would take home someone that I went to high school with or a friend that I knew really well. So I, yeah, I knew everyone that rode home with me pretty well. So thankfully that's the case, because this would be my nightmare scenario, because it sounds like slightly far fetched, but it could actually completely be realistic that that would happen. So, yeah, and then you're just locked in a car with them and like you know where you are, but oh nope, nope, nope, nope. So I guess maybe don't read that if you're in college, because you might freak yourself out a little bit. Next up, I have Final Girls, so if you liked Final Girls by Riley Sager and then I think that you would also enjoy The Only Survivors by Megan Miranda.
Kristen Bahls:
I've talked about both of these books recently, so my little blurb is a little bit shorter about both of these because I feel like I've touched on them multiple times, but this may be your first time listening, so you know that that's okay, or you just get to hear about them again, but I promise the next one does have one book that I haven't talked about before. Okay, so Only Survivors by Megan Miranda and Final Girls by Riley Sager both of them are technically survivors of traumatic events where multiple people around them died and The Only Survivors was definitely more of like a slow burn versus the Final Girls. I felt like it had a lot quicker pace, but I did listen to that one on audio book versus reading The Only Survivors in person, so that could also account for that. And both main characters have PTSD and they feel as if their lives are over, which ultimately lead them to make questionable choices throughout the novel. And I've said this before. But on The Only Survivors, I would say that there is a trigger warning for, like traumatic school events. They do talk in great detail about the night of the accident and watching their classmates die. So I would like to point that out. Yeah, it is really intense, but same with Final Girls. Final Girls is very, very dark and it's a pretty quick pace.
Kristen Bahls:
I did, yeah, I did like it. I thought it was really good in the end. I've actually heard some reviews lately of people who just didn't enjoy it. I don't know. I think that listening to an audio helped because I don't know, it kind of kept me in suspense and the narrators were the voice actors, were pretty good on that, so I think that that one ultimately helped there. But those two books have a lot of similarities that I think you would enjoy, and both of those actually helped get me out of my thriller slump, so I had to shout them out. And of course, last on my list I have The River at Night and Reckless Girls. So if you enjoyed or read Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins, then I would suggest trying The River at Night by Erica Fernick.
Kristen Bahls:
Both thrillers center around characters who are stuck in the elements and they're trying to find their way back to civilization. I already talked about the drive home from college being terrifying. This is also kind of terrifying to me. But in the River at Night what happens is it's like a girls trip that gets turned deadly when they get stuck in the wilderness and they're just trying to go white water rafting, but of course they get stuck and they have to find their way back to civilization or get help. And then in Reckless Girls they get stuck on a remote island that was supposed to be a day trip and then people start going missing in their group. And in both novels there's a deadly element of nature itself that does claim some of the members, but then there's also a lot of like secrets and some kind of murder or a foot. People are disappearing. It doesn't feel like it's all nature. They in both novels they think that something is going on and they are both very like, twisty throughout, and they will basically make you never want to take another trip in the wilderness again.
Kristen Bahls:
The Reckless Girls takes place in Hawaii and The River at Night I am blanking on what state is, but again, it is very intense. Both are very, very intense. So, yeah, don't read while you're on vacation, don't read before you go on a vacation for those, because, yeah, they, they will make you never want to leave your house again. But they were both really good, really intense, and they had some twist that I did not see coming. So both of them were able to catch me off guard, which is one of my favorite things about a thriller.
Kristen Bahls:
If I cannot guess the ending, then I can already say it's probably gonna be at least four to five stars. Because you know, some of these books are just all the same, especially in the thriller category, and it's really kind of easy to guess. So I do like whenever they throw me a twist kind of out of left field. So there are some suggestions for some similar books if you're like me and you don't always read books in a series and you read some one-offs and you just need a little bit more of that trope or that mood or the characters, then definitely check out one of my recommendations and let me know if you do. And that's it for today on when I left off, and next week I'll talk about some of the books that I've been reading lately.