The Penguin Hotline Gave Me Some Recommendations...

About a week ago I saw this really interesting post over on Jen Ryland Reviews where she tried out the Penguin Hotline, which what?! I had no idea this was a thing! After reading her post I knew I needed to give it a shot! Basically what this is, is you input some info about yourself (or someone you're shopping for!) and you will get some book recommendations personalized to you! How cool is that?
I submitted the form on Saturday, December 7th, and there are really only two questions you have to answer. I think I went a little overboard with mine... Idk 😅



After you submit your answers you just wait for the email with your recommendations. Mine came in four days later on December 11th, and I think it's an actual person who hand picks your choices, which just makes it that much better! For me, they recommended books in basically two different categories, which I am happy with because I gave them about a million suggestions 😅😂

Horror/Thrillers:



So, I thought it was really funny that the very first book on my recommendation list was There's Someone Inside Your House because I've actually already read this book... and I didn't love it 🙈 The email said this about the book: "It's a heart-pounding slasher in the vein of the Scream movies..." And okay, I don't disagree, per se. The one thing I liked about this book were the kills—they were pretty awesome! BUT, to me, this book was more of a contemporary romance that once in a while remembered it was supposed to be a mystery/thriller 🤷‍♀️ (This is the only book on my recommendation list that I've read.)



I feel like I've heard of They Both Die at the End, but I never looked into it. Now having looked it up, the premise sounds interesting, but... it sounds more contemporary than thriller and I'm not super into that. I used to not read contemporary at all—I'm only just starting to come around to them recently, but I'm very, very picky when it comes to contemporary. Would I read this? Maybe. But would I put it on my tbr list immediately? No.



The Haunted, on the other hand, sounds like it's right up my alley! I love anything with ghosts and haunted houses! Would I read this one? Yes!



The last recommendation in the mystery/thriller category was anything by Tana French, such as her Dublin Murder Squad series. I don't read a lot outside the YA genre, but I step out here and there, and In the Woods actually sounds awesome! The mystery sounds like it will be very intriguing so I am definitely adding it to my tbr list!

Witches/Magic/Mythology:



My first recommendation here is a witch-y one, the All Souls trilogy. This one I have seen around, but I never even put it on my tbr list because the synopsis just doesn't do it for me. I love witches, but idk about this one. If you've read this one let me know your thoughts!



And the last two are Greek mythology books by Madeline Miller: The Song of Achilles and Circe. They are retellings of The Iliad and The Odyssey respectively, which, yes please! I actually already had Circe on my tbr list, so you know I want to read that! But I didn't have The Song of Achilles, which, how dare I! Lol. I've rectified that and it is on my tbr list right beside Circe 😊

All in all, the recommendations where pretty good! Of the seven books, I read one, I'm iffy about two, but the rest are hits, for sure! If you have not tried this fun feature from Penguin Random House, I highly recommend you check it out! It would be such a fun way to find books for friends and loved ones! Ooooh, maybe I can finally get my brothers to read a book 😏😂