Benable — create shareable lists of things you recommend!
E.g., products you love, local businesses, travel recs - you can add anything to a Benable list!

Books, books, books!!

Purple Star emoji 23 items
One thing about me is I'm extremely aggressive when it comes to rating books. My favorite books are the ones that pull on your heart strings and make you feel something.
Sections
5
 
 
 
 
 

Books to Make You Feel Something

This list will only include books that made me cry. Each book in this list deserves FIVE BEAUTIFUL STARS from me.

 
Ashley Jensen profile picture
This story will rip your heart into pieces and also mend it back together. It is for mature audiences and has dark content.
Still Beating
 
Ashley Jensen profile picture
--REVIEW UPDATE 12/31/2022-- Me @ me: WTF Ashley, every book isn't going to be like Still Beating. I sold this book short simply because I was comparing it to SB. This is a beautiful book that deserves ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ it was my first AND last read of 2022. ...
The Wrong Heart
 
Ashley Jensen profile picture
So, I rarely cry when reading a book, and when I say rarely, I mean like maybe five times ever. This book ripped out my heart and threw it in a f*cking blender. This book owns a piece of my soul and I'm not sure if I'll ever recover.
X My Heart
placeholder
 
Ashley Jensen profile picture
As a person who has dealt with tremendous loss and grief, this book filled my soul in a way I didn't think was possible.
The Midnight Library
placeholder
 
Ashley Jensen profile picture
The beginning of this was a little rocky, but my goodness I'm glad I stuck it out. This story pulled tears from me more than once and had the most perfect ending
The Butterfly Project
placeholder
 
Ashley Jensen profile picture
This got me out of a slump and therefore deserves five stars. I loved how this wasn't classic romance - the storyline was different and intriguing. Just beautiful.
A Five-Minute Life
placeholder
 
Ashley Jensen profile picture
I am an absolute sucker for a grieving individual to process their grief and still have someone fall in love with them. After I was thrown into a whirlwind of grief I didn't feel loveable, I didn't feel worthy. Stories like this pull hard on my heart...  

Added bonus: the dog, Tucker, is basically a main character. And who doesn't adore love stories with dogs? Monsters, that's who.
The Happy Ever After Playlist | Paperback
placeholder
 
Ashley Jensen profile picture
FIVE STARS
Any book that gets me to shed a tear, let alone MANY tears, deserves five stars. How a book can both break my heart and fill it with hope is beyond me. Some authors are legit magicians. This book is beautifully tragic and heavy. I knew what was going...
Full Tilt
placeholder
 
Ashley Jensen profile picture
FIVE STARS
The first book had me crying tears full of sadness, this one had me crying tears of joy. Such a perfect ending to Kacey's story.
All In
placeholder
 
Ashley Jensen profile picture
FIVE STARS I IDIOTICALLY LET THIS SIT DOWNLOADED ON MY KINDLE FOR EIGHT FUCKING MONTHS BEFORE READING IT. I am so mad that I had this beautiful heartbreaking story within reach but didn't ever pick it until two days ago. I'm not a crier, I cried ...
Heartbreak Warfare
placeholder

Autumn Vibes

These just give autumn vibes, I can't explain it, they just do.
 
Ashley Jensen profile picture
FOUR STARS
The beginning was slow and seemed to be missing direction but I'm so glad I kept reading. This is written in 3rd person and I still gave it a try and really enjoyed it. 

I didn't know I was reading a cozy book until I felt it in my soul...because I read books based on recommendations alone... but SO cozy. Can't wait to read the next one.
The Spellshop
placeholder
 
Ashley Jensen profile picture
FIVE STARS
Wow this is eerily brilliant and 100% un-put-downable. Gave me the creeps and feeling like I need to own my own copy.
House of Hollow
placeholder

Abby Jimenez

Abby Jimenez is such a wonderful human being and some of her books are complete bangers in my honest opinion. Here's my reviews of all of them though so you can see if our reading vibes match before trusting my recommendations.

 
Ashley Jensen profile picture
FOUR STARS
Having a hard time rating this one, somewhere before 4 & 5 but I can't pick a final rating at this time. I'm gonna have to think on it. **Updated and decided on a 4 since I was annoyed with the back and forth** I'm not a fan of the miscommunicati...
The Friend Zone
placeholder
 
Ashley Jensen profile picture
FIVE STARS
I am an absolute sucker for a grieving individual to process their grief and still have someone fall in love with them. After I was thrown into a whirlwind of grief I didn't feel loveable, I didn't feel worthy. Stories like this pull hard on my heart... 

Added bonus: the dog, Tucker, is basically a main character. And who doesn't adore love stories with dogs? Monsters, that's who.
The Happy Ever After Playlist
placeholder
 
Ashley Jensen profile picture
FOUR STARS 
I really enjoyed this book. I found the main characters both extremely relatable to my messy life and it was refreshing to read about needing to make each day count instead of stressing about the small stuff. Would have been a 5/5 if the typical "the...
Life's Too Short
placeholder
 
Ashley Jensen profile picture
FIVE STARS
Abby does it again. What a fantastic story. I was invested so quickly and the down to earth humor is unlike any other book I've read. This book filled my heart with hope. Even though I saw the ending coming, it didn't matter. And it's a romance , don...
Part of Your World
placeholder
 
Ashley Jensen profile picture
THREE STARS
I have mixed feelings on this book.. I have absolutely adored every book Abby Jimenez has written, up until this one. I related so much to Jacob and his anxiety that I felt like I could have been writing this book. I LOVE the fake dating trope, but I...
Yours Truly
placeholder
 
Ashley Jensen profile picture
THREE STARS 
I absolutely loathe this book cover. It doesn't vibe with the simplicity of her other ones and that will forever bother me. 

I really didn't like Emma. Her character pushed toxic positivity and excuses instead of validation and understanding. The fact that she had the past she did but refused to believe any of it shaped her as an adult was simply naive. I had to remind mys... 

I'm likely just spiteful and angry, but I just couldn't resonate with her. It felt exhausting to even read about her constantly making excuses for her mom or thinking of scenarios of how to look at things differently so they didn't seem so bad. Somet... 

If you can't tell, I'm a little sensitive to this type of topic right now LOL. 

I could relate to Justin quite a bit on him getting thrown into a new life and simply going along with it because it was what was best for the kids. I got that. I got why he was angry, and I didn't fault him for it one bit. He was detail-oriented, fu... 

I'm still giving it 4 stars because I love Abby Jimenez, her writing is always easy to read and digest, and I support her as an author and a person... but the 5 star reviews are saved for the books that make me really feel something.... and the only ...
Just for the Summer
placeholder
 
Ashley Jensen profile picture
TWO STARS
This took me forever to read. It was so bland and boring. If it was a book by any other author I would have just abandoned it at 40%. The history of the MMC felt so forced and awkward. None of it felt authentic. 

I feel like this book was trying too hard to expand her audience.. all of the TikTok references, the fade to black, the content.. 

If I blind read this, I never would have guessed Abby Jimenez wrote it - I would have guessed CoHo. It was so surface level... no depth and felt extremely repetitive.
Say You'll Remember Me
placeholder

Books on Grief

 
Ashley Jensen profile picture
As a person who has dealt with tremendous loss and grief, this book filled my soul in a way I didn't think was possible.
The Midnight Library
placeholder
 
Ashley Jensen profile picture
If you've recently lost someone, you need to read this ASAP.
It's OK That You're Not OK
placeholder

Rom-Coms

Romance books that made me literally LOL.
 
Ashley Jensen profile picture
FIVE STARS 
My ONLY complaint was how she kept bringing Isaac up in the beginning. I wanted to see her break up or something, it seemed like she was so hung up on him but we didn't know why. 

That did not deter me from ADORING this book though. My favorite tropes all together?!?!? Enemies to lovers, secret pen pals, one bed, he falls first, forced proximity, fake dating, WHAT A PERFECT ROM COM. 

I love a book that has me truly laughing out loud. I read this in one sitting, so good.
Never With You
placeholder
 
Ashley Jensen profile picture
FIVE STARS
What a beaut. This book made me laugh SO MUCH. The perfect rom com.
Story of My Life
placeholder