Rating Books a Paid Book Expert Recommended Me

Updated on August 21st, 2026

I came across TBR, which stands for Tailored Book Recommendations. TBR is a paid service where you share your reading habits, and a book expert recommends 3 books to you. I was intrigued by the service, and I decided to check it out for myself and share my experience.

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Signing Up for TBR

When you sign up for TBR, you will answer questions about your favorite genres, what you want to explore more, the last few books you loved and why, if you want a familiar style, mix, or to expand your reading horizons, and if there are certain themes you want to read.

You then pay $18 for 3 book recommendations. You can also choose to be sent the hardcover or paperback books of the 3 recommendations, but I find these plans quite expensive. It is $75 for a set of 3 paperbacks or $99.50 for 3 hardcover books. Also, shipping is only available in the US, but you can receive the recommendations no matter where you live.

Since I live outside the US, I just purchased a set of recommendations for $18. I made the payment on February 2nd, and there is an expected wait time of 2 weeks to receive the recommendations from the book expert. In the meantime, I completed my TBR profile by adding my Goodreads profile. I highly recommend adding your Goodreads profile and making sure your profile is updated so you are not recommended a book you have already read or are currently reading, as the recommendations are non-returnable and non-refundable.

Also, there are more questions to answer in the profile, including your all-time favorite books and why, books you hated, your favorite TV shows or movies, types of content to warn you about, any dealbreakers, and preferred reading format. After completing my profile, I then waited for my recommendations from the book expert.

UPDATE: As of June 1st, 2026, TBR closed, and you can no longer use the service.

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The Recommendations

On February 15th, I received 3 recommendations from the book expert Tirzah. Tirzah included new authors and a mix of genres, as I wrote on my TBR profile that I wanted to discover new authors. The 3 recommendations included:

They All Fall Down by Rachel Howzell Hall

Tirzah recommended They All Fall Down because I love And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. They All Fall Down is a mystery where the protagonist wins a trip to a private island, but when she arrives with a handful of strangers, they soon realize they were brought there for a reason.

In my profile, I did say that mysteries were one of my favorite genres, and And Then There Were None was one of my favorite books. I also stated I loved And Then There Were None because it is set on a private island, and you do not know what is going on until the end. They All Fall Down does seem like it has elements of Christie’s book, and it does seem like a good fit for me. Also, I have not heard of the book or author before, so both are new to me.

Love & Other Disasters by Anita Kelly

I have reviewed numerous cookbooks over the years on Goodreads, and Tirzah wondered if I was a foodie who would enjoy a romance like Emily Henry set against the backdrop of a baking show. Love & Other Disasters follows Dahlia, who is recently divorced, quit her job, and landed a spot on a baking competition show. She is in it to win it but never expects to fall for one of the competitors.

Even though I did not mention cookbooks in my TBR profile, I do like that Tirzah noticed I had reviewed cookbooks on Goodreads because I do enjoy discovering new cookbooks and trying new recipes. In my profile, I did mention a recent book I read and loved was Beach Read by Emily Henry, so I do like that the recommendation is a nod to baking and Emily Henry, and it does seem like a good fit. Also, Anita Kelly is another new author to me.

I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver

Lastly, Tirzah recommended I Wish You All the Best because I mentioned loving Heartstopper. I Wish You All the Best is a young adult novel about connection and love. The book follows Ben, who is kicked out of their house when they come out as nonbinary and goes to live with their estranged older sister. They start a new school and do not intend to come out to anyone, but they become friends with Nathan and begin to fall for him. Ben then has to decide if it is worth risking their heart to be their authentic self.

In my TBR profile, I wrote that one of my favorite book series is Heartstopper, and I also included Heartstopper in my favorite TV shows. I Wish You All the Best does seem like a good recommendation, and Mason Deaver is a new author to me.

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The Reviews

They All Fall Down by Rachel Howzell Hall Review

In They All Fall Down, Miriam is invited to a private island in Mexico to be part of a reality game show. Winning the show would change her life, and she readily agrees to participate. However, once on the island, she and the 6 others soon realize they were brought there under false pretenses. Then strange accidents start happening, which makes them suspicious of each other.

Miriam is a flawed character. She has done wrong in her past, which you learn more and more about as the story progresses. However, she is now trying to do right for her daughter. As far as the 6 other characters, when Miriam arrives in Mexico, they are quickly introduced, and I found it difficult to follow who was who. It was not until halfway through the book that I got a grasp on them. However, everyone is flawed and generally unlikable, so I did not find myself caring about them.

The story itself is slow. I felt like it dragged on, especially for the first half, because not much happens. Around the halfway point, things started to get interesting, and I found the second half of the book more enjoyable. However, the story is predictable, and the ending is expected and fine. I will say the best part of the book is the setting. Most of the book is set at the mansion on the remote island, and there is no way off the island. There are no boats, cellphone reception, or wifi, so you do feel like the characters are trapped. However, the setting cannot hold up a book on its own when the characters and story ultimately fall flat.

Rating: 4/10

Love & Other Disasters by Anita Kelly Review

The story follows the perspective of Dahlia and London, who are two contestants on the reality cooking show. Dahlia is queer, divorced, and she has a fractured relationship with her mom. However, she is close to her brother Hank, who is trans. Dahlia quit her job to be on the cooking show as she is looking for a new start, and winning the competition would help her immensely with bills. London is non-binary, and their dad refuses to address them by their correct pronouns despite coming out to their family as non-binary 3 years ago. However, London is close to their twin sister Julie. London joined the competition in hopes of winning and using the money to start a non-profit to help LGBTQ+ kids. Both Dahlia and London are flawed characters, which makes them more human. I will say that I warmed up to Dahlia’s character more than London, though.

As far as the plot, I loved the reality cooking show premise. The book starts with Dahlia on the cooking show, so you can plunge right into the story without going through chapters of setup. There are a lot of spicy scenes, but I wish they were balanced by scenes of Dahlia and London going on normal dates or outings. At one point, Dahlia and Hank talk on the phone because Dahlia is feeling the pressure of the competition. Dahlia and Hank often make lists of 10 things when stressed, such as ranking songs or movies.

After the conversation, Dahlia suggests to London that they should make a list of 10 things to do together while in Los Angeles before the show ends. Due to the build-up, I thought we would see Dahlia and London complete the list together, but it is only briefly mentioned later that they went to museums and bookstores that weekend. The story ends with an epilogue that is set 3 months after the finale of the cooking show. The epilogue wrapped up what the characters are up to, which I loved.

I did like Love & Other Disasters, and I enjoyed my time reading it. I loved the premise, and the protagonists were likable. However, as I mentioned, I wish the book balanced the spicy scenes with more normal scenes, such as completing the list of 10 things to do in LA. With that said, I am curious about Anita Kelly’s other books now. There are two other books set in the same universe but follow different protagonists, including Something Wild & Wonderful with Alexei and Ben (Dahlia and London briefly show up) and How You Get the Girl with Julie (London’s sister) and Elle.

Rating: 8/10

I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver Review

Ben is a senior in high school and non-binary. They come out to their parents, but they end up being thrown out of the house. Ben then goes to live with their older sister Hannah and her husband, Thomas. Ben decides it is best to only come out to Hannah, Thomas, and their therapist, and they keep a low profile at their new school. At school, Ben meets Nathan, and they start building a friendship.

Ben has gone through a lot – they were betrayed by their parents, moved in with their sister, and are finishing their senior of high school at a new school. It is understandable that Ben is not open with others about their identity. However, at a point, they feel too closed off. As Ben and Nathan grow closer, Ben still keeps their nonbinary identity a secret, which leads to Nathan constantly misgendering them. Nathan is sweet and charismatic, and I liked his character. Even though Ben does not open up about being non-binary, I love that Nathan is a supportive character to Ben.

Also, the relationship between Ben and Hannah is rocky at the start. Hannah left their parents’ home 10 years ago on bad terms, and Ben felt abandoned. However, I felt like Ben did not treat her well and was ungrateful for her kindness. They do end up coming together, and Hannah explains to Ben why she left, which improved their relationship. Lastly, Ben has an online friend named Mariam, who is also non-binary. They are a YouTuber and give talks around the country about the need for queer spaces that are not bars and clubs. I liked seeing Ben and Mariam’s friendship, but I felt like Ben only talked about themself, and we did not learn much about Mariam.

In a roundabout way, I am saying I did not like Ben’s character that much because they are so closed off, not kind to their sister, and self-centered with friends. However, I did like the supporting characters, including Nathan, Hannah, and Mariam.

As far as the story, it was a bit slow at times. There were also time jumps that I was not a fan of. However, I did enjoy the ending.

Rating: 7/10

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Overall Thoughts on TBR

I did like trying out TBR, and I will say I read books by three authors I had not come across before. My main goal was to discover new authors, and TBR was successful in that aspect. However, the books I was recommended ended up being a mixed bag. Even though the books sounded good in theory, they ended up falling flat, or there were aspects that did not make them great.

For example, an adaptation of And Then There Were None is a great recommendation for me, but They All Fall Down ended up being my lowest-rated book out of the three. I loved the setting, but the story was slow, and the characters were unlikable, which ultimately brought the book down. As far as Love & Other Disasters, I was recommended it because I enjoy reading through cookbooks. I loved the cooking show premise, but I would have loved more normal scenes with the main characters to balance the numerous spicy scenes. Lastly, I was recommended I Wish You All the Best because I love the Heartstopper books and Netflix series, but I did not get the same vibes. The main character ended up being so closed off that I ended up liking the support characters more.

To sum up, the recommendations from the book expert did fit my reading habits and interests well, but I ended up not loving any of the books.

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Would you pay a book expert to recommend books to you? Have you read these books or other books by the authors?