Mini Review: The Storm We Made

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Malaya, 1945. Cecily Alcantara’s family is in terrible danger: her 15-year-old son, Abel, has disappeared, and her youngest daughter, Jasmin, is confined in a basement to prevent being pressed into service at the comfort stations. Her eldest daughter Jujube, who works at a tea house frequented by drunk Japanese soldiers, becomes angrier by the day. Cecily knows two things: that this is all her fault; and that her family must never learn the truth. A decade prior, Cecily had been desperate to be more than a housewife to a low-level bureaucrat in British-colonized Malaya. A chance meeting with the charismatic General Fuijwara lured her into a life of espionage, pursuing dreams of an “Asia for Asians.” Instead, Cecily helped usher in an even more brutal occupation by the Japanese. Ten years later as the war reaches its apex, her actions have caught up with her. Now her family is on the brink of destruction—and she will do anything to save them.

Standalones I Recommend #4

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So, today I will be talking about the standalone books I loved in 2023. I read many books last year so bear with me.

January 2024 Haul

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The final haul of 2024! As I have said before, I use this purely so I can promote books both new releases and backlist titles!

I posted earlier this month my Stuff Your Kindle Day Haul but if you missed it check it out here>>>

Books I Purchased Myself

Title: Burning Roses
Author: S.L. Huang
Series: Hunting Monsters
Format: Paperback
Age Rating: Adult
Genre: Fantasy

Plot: When Rosa (aka Red Riding Hood) and Hou Yi the Archer join forces to stop the deadly sunbirds from ravaging the countryside, their quest will take the two women, now blessed and burdened with the hindsight of middle age, into a reckoning of sacrifices made and mistakes mourned, of choices and family and the quest for immortality.

Title: The Will of the Many
Author: James Islington
Series: The Hierarchy #1
Format: Hardback
Age Rating: Adult
Genre: Fantasy

TIKTOK CONVINCED ME!

Plot: The Catenan Republic – the Hierarchy – may rule the world now, but they do not know everything. I tell them my name is Vis Telimus. I tell them I was orphaned after a tragic accident three years ago, and that good fortune alone has led to my acceptance into their most prestigious school. I tell them that once I graduate, I will gladly join the rest of civilised society in allowing my strength, my drive and my focus – what they call Will – to be leeched away and added to the power of those above me, as millions already do. As all must eventually do. I tell them that I belong, and they believe me. But the truth is that I have been sent to the Academy to find answers. To solve a murder. To search for an ancient weapon. To uncover secrets that may tear the Republic apart. And that I will never, ever cede my Will to the empire that executed my family. To survive, though, I will still have to rise through the Academy’s ranks. I will have to smile, and make friends, and pretend to be one of them and win. Because if I cannot, then those who want to control me, who know my real name, will no longer have any use for me. And if the Hierarchy finds out who I truly am, they will kill me.

Title: Usotoki Rhetoric
Author: Ritsu Miyako
Series: Usotoki Rhetoric #2-4
Format: Paperback
Age Rating: YA
Genre: Historical Mystery

Plot: Soma and Kanoko get wrapped up in a fight between the waitress Lily and her partner, Kanji, and find themselves infiltrating a haunted house, chasing after the key to a murder case!

Title: Arcanum Unbounded
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Series: Cosmere
Format: Paperback
Age Rating: Adult
Genre: Epic Fantasy

Plot: Brandon Sanderson creates worlds, and those worlds are linked. His universe spans the Stormlight Archive, the Mistborn series, the tales of Elantris, and others, comprising a unique constellation of vividly imagined realms known as the Cosmere. Now for the first time anywhere, stories representing each of these planets, and their fully realized and distinct magic systems, have been collected in a single spectacular volume. Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection brings together tales spanning the known limits of Sanderson’s universe–including the never-before-published Edgedancer, a thrilling new novella of the Stormlight Archive–along with charts, illustrations, notes…and secrets.

Title: The Emperor’s Soul
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Series: Elantris #2
Format: Hardback
Age Rating: Adult
Genre: Epic Fantasy

Yes, I know this story is in Arcanum Unbounded. Do I care? No. I wanted a standalone copy of it.

Plot: Shai is a Forger, a foreigner who can flawlessly copy and re-create any item by rewriting its history with skillful magic. Condemned to death after trying to steal the emperor’s scepter, she is given one opportunity to save herself. Though her skill as a Forger is considered an abomination by her captors, Shai will attempt to create a new soul for the emperor, who is almost dead. Probing deeply into his life, she discovers Emperor Ashravan’s truest nature—and the opportunity to exploit it. Her only possible ally is one who is truly loyal to the emperor, but councilor Gaotona must overcome his prejudices to understand that Shai’s forgery is as much artistry as it is deception.

Title: Warbreaker
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Series: Warbreaker #1
Format: Hardback
Age Rating: Adult
Genre: Epic Fantasy

Back in my Sanderson Cosmere era! I may not have completed the Wheel of Time series but I shall complete the Cosmere. Well, get up to date!

Plot: Warbreaker is the story of two sisters, who happen to be princesses, the God King one of them has to marry, the lesser god who doesn’t like his job, and the immortal who’s still trying to undo the mistakes he made hundreds of years ago. Their world is one in which those who die in glory return as gods to live confined to a pantheon in Hallandren’s capital city and where a power known as BioChromatic magic is based on an essence known as breath that can only be collected one unit at a time from individual people. By using breath and drawing upon the color in everyday objects, all manner of miracles and mischief can be accomplished. It will take considerable quantities of each to resolve all the challenges facing Vivenna and Siri, princesses of Idris; Susebron the God King; Lightsong, reluctant god of bravery, and mysterious Vasher, the Warbreaker.

Books Sent To Me By the Publisher

Title: Chain-Gang All Stars
Author: Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
Series: Standalone
Format: Hardback
Age Rating: Adult
Genre: Dystopian

Plot: Loretta Thurwar and Hamara “Hurricane Staxxx” Stacker are the stars of Chain-Gang All-Stars, the cornerstone of CAPE, or Criminal Action Penal Entertainment, a highly-popular, highly-controversial, profit-raising program in America’s increasingly dominant private prison industry. It’s the return of the gladiators and prisoners are competing for the ultimate prize: their freedom. In CAPE, prisoners travel as Links in Chain-Gangs, competing in death-matches for packed arenas with righteous protestors at the gates. Thurwar and Staxxx, both teammates and lovers, are the fan favorites. And if all goes well, Thurwar will be free in just a few matches, a fact she carries as heavily as her lethal hammer. As she prepares to leave her fellow Links, she considers how she might help preserve their humanity, in defiance of these so-called games, but CAPE’s corporate owners will stop at nothing to protect their status quo and the obstacles they lay in Thurwar’s path have devastating consequences.

Title: My Throat an Open Grave
Author: Tori Bovalino
Series: Standalone
Format: eBook
Age Rating: YA
Genre: Horror
Publication Date: 20/02

Plot: Growing up in the small town of Winston, Pennsylvania feels like drowning. Leah goes to church every Sunday, works when she isn’t at school, and takes care of her baby brother, Owen. Like every girl in Winston, she tries to be right and good and holy. If she isn’t the Lord of the Wood will take her, and she’ll disappear like so many other girls before her. But living up to the rigorous standards of the town takes its toll. One night, when Owen won’t stop screaming, Leah wishes him away, and the Lord listens. The screaming stops, and all that’s left in the crib is a small bundle of sticks tied with a ribbon. Filled with shame and the weight of the town’s judgment, Leah is forced to cross the river into the Lord of the Wood’s domain to bring Owen back. But the devilish figure who has haunted Winston for generations isn’t what she expects. He tells her she can have her brother back―for the price of a song. A song that Leah will have one month to write. It’s a bargain that will uncover secrets her hometown has tried to keep buried for decades. And what she unearths will have her questioning everything she’s been taught to fear.

Title: Intervals
Author: Marianne Brooker
Series: Standalone
Format: Paperback
Age Rating: Adult
Genre: Essays
Publication Date: 20/02

Synopsis: What makes a good death? A good daughter? In 2009, with her forties and a harsh wave of austerity on the horizon, Marianne Brooker’s mother was diagnosed with primary progressive multiple sclerosis. She made a workshop of herself and her surroundings, combining creativity and activism in inventive ways. But over time, her ability to work, to move and to live without pain diminished drastically. Determined to die in her own home, on her own terms, she stopped eating and drinking in 2019. In Intervals, Brooker reckons with heartbreak, weaving her first and final memories with a study of doulas, living wills and the precarious economics of social, hospice and funeral care. Blending memoir, polemic and feminist philosophy, Brooker joins writers such as Anne Boyer, Maggie Nelson, Donald Winnicott and Lola Olufemi to raise essential questions about choice and interdependence and, ultimately, to imagine care otherwise.

Title: Infinity Alchemist
Author: Kacen Callender
Series: Infinity Alchemist #1
Format: Paperback
Age Rating: YA
Genre: Fantasy

Plot: For Ash Woods, practicing alchemy is a crime. Only an elite few are legally permitted to study the science of magic―so when Ash is rejected by the Lancaster Mage’s College, he takes a job as the school’s groundskeeper instead, forced to learn alchemy in secret. When he’s discovered by the condescending and brilliant apprentice Ramsay Thorne, Ash is sure he’s about to be arrested―but instead of calling the reds, Ramsay surprises Ash by making him an offer: Ramsay will keep Ash’s secret if he helps her find the legendary Book of Source, a sacred text that gives its reader extraordinary power. As Ash and Ramsay work together and their feelings for each other grow, Ash discovers their mission is more dangerous than he imagined, pitting them against influential and powerful alchemists―Ash’s estranged father included. Ash’s journey takes him through the cities and wilds across New Anglia, forcing him to discover his own definition of true power and how far he and other alchemists will go to seize it.

Title: Fragile Animals
Author: Genevieve Jagger
Series: Standalone
Format: eBook
Age Rating: Adult
Genre: Horror
Publication Date: 25/04

Plot: Struggling to deal with the familial trauma of her Catholic upbringing, hotel cleaner, Noelle, travels to the Isle of Bute. There, she meets a man who claims to be a vampire, and a relationship blooms between them based solely on confession. But as talk turns sacrilegious, and the weather outside grows colder, Noelle struggles to come to terms with her blasphemous sexuality. She becomes hounded by memories of her past: her mother’s affair with the local priest, and the part she played in ending it.

Title: Calypso
Author: Oliver K. Langmead
Series: Standalone
Format: eBook
Age Rating: Adult
Genre: Sci-Fi/Prose Poetry
Publication Date: 02/04

Plot: Rochelle wakes from cryostasis to take up her role on the colony ark, Calypso . But she wakes to find the ship deserted, and the interior taken over by a forest. As she explores and finds the last remaining members of the crew, she discovers a legacy of war conducted whilst she slept. The engineers and the botanists have different visions for how to build the world. The engineers would build a new utopia of technology; the botanists would have the planet bloom, untouched by mankind. Both will destroy the other to ensure their vision of paradise prevails. And Rochelle, the last to wake on the Calypso, holds the balance of power in her hands.

Title: I Hope This Finds You Well
Author: Natalie Sue
Series: Standalone
Format: Paperback
Age Rating: Adult
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Publication Date: 21/05

Plot: As far as Jolene is concerned, her interactions with her colleagues should start and end with her official duties as an admin for Supershops, Inc. Unfortunately, her irritating, incompetent coworkers don’t seem to understand the importance of boundaries. Her secret to survival? She vents her grievances in petty email postscripts, then changes the text color to white so no one can see—until one of her hidden messages is exposed. Her punishment: sensitivity training (led by the suspiciously friendly HR guy, Cliff) and rigorous email restrictions. When an IT mix-up grants her access to her entire department’s private emails and DMs, Jolene knows she should report it, but who can resist reading what their coworkers are really saying? And when she discovers layoffs are coming, she realizes this might just be the key to saving her job. The plan is simple: Gain her boss’s favor; convince HR she’s Supershops material; and beat the competition. But as Jolene is drawn further into her coworker’s private worlds and realizes each are keeping secrets, her carefully constructed walls begin to crumble—especially around Cliff, whom she definitely cannot have feelings for. Eventually she will need to decide whether she’s ready to leave the comfort of her cubicle, even if that means coming clean to her colleagues.

Title: Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea
Author: Rebecca Thorne
Series: Standalone
Format: Paperback
Age Rating: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Publication Date: 09/05

Plot: Reyna and Kianthe dream of opening a friendly book shop together, serving the very best tea and cakes. Worn wooden floors, plants on every table, firelight drifting between the rafters – all complemented by love and good company. But Reyna is an elite bodyguard to a vengeful queen, and Kianthe is the most powerful mage in existence. Leaving their lives behind seems . . . impossible. Yet they flee to Tawney, a town nestled in the icy peaks of dragon country. There, they open the bookstore they’d always wanted. What follows is a tale of mishaps, mysteries, dragons, and a murderous queen throwing the realm’s biggest temper tantrum. Through it, these two women will discover what they mean to each other – and their world.

Title: That Self-Same Metal
Author: Brittany N. Williams
Series: Forge and Fracture Saga #1
Format: Paperback
Age Rating: YA
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Publication Date: Out Now!

Plot: Sixteen-year-old Joan Sands is a gifted craftswoman who creates and upkeeps the stage blades for William Shakespeare’s acting company, The King’s Men. Joan’s skill with her blades comes from a magical ability to control metal—an ability gifted by her Head Orisha, Ogun. Because her whole family is Orisha-blessed, the Sands family have always kept tabs on the Fae presence in London. Usually that doesn’t involve much except noting the faint glow around a Fae’s body as they try to blend in with London society, but lately, there has been an uptick in brutal Fae attacks. After Joan wounds a powerful Fae and saves the son of a cruel Lord, she is drawn into political intrigue in the human and Fae worlds.

January 2024 Wrap Up

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The first wrap up of the year! And what a month! Last Jan, my focus was to read manga volumes and I ended up reading 18 books. This month where I had not real plan I ended up reading 16! That’s impressive!

I read 16 books this month
Genre: 8 fantasy, 3 murder mysteries, 3 sci-fi, 1 historical and 1 non-fiction
Gender of authors: 7 women, 2 men and 1 various
Race of authors: 10 white authors, 2 asian authors, 2 black authors and 1 Middle Eastern author
Age range: 10 adult and 6 YA
Format: 13 paperback, 2 audiobook and 1 hardback.

A Torch Agains the Night – Sabaa Tahir (4 stars)

I audio booked this story. I was meant to read it last year but never found the time. This was a great follow up to An Ember in the Ashes. Helen was my favourite character, I love how complicated she is. The narrators all did an amazing job. I would highly recommend the audiobook.

Cursed Bread – Sophie Mackintosh (4 stars)

This book was a whirlwind 184 pages. It felt like a fever dream. We follow a woman called Elodie who is reminiscing on a poignant moment in her life (based on a true historical event in 1950s France) when she meets a mysterious and beautiful woman called Violet. We aren’t given the full picture at first and as you turn the pages you sink deeper and deeper into Elodie’s mind both her present and her past. We look at her relationship with her husband, and her curiousness about Violet’s husband The Ambassador and also we talk a lot about bread. This book was alluring, enticing, and vague and Makintosh’s characterisation deserves a round of applause. I devoured this book in one day and most of it in a two-hour reading stint at my local cafe. Flicking between the past and the present with such short chapters had me craving for more. I loved the structuring of this book and the way the story is laid out. I must read more of Mackintosh’s work!

Meet Me at the Surface – Jodie Matthews (4 stars)

A beautiful and literary tale that feels like folklore crafted and forged from the depths of Cornwall itself. This book was a slow mover for me but I loved getting lost in the landscape of the Moor and the vastness of our main character, Merryn’s, childhood. As we flick between the past and present there is this heavy feeling that both Merryn and us as a reader are missing something. Nothing makes this more clear than the beautiful folklore chapters that pop up time and time again through the narrative. Like a puzzle to solve you stumble around trying to piece everything together as you have this feeling that it could be too late. This book is a perfect study of grief, complicated relationships, the intensity of young love, and the idea of not fitting in. I enjoyed watching this story slowly unfold taking in the beautiful writing and the beautiful imagery of the Cornish moors. You do truly feel like you are there standing at that farmhouse with Merryn and her mother and aunt. The writing was so visceral and real and I loved the different ways Matthews writing connected to nature and the area itself. Such a beautiful and magical read!

The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins (4 stars)

I DNFd this book back in 2012 after not really getting into the story. Well I don’t know what 12 year old me was thinking because 23 year old me LOVED it. This was one of my book group books and we have 15 people show up which was my largest group ever! My favourite part of this book was the first half before the actual game because the movie adapted the actual games part pretty accurately but Katniss’ life before the games wasn’t adapted as faithfully so I learnt a lot more.

A Tempest of Tea – Hafsah Faizal (4 stars)

have yet to be disappointed by Hafsah Faizal. This book was such a great read that had me on the edge of my seat not knowing what to expect. Her characters were exciting and memorable, their dynamics and flirty banter were so entertaining. The plot was so enticing and I loved watching the events unfold – I couldn’t keep up with all the information Faizal was sending our way. The setting was so atmospheric. Faizal did a great job blending fantasy and historical reality. While this isn’t set in our world you cannot miss the connections to British colonialism and how accurately Faizal depicted that time in history. I think she did a great job emulating that but adding a fantasy twist that blended so perfectly within the story. The vampires in this story felt fresh and exciting and I enjoyed how they were incorporated in the world and narrative.

The Last Murder at the End of the World – Stuart Turton (4.5 stars)

Some of the best moments in my life has been spending 48 hours devouring whatever masterpiece Stuart Turton has written in that point in time. Taking the crime genre and elevating it to heights I am surprised he manages to ascend. This book was no exception. As usual the plot is incredibly engaging and exciting taking you down roads you didn’t expect to go down or didn’t even see in the first place. But I wanted to highlight, in this book in particular, was the incredible characterisation and sense of place. I have never read a murder mystery which has cemented me so strongly in a location before. Through Turton’s writing I wasn’t only able to picture the island and its inhabitants but I truly felt that I was there with our characters experiencing life with them side by side. From the multiple POVs to the picturesque detail, I honestly would love to live there if they weren’t on the edge of succumbing to toxic fog. Another addition to this book is the multiple povs we follow throughout the story. While we do have a central ‘detective’, this story is packed with a variety of important characters who help make this story the most in depth and rich of the three novels Turton has published so far. Following them through the trials and tribulations of island life and then the subsequent murder made you feel connected to the island and the characters themselves as you see them in their natural day to day life and then in a crisis. This was my favourite set of characters in a Turton novel ever.

The List of Suspicious Things – Jennie Godfrey (5 stars)

This book has so many different facets and layers to it that trying to write it all down is a mammoth task. But I want to start with Miv. Miv is an amazing narrator in this story. We see the world through her eyes as she tries to make sense of the ever-changing world she lives in. She loves her best friend Sharon and would do anything to keep her and her family safe and together. Exploring Yorkshire through this book alongside Miv was like watching a tapestry unfold but something was missing. Miv for most of the book is 12 years old and she has a smaller view of the world compared to the adults around her so this tapestry while beautiful doesn’t feel finished.

Alongside Miv’s chapters, dotted through, are chapters from the adults in her life such as her father and Omar, the man who runs the corner shop. They fill in the details we are missing from Miv’s POV and it makes for an incredibly rich reading experience. This tapestry that unfolds from Miv gets filled with rich colour and you get a greater scope of the lives lived in this story.

This book has a pretty big cast from all walks of life but it doesn’t feel overwhelming at all. Godfrey paces this story impeccably and I enjoyed meeting the variety of people that make up Miv’s life. My favourite character had to be Omar; his story as a widowed father struggling with the loss of his wife, doing right by his son, and managing the escalating harassment by members of the community, was a super impactful storyline that will stay with me for years. Godfrey does not hide behind the atrocities happening during the time from racist attacks, abuse, and bullying. And viewing this all through the eyes of a young girl who is coming to terms with the world not being as great as she originally thought it was adds to the level of heartbreak.

But it’s not all down and out because one of the biggest themes for me was community. How Miv and Sharon get taken under the wing of so many adults, their friendship with Ishtiaq, how they look out for each other, and people who don’t even realise they have their support. It’s a novel of duality. Of how humans can do horrible things for each other and also how humans can be supportive and kind.

How to Solve Your Own Murder – Kristen Perrin (5 stars)

I don’t think there are enough words to describe how exciting, tense, and emotional this book was. I went into this expecting a super easy-reading cosy murder mystery but this book ended up taking over my entire life for 2 whole days. That is how long it took me to finish this book. Every spare moment I got I spent reading this book.

Covering both 1966 and our present day we flick between the two time periods trying to piece together Great Aunt Frances’ past as well as unravel her very recent murder with her grand niece Annie. We explore both time periods meeting a variety of characters whose young and old selves clash with both of the Adams women. Jumping from each different time period made for such exciting reading as it kept the story super fast-paced but added a richer layer to the story as as a reader we are divulged more information earlier on than our amateur sleuth, Annie. I spent ages trying to piece together the past and the present to make sense of this scandalous village history.

Annie is an amazing character that you can’t help but root for but I spent most of my enjoyment absorbed into the world of 17 year old Frances and the ups and downs of her late teenage life. This book is truly half coming of age story, half murder mystery, and the use of the Frances’ diary (which allows the reader to understand what happened in her past) elevates this book from being lost amongst recent cosy crime stories. It has an extra edge to it that makes it unputdownable.

Books I Read but Don’t Have Enough Words to Review:

Demons of the Shadow Realm, Vol. 1 – Hiromu Arakawa
Sunbringer – Hannah Kaner
Ghost Roast – Shawnelle Gibbs & Shawneé Gibbs
Artificial Condition – Martha Wells
The Heroic Legend of Arslan, Vol. 2 – Hiromu Arakawa
The Eleventh Metal – Brandon Sanderson
Binti – Nnedi Okorafor
The Norse Myths That Shape the Way We Think – Carolyne Larrington

My Most Anticipated Books of 2024

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Every year I do this post and it excites me every year, since I have been working in bookselling, that I have some of these in my hands already!!! What an honour!

Updated Books I Have On My Netgalley Shelf 2024 Edition

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Time to hold myself accountable.

December 2023 Wrap Up

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Not going to lie… I completely forgot about this wrap up. I was so focused on the new year posts.

I read 10 books this month
I DNFd 0 books.
Genre: 3 murder mysteries, 2 romance, 2 fantasy, 2 contemporary and 1 non-fiction
Gender of authors: 7 women, 2 men and 1 various
Race of authors: 6 white authors, 3 asian writers and 1 various
Age range: 8 adult and 2 YA
Format: 7 paperback, 2 hardback and 1 ebook.

Challenges

Prompt: Christmas
- Hercule Poirot’s Silent Night – Sophie Hannah
- The Christmas Swap – Taila Samuels
- The Christmas Appeal – Janice Hallett
- Mystery in White – J. Jefferson Farjeon

Mystery in White – J. Jefferson Fargeon (1 star)

I may not have DNFd any books in December but I don’t know what’s worse…a DNF or a 1 star? This mystery was way too complicated than it needed to be. I am good at suspending disbelief for a fun plot twist but this was too much. Add a complicated plot with way too many boring characters and a super slow pace and you have a 1 star from me.

Rabbit Hole – Kate Brody (3 stars)

This book was marketed as a literary thriller exploring grief and the toxicity of the true crime community. I felt this book did one of those things really well. The character study into how grief can affect a singular person was exceptional. It was so well done. The thriller element not so much. I want more of a deep dive into the true crime community and it felt pretty surface level which was a shame.

The Christmas Appeal – Janice Hallett (3.5 stars)

Now I am a Janice Hallett fan! Going into this companion book I knew it wasn’t going to be a 5 stars. It’s a super short and fun Christmas mystery. I felt that it fulfilled what it came to do. That being said I do feel that she did lose some of the depths and nuance to her characters that I am used too and relied to heavy on negative stereotypes. Which was a disappointment.

Sweat and Soap, Vol. 1 – Kintetsu Yamada (4 stars)

Now I had seen this manga series all over TikTok months ago and I finally got around to reading the first volume. I enjoyed this so much but I didn’t realise it was going to be 18+. I was so shocked by some of the panels initially as it was so unexpected hahah. But I love the relationship and I really enjoyed the art-style.

The Christmas Swap – Talia Samuels (4 stars)

A super cute Christmas rom-com! This was just a beautiful story about love in all forms and varieties with witty dialogue, great chemistry, and a mystery regarding a pregnant dog. One thing I want to shout out about this book is its characterization. Margot and Ellie, our two POVs in this book, were super interesting to spend time with and I loved watching their past unfold alongside their future. Margot was my favourite character and I loved her and Ellie together their chemistry was so well-written that I couldn’t stop smiling and giggling anytime they were together. This book is probably the first book I have read which used the miscommunication trope and I didn’t want to pull my hair out! The miscommunication in this book felt more like a comedy of errors-esque plot which made for fun reading and hilarious moments. I also adored all the other relationships outside of the main couple. Specifically, Ben and Margot’s budding friendship. I love seeing platonic male/female relationships in media so this was just great!

Hercule Poirot’s Silent Night – Sophie Hannah (4 stars)

I was a bit apprehensive going into this book as I have found the last couple of books to be a bit underwhelming but this book is a return to form for Hannah. As per usual her characterization of Poirot and Catchpool is great and I have to say, I love their dynamic – it’s probably my favorite relationship out of ALL the Poirot books across the board. Their friendship is amazing. This time round I also enjoyed the varying side characters that make up the plot. The interpersonal relationships detailed in this book are complex, layered, and made for a tense but exhilirating read! The plot was slow-paced compared to some of her other books but it was so engaging. I literally couldn’t put it down as I just wanted to know what was next. Hannah did a great job of reeling you in slowly and surely.

The City of Stardust – Georgia Summers (4.5 stars)

Fans of The Starless Sea and The Ten Thousand Doors of January will LOVE THIS BOOK! A perfect balance of beautiful and lyrical writing, an over-arching plot that spans centuries, mythology, adventure, and complicated human relationships. I really enjoyed the character Penelope. I love a female villain and Penelope is the queen of female villains! I was intrigued by her ‘relationship’ with Alexsander and how complicated, layered, and toxic it was. Seeing how the fantasy world and the mundane blend into one another was exhilarating and I completely identified with Violet and her desire for adventure!

Realms of Imagination – The British Library (5 stars)

What an honour it was read this amazing collection of fantasy-focused essays. Covering such a vast range of essays from categorising fantasy to discussing the Brontes. I am in awe of people who can put into words such complex topics succinctly and engagingly. The amount of notes I have written down of interesting facts and amazing quotes is about 20+ pages.

Some of my favourite essays include:

Folk Tales, Fairy Lore and the Making of Tradition – Terri Wilding
The Everything Book – Sofia Samatar
Fantasy’s Weird Architecture – Matthew Sangster
Crossing Borders of Otherness – Dimitra Fimi

My 2024 Reading Plan!!

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And this is it my final annual post for 2023 is here for you to read. My 2024 reading plan is a bit different from normal years.

My 2023 Challenge Recap!

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I can’t believe another year has flown past – how exciting!!! I felt that this year I did a great job with my challenges (bar one) so let’s break it down!!!

My 2023 Wrap Up!

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I cannot believe we are here again! A whole year has passed. I have so many weird emotions about the new year. Excited for the year ahead but also FREAKING OUT BECAUSE TIME IS WEIRD! I say this every year but I do truly feel that this is the last time I can say this – this was the best reading year of my life! I genuinely don’t think I could repeat this next year. For this wrap up, I will be using stats taken from both the Goodreads Wrap Up and some reading spreadsheets I have collated from Ali from Hardback Hoarder.

Basic Stats

I read 45, 679 pages
I read 168 books (177 if you include DNFs)
I DNFed 11 books (some of them I counted towards my overall goal because I read a lot of it before DNFing)
My average book length was 256
My average book rating was 3.8
I read 27% of my physical TBR

The shortest book I read in 2022 – 16 pages

I read this on Tor.com and it was a bit underwhelming.

The longest book I read in 2022 – 688 pages

I really enjoyed this book and I also was able to meet the author and get a copy signed!

The most popular book I read in 2023.

This was shelved by over 2.2 million people on Goodreads. I truly get the hype with this book. We read it for book club and everyone loved it!

The least popular book I read in 2023.

This was shelved by 15 people on Goodreads. I read this book for the British Fantasy awards and I really enjoyed it!

The book I read with the highest rating on Goodreads.

This had a 4.86 average. Another book I read for the British Fantasy Awards – this book ended up being the winner!

Rating Breakdown

So as per usual here is a breakdown of all the books I read this year and where they fall in the star category. I have also included links to my reviews if you wanted to read them!

Loads of people talk about how they rarely give out 5 stars. only reserved for the best of the best… I was giving out 5 stars left, right and centre in 2023. You get a 5 star and YOU GET A 5 STAR! A quarter of what I read this year got 5 stars.. oop.

DNFS

Title	Author
Scarlet	Genevieve Cogman
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue	V.E. Schwab
This is How You Lose the Time War	Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone
Final Acts	Martin Edwards
Elantris	Brandon Sanderson
Howl’s Moving Castle	Diana Wynne Jones
Hooky	Miriam Bonastre Tur
Lemon	Kwon Seo-Yun
Love in Focus	Yoko Nogiri
Sword Catcher	Cassandra Clare

1 STAR

Title	Author
Candescent Blooms	Andrew Hook
Mystery in White	J. Jefferson Farjeon

2 – 2.5 STARS

Title	Author
Fruiting Bodies	Kemi Ashing-Giwa
This is How You Lose the Time War	Amal El-Mohtar
Nocean	Efa
Leo in Little Pieces	Mayana Itoiz
Soggy Landing	Alec McGovern
Termush	Sven Holm
Mountains Made of Glass	Scarlett St. Clair
Black Coffee	Agatha Christie
Every Exquisite Thing	Laura Steven
Night Train to the Stars	Kenji Miyazawa
Tokyo Express	Seicho Matsumoto
The Mimicking of Known Successes	Malka Ann Older
Always Take Notes	Simon Adam & Rachel Lloyd

3 – 3.5 STARS

Title	Author
Legends and Lattes	Travis Baldree
The Sixteenth Century in 100 Women	Amy Licence
My Killer Vacation	Tessa Bailey
Wotakoi: Love is Hard for an Otaku	Fujita
Promise Boys	Nick Brooks
Red Dust, White Snow	Pan Huiting
The Strange	Nathan Ballingrud
Claymore, Vol.1	Norihiro Yagi
The Mill House Murders	Yukito Ayatsuji
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, Vol.5	Kanehtio Yamada
The Case from the Lighthouse Intruder	Kereen Getten
The Tombs of Atuan	Ursula K. Le Guin
We Should All Be Feminists	Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche
Uncle Paul	Celia Fremlin
The Tea Dragon Society	Kay O’Neill
Death on Gokuman Island	Seishi Yokomizo
Beast in the Shadows	Edogawa Rampo
The Wind Child	Gabriela Houston
Before the Coffee Gets Cold	Toshikazu Kawaguchi
FMA: The Land of Sand	Hiromu Arakawa
The Last Conversation	Paul Tremblay
The Skeleton Key	Erin Kelly
The Heroic Legend of Arslan #1	Hiromu Arakawa
Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops	Shaun Bythell
Haikyu!! Vol. 4	Haruichi Furudate
Vox Machina #1	Matt Mercer
I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokbokki	Baek Sehee
The Last Tale of the Flower Bride	Roshani Chokshi
Whose Body?	Dorothy L. Sayers
At Midnight	Various Authors
Twin Crowns	Catherine Doyle & Katherine Webber
A Passing on of Shells	Simon Lamb
The Wonderful Stag, or the Courtship of Red Elsie	Kathleen Jennings
The Cloisters	Katy Hays
The Long Game	Elena Armas
The Kamogawa Food Detectives	Hisashi Kashiwai
Nana, Vol.1	Ai Yazawa
Rabbit Hole	Kate Brody
The Christmas Appeal	Janice Hallett

4 – 4.5 STARS

Title	Author
The Promised Neverland, Vol. 7, 10, 12-14, 20	Kaiu Shirai
Snow White with the Red Hair, Vol. 1	Sorata Akiduki
TLOZ: Twilight Princess, Vol. 2	Akira Himekawa
Drifting Dragons, Vol. 1	Taku Kuwabara
Children of the Whales, Vol. 1	Abi Umeda
The Book of Eve	Meg Clothier
The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books	Martin Edwards
Knee Deep: Book 1	Joe Flood
Blood in the Thread	Cheri Kamei
Usotoki Rhetoric, Vol. 1	Miyako Ritsu
Murder in Mesopotamia	Agatha Christie
The Girl from the Other Side, Vol. 2	Nagabe
The Trial of Lotta Rae	Siobhan MacGowan
The Ashes of London	Andrew Taylor
Fierce	Mathieu Burinat
Moriarty the Patriot, Vol.2	Ryosuke Takeuchi
Yona of the Dawn, Vol.1	Mizuho Kusanagi
A Magic Steeped in Poison	Judy I. Lin
Lies We Sing to the Sea	Sarah Underwood
The Burning God	R.F. Kuang
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Vol.1	Hayao Miyazaki
Gwen and Art are Not in Love	Lex Croucher
A Wizard from Earthsea	Ursula K. Le Guin
Onyeka and the Rise of the Rebels	Tola Okogwu
The Six Deaths of the Saint	Alix E. Harrow
Ember Shadows and the Fates of Mount Never	Rebecca King
Cards on the Table	Agatha Christie
The Hunters Guild: Red Hood, Vol.1	Yuki Kawaguchi
Herc	Phoenicia Rogerson
Blue Exorcist, Vol.2	Kazue Kato
Thornhedge	T. Kingfisher
Masters of Death	Olivie Blake
Vern, Custodian of the Universe	Tyrell Waters
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Fairies	Heather Fawcett
The List	Yomi Adegoke
Peril on the Atlantic	A.M. Howell
Behind a Broken Smile	Penny Jones
She and Her Cat	Makoto Shinkai
All Systems Red	Martha Wells
A Psalm for the Wild-Built	Becky Chambers
Under the Moon	E.M. Faulds
I’m Not Your Final Girl	Claire C. Holland
Breakable Things	Cassandra Khaw
Witchcraft: A History in 13 Trials	Marion Gibson
Garlic and the Witch	Bree Paulsen
Normal Women	Phillippa Greogry
Witch Hat Aterlia, Vol. 2	Kamome Shirahama
We Have Always Lived in the Castle	Shirley Jackson
I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast is Me	Jamison Shea
Donut Feed the Squirrels	Mika Song
Imelda and the Goblin King	Briony May Smith
Beyond the Story	BTS
Moonflight	Gill Lewis
This Thread of Gold	Catherine Joy White
The Christmas Swap	Talia Samuels
ATLA: The Search	Gene Luen Yang
Hercule Poirot’s Silent Night	Sophie Hannah
The City of Stardust	Georgia Summers
Sweat and Soap, Vol. 1	Kintetsu Yamada
Princess Floralinda and the Forty Flight Tower	Tamsyn Muir
Their Vicious Games	Joelle Wellington
Impossible Creatures	Katherine Rundell

5 STARS

Title	Author
Legendborn	Tracy Deonn
The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels	Janice Hallett
The Faraway Paladin, Vol. 1	Kanata Yanagino
Six of Crows	Leigh Bardugo
The Promised Neverland, Vol. 8-11, 15-19	Kaiu Shirai
Godkiller	Hannah Kaner
Inuyasha, Vol.1	Rumiko Takahashi
The Mountain in the Sea	Ray Nayler
Speak of the Devil	Rose Wilding
Spy X Family, Vol.1	Tatsuya Endo
Juniper Mae: Knight of Tykotech City	Sarah Soh
Yellowface	Rebecca Kuang
Trust	Hernan Diaz
Hilda: The Wilderness Stories + 2 more	Luke Pearson
Luna and the Treasure of Tlaloc	Joe Todd-Stanton
The Gilded Wolves	Roshani Chokshi
Every Heart a Doorway	Seanan McGuire
Sailor Moon, Vol.2	Naoko Takeuchi
A Fortunate Woman	Polly Morland
You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight	Kalynn Bayron
In a Lonely Place	Dorothy B. Hughes
Emergency Skin	N.K. Jemisin
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder	Holly Jackson
Divine Might & Pandora’s Jar	Natalie Haynes
Witch Hat Aterlia, Vol. 1	Kamome Shirahama
The Witchstone Ghosts	Emily Randall-Jones
The Hexologists	Josiah Bancroft
The Girl from the Other Side, Vol. 3	Nagabe
Curious Tides	Pascale Lacelle
Starling House	Alix E. Harrow
Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop	Hwang Bo-Reum
Gideon the Ninth	Tamsyn Muir
Realms of the Imagination	Various Authors
Becoming	Michelle Obama

Format Breakdown!

Physical – 131
eBook – 42
Audio – 4

I will be honest I did part audiobook and part read some books like Starling House for example. I just completely forgot about the option on my spreadsheet hahaha.