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25. The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness. 4. The background characters of a YA fantasy thriller go on with their own personal dramas, mostly trying to avoid the chaos in the foreground. The best part is the summary at the start of each chapter of the thrilling and heartbreaking love-triangle-invasion-from-beyond-great-sacrifice, absolutely none of which shows up in the chapter itself beyond weird lights and haunted deer and random characters occasionally going missing.
26. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E.Schwab. 4. A girl makes a deal with the devil that nets her immortality...but ensures that no one can remember her as soon as they stop looking at her. Delightfully evocative and just a little heartbreaking. Although I'm not totally satisfied with the ending...not so much her decision but her attitude.
27. Dread Nation by Justina Ireland. 4. The Civil War ended because the dead rose up, and now Black kids are drafted to fight on the front lines. Maybe what Abraham Lincoln: Zombie Hunter should have been. Searing, clever, creepy, and often funny, with a fantastic protagonist in zombie fighter Jane.
28. Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. 4.5. Hunger Games by way of Gormenghast. I'll admit, it took me a little while to warm to this (Gideon's cynical worldview is understandable but I initially found grating). But then the sarcasm turned out to be just the thing to balance the ornate ghoulishness and I just could Not. Put. This. Down. Horror and self-sacrifice and And Then There Were None levels of paranoia only with actually clever plotting.
29. The Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty. 4.5. The middle of the Daevabad trilogy features even more politics, even more food and costume porn, and even more elaborate world building. And Nahri's mother is a fascinating monster.
30. Or What You Will by Jo Walton. 4. OK, I enjoyed this unbelievably meta novel about an author's muse trying to drag her into her own book. It's delightfully digressive. But it's damn weird, and about a third of it is charmingly related anecdotes about Florence with minimal intersections with the plot. Don't go into it expecting a linear plot and you'll do fine.
31. One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London. 5. A plus-size fashion blogger calls out a loosely-veiled The Bachelorette and gets cast as the next season's star. This is just so damn delightful. I loved the voice of the protagonist so much. I loved that it's pretty realistic, in the attitudes of the protagonist, the other contestants, and America in general towards a stylish, smart, successful, but not slim woman. And I loved that compassion and joy radiated from the pages for many of the key characters. It's a gem.
32. The Empire of Gold by S.A. Chakraborty. 5. Triumphantly gripping conclusion to the Daevabad trilogy. Stayed up way too late to finish reading it. Crocodile gods and tons of backstabbing and tons of alliances and a really satisfying conclusion and some lovely denouements. Fantastic trilogy in both senses of the word.
33. A Queen from the North by Racheline Maltese and Erin McRae. 4. On this reread, still love this royal romance in an alternate history Britain where the War of the Roses never ended. Still hoping they'll continue this series.
34. Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente. 4. On the reread, some of the flaws are more apparent. Still don't care. Douglas Adams takes on Eurovision with a washed up David Bowie/Freddy Mercury hybrid. Time traveling red pandas are involved. It's delirious.
26. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E.Schwab. 4. A girl makes a deal with the devil that nets her immortality...but ensures that no one can remember her as soon as they stop looking at her. Delightfully evocative and just a little heartbreaking. Although I'm not totally satisfied with the ending...not so much her decision but her attitude.
27. Dread Nation by Justina Ireland. 4. The Civil War ended because the dead rose up, and now Black kids are drafted to fight on the front lines. Maybe what Abraham Lincoln: Zombie Hunter should have been. Searing, clever, creepy, and often funny, with a fantastic protagonist in zombie fighter Jane.
28. Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. 4.5. Hunger Games by way of Gormenghast. I'll admit, it took me a little while to warm to this (Gideon's cynical worldview is understandable but I initially found grating). But then the sarcasm turned out to be just the thing to balance the ornate ghoulishness and I just could Not. Put. This. Down. Horror and self-sacrifice and And Then There Were None levels of paranoia only with actually clever plotting.
29. The Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty. 4.5. The middle of the Daevabad trilogy features even more politics, even more food and costume porn, and even more elaborate world building. And Nahri's mother is a fascinating monster.
30. Or What You Will by Jo Walton. 4. OK, I enjoyed this unbelievably meta novel about an author's muse trying to drag her into her own book. It's delightfully digressive. But it's damn weird, and about a third of it is charmingly related anecdotes about Florence with minimal intersections with the plot. Don't go into it expecting a linear plot and you'll do fine.
31. One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London. 5. A plus-size fashion blogger calls out a loosely-veiled The Bachelorette and gets cast as the next season's star. This is just so damn delightful. I loved the voice of the protagonist so much. I loved that it's pretty realistic, in the attitudes of the protagonist, the other contestants, and America in general towards a stylish, smart, successful, but not slim woman. And I loved that compassion and joy radiated from the pages for many of the key characters. It's a gem.
32. The Empire of Gold by S.A. Chakraborty. 5. Triumphantly gripping conclusion to the Daevabad trilogy. Stayed up way too late to finish reading it. Crocodile gods and tons of backstabbing and tons of alliances and a really satisfying conclusion and some lovely denouements. Fantastic trilogy in both senses of the word.
33. A Queen from the North by Racheline Maltese and Erin McRae. 4. On this reread, still love this royal romance in an alternate history Britain where the War of the Roses never ended. Still hoping they'll continue this series.
34. Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente. 4. On the reread, some of the flaws are more apparent. Still don't care. Douglas Adams takes on Eurovision with a washed up David Bowie/Freddy Mercury hybrid. Time traveling red pandas are involved. It's delirious.
