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The House in the Cerulean Sea – TJ Klune \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2606<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nThis was so cute, charming, and funny, and I loved the varied cast of characters (especially Lucy). Also, one of the best and most romantic things I’ve ever read was in this story (presented here with the names removed):<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I meant what I said.”
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Yours Truly – Abby Jimenez \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2606<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nHeart-warming rom-com with a lovely epistolary side. Genuinely funny without relying on people being sarcastic and bitchy. Apparently part of a series, but it was absolutely a stand-alone story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amazon pick for Best Romance; Book of the Month’s Book of the Year for 2023.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Fourth Wing – Rebecca Yarros \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2606<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nThis book got a lot of love AND a lot of hate. But I thoroughly enjoyed it, loved the variety of characters, and super loved that the dragons are grumpy little shits who will roast people at the slightest provocation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SO MANY AWARDS. SO MANY.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Hello Stranger – Katherine Center \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2606<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nI’m pretty vocal about how much I dislike portrayals of face blindness in books (looking at YOU, Alice Feeney) – but this one gets it spot-on. Not only was the romance cute with likeable and relatable characters, I appreciated getting the face blindness angle on a romance that was realistically done. I felt, ironically, seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amazon editor’s pick for one of the Best Books of the Year in 2023.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents – Dr. Lindsay C. Gibson \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2606<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nThis was recommended to me by a friend – and on the surface, it sounds like a book that will teach you to blame your parents for your problems. That’s not it at all – in reality, this gave me a perspective on WHY some of the things in my life happened. I finished the book with a better understanding of my upbringing and a path towards forgiveness. Huge mindset shift.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The Light Pirate – Lily Brooks Dalton \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2606<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nThis was an excellent book dealing with a world in the throes of horrific climate change devastation. For my emergency manager mindset, this ticked a lot of boxes. The ONLY thing that kept this from being a solid 5 stars was the weird romance shoehorned in at the end. Like.. why? And… also no.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The Hunting Party – Lucy Foley \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2606<\/strong>\u2606<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nPeople seem to either love or hate Lucy Foley with no in-betweens. I think she’s great, and her settings are always *chef’s kiss* – this one follows the Nordic thriller trend and does it well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Voted Best of BookTok.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Oasis – Katya de Becerra \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2606<\/strong>\u2606<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nBilled as a YA thriller and likened to The Twilight Zone, this was an interesting book with a unique premise. The comparison to The Twilight Zone is more apt, in my opinion, than calling it a thriller, though.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Love on the Brain – Ali Hazelwood \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2606<\/strong>\u2606<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nI like Ali Hazelwood’s rom-coms, and this was no exception. It’s cute and fun, and I do love a good NASA angle. That being said, I’m really annoyed by the trope of tall man with very small lady – and I didn’t need to hear about her vagina stretching. C’mon now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Won lots of awards including Indie Next Pick and Amazon pick for Best Romance in 2022.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The Lies We Told – Camilla Way \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2606\u2606<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nThese people? Yikes. I enjoyed the creepy suspense elements, but honestly? I didn’t feel bad for the characters at all. Y’all earned this.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Weyward – Emilia Hart \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2606\u2606<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nWhile there were many parts of this story I enjoyed, and I felt the generational angle was handled well… I get really tired of people thinking the only way to traumatize women is through sexual assault. Bonus points for a great cover, though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Winner of lots of awards including Amazon pick for one of the Best Books of the Year So Far in 2023 and a Goodreads Best Debut Novel and Best Historical Fiction.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Starling House – Alix E. Harrow \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2606\u2606<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nYou know, I gave this 3 stars when I read it last year, but honestly, now that it’s been about a year, I can’t remember it at all. Maybe my rating should be lower?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amazon pick for one of the Best Books of the Year 2023.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The Writing Retreat – Julia Bartz \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2606\u2606<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nI enjoyed the setting significantly more than the story. Some reviews say this story is sexy, but it decidedly was not (to me, anyway). The premise was interesting, but the delivery was a little disappointing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amazon pick for Best Mystery, Thriller, & Suspense in 2023.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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What Lies in the Woods – Kate Alice Marshall \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2606\u2606<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nA Goodreads award nominee from 2023, this was a solid thriller with some interesting twisty bits. I generally don’t like unreliable narrators, but Naomi was a good protagonist despite this.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Read This Quickly or We All Die – Wendy Fehr \/ Manus Frostheart \/ Sabrina Fehr \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2606\u2606<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe premise of this story is entertaining, and the cheeky voice was just perfect throughout. It was a very odd book, but surprisingly charming. If the description of the book on Amazon doesn’t sell you, nothing will.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Fishermen’s Court – Andrew Wolfendon \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2606\u2606<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nI picked this up as a free e-book from Amazon, and it doesn’t seem to be available in that format anymore. A thriller that actually delivers on the genre, and an unexpected gem in the mire that free e-books on Amazon tend to dwell in.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The Last Word – Taylor Adams \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2606\u2606<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nI picked this one up because No Exit was such a great novel. This one was interesting, and H.G. Kane was a fun supporting character. A mystery thriller that was adequate but didn’t blow my skirt up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amazon pick for Best Mystery, Thriller, & Suspense in 2023.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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White Horse – Erica T. Wurth \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2606\u2606<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nKari’s character arc was excellent, and I enjoyed the ghost story. Auntie Squeaker is a fabulous supporting character. I didn’t think this was nearly the horror story that everyone else seems to think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amazon pick for Best Science Fiction and Fantasy in 2022.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The Only Survivors – Megan Miranda \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2606\u2606<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nThis book was more of a psychological thriller than the mystery it was billed – though I give the author props for the lovely twists that I didn’t see coming. Tension was high in some parts.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Small Angels – Lauren Owen \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2606\u2606<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nA solid magical realism story with some spooky elements. The atmosphere is well-crafted. Fans of Gothic horror will likely enjoy this one.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Dracula – Bram Stoker \u2605\u2605\u2606\u2606<\/strong>\u2606<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nYeah, I know it’s a classic. It had some good bits, and I appreciate the contributions to the genre… but the only character who wasn’t a complete idiot was Mina. Van Helsing spent the entire book not telling anyone what was happening, and that ended up being a big part of why Dracula got away with so much.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Camp Zero – Michelle Min Sterling \u2605\u2605\u2606\u2606<\/strong>\u2606<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nI really enjoyed what turned out to be the B plot. The main plot was the weaker of the two, so I wish they had been flipped.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The Stranger Upstairs – Lisa M. Matlin \u2605\u2605\u2606\u2606<\/strong>\u2606<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nBilled as a horror\/thriller, this felt more like literary fiction to me. The protagonist was, in my opinion, a moron who brought trouble upon herself and then was upset about it. The cover’s pretty, though!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Foul Lady Fortune (Foul Lady Fortune #1) – Chloe Gong \u2605\u2605\u2606\u2606<\/strong>\u2606<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nThis turned out to be a spin-off of another series by Chloe Gong, but this was not in any way indicated. It was very clear, early on, that the original series needed to be read to give any shits about the protagonist here. Somehow, this book gets really high reviews.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Romantic Comedy – Curtis Sheffield (DNF) \u2606\u2606\u2606\u2606\u2606<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nA massive snore-fest for me. I was so bored, I couldn’t even finish. Unlikeable main characters, and it dealt more with the minutiae of working on an SNL-like show than anything else. Somehow voted Best Book of the Year by lots of places including NPR and the New York Post. Wild.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Tomorrow Tomorrow and Tomorrow – Gabrielle Zenin (DNF) \u2606<\/strong>\u2606\u2606\u2606\u2606<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nSO BORING. The reviews were so promising, but it was such a slog that I couldn’t finish. Also? Terrible protagonists. Somehow, received lots of awards, though I’m not sure why.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sorry this is so late, but I’m back again with another year in review of all the awesome books I read! And all the not-so-awesome books I read! Yay! According to Goodreads (and my own records), I read 30 books in 2023. (This is a lower number than I anticipated because I dedicated two whole…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefoxae.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefoxae.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefoxae.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefoxae.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefoxae.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=519"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/thefoxae.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":557,"href":"http:\/\/thefoxae.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519\/revisions\/557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefoxae.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefoxae.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefoxae.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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