Hello!

I love the end of the year because I love all this wrap up content – I love looking back on the books I’ve read this year, I love looking at all the stats and sharing my favourite (and least favourite) reads.

I’ve rated sixteen books 5 stars this year and considering I didn’t get my first 5 star read of the year until April, I’ve definitely had a good balance of books I’ve loved this year!

Now there’s no way I’ll be able to talk about 16 books concisely, so I’ll jump right in! In no particular order (just the one Storygraph presented to me):

A Touch of Chaos (Hades x Persephone Saga #7) – Scarlett St. Clair

The first book I rated 5 stars this year! This is the final book in the Hades x Persephone series and it was such a good conclusion to the series. It brings together so many storylines and characters from both the Persephone and the Hades perspective series’ and so many other Greek characters that I really enjoyed piecing together what I already knew about the original Greek stories and figuring out how they were interpreted in this retelling. The romance was almost the least interesting part of the story because it had been so thoroughly established in the previous 6 books, but the plot still held really well and I thought it was wrapped up brilliantly. It wasn’t my favourite 5 star of the year, but there was nothing I didn’t like about it so it still had to get the full 5 stars!

One of Us is Back (One of Us is Lying #3) – Karen M. McManus

I listened to this whole series this year – I had the first book physically and borrowed the audiobook from my library and listened it for the Summerween readathon hosted by gabbyreads on YouTube. I listened to it in three sittings and absolutely loved it – the characterisation of the four protagonists was fantastic, the fact there are four voice actors to bring each character to life made it so much more immersive and I genuinely found myself not trusting any of them until right at the end of the story. I did predict the ending of the first and second book, which is why I gave them each 4 stars, but this one just blew me away – I didn’t figure this one out at all and I loved seeing how all the characters came together. I have put a couple of other books from this author on hold from the library and I’m excited to read them in the new year.

Girl, Goddess, Queen – Bea Fitzgerald

The second Hades and Persephone story on this list! This one is a YA story so it was a very different take, but I really liked this approach. Despite being set in antiquity, the writing style was very contemporary and I thought the balance between the sexual nature of most Greek stories was acknowledged in a really smart way for a YA story – the author didn’t pretend that it wasn’t there and it was relevant without being inappropriate for the target audience. I enjoyed this book so much that I almost immediately went out to buy Bea’s next book ‘The End Crowns All’ which is about the battle for Troy I believe, I can’t wait to read it next year.

Daisy Jones & The Six – Taylor Jenkins Reid

I don’t think I need to convince anyone that Taylor Jenkins Reid is a fantastic author and that ‘Daisy Jones & The Six’ is incredible, but I finally understood the hype this year. The audiobook is a must – as it’s a book told in an interview style, every other paragraph is from a different character’s perspective and as it’s a full cast recording, which makes it so much more engaging to listen to. I genuinely had to double check whether it was based on a true story cos it was just brilliant. This story has gone on my list of my favourite books of all time and I’m excited to listen to this time and time again over my lifetime.

Sixteen Souls (The Death Touched of York #1) – Rosie Talbot

I really thought I’d grown out of YA books but I’ve read a good few that I really enjoyed this year! This one is set in the city of York and I read it shortly after visiting the city and reading this after my trip made it all so much more immersive. It’s a paranormal horror story that has a really interesting system with ghosts and the afterlife. It was a wonderful show of how easy it is to integrate fantastic representation – with physical disability, LGBTQ+ characters and mental health amongst other topics. The plot was really exciting and I would genuinely like to reread this one, but I’ve still got the sequel ‘Twelve Bones’ to read and I’m very excited about it.

Not In Love – Ali Hazelwood

I just love Ali Hazelwood. I know people had mixed feelings about this one because it was listed as ‘more erotica than romance’ (I disagree – they had a very modern relationship and arrangement at first, but it’s a love story at it’s core, with a few more smutty scenes) but I loved this so much. It might have been because the FMC was incredibly neurodivergent coded and consequently I very much related to her and her struggles. I don’t know whether it was intentional or whether I was projecting, but I loved it either way and the MMC was down bad and I loved him too. It was perfect and I will be adding it to my collection of other Ali Hazelwood novels I adored with enthusiasm.

Radio Silence – Alice Oseman

I only finished this one very recently in my desperate attempt to finish a little bit more of my 24 in 2024 list, but I’ve been desperate to read some Alice Oseman that isn’t Heartstopper and I wasn’t let down at all. At first I wasn’t quite sure about Frances as a character, but it was another YA story that just spoke directly to my heart. I think because it was set in a time when I was a teenager I could empathise more with the characters because my childhood was also communicating by emails, headphones with wires and sharing fanart on tumblr. I borrowed the audiobook from my library and it was so well told. I love the way that Alice Oseman writes in such an easy-to-read, light style but still covers heavy, incredibly important topics – mental health, identity, friendship and sexuality all amongst the pressure Frances puts on herself to be perfect and to be the best and achieve what she thinks she should. It was a beautiful story that I absolutely devoured.

The Book Thief – Markus Zusak

This is a book that I absolutely should have read when I was a teenager – I remember it being incredibly famous and popular, but I never got round to it apparently. Now, a decade and a bit later, I’ve finally read it and it was everything it had been hyped to be. The narrative being told from the perspective of death was just fascinating and I found the insight into being someone who lived in Germany during the Nazi reign was so interesting and really made me think. I can see exactly why this was so popular while I was at school and that it would be really relevant for students to read. Arguably, I wouldn’t want to make a child study it at school because most books we study at school just aren’t fun by the time you get to the last chapter you’re ready to throw it in a fire. I’m almost glad I didn’t read it at school because I definitely enjoyed it more now than I would have then.

Two Can Play – Ali Hazelwood

The only author to make it on to this list twice! I didn’t think I would rate a novella, because often with novella’s you can’t quite engage with them enough to care about the characters, but like every Ali Hazelwood I just ate it up. Viola and Jesse were pretty much the same as every other Ali Hazelwood character and I loved them for it. I loved the background of being video game designers from rival companies on a joint winter retreat in a cosy log cabin – it was surprisingly seasonally appropriate, it was a very sweet romance, a surprising amount of spice considering how short the audiobook is and I ate up every second. Thoroughly recommend.

The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini

This is another book I definitely wouldn’t have read if it weren’t for the wedding library – I don’t know if I really rated it 5 stars because I enjoyed it, per say, but I can undoubtedly say it deserves 5 stars for being such an important story. It opened my eyes to a culture I’ve never really seen anything about before (other than war), but it made me think about a perspective I’ve not heard before, the classism that can be present even in a time of crisis and the impact of everyone in a person’s life. It’s a genuinely spectacular story which is narrated by the author himself, so I thoroughly recommend the audiobook.

Strong Female Character – Fern Brady

A non-fiction memoire predominantly about how the author, comedian Fern Brady, handled a life not being correctly diagnosed with autism and not receiving any appropriate accommodations or support? Told in a witty and anecdotal way but beautifully balanced with academic research and the importance of getting support and adequate therapy for the trauma she suffered? Count me in – Fern is a fantastic advocate for late diagnosed autistic people and for raising more awareness for the traits of an autistic brain that aren’t so commonly known. I can’t empathise with a lot of what Fern’s been through because I haven’t been through anything near what she has, but I could sympathise so much with how she felt. This book is incredible, it’s made it onto my list of my favourite books of all time and not only do I think everyone should read it, but everyone must.

The Reappearance of Rachel Price – Holly Jackson

Holly Jackson is not an autobuy author for me – I really didn’t enjoy the last book in the ‘A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder’ series but the concept of this book I couldn’t help but get excited and pre-order it. In the run up to it’s release I saw a lot of people reading ARC’s and absolutely sang it’s praises and I couldn’t agree more. I have my faith restored in Holly Jackson – I love her writing style, I love her humour, I thought Bel was a fantastic character and the way everything tied together at the end absolutely blew my mind. Like ‘One of Us is Lying’, I found I didn’t trust anyone at any point and I was constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop. I was wrapped up in every second of this story and I cannot wait for Holly’s next release in July (and to catch up on ‘Five Survive’ in the meantime).

The Silent Patient – Alex Michaelides

This is another one that I think is generally considered a modern classic, especially amongst thriller fans. It’s a best seller and it has incredible reviews for a reason – the narrative is absolutely captivating and the protagonist narrator really pulls you in. I listened to this one as an audiobook too and the voice actor was incredible. It was another one where I really didn’t trust anyone but when the big reveal happened, I really don’t believe I ever could have predicted the twist and I’m still genuinely baffled by it three months later. I was so pleased with the ending and it’s the kind of story that I fully intend to reread in the future and I think it’ll be a totally different read the second time round.

Funny Story – Emily Henry

This is only the second Emily Henry book I’ve ever read but I am head-over-heels obsessed – I loved this story, our FMC is a librarian so a book lover just like us, the MMC is a little bit pathetic and I adored him. Their growing friendship to relationship was so gentle and tender and Emily Henry writes funny banter like no one else. It was genuinely beautiful – I loved reading about Daphne and Miles and I look forward to catching up on Emily Henry’s backlist.

House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City #1) – Sarah J Maas

My first ever SJM book! This brick is 800 pages long and the audiobook was over 27 hours but I was pleasantly surprised that the plot felt evenly paced and I didn’t find myself bored at any point. I found it all a little overwhelming – there’s a lot of characters and place names and hierarchies to be established within Crescent City and I found I had to let some of it go over my head otherwise I never would have gotten anywhere. I kept up with Bryce and Hunt (just about) and I definitely got the full plot (I promise!). I really liked the urban setting, I love the variety of fantasy species and the depth of the world building. I’ve been told that it’s best to read ACOTAR and Throne of Glass before the rest of Crescent City so I’ll be having a break from the series but I can’t wait to get back to it.

Daydream (Maple Hills #3) – Hannah Grace

Saving my favourite till last – Daydream is the third book in the Maple Hills series, following the love lives of various players on the university hockey team. I liked ‘Icebreaker’, I devoured ‘Wildfire’ and Henry was an incredibly sweet character in both of those stories and his story was rumoured to be worth waiting for.

From the author’s note before chapter one that explicitly stated that Henry was neurodivergent coded, a reflection of the author’s own struggles with being Autistic and having ADHD that was undiagnosed until her adulthood, I fell in love with him even more. I would argue the FMC Halle was also autistic coded (but I’ve not seen anyone else making this argument so I may be projecting) but their relationship was so precious it makes me want to do that thing when you think a puppy is so cute you kind of want to squeeze the life out of it (please tell me that’s not as psychotic as it sounds?!).

I loved the main characters; I loved their friendship and the way it blossomed into a relationship, I loved the neurodiverse representation on page and the way that, actually, them not being diagnosed made it more subtle and nuances and I loved everything about them. The found family in the friendship group nearly made me cry happy tears because I just loved what a fantastic example of positive communication, mental wellness in practise and being good friend is set.

I cannot explain my love for this book any more and in writing this post, I’m realising I should perhaps reserve December next year for rereading my 5 star favourites!

2024 has been a fantastic reading year and although going back to zero on my reading goal may feel a bit daunting, I’m actually very excited about it.

Let me know if you’ve read any of these books and what you thought!

Thank you so much for reading,

Sophie xx