2023 was a year with a lot of great reads for me, so I thought I'd share more about how it went. My book stats, my 5-star reads, and a list of the runner-up 4-star books. I did the same recap for 2022 -feel free to give it a read if you're interested. Now let's dive in!
Let me give you a short summary on the types of books I like, to give you an idea on what to expect to see on my lists. You know, in case it's not your cup of tea.
My absolute favourite genre is ✨ fantasy ✨, including young adult, new adult, and proper adult fantasy novels too. Within that, fantasy romance is that way to my heart. I also read some cute (& spicy) contemporary romance novels here and there, so you'll find a couple of those on the list too.
Finishing up the year and taking a peek at my reading stats was super exciting! In 2023, I read...
36 books
Overall 15,672 pages
19 eBooks, 16 paperbacks, and 1 hardcover
26 fantasy books
9 books with 5 stars
And I gave them an average rating of 4.0/5.0
Before I share the list, let me tell you my criteria for rating a book 5 stars. It has to be a book:
I couldn't put down,
kept thinking about,
where I loved the world-building,
loved the characters, and
would read again.
So with that in my, here are the 9 books I loved the most in 2023.
A Light in the Flame by Jennifer L. Armentrout is the second book in her Flesh and Fire series, set in the same world as From Blood and Ash. If you liked that series, you need to read this one too, because it's even better.
Poppy and Casteel in FBAA are great but Sera and Nyktos... 🔥 I love love love them.
Since then, book 3 (A Fire in the Flesh) has also been released in October 2023, -alongside Visions of Flesh and Blood: A Blood and Ash, which is a "comprehensive companion guide", written from Miss Villa's POV.
Needless to say, I'm dying to read both if those, it's just a little hard to get hold of them where I live. But maybe now, in 2024?
Check A Light in the Flame on Goodreads
Bring Me Your Midnight was one of the books I got on NetGalley as an ARC this year, and I didn't expect it to blow me away like it did.
It takes place on an island with magic, where we get a sneak peek into its politics, the different aspects of their magic, and the inner conflict of our main character Tara. She's trying to decide between the supposedly-right or the adventurous and exciting thing to do and watching her do so absolutely got me hooked.
Read my review of Bring Me Your Midnight for more details and my thoughts on it.
Fourth Wing. Do I even need to elaborate?
It deserves all the hype it's got and more.
The writing of Rebecca Yarros makes this book incredibly easy and fun to read and the world of dragon riders and their war college sucks you right in. I am obsessed with the sassy Tairn and the banter in this book, not to mention the perfect world building and pacing of the story.
And the end! Oh my goodnedd, the end of this book killed me. I don't want to leave spoilers, but let's just say it left me pretty emotional. And desperate for Iron Flame.
Click for all the Fourth Wing info you might need, on Goodreads
With the third Crescent City book coming out soon, I wanted to reread a couple of SJM books this year. I ended up turning to Throne of Glass, of which I reread the first 5 books. I don't really like Tower of Dawn and the length of Kingdom of Ash felt a little daunting at the time, so I left it at that.
But the first four books (Throne of Glass, Crown of Midnight, Heir of Fire, and Queen of Shadows) are still 5/5 masterpieces, and Aelin is probably still my favourite character amongst all that SJM has written so far.
Learn more about the Throne of Glass series on Goodreads.
Stephanie Garber created the most magical world in her series of Once Upon a Broken Heart. I gave the first book 4.5/5, but the second and third installments were both 5 stars, without a doubt.
I recommend them if you like young adult fantasy books with romance, and would love to escape the real world for a little while.
You can read my review of the Once Upon a Broken Heart trilogy for more details if you're interested.
I won't write about them in detail, but let me list them for you as honorary mentions. These I really enjoyed, but I didn't grow to love the world and characters so much, might not reread. I liked them, but they didn't tick all the boxes for my 5-star criteria.
Nobody Puts Romcoms in the Corner - Kathryn Freeman
Daughter of No Worlds - Carissa Broadbent (4.5)
The Stolen Heir - Holly Black (4.5)
Happy Place - Emily Henry
Belladonna - Adalyn Grace
Six Scorched Roses - Carissa Broadbent
Empire of Storms - Sarah J Maas (4.5)
Love, Theoretically - Ali Hazelwood (4.5)
Dark Night, Golden Dawn - Allison Carr Waechter (4.5)
Beneath the Alabaster Spire - Allison Carr Waecther
Once Upon a Broken Heart - Stephanie Garber (4.5)
The Christmas Fix - Lucy Score
As you can see, there are a bunch of books on here that I rated 4.5. This means they weren't perfect enough to get 5 stars, but they were better than my 4/5 reads comparatively.