January 2025’s newsletter: “Ranking My Reads From 2024.”
Hello, friend!
Another year of reading is over.
Because I like torturing myself, it’s time to rank my reads from 2024!
Ranking things is really hard. I read so many great books and series! (Maybe I should do a tier system next year? Thoughts?) Since ranking great books is hard, keep in mind that books/series listed near each other are of similar quality– particularly once we get to the top 10. (So if you think two should be in a different order, don’t stress about it too much.) I also kept series together unless I felt strongly about the different installments.
I’ve got 29 books/series to rank. So here we go!
29) A World Without Princes by Soman Chainani
At first, I thought this book was an interesting examination of gender roles in fairy tales. The girls fight against their helpless damsel roles, but fall into internalized misogyny and upholding masculine ideals in the process. Meanwhile, the boys double down on toxic masculinity. However, the farther the book went on, the more it upheld those gender roles. Boys are strong, girls are emotional and soft. The boys learn the power of brotherhood, the girls are each for themselves. In the end, I thought the book itself had a great deal of internalized misogyny. When a character is brave and loyal, they’re lauded as the “ideal prince.” When a character acts cowardly or emotional, they’re “just like a girl.” Perhaps the book was intended to avert gender stereotypes, but it didn’t do enough to convince me. (Not to mention the heteronormative narrative of “if you kiss a girl, you’re a boy.”)
Meanwhile, Agatha’s two relationships are rather toxic. Tedros and Sophie are possessive of her, and no one in the love triangle trusts or communicates effectively. The narrative seems to be pointing towards the moral that you need many forms of love in your life rather than choosing between romance or friendship. Yet, neither relationship won me over.
All in all, I liked the first book far better.
If you’ve read the book: what do you think? Am I misinterpreting its message about gender roles and love, or do you agree with my analysis?
28) Wand by Landra Jennings
Cinderella meets Coraline in this MG contemporary fantasy. It’s interesting to read children’s stories as an adult. To a child, the stepmother would seem cruel at the beginning. But I recognized right away that she’s struggling just as much as the heroine, Mira. What this family needs is communication.
As for Mira, she isn’t a particularly likable protagonist, but she is an understandable one. She’s a young child who just lost her father and lives with her distant stepmother, so she lashes out and pushes people away.
27) The Severed Thread by Leslie Vedder
Book 2 of the “Bone Spindle” trilogy.
The characters wallow in angst and despair too much for my taste. I love Shane, but I found myself sighing whenever I reached a chapter with her and Red. I was in a rush to finish the book before it was due back to the library, so I enjoyed it even less due to the time pressure. (And I was looking forward to reading His Majesty’s Dragon, book 1 of the Temeraire series. Keep an eye out for where I rank that one!)
26) Everblaze by Shannon Messenger
Book 3 of the “The Keeper of the Lost Cities” series.
This series’s first few books were pretty classic MG portal fantasies: an escapist fantasy where the heroine discovers she’s special even among magical people, and is constantly discovering new, unique powers and breaking rules to uncover her world’s secrets.
I felt this book started a little slow– I was getting tired of the society’s unfair leaders being cruel to Sophie, a child they’re supposed to protect. However, this book ends with a change in the status quo. I can’t say more without giving spoilers, but I was excited to read the next book and see where the series went from here.
25) The Impossible Contract by K.A. Doore
Book 2 of the “Chronicles of Ghadid” trilogy.
This book moves a little away from the assassins plotlines from book 1 and goes more into the magic and world lore. We see the setting is a post-apocalyptic landscape that was once Earth, instead of a secondary fantasy world. (Always an interesting concept!)
However, I kept waiting for Thana to complete her contract, and it stressed me out every time she failed. I was about halfway through before I realized she wasn’t going to kill her mark, and the story was about 3 unlikely allies coming together against impossible odds instead.
24) The Princess Will Save You by Sarah Henning
A retelling of “The Princess Bride,” where the heroic princess must save her stable boy and avoid marrying the evil prince. I love a story where the gender roles are flipped. And it was fun to pick out The Princess Bride elements mixed into this plot: the three pirates who help the heroes in the end, the scheming prince, and the power of true love.
So why is this book so low in my rankings? I’m not sure. It was a fun read, but it didn’t grip me the way other books did. There are more installments in this series, and I’m sure I’ll get to them eventually.
23) Amari and the Great Game by B.B. Alston
Book 2 of the “Supernatural Investigations” series.
This series has a lot of highs and lows. Amari gets kicked in the dirt often, and it can seem like nothing she does leads to lasting accomplishments. I wished she had more definitive wins. But, given this is the second book in a trilogy, it makes sense that it’s a little darker than the first. There’s always the moment the hero fails, right before they rise up and win in the end. I’m looking forward to Amari rising up in the third book.
22) The Cursed Rose by Leslie Vedder
Book 3 of the “Bone Spindle” trilogy.
I wasn’t expecting to like this book as much as I did. I didn’t particularly enjoy the second book– the characters have a habit of wallowing in hopelessness and angst, which gets annoying fast. That continued in the first half, but the second half picked up. The characters stopped whining and started doing, and the finale was epic.
21) The Unconquered City by K.A. Doore
Book 3 in “The Chronicles of Ghadid” trilogy, a multigenerational family saga about assassins protecting their city.
This final book is a story about healing from trauma, learning to accept help from others, and loving again after loss. Illi is a compelling heroine, and her growth and journey to heal is superb.
This book also brings back the protagonists from the previous two, and wraps up the loose strings from their stories in a satisfying conclusion. It’s both epic and bitter sweet.
20) Anna Dressed in Blood / Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake
This horror duology focused more on body horror than ghostly suspense, which I can handle better. (Ghosts freak me out!) Since it’s a horror romance, it also focused on exploring the characters’ relationships, which I enjoyed watching develop. I loved Anna– who doesn’t love a scary-powerful ghost girl who protects her friends? And although Anna appeared less in the second book, I think Cas’s and Thomas’s great friendship made up for it.
19) The Wicked Bargain by Gabe Cole Novoa
This stand-alone novel is an exciting LGBTQ+ latine pirate adventure, full of action, magic, and heartbreak. It’s a story of identity; the main character, Mar, must learn to not just accept themself, but love themself. It’s through the support of those around them who love them unconditionally that allows them to finally find their own strength in the midst of danger, doubt, and oppression.
18) The Perfect Assassin by K.A. Doore
Book 1 in the “Chronicles of Ghadid” trilogy.
An Assassin’s Creed-like high fantasy with themes of family and morality, in a non-Europian fantasy setting. I connected to the main character Amastan right away. He’s a book-loving nerd, and asexual; it’s so rare to find a book where the main character is ace, rather than relegated to the supporting cast.
“The Perfect Assassin” is the first book in a legacy epic fantasy trilogy, meaning we follow a different protagonist each book as the younger generations become the heroes and the previous main characters grow into mentor figures. It’s cool to watch what Amastan becomes as he ages, but the changing protagonists caught me off guard. So keep that in mind as you read the next two volumes.
17) Neverseen/Lodestar by Shannon Messenger
Books 4 and 5 in the “Keeper of the Lost Cities” series.
This is where the series takes off. We get to see Sophie and her friends take a more active role in the plot, which means more opportunities for their friendships to develop and fewer opportunities for Sophie to be mistreated by adults who are supposed to protect her. (Although I also agree with her parents: she’s a kid, but she acts like risking her life is no big deal!) The Council continues to be annoying in their arrogance, but they’re finally taken down a notch. Sophie and her friends become a true found family of goofballs, which we always love to see.
And without giving spoilers: Keefe gets his own plotline that I’ve been finding very interesting. I can’t wait to see where the series goes with all the major developments from books 4 and 5.
16) Into the Glades by Laura Sebastian
A beautiful story about grief disguised as a middle grade adventure. I loved the friendships between the main characters, and their younger brothers. The magical swamp itself takes classic fantasy creatures and puts a unique spin on them, such as the mermaid-like beings that try to drown our heroes. The ending is bittersweet and made me cry.
Fun fact: “Into the Glades” is a comp title for my upcoming work, “Together Against the Storm.”
15) In Deeper Waters by F.T. Lukens
The Little Mermaid, but make it gay.
I’ve noticed after reading many of F.T. Lukens’ works that he tends to write about the themes of finding belonging and accepting your identity. This makes sense, since he mainly writes queer romances. “In Deeper Waters” is a seafaring, political intrigue romantasy with lots of hurt/comfort.
Keep an eye out for more F.T. Lukens’ books in my rankings!
14) Eva Evergreen duology by Julie Abe
“Kiki’s Delivery Service,” but make it a middle grade duology! This duology is heartwarming, with a clever heroine, a trio of found-family friends, and even a redeemed rival plotline in the second book. It’s beautiful to watch Eva grow from a self-conscious and insecure kid to her kingdom’s brave heroine. The duology ties up all its plot threads, but Julie Abe has said she hopes to write a third following Eva one day. If that happens, I’ll definitely read it!
13) Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston
Book 1 in the “Supernatural Investigations” series.
Percy Jackson meets Legendborn in this MG Contemporary Fantasy. A tale about a girl overcoming the odds in a hostile world… a world that happens to be full of dragons and evil magicians. Amari fights to prove herself and struggles with her own self worth. It’s satisfying in the end when she proves everyone wrong and saves the day.
The book has an interesting message that you don’t always see in fantasy. In many stories, the hero gets revenge on their bullies, and they and the reader feel justified. But just because you’ve been wronged, that doesn’t justify hurting others. Amari has to learn forgiveness, and share it with the people around her.
I wrote a full guest review for “Amari and the Night Brothers” that you can read here.
12) Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
A fantastic fairytale about down-trodden people carving out power for themselves— particularly women, in a world that only values women for marriage and having children. It’s something of a Rumpelstiltskin retelling, although I would say it’s more inspired by Rumpelstiltskin than a full retelling. Elements of the original fairytale are sprinkled throughout a new, unique plot. While the low point was painful to get through, the climactic finale made it all worthwhile. This was the second book I read from Naomi Novik, and you may notice more coming in these rankings 😉
11) Otherworldly by F.T. Lukens
I read this book in about 2 days. I couldn’t put it down! “Otherworldly” has not 1, but 2 cute queer romances. I loved Ellery’s cousin and her girlfriend. Their kindness, their humor, the way they tease but are always there to support Ellery and Knox. And Ellery’s and Knox’s relationship was beautiful to watch develop. They take care of each other, help one another grow, and in the end, save each other. Talk about a power couple.
10) Spell Bound by F.T. Lukens
This story is about the main character Rook finding the place he belongs in a society run by gatekeepers. It’s satisfying to see someone stand up to the oppressive status quo and get away with it, even if it’s not very realistic to real life. But if everything we read was realistic, then what would be the point of fantasy?
It also features a super cute, LGBTQ+ rivals-to-lovers romance between a sweet protagonist and his prickly-with-a-heart-of-gold rival/love interest. You may have noticed by this point that I have multiple F.T. Lukens books on this list– one of the reasons I love his works is because the romances never fall into the toxic tropes common in romantasy. Rook and Sun are both respectful of each other’s boundaries, even when they’re in the “rivals” part of their rivals-to-lovers. I love healthy relationships in my fantasy.
9) The Changeling Sea by Patricia A McKillip
A new classic fairytale. This story is magical, with wonder, romance, and a heroine who discovers her own bravery. It’s a quick and easy read, but somehow fits a full plot and character development into the pages without feeling rushed. Patricia A McKillip knew exactly how much story she wanted to tell, and told it well.
I wrote a full guest book review for “The Changeling Sea,” which you can read here.
8) Eerie-on-the-Sea series by Thomas Taylor
This series is wonderfully eerie and whimsical. We follow our kid heroes Herbie and Violet as they uncover their seaside town’s eerie secrets and interact with the wacky but loveable inhabitants. And each book has illustrations that could’ve stepped right out of a Pixar movie.
I especially enjoyed how the final book, “Mermedusa,” ties the whole series together by bringing back elements from each previous book.
This series deserves its place in my top 10 favorite 2024 reads. I think I’ll have to check out Thomas Taylor’s other works.
7) The Chalice of the Gods by Rick Riordan
Reading a story from Percy Jackson’s point of view again feels like coming home. It’s nostalgic: I read “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” in high school, and it remains one of my favorite YA/MG series to this day. I adore Percy and his friends, and it’s a fun twist to see them face personal quests rather than world-ending stakes. (Honestly, these kids need a break!)
Return to the world of Camp Half Blood with wacky monsters, death-defying encounters, Zeus continuing to be The Worst™, and Percy’s need to piss off every god he meets.
6) Alcatraz vs the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson
This is a truly silly series featuring a world-wide evil librarian conspiracy, a Lemony Snicket type narration, and self-deprecating humor. On the surface, it’s a classic story of kids who get to be the heroes and stick it to The Man. (The Man being evil librarians.) It also snubs boring classical literature in favor of fantasy and free thought. However, beneath that, it stealth-teaches kids philosophy and features a deconstruction (and reconstruction) of the child hero archetype. It’s a wonderfully strange series.
I wrote a full book review for this series that you can read on my website here.
5) System Collapse by Martha Wells
Book 7 of the “Murderbot Diaries” series.
NPR calls this: “One of the most human experiences you can have in sci-fi right now,” and they are totally correct. Relationships are central to the joy of the Murderbot Diaries, from Murderbot’s precious humans to its brilliant relationship with ART. The series balances humor and heart with tense and clever action. Murderbot’s narration is hilarious and brilliantly unique. They’re relatable to neurodivergent and aroace people alike, and I love them.
4) Temeraire series by Naomi Novik
How do I fit everything I love about this series into one short summary? So much happens throughout the 9 books. I feel I’d have to write an extended review to do it justice.
Laurence and Temeraire form a beautiful relationship that carries them through adventure, action, heartbreak, and heartwarming moments as they travel across the globe on their quest to stop Napoleon. Every country they visit has its own unique dragons and dragon lore, and it’s fascinating how the human-dragon dynamic changes based on culture. We also watch Laurence develop from a straight-laced Englishman with classic biases, to an open-minded and independent leader.
What do you think? Should I write an extended series review of Temeraire in 2025?
3) The Scholomance trilogy by Naomi Novik
The trilogy examines how cruel and selfish people can be when fighting for survival, but how they can also be heroic when given the chance. El always expects the worst from people because that’s all she’s been shown since her childhood. Her classmates’ goodness continuously surprises her. We also learn the Scholomance is a microcosm of the real world: adults in the Enclaves force the have-nots to do their back-breaking work for scraps: the hope that they or their children get a place among the haves. And the Enclaves commit terrible atrocities— in theory, to keep themselves safe, but in reality, it’s luxury. This is very true of our real world as well. But El doesn’t stand by and excuse their greedy actions; nor does she condemn them. She shows people there’s another way. A better way. That’s a lesson we could all use.
It was crazy hard to determine if I should rank Temeraire or the Scholomance trilogy at #3. Consider them equal, but I had to put one in the top 3. (Ranking things is so hard!) I chose The Scholomance because it’s shorter. Temeraire had more space for slower sections, while The Scholomance is go go go all the way through.
2) Skyward series by Brandon Sanderson
This is such a good series.
Somehow, I convinced myself I’d already read book 3, and only discovered my mistake when book 4 came out. I’d also missed the three novellas between books 2 and 3. (They are plot important! Don’t skip them!) So I went back and reread books 1 and 2 before going on to finish the series.
How did I wait for so long before reading this?!
In classic Sanderson fashion, this series is full of lovable characters who have to navigate a complicated political situation and uncover a unique magic system. (The slugs are soooo cute!) Nothing is ever simple or how it seems. And beneath the epic space battles and cytonic magic, the series delves into themes of war and grief. Spensa must face the reality of war instead of the idealized version she grew up imagining. She also accumulates a great deal of grief throughout, and must learn that the only way to ease the pain is to lean on others. A difficult task for a girl who’s spent her life self-sufficient. The finale of the Skyward Series is as epic, heartwrenching, and heartwarming as I’d ever hope.
1) The City We Became / The World We Make by NK Jemisin
This duology is enthralling. I started reading and couldn’t put it down. It’s an intriguing world full of amazing, realistic characters and a plot that balances lovecraftian horror with the very real-world terror of racism. Love for New York City and its diverse cultures fills every page. The magic is complex and can be confusing at first, but stick with it. This book went to the top of my list in early January and stayed there.
I wrote a full book review for “The City We Became” that you can read on my website here.
I’ll be posting more book reviews on my website and as guest posts in 2025, so stay tuned.
What was in your top 5 reads from 2024? Let me know!
Thanks for reading!
-S. Labrecque
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