Cover art illustrated by M.L. Wang
Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Series: Standalone
Genre: Dark Academia, Fantasy, Gaslamp Fantasy, Steampunk
Pages: Not available
Word Count: 120 000 words
Published: 25th July 2023, Self-published
Unbelievable… She did it again. Blood Over Bright Haven is proof that no one writes standalone fantasy books as good as M.L. Wang. Full stop.
“Truth over delusion. Growth over comfort. God over all.”
Babel, or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution by R.F. Kuang
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
“Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.”
Every once in a while, you read a book that you can tell is something special. Not just because the story or characters are exceptional. Not just because the pacing is perfect and the prose is exquisite. Not just because it covers important topics in new ways. No, sometimes the book you’re reading is special because you know that it will go beyond standing the test of time; it’s destined to become a classic. You can see this book not only still being read a century from now, but being discussed in a classroom setting. Babel, or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translator’s Revolution is such a book. It tackles some truly weighty material, specifically colonialism and racism, in profoundly eye-opening ways. It houses a discourse on etymology and translation that is absolutely fascinating. And even while balancing all of these dense topics, Kuang still manages to create an incredible cast of characters that experience a phenomenal among of growth, as well as a perfectly paced, page-turning plot where the stakes are high and the emotions wrought in the reader are even higher. I can’t think of a superlative strong enough to adequately convey how powerful and nigh-on perfect Babel is as a piece of art. …
Click here if you want to see the list of all the books I’ve read so far this year: Petrik’s Year in Books (2022)
Between 1st January 2021 and 27th June 2022, I’ve read 39 novels + 55 manga/manhwa volumes (31k pages).
Please read this first. There will be three rules I set in this list in order for me to give appreciation to more authors rather than having only a few authors hoarding this list. These rules allow me to highlight more authors, and at the same time, I’ll also be able to include both new and older books (many of them still need attention) that I read within this year.
Do note that although there’s a rank to this list, I HIGHLY recommend every book/series listed below because I loved all of them immensely, and they received a rating of 4.5 or 5 out of 5 stars from me. Without further ado, here are the top 10 books I’ve read this year so far! (All full reviews of the books listed can be found on Novel Notions and my Goodreads page.) …
ARC was provided by the publisher—Harper Voyager—in exchange for an honest review.
Cover art illustrated by: Nico Delort
Babel, or the Necessity of Violence: an Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution by R.F. Kuang
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Series: Standalone
Genre: Fantasy, Dark Academia
Pages: 560 pages (Kindle Edition)
Published: 23rd August 2022 by Harper Voyager
Babel was absolutely impressive, ambitious, and intelligently crafted. As unbelievable as it sounds, R.F. Kuang has triumphed over The Poppy War Trilogy—which I loved so much—with this one book.
“Language was always the companion of empire, and as such, together they begin, grow, and flourish. And later, together, they fall.”
The World Cannot Give by Tara Isabella Burton
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
I received an advance copy of this novel from the publisher, Simon and Schuster, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I have a weakness for dark academia novels, though they only work for me roughly half the time. In recent years I’ve read books in this subgenre that have become lifetime favorites, and those that left me so disappointed it veered into anger. More than one of these disappointments came through books I requested via NetGalley, and yet I keep trying. Books like The World Cannot Give are why. I was almost as enamored by it as I was by Tartt’s The Secret History and Hopen’s The Orchard, both of which I absolutely adore. …