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Book Review: A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

Book Review: A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

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A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Series: Standalone

Genre: Historical fiction

Pages: 496 pages (Kindle edition)

Publish date: 6th of September 2016 by Penguin Books

A Gentleman in Moscow is a beautifully written book with minimal suspense, conflict, or captivating drama.

“It is a sad but unavoidable fact of life… that as we age our social circles grow smaller. Whether from increased habit or diminished vigor, we suddenly find ourselves in the company of just a few familiar faces.”

…

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Book Review: Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Book Review: Coraline by Neil Gaiman

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Cover art illustrated by Dave McKean

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: Standalone

Genre: Fantasy, Horror

Pages: 201 pages (Lyra’s Books Hardcover edition)

Word Count: 31,000 words

Published: 2nd July 2002 by Harper Collins

Coraline is the best book by Neil Gaiman that I’ve read. And maybe, all this time, I might have picked the wrong Neil Gaiman books to read.

“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.”

…

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Petrik’s Top 19 Books of the Year! (2023)

Petrik’s Top 19 Books of the Year! (2023)

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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 (2023)

Between 1st January 2023 and 31st December 2023, I read 80 books + 177 manga/manhwa volumes (76.8k pages).

Please read this first. There will be three rules I set in this list 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 this year.

  • Rereads aren’t included.
  • One book per series.
  • The books listed here are not all exclusively published this year; the list consists of the top books I read for the first time this year. Non-2023 published books on this list will have their first date of publication included.

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. Honorable mentions are for two best novellas and two short stories I read this year. Without further ado, here are the top 15 (or 19) books I’ve read this year! (All full reviews of the books listed can be found on Novel Notions and my Goodreads page.) …

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Book Review: Heliotrope by Palmer Pickering

Book Review: Heliotrope by Palmer Pickering

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Review copy provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Cover art by Dusan Markovic

Heliotrope by Palmer Pickering

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: Standalone

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy

Pages: 784 pages (Paperback edition)

Published: 23rd November 2022 by Mythology Press (Self-Published)

Heliotrope is a good one-off standalone character-driven fantasy reminiscent of the classic adventurous fantasy novel. …

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Book Review: Long Chills and Case Dough by Brandon Sanderson

Book Review: Long Chills and Case Dough by Brandon Sanderson

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Long Chills and Case Dough by Brandon Sanderson

My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

Series: Standalone

Genre: Mystery, Detective noir

Pages: 67 pages (ebook edition)

Published: 19th December 2023 by Dragonsteel

If The Sunlit Man was the final book to end the Year of Sanderson, Long Chills and Case Dough is the epilogue to it. …

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Book Review: Boys in the Valley by Philip Fracassi

Book Review: Boys in the Valley by Philip Fracassi

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ARC provided by the publisher—Orbit Books—in exchange for an honest review.

Boys in the Valley by Philip Fracassi

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: Standalone

Genre: Horror

Word Count: 91,000 words

Pages:  352 pages (Paperback edition)

Published: 11th July 2023 by Tor Nightfire (US) & 13th July 2023 by Orbit Books (UK)

Well, Boys in the Valley was so good. It was surprisingly so good.

“All of life is a great gift,” he says. “Not because of what it gives us, but because of what it allows us to give others.”

…

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Book Review: The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez

Book Review: The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez

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The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Cosmere

Genre: Science Fiction, Space Opera

Word Count: 129,000 words

Pages: 416 pages (Paperback)

Published: 14th January 2020 by Del Rey Books

The Vanished Birds is a beautiful, heartfelt, and tense standalone space opera story about kindness, choices, love, pain, ambition, and found family.

“Geniuses are born all the time, but kindness is rarer, these days especially. The world could use more kindness.”

…

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Book Review: Yumi and the Nightmare Painter by Brandon Sanderson

Book Review: Yumi and the Nightmare Painter by Brandon Sanderson

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This review is a copy of the transcript of my video review on Yumi and the Nightmare Painter.

Cover art by Aliya Chen

Yumi and the Nightmare Painter by Brandon Sanderson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: The Cosmere

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Romance

Pages: 479 pages (Kindle)

Published: 1st July 2023 by Dragonsteel Books (Kickstarter) & 11th July 2023 by Tor Books (US Ebook)/Gollancz (UK Ebook)

This was utterly brilliant and satisfying. Yumi and the Nightmare Painter will be the best of the secret project novels, and it is easily one of Sanderson’s finest books in his career. …

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Book Review: Ruination (League of Legends) by Anthony Reynolds

Book Review: Ruination (League of Legends) by Anthony Reynolds

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ARC provided by the publisher—Orbit Books—in exchange for an honest review.

Ruination: A League of Legends Novel by Anthony Reynolds

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: League of Legends (Book #1)

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy

Pages: 448 pages (Hardcover edition)

Published: 6th September 2022 by Orbit Books

Surprisingly better than I expected. Ruination is a fast-paced and compelling standalone novel in the universe of League of Legends.

“A fool with power is a dangerous thing. And we live in a world overflowing with fools and power. —Extract from “The Helian Primer of Light”

…

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Book Review: Witch King by Martha Wells

Book Review: Witch King by Martha Wells

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Witch King by Martha Wells
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

As soon as it was announced, Witch King immediately intrigued me. I loved the title and the cover and the premise, and while I’ve never read anything from Martha Wells, her Murderbot Diaries series is highly loved and lauded by those I trust. I’m much more of a fantasy reader than a sci-fi reader, so when I saw that she was writing a fantasy, I knew that I wanted to read it as soon as possible. And I’m happy to report that, in spite of those sky-high expectations, I was not disappointed. Witch King is a high-octave quest through a very original world littered with compelling characters, captivating locales, and some deeply disturbing magic and monsters. But, at its core, it is the ultimate story of found family, one of the best I’ve ever read. …

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