I loved Only This Beautiful Moment so much. It was a beautiful exploration of the intersectionality of being queer and Iranian, and the way the author weaved together this multi-generational tale of family was nothing short of exquisite.

I have become completely obsessed with The Raven Cycle and loved The Dream Thieves even more than the first book in the series. I’m looking forward to reading the next book (hopefully) soon.

I loved Little Thieves and have been waiting to read the sequel. My Illumicrate edition of Painted Devils finally showed up approximately a month after the book was published, and I haven’t had a chance to get to it yet.

This is such a hard choice because there are so many books I’m excited to get my hands on in the second half of the year. I landed on The Midnight Kingdom because I loved the first book with all of its intrigue, warring families, and unique pantheon of gods and powers. It ended with some crazy cliffhangers. So, I really, really want to see what happens next.

I was so excited to read this book because I’ve seen so many people rave about it. Unfortunately, Her Majesty’s Royal Coven just didn’t work for me. I didn’t love the writing, and the characters felt like caricatures with little depth. They seemed like props for making the author’s viewpoints known rather than real people. The world and plot were interesting, though, which kept me reading to the end. I even picked up the sequel to see what would happen next, which I did enjoy more than this one.

I suspected I’d enjoy The City Beautiful, but I was surprised by how much I actually loved it. It was incredibly emotional and had a haunting quality to it. The setting was also fantastic, and I found myself gripped by the narrative as the mystery unfolded.

MN Bennet is definitely an author to watch. I loved both of his releases this year, Crescentville Haunting and Three Meant To Be.

I was obsessed with Lord Hawthorn after reading A Restless Truth last year. I just finished A Power Unbound a few days ago, and I’m once again smitten. lol. He’s gruff, wealthy, emotionally damaged (lol), and dominant while also considerate of his partner’s needs and consent. He also appreciates witty combative banter. Sign me up. 🤤

The title character from The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi is definitely one of my favorites from this year, so far. Amina is a bad ass middle-aged mother who goes on some thrilling adventures despite initially being retired from a life at sea. I loved getting to know her and am excited to see where her story goes next.

The end of The Will of the Many had me sobbing. How much I loved a certain character really snuck up on me until I was knocked over by the loss. This was a great book for so many reasons, but its ability to make me feel for the characters really stood out.

This is the second year a book by Lukens holds this spot. They just write stories that feel like comfort reads to me. The Rules and Regulations for Mediating Myths & Magic was no exception. It had a wonderful cast of characters, great humor, and plenty of magical shenanigans to keep me hooked.

I’ve bought multiple versions of this book, and I love all the covers for it so much. The Illumicrate edition is absolutely stunning, but I also really liked the Barnes & Noble edition.