NB: This week, we’re taking a look back at 2022. We’ve got a week of best-of posts to share, with reviews, cover snark, sales, and more. We hope you enjoy revisiting our archives, and most of all, we wish you and yours a wonderful holiday and a happy new year – with all the very best of reading.
…
We’re counting down the best of our 2022 reviews, which I’m sure you’re all curious about. Counting down from ten, these are the first five reviews in terms of page views. This is an interesting selection compared to last year.
Let’s get into it!
…
10. Only Bad Options by Jennifer Estep (September 19)
Review by Lara
Grade: A
I’d never heard of a space opera before. Having just read my first, I’m not sure that I’m qualified to define it, but I can tell you that I absolutely love it! This is 429 pages of reading joy. That this is book one in a series fills me with delight – so many happy reading hours ahead!
If you too would like to surrender your worries and indulge in a space opera, I cannot recommend this book highly enough. The slow-thawing partnership amid social barriers and class boundaries, all set within a rollicking space adventure, made me incredibly happy.
…
9. When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill (May 3)
Review by Carrie
Grade: A
I adored this book. I felt deeply and passionately about Alex. As she grows up, Alex comes across as a real, complicated, admirable, flawed human being. I longed for her to thrive. I could not stop reading, because I cared so deeply about the characters. As painful as much of this book was, I loved the ending and the many, many moments of grace and freedom that appeared all throughout the story. I also loved the unexpectedness of the story, which allows for more than one path to be valid. This was an astonishing, gripping, and inspiring read that I will return to again and again.
…
8. Meet Met in the Margins by Melissa Ferguson (February 16)
Review by Catherine
Grade: B-
Meet Me In the Margins is a sweet, funny, epistolary novel about writing and publishing and getting out of your own head.
Overall, this was a really fun read, especially if you enjoy stories about writers and writing. I liked the humour, and I really enjoyed the friendship between M.E. and Savannah. While I had some (ok, many) misgivings about their professional relationship, I found their romantic relationship both convincing and charming.
…
7. The Worst Guy by Kate Canterbary (January 7)
Review by Elyse
Grade: A
Then there is the competence porn. There is so much detail about the operations of various surgical departments, not to mention hospital politics that it made the book feel incredibly real. Both Sebastian and Sara are devoted to their professions, and the level of detail this book provided made me feel like I was working alongside them.
Overall, The Worst Guy has a troubled hero and heroine who are wonderfully imperfect and have a lot of issues to resolve. They do resolve them in a satisfying way while having incredible “you drive me up a wall” sex. Add to that a realistic depiction of their profession and a heroine who isn’t afraid to be “a mess,” and you had a book that really worked for me.
…
6. The Book of Night by Holly Black (May 13)
Review by Carrie
Grade: B+
My favorite thing about this novel was the mix of magical elements with the details of a low-income, struggling life. Expensive cocktails sipped over deals involving ancient grimoires and murder sit side by side (not literally) with ramen and reheated spaghetti. The limousines feel more real when contrasted with Charlie’s car, which breaks down at terrible times. Charlie’s terrible but beloved couch is the site of supernatural mayhem. I loved how these kinds of things anchored each other and worked to build not only the world but also character and plot.
This is not a book about fae and it is entirely urban, not a mystical wood to be seen. Even the romance drama is mostly internal as Charlie keeps adjusting her feelings about Vince as she learns new things about him, mostly while he is away. Fans of Holly Black’s Young Adult books may have to reset their expectations. However, I really loved this gritty, horrifying, magical novel. I just hope there is a sequel!
…
What are your predictions for the top five? Let us know in the comments!
I read The Worst Guy when I saw your review. It was the first Canterbary I’ve read and have meandered through her backlist over the year. Over the weekend I reread The Worst Guy and the reading experience was totally different knowing the background to the other characters and their connections. The author is incredibly talented to write a story that works so well as a standalone when there is so much backstory out there.
My guess is that the review for Rachel Reid’s THE LONG GAME will be in the top five. Even though the reviewer gave the book a D, THE LONG GAME was such a highly-anticipated book this year, I suspect a lot of eyes were waiting for that review. (I am one of the readers who respectfully disagreed with the review & the grade: THE LONG GAME is my favorite book of 2022.)
@Barbara: I think that on one of Canterbary’s social media pages there is a diagram outlining the connections between all of her books. Canterbary is one of my favorite writers, and part of the fun of reading her books is to find all the little Easter eggs that connect each one to others, even when the books read perfectly well as stand-alones.
My guess for a top five review is Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn, if not taking the number one spot.
I wonder if Legends and Lattes will show up in the top 5.