Books of 2021/2022
This is my ranking of all the books I read this year and a few I read last year before I started this website. Not all of these books have gotten reviews or will get reviews. I try not to write reviews for books I’m not all that interested in talking about, even if I enjoyed them. Sometimes I don’t have much to say. A good book is a good book! I’m also not going to talk about what these books are about, because that would make the post way too long, so I attached links to their Goodreads pages. For manga, I’m only listing the ones I’ve read fully, meaning I’ve read all available volumes. Some are not finished yet.
Priory of the Orange Tree: 10/10. This has everything that I love: Dragons, complex, interesting characters, POC/queer rep, a deep intricate world/lore, and an epic story. Loved this! Can’t wait for the prequel!
Bloom into you: 10/10. The love story that made me fall in love with love stories. It’s so damn cute! I love the characters, the plot, and the romance, and I love the subtle demi/ace rep. So good!
Heartstoppers: 10/10. Totally worth the hype. So damn cute and wholesome! I love love love Charlie and Nick. The art style is charming and I like seeing the characters explore themselves and find friends they can trust. It’s such a good series! Can’t wait for the rest of it! Yes… I will watch the tv show. One day. I’m not a tv person.
Hello, Melancholic: 10/10 Such a great short love story. The main character is so relatable, the art style is hands down my favorite out of all the manga I read this year and I love the music/band aesthetic and plot. Great shit!
I’m Glad my Mom Died: 10/10 It feels weird to give this book a rating because it feels like I’m rating Jeannette McCurdy’s life. What a gut-wrenching book. I love how brutally honest, raw, witty, and funny this book is. I’m glad I went out of my way to listen to the audiobook because it hits even harder listening to Jeanette herself tell her story. I don’t normally listen to audiobooks but I’m glad I did with this one. A must-read, especially if you are curious about how hard and awful child stardom is.
Malice & Misrule: 9/10. Exceeded my expectations. I adored following a morally gray character as she navigated her complex emotions. Plus the romance is so cute. Incredible. Loved the hell out of this.
Whisper Me a Love Song: 9/10 Another manga about a band. It’s adorable, it’s funny, and light-hearted. I’m curious to see where it goes. It warms my heart.
Yuri is my Job!: 8.8/10 Hilarious, super cute, and surprisingly complex with its characters. For such a dumb premise, this manga has some excellent character moments. Cannot wait for the anime adaptation!
Citrus & Citrus +: 8.3/10 HOO BOY, okay… I really like Citrus. I feel ashamed for liking it, but… I like it :I The premise squicked me out at first but I was surprised by how deep and intricate the main leads are. I wanted to see them grow, mature, and be together. There are some pacing issues, there are way too many characters, and there are some moments that made me uncomfortable, but the relationship between Yuzu and Mei is so strong and fascinating that it overshadowed a lot of the less savory stuff. Citrus + is more slice-of-life-y. It’s just cutesy couple-stuff and some light drama. I’m here for it. Hard series to recommend. I will probably dig deep into this one day. Gotta sit on it a bit longer.
The Reign of Wolf 21: 7.8/10 My first animal nonfiction book I read and what a good one. I’m already familiar with the wolves of Yellowstone National park (thanks WolfQuest) so reading this book and comparing it to one of my favorite video games was a lot of fun. If anything, it made me appreciate WolfQuest much more for how accurate it is. Wolves are such cool animals, man. Idk how anyone cannot be fascinated by them, let alone fear them. Once I read the other two books in the trilogy I will write about them and WolfQuest. WolfQuest is one of my favorite video games and I want to give it some love and recognition.
Plague Dogs: 7.8/10 Better than Watership. I love the characters and the commentary on misinformation and animal experimentation. However, it’s just too slow. The movie is way better, honestly. The book’s not bad but it’s not one I’ll read again. Watch the movie. The movie is fantastic.
Watership Down: 7/10 While not as good as I remember it being, it is still a solid story with timeless characters and creative lore. I honestly like the movie more than the book, unfortunately. The book tends to drag at points for me, especially the storytime segments (too long. The movie removes these). I found the narration to be stagnant and detached. I hold a lot of respect for Richard Adams and this book's legacy in the animal fiction genre, but I can no longer call it one of my favorites :(
Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me: 7/10. Pretty good! A good story about getting out of a toxic relationship. I wish the story was longer so we could better explore the relationship between the characters and gradually build up to big moments. Other than a few complaints about the pacing, it’s a good book. The art is really pretty.
Tallstar’s Revenge: 6.8/10 A pretty good Warriors Super Edition. I really liked Tallpaw/tail’s development in the first half. Getting to know Windclan’s culture and its internal politics was surprisingly fun and interesting. So many interpersonal relationships were developed and explored. Warriors needs more of that tbh. I really appreciated how we got to know Talltail and came to sympathize with his anger. The only downside is Talltail’s relationship with Jake. The whole second half felt rushed. Oddly, people say that Jake and Talltail’s relationship is the highlight of the book and I disagree. While they are cute friends, they really didn’t feel any closer than good buddies. The time we had with them was too short and it felt odd when Talltail referred to Jake as his best friend in the world. Like… since when? Y’all knew each other for a week. Other than that, a really solid book and actually pretty good for Warriors.
Warriors: The Prophecies Begin: 6/10 It’s fine. I have more sour feelings toward Warriors as a whole, but the first arc is okay. It still holds up as a fun adventure tale. Glad I reread them and relived my childhood for a bit, but eh… yeah. Warriors as a whole kind of sucks. There are way better animal books out there.
Warriors: The New Prophecy: 4/10 Ugh… like I said, Warriors kind of sucks. This one was real bad.
The Dragon War Trilogy: 1/10 It’s so bad. I didn’t finish my review for it because I was so sick and tired of this series. Eventually, I will rewrite that review and do a real, full breakdown of the trilogy but that requires me to reread these terrible, terrible books. I have to muster up the courage to torture myself like that again. Don’t read these if you love yourself. Avoid all of Daniel Arenson’s books honestly. They’re all shit.
The Inheritance Cycle: 0/10 Some of the worst books I’ve ever read. I hate them with a burning passion. I’ll never understand how anyone can find enjoyment in these books. They’re not even worth burning. Books that are burned usually have something of merit to them. Godawful. Avoid at all costs.
I’m glad I got back into reading this year. I’ve been in a multi-year slump, but now I’m out thanks to this website. I love talking about the books I read, but I never had an outlet for that passion until I created this website.
I have way too many books in my TBR pile now and I hope I’ll get to them next year.
