The Other Side of Perfect by Mariko Turk

⭐️🏳️‍🌈🧠💙

TW: racism, homophobia, grief, traumatic flashbacks, anxiety attacks

This was a delicate and gorgeous exploration of beginning the process of recovery, losing your dreams & having to build new ones and learning to love your passions for yourself again – as well as digging into the racist expectations and typecasting rampant in the dance industry. Turk’s writing and characterisation was excellent – I’m excited to pick up her next book.

Then There Was One by Wendy Cross

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TW: murder, blood, violence, death, body horror, abuse, physical abuse, classism, adultery, child death, traumatic flashbacks

This was like a dystopian sci-fi murder mystery that was such an exhilarating read. Kind of The Hunger Games meets Lord of the Flies – it was pacy, twisty and dark.

Full review here.

Where The Dark Stands Still by A.B.Poranek

🏳️‍🌈

TW: murder, violence, death, gore, grief, loss of a loved one

This was a magical fairy tale of a book and by that I mean containing the beauty and wonder, but also the darkness and horror touches of the Grimm tales. I loved how Poranek infused the story with aspects of Polish folklore.

Full review here.

We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds

⭐️🏳️‍🌈🧠

TW: racism, death of a loved one, grief, illness, generational trauma, hate crimes, homophobia, cancer, murder

This was at times a softly speaking, character-focused contemporary that revealed a spine of steel with a twisty mystery narrative – that characterisation remained at its core and was fantastic for me.

Lose You to Find Me by Erik J. Brown

⭐️🏳️‍🌈🧠

TW: death of a parent, grief, homophobia, outing, harassment, attempted suicide, cheating, slight gore in accident, revenge porn

This YA contemporary romance just melted my heart. I adored so much and his journey over the course of the book was fantastic. The humour was superb as well.

Inside No 9: The Scripts Series 1-3 and 4-6 by Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith

This were two separate books but I’ve grouped them together. Just a delight to revel in the writing of one of my favourite TV shows and discover little gems within the scripts.

You Better Watch Out by Sarah Naughton

⭐️🧠

TW: violence, death, grief, attempted murder, stalking

This was a deliciously dark and unnerving YA thriller set around Christmas time – it made for perfect Christmas Eve reading. Naughton’s writing was paranoid, tense and had great atmosphere & characterisation.

Piglet by Lottie Hazell

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TW: disordered eating, fatphobia, body shaming, bingeing

I really loved aspects of this, particularly the exploration of indulging your pleasures as a woman and the societal shame around this. These were often expressed through delectable descriptions of food, but they were also corrosive and self-destructive episodes. What I didn’t love was while I understand a certain decision Hazell made, it made me crave more from the ending.

Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker

⭐️🏳️‍🌈🧠💙

TW: abuse, grief, loss of a loved one, misgendering, violence, parental death, abusive parent, cults, kidnapping, animal abuse,

Cosy, character-focused and delicious contemporary fantasy story with stunning illustrations and a romance that made my heart sing.

Tender Beasts by Liselle Sambury

⭐️🏳️‍🌈🧠

TW: death, child death, violence, murder body horror, gore, grief, death of a parent, animal death, suicide, suicidal ideation, self-harm, drinking and drug use, infidelity, toxic relationships

Sambury is one of the YA horror authors for me at this moment. This was fantastic in every conceivable way – pacing, plotting, characterisation, atmosphere, character arcs and twists. Do not sleep on Sambury.

Full review here.

When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill

🏳️‍🌈🧠

TW; sexual assault, cancer, homophobia, alcoholism, fires, physical abuse, death, grief, disowning, violence, patriarchy, sexism

I really enjoyed this fantastical historical novel, which had a great voice and concept. I enjoyed the excerpts of different forms of media throughout and how character-focused the story was. I do wish we got a bit more insight post dragoning though and some more intersectionality.

The Beholders by Hester Musson

TW: sexual assault, rape, harassment, death, child death, murder, forced institutionalisation, imprisonment

Musson had such a compelling voice in this twisty Gothic tale of corruption, secrets and exploitation. The final third felt a bit lacklustre for me though and I was uneasy about the depiction of Laurence.

Afterlove by Tanya Byrne

⭐️🏳️‍🌈🧠

TW: death, grief, suicide, drug overdose

I wanted to end the year re-reading one of my favourite books of all time and yet again it clawed out my heart. This is just a beautifully devastating and emotionally rich masterpiece for me. Full review here.

In The Shallows by Tanya Byrne

⭐️🏳️‍🌈🧠💙

TW: toxic relationships, abuse, infidelity, amnesia

So I got to kickstart the year by reading this stunning book – it is emotionally rich and complex with excellent characterisation, pacing that kept me glued to the pages and some deftly executed twists and turns.

Full review here.

True Crime by Georgina Lees

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TW: murder, death, disappearance, grief, sexual assault, rape, kidnapping

I loved the use of multi-media formats to tell this story with the television show transcripts mixed into the narration. Lees fills this to the brim with twists, red herrings and clues to bring it all to an explosive conclusion. I also loved the throughline of the exploitative side of the true crime industry.

Full review here.

Girl A by Abigail Dean

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TW: child abuse, neglect, murder, suicide, death, physical abuse, religious trauma, starvation, self-harm, PTSD, traumatic flashbacks, hallucinations

This had such a fantastic concept and Dean kept the pacing and tension high throughout – you want to delve into the secrets of the past but also explore the complicated characterisation of the present day. I’m so excited to read Day One now.

My Throat an Open Grave by Tori Bovalino

🏳️‍🌈🧠

TW: murder, death, sacrifice, drowning, violence, sexism, religious trauma, abusive parent, blood, animal death, body horror, suicidal ideation, purity culture, pregnancy, death of a family member

Bovalino never fails to astound me. This Labryinth esque tale of expectations, religion and the bonds we forge in life was gorgeously written, with a tang of blood and death staining every page.

Full review here.