City of Deja

Happy New Year, everyone! It’s a new year, which means it’s time to tackle my favorite reads of 2023. My 2023 reading year was successful in terms of quality, which I’m happy about. I did read less than I did in years past, but I savored a lot of what I read, which made up for it. Here are my favorite reads of last year.

The Atlas Paradox by Olivie Blake

The Atlas Paradox is the sequel to Olivie Blake’s viral dark academia fantasy, The Atlas Six. And it was an excellent follow-up. I had my hesitancies before starting the book, as sequels can either be a big hit or a big miss. Luckily, The Atlas Paradox included everything that I could have wanted in a second book; it raised the stakes, widened the scope, and kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish.

What I love about Blake’s The Atlas trilogy is how she constructs such compelling characters. The series itself is very character driven, but Blake doesn’t shy away from describing the fatal flaws of each of our six protagonists–making them simultaneously likable and not. The book indulges in its exploration of gray areas among both the characters and the overall plot, and that kept me yearning for more. I can’t wait to see how the story gets wrapped up in the finale. You can read my spoiler-filled review of The Atlas Paradox here.

The Dreamer Trilogy by Maggie Stiefvater

2023 also marked the year that I finished The Dreamer Trilogy by Maggie Stiefvater, the spin-off series to her Raven Cycle quartet. My reading experience with The Dreamer Trilogy was an interesting one. I absolutely loved my re-read of book one, Call Down the Hawk. However, I found the sequel, Mister Impossible, to be less impressive. And in the end, I thought the series ender, Greywaren, was an “impeccable conclusion” to quote my Goodreads review. Thus, collectively, it was a great series, even with the slight lull in the middle. Each book had all the hallmarks of a Maggie Stiefvater novel, with sharp writing, engaging characters, and inexplicably strange plot lines (in the best way). The trilogy felt like a conclusion of both The Dreamer Trilogy and The Raven Cycle, and it gracefully closed the door on such an expansive and unforgettable world. I’ve mentioned in a previous post about Stiefvater’s The Raven Cycle that I think her books are way better upon a re-read, so I am exciting to revisit this trilogy in the future.

And that’s it! I hope you all had a fun reading year in 2023, and here’s to another year of great reads in 2024.