#best book of 2024

[certifiedfantasyreader]

♾️/5

Stop whatever you're reading, and read this masterpiece ✨️

This is the book i can and will always recommend people when asked what to read. It was beautifully written, the characters who deserve the world and more. I'll always cherish this story ❤️

[uterialmotive-blog]

Book review: Phantasma

TITLE: Phantasma

AUTHOR: Kaylie Smith

SUMMARY:

When Ophelia and her sister discovers their mother brutally murdered, there is no time to grieve: Ophelia has inherited both her powerful death-driven magic and enormous debt on their home. Circumstances go from dire to deadly, however, when Ophelia’s sister decides to pay off the loan by entering Phantasma—a competition where most contestants don’t make it out alive and the winner is granted a single wish. The only way to save her sister is to compete. But Phantasma is a cursed manor, with twisting corridors and lavish ballrooms, and filled with enticing demons and fatal temptations. Ophelia will need to face nine floors of challenges to win... if her fears don’t overtake her first. When a charming, arrogant stranger claims he can protect and guide Ophelia, she knows she shouldn’t trust him. While Blackwell may not seem dangerous, appearances can be deceptive. But with her sister’s life on the line, Ophelia can’t afford to turn him away. She just needs to ignore the overwhelming, dark attraction drawing them closer and closer together. Because in Phantasma, the only thing deadlier than losing the game is losing your heart.

REVIEW:

THIS IS IT!!!! This is my favourite book of 2024!

I have already told everyone I know about this book and I only finished it 2 days ago.

So, Ophelia is a necromancer and inadvertently enters Phantasma, which I have essentially described as Paranormal Squid Games to everyone I have told about this. She meets Blackwell, who is up there as the ultimate book boyfriend. There’s not much I can say about their meeting without giving spoilers so we will leave it at that.

First of all, let me just say that I read some bad reviews about this book but decided to give it a go anyway and it is the sort of book that makes me want to burn down the world at the very idea of people leaving bad reviews. The OCD representation in this story is unparalleled. It’s not your bog standard “I like lists and cleaning” but is described as a shadow voice who tells Ophelia that her family will die if she doesn’t knock on her bedframe 9 times each night or that something awful will happen if she doesn’t make it through her front door within the next 10 seconds.

One of the bad reviews I read said that this book was all sex and no plot and I can’t help but wonder if they were reading a different book to me because nothing sexual even happened until almost 50% and the plot was intriguing from the very beginning.

I haven’t read ACOTAR which, as someone who claims to love the whole romantasy genre is probably pretty bad of me. I did see some reviews that say that no romantasy since then will live up to it but I can’t comment on that.

Now, let’s talk about Blackwell. Think adult Danny Phantom. The man is a white-haired little shit and I love him. I didn’t even realise I was looking for an adult Danny Phantom until I read this book. I originally only actually downloaded this because the artwork that was released for it was very Dramione-esque.

I have so much I want to say about this book and I don’t even have the words to say it. I just know that everyone needs to read it. I loved it so much and I wish I could read it again for the first time. I think the ending was maybe slightly predictable but only if you pay attention to the clues. All of the characters were interesting and the idea of the book seemed new and different to me.

I generally only review books when I have received an ARC but I loved this so much that I need everyone to know about it.

GO AND READ THIS BOOK.

Tropes:

Ghosts

Devils

Necromancer

Paranormal competition

BAMF heroine

Little shit hero

Supernatural

DANNY PHANTOM MMC

[my-wife-doesnt-approve]

Huge congratulations to @neil-gaiman for sweeping the ComicScene Awards of 2024!

Best Comic of All Time (at a crushing 47.5%)

Best Adaptation (at 40.9%, beating Into the Spiderverse)

And, I cannot agree with this one more

Best Writer of All Time (55.1%)

If you haven't read the Sandman, this is ComicScene and me telling you you really should.

Congratulations Neil!

https://comicscene.org/2024/02/01/comicscene-award-winners-2024-to-be-announced-here-07-02-24-7am/

[why-the-heck-not]

cat !!

[they-call-me-youngermoney]

very fond of zlatko's android polar bear. i like to call it 'mandy'.

day 28 of @starryeyedstray's dbh drawtober prompt list ['animal']

[lakecountylibrary]

Kate's Top 3 Adult Nonfiction Reads of 2024

Demystifying Disability: What to Know, What to Say and How to Be an Ally by Emily Ladau

This book gives readers actionable steps to be an ally to the disabled community as well as how to act and what to say or not to say to disabled people. The author describes how to follow these steps in a nonjudgmental way. She realizes that everyone makes mistakes and she informs readers on terminology to use and to eliminate from your vocabulary when it comes to the disabled community.

This is a concise guide to help readers become more educated, empathetic and accepting. I highly recommend reading this book.

The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer

This book focuses on life values that align with my way of thinking, therefore I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The author explains how important it is to focus on gratitude, reciprocity and community. She uses nature based examples to explain how the natural world also lives by these values.

Other books by this author include Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants and Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses. Give this book a try if you enjoy nature and short reads.

The Good Enough Job: Reclaiming Life from Work by Simone Stolzoff

This book urges readers to reclaim their lives from a work obsessed world. It suggests putting more emphasis on our lives outside of work and allowing ourselves to believe we are doing a good enough job in our work lives.

The author offers strategies for how to have a healthier relationship with work and how to have a better work-life balance. If you are struggling with burnout at your job, this book will hopefully help you realign the important things in your life and make you realize you are doing a 'good enough job' in your career.

I really enjoyed these two quotes from the book:

“You are not the work you do, you are the person you are.”

(Edited to add: This was originally said - or rather, written - by Toni Morrison in a 2017 New Yorker article titled The Work You Do, the Person You Are. It was quoted with the source in the book. Thanks to the reader who pointed out this additional context would be good to add!)

and

“A good enough job is a job that allows you to be the person you want to be.”

See more of Kate's recs

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

can I ask you guys a favor?

if you see literally any publication putting out a Best Romance Novels of 2024 or a general Best Books of 2024, can you send the link to me? I need it for Reasons.

[kingjasnah]

the further i get in my wok reread the more apparent it is to me that kaladin's depression is so central to who he is that you cant think of him as a protagonist w/o considering it. and yeah the premise of the radiant magic system means that people who are actively trying to heal from various traumas are gravitated towards pursuing oaths that help them do so but it's really good that all of kaladin's childhood flashbacks are like yeah no the depression was clinical. it was always there. all that terrible shit also happened and he is getting better but no matter how many ideals he swears he's still gonna have to deal with it. meg thee stallion said it best 😔 bad bitches have bad days too.

[fated-mates]

The Best Romance Novels of 2024! This is our favorite episode of the year, where we get to shout at you about the terrific books we read this year, and tell you all the ways romance continues to excite us.

It's the best and worst job, because we get to shout about books we love, but we are limited to only ten! And choosing ten favorites is very difficult! That said, we persevered, and here they are: Ten books we loved, books that delivered all the things we love in romance: bold heroines, big heroes, banter, complexity, conflict, impossible situations, and stories that swing for the fences. You're going to love these books.

Follow Fated Mates in your favorite podcast app.

[khaopybara]

@/kasibook: it doesn't matter how many times I watch it, i still get embarrassed. friends don't look at their friends like that, my friend🤣🤣🤣

(speak your truth, king)

+ first's reply:

[mikimeiko]

L'amica geniale | Season 4 (2024), Saverio Costanzo

[lovebooksforeversblog]

U AND I ❤🫶🏻

[angelkissedface]

'...so if you don't hear from me, i just want you to know that it's because i never loved you.'

[why-the-heck-not]

whiskey & writing this thesis bc the introduction chapter is taking more linguistical creativity than what I have with just caffeine (idk what to write in this without it sounding like a 3rd grader’s essay yikes)

[bklynmusicnerd]

Killers of the Flower Moon plainly portrayed the casual violence that has historically upheld whiteness in this country, and so the subsequent shutout at the Oscars is the most unsurprising thing ever.

[sableeira]

someone free me from this very cursed The Raven Cycle inspired bsd au. rich kid Dazai spends all his time researching the supernatural and ley lines in Japan’s country side. He had a (near) death experience as a kid but was saved through supernatural means and now he is unable to die. But the gift of his immortality is unbearable to Dazai. Thus he has dedicated his life to researching the supernatural to figure out what happened to him and how to reverse it. Since his incident he has also been able to see the supernatural. Unfortunately, when he is trying to come in direct contact with the supernatural it dispels, almost like he is nullifying it.

Chuuya is the youngest in a found family household of shrine workers and spiritual mediums. He is the only one in his family that’s not inclined to the supernatural but everyone around him feels the supernatural more severely when he is around. Even though he can’t see the supernatural like his family members do, he helps out and enhances the supernatural during seances and other family business.

When Dazai and Chuuya meet, their opposing inclinations to the supernatural cancel each other out. But the same way their inclinations to the supernatural are opposing each other so are their personalities. Will they get over their differences to work together?

And then there is this little tiny detail that could shake up this potential research partnership. Chuuya has been told since he was a little kid that he would kill his true love with their first kiss. During a seance he enhanced a few months earlier, Chuuya managed to catch a glimpse of an actual ghost for the first time. The ghost of a boy who is supposed to die in the next 12 months. Lippmann told him that non-clairvoyants are only able to see the ghosts of the future-dead if they are the one to kill them… or their soulmate. The boys name? Dazai. And now that Chuuya has met him he is pretty sure he is going to kill him. Right?!