The Best Novels I Read in 2023 (Part 1)

So far this year, only six novels have made it into my four- and five-star reviews. (And five of them have been Book of the Month books, so I would say they are doing a good job this year!) Here’s what I have been enjoying in 2023.

Mystery/Thriller

Kate Alice Marshall’s What Lies in the Woods was my first book by this author, and I was gripped from the first page all the way to the last! I really enjoyed the relationships between various characters. Naomi was intriguing to follow. She wasn’t an idiot like some main characters in thrillers can be. (Although there were still a couple of moments where I wanted to scream, “Wait until you’re to safety before making these accusations!”.) The whole side plot of Naomi’s dad living alone in his hoarder house was particularly interesting to me, and I liked that relationship especially–how fraught with turbulence it was, and how they kept trying and failing to make it work. I loved the friendship between the three girls, and their whole “Goddess Game”. All three of them were very unique. I liked the love interest, too.

I also enjoyed reading about the little town. It just had a lot of interesting people in it.

And there were so many great twists and turns in this one! I did guess at a couple of things–there was one reveal especially that I thought was particularly obvious. And while I did consider absolutely everyone as a suspect (as well as their possible motives) at some point or other, I did not guess at the ending. I would definitely read another book by this author!

The Golden Couple by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen was pretty good! No, it wasn’t hard to guess after a certain point (although I had a 50/50 chance and went with the wrong one). But the journey getting there was pretty exciting. There were lots of little twists and turns along the way that I did not see coming.

I had mixed feelings about the various characters. However, this plot hooked me right away, so again, I’m glad I gave it a chance. And despite her infidelity and lies, Marissa was not wholly unlikable. She had enough empathy, stress, and seeming remorse to be able to want good things for her.

I disliked Avery right off the bat. But I quickly changed my mind about her after the whole pharmaceuticals side plot came to light. She became gradually more likable throughout the book. And I liked the pharmaceuticals thing. I thought it was a more unique side plot that definitely fed some scary tension into the book. I actually jumped at a certain point near the beginning when my boyfriend quietly entered the room and was hidden behind my book so I didn’t notice him at first.

I did have my annoyances with the book, though. Despite the constant complaints about Polly, I thought she didn’t seem that bad. She just seemed like an underprivileged, talented girl in desperate need of a mentor. I won’t tell you whether or not I was right about her or what she was up to. They just appeared to be making mountains out of molehills every time she came up.

THAT SAID…my other, major annoyance with this was that when certain suspicious things did come up, they didn’t follow up on them right away! They would say, ‘I’ll think about this later’ and then not come back to it until way, WAY later. Sometimes much too late! Or they would dash off in the middle of a hugely important conversation in which they were trying to get answers to these things that were honestly very dire and needed to be dealt with instantly. This drove me crazy repeatedly. But as the book was moving very quickly, I never had much time to think about any of this before the next thing happened. So I wasn’t that miffed about it, I guess.

I also thought that one of the last major reveals (the one regarding the whole pharmaceutical thread) made no sense and was just way too convenient.

Apart from those few gripes, though, I had a good time with this one. And it kept me engaged the entire way through.

What do you get when you mix Mean Girls with The Count of Monte Cristo and a touch of I Know What You Did Last Summer? The answer is Sian Gilbert’s She Started It. What an amazing debut! What a bunch of terrible people who deserved everything they got! Seriously, these characters were such irredeemably horrendous people that it was a pleasure to watch their demise.

If the novel falls short in any way, it is that it did get confusing at times trying to remember whose chapter I was in. But for the most part, I managed to keep them straight. The four friends in this book are self-centered and smug, with a false sense of superiority to literally everyone around them due to the things they have and the way they look. All of them are remorseless for the truly awful, life-ruining things they did to poor Poppy all the way through school (which ended 10 years ago). All of them are foolish enough to show up to an all-expense-paid, glamorous vacation with Poppy, whom they haven’t heard from in 10 years, for the chance at a free vacation on her dime and to bully her again.

All of them are hiding still more secrets.

I won’t pretend I didn’t see (nearly) every revelation coming a mile away. But that didn’t make the journey getting there any less enjoyable. The biggest surprise of all was the open-ended conclusion. I bet there’s a sequel coming. And I very much look forward to reading it (which I don’t always). I could foresee a really interesting courtroom drama, maybe a conspiracy beginning with letters in prison going out to another person, and said other person being stalked. A sequel to this could be really fun.

This was so good, I could not stop! I also loved that I got to read it when it was still so new, it took place two weeks earlier (incidentally, during my own high school reunion, which made it that much more fun).

I’m going to start by saying Roshani Chokshi’s The Last Tale of the Flower Bride was not, as it claimed, a fantasy. I would say at most it could qualify as magical realism. But I think even calling it that would be generous, as there was not any actual magic anywhere in the book. Sure, it was heavily inspired by folk and faerie tales. But I think a much better description of this book would be gothic thriller. This was like a gender-swapped Rebecca starring two girls and an unnamed bridegroom who are all obsessed with faerie stories. Go in knowing that, and I think you’ll have a much better time.

That said, I did love the flowery prose; this was beautifully written. Every single sentence is full of purple prose. So if you hate that (and I know it is inherently a negative descriptor, but I can’t help it, I’m a sucker for it and always have been), then steer clear of this book. But if you adore that sort of thing like I do, you just might love this one.

There are no characters to relate to in this book. They are all terrible people. So if you don’t typically enjoy books with awful people in every role, you probably won’t like this one. (Although I usually hate books with awful people as the characters, and I still liked this.) If you’re willing to accept all that, you might enjoy this book.

I’ll also mention that the twist was very easy to pick up on. It is repeatedly, strongly hinted at throughout the course of the book. So there’s a good chance you’ll already know how it ends right at the beginning. I usually do guess twists. But this one seemed a bit more obvious, perhaps only because I just read another book with the same twist.

I realize that much of what I just wrote about this one is negative. Seriously, though, I really did enjoy reading this. It was a good ride from beginning to end, I thought, despite all of the above. I loved the writing and all of the references to folklore. And I really wanted to see how it all played out.

Fantasy

I have read a lot of duds this year. V. E. Schwab’s A Darker Shade of Magic made up for them all. I’m so happy to have found a new series with sequels to look forward to!

No, it wasn’t perfect. Honestly, Delilah was kind of obnoxious, and Kell was kind of boring, but this at least made for interesting banter. All the characters I really liked died almost immediately. But it was a fun quest, with excellent world-building, creative magic, and terrifying villains! I was so afraid of White London. And I can only imagine what Black London must be like after having seen that.

I wish I could think of more to say. But I’m just really excited to read the next books in the series. (And apparently there’s a spinoff series!?) And I want to see the upcoming film!

Classics

This is far, far from my first time reading Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, the first time being circa 1st grade or so. But it has been over 20 years, so I decided to give it another go. And over time, some of my feelings have changed, although not enough to lower the five stars for a book so dear to my heart. [Beware of spoilers from here on if you have never read or watched this one.]

In the past, I could never understand why Jo did not want to marry Laurie. This time around, I found myself wondering how I ever could have thought they would work together. They were so wrong for each other, and it could not have been plainer throughout the book.

I feel like as a kid, the loss of Beth really took me by surprise, but now I see the signs and foreshadowing were there all along. It is as heartbreaking now as it always has been–perhaps more so.

I could not stand the moralizing, patronizing Mr. Bhaer. I don’t think I was ever terribly fond of him, but this time around my dislike for him really stuck out. It’s absurd to me that Jo would fall for someone like that.

On a personal note, as a young girl, I always identified the most with Jo, because she was a tomboy and loved to tell stories. But with wisdom and maturity, I have realized I am not a Jo at all. Jo is rash, contrary, and thinks without speaking. She is content to a life of poverty and goes out of her way to avoid any opportunities that could change her future for the better. Now I find myself relating much more to the ambitious Amy, who learns from her mistakes, loves fashion and travel, and is willing to do what it takes to improve her lot in life.

I am still in love with the main story of love between sisters, family, and dear friends.

If you enjoyed the above and think we may have similar taste in books, you may also want to see the best novels I read in 2021 and 2022. Also, check out what’s inside my current box from Book of the Month!