#thirteens

🌟Mfred's Best Books of 2022🌟

Comfort Me with Apples by Cathrynne M. Valente

Original Review

It’s a fairy tale retold, a myth re-examined. It’s a mystery, a thriller, and a horror story. But it’s so much more, too. I was mesmerized - trying to understand what was going on, then understanding too much, with a dawning sense of horror at how it would all end.

The Duke with the Dragon Tattoo by Kerrigan Byrne

Original Review

This book put me through the wringer, you guys. I came out the other end definitely dehydrated from crying so much, but also filled to the brim with love and life.

Even Though I Knew the End by CL Polk

Sapphic. Urban Fantasy. Noir. Do I need to say more? OK, I will anyway! Chicago in the winter. Dames smoking Chesterfields and hunting serial killers. Underground queer nightclubs. And magic! And a swoony romance!

Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White

Original Review

Don’t be fooled, Benji is really turning into a monster. White pulls no punches. Bloody, gruesome, and terrifying. It’s so queer, so righteously angry, so necessarily vengeful. But it also holds a place for the tenderness and hope we all need to truly survive.

Thirteens by Kate Alice Marshall

A spooky and super creepy Halloween read, especially for a children’s book! Plus, the power of friendship, loyalty, and believing in yourself.

The Mind and the Moon: My Brother's Story, the Science of Our Brains, and the Search for Our Psyches by Daniel Bergner

Challenges the science behind mental illness and standard pharmaceutical treatments. At once eye-opening, engrossing, and also emotional.

A Mirror Mended by Alix E. Harrow

Lucky you! If you didn’t read the first in this series, you now get to read both amazing books! This time we see what happens when the Evil Queen wants a better ending to her story. And also what it means to survive a happy ending.

My Killer Vacation by Tessa Bailey

Original Review

I loved Myles. I loved his struggle. Every time Taylor did or said something, his heart clenched or he got sweaty or he desperately wanted to kiss her. He’s big, he’s tattooed, he’s unshaven and rides a motorcycle and he is a total dummy about his emotions. It’s great.

Paper Girls, Vols 1-6 by Brian K. Vaughn, Cliff Chiang, Matt Wilson, & Jared K. Fletcher

Friendship! Time travel! The 1980s! A war between teenagers vs. grownups! This graphic novel series has it all. And the artwork is amazing. 

Patricia Wants to Cuddle by Samantha Allen

Ok, how do you feel about The Bachelor? Cryptids? Horrifically funny violence? This book is so weird and also so, so amazing. 

Runaway Girl by Tessa Bailey

A poor little rich girl who really isn’t and a bear of a man dealing with unimaginable loss. Slow burn but awesome tension and chemistry throughout. Plus, the emotional wallop of falling in love. Everything good about romance novels.  

Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison

Original Review

Amazing. A novel about anger, trauma, families, romance, trusting others, and werewolves. It really takes a good, hard look at why and when and how and how often we get angry– and how we treat others and ourselves when we rage. The werewolf metaphor is grrrreat (see what I did there?) for examining what it means to be an angry woman, in/out of control. 

We Keep the Dead Close: A Murder at Harvard and a Half Century of Silence by Becky Cooper

Original Review

This book has everything.

Wanted: Literally anyone else to work on this wiki with me

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