Luna’s Year in Books

What did you read this year?

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2023

43,195

pages read

129

books read

Luna

Shortest Book

pages

Longest Book

883

pages

Average book length in 2023

334

pages

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Most Shelved

5,288,856

people also shelved

Least Shelved

people also shelved

Luna’s average rating for 2023

3.1

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

Highest Rated on Goodreads

4.66 average

Luna’s first review of the year

it was ok

Ech, this wasn't a great way to start the year.

The premise of this book sounds awesome. Bone Witch? Sign me up!

But this is a massive slog, and I found myself struggling to get through it. There is so much worldbuilding going on (and it's never a good sign when the front of the book holds a map, the back has a description of each kingdom with important people, but only two towns are visited) and everything is a real mishmash of broad Asian inspir Ech, this wasn't a great way to start the year.

The premise of this book sounds awesome. Bone Witch? Sign me up!

But this is a massive slog, and I found myself struggling to get through it. There is so much worldbuilding going on (and it's never a good sign when the front of the book holds a map, the back has a description of each kingdom with important people, but only two towns are visited) and everything is a real mishmash of broad Asian inspiration with no cohesion.

Tea, our titular bone witch, accidentally raises her brother from the dead. There's a quick description of her two elder sisters being witches in their own right (water and... plants? I think?) before she's whisked off on some geisha-like jouney to become a bone witch. The term 'asha' is thrown about a little, and though she does receive training in her magical abilities, most of her role seems to be in dancing, singing, music and some kind of political intrigue/entertainment value. Only a small part of training is to do with magic. It's not described as to whether her sisters received the same kind of training, even though it's stressed few witches are of the necromancy variety.

There's other characters we meet. Backstabbing fellow asha from other schools, a boy named Likh who dreams of becoming an asha (is he trans? Nonbinary? Simply wants to be an asha? It's unclear), and a couple of other boys she might have feelings for.

There's much how-do-you-do about these charms called 'heartsglass' that everyone wears. It appears to be a reflection of someone's heart, which is connected to them. Asha can read someone's emotions and whether they're being truthful or not by viewing the heartsglass. How these came to be and why people just... flipping exchange their hearts... isn't really explored. Oh, sure, there's one asha who notoriously gave her heart away, and in doing so lost a lot of her power, but it's not really talked about in depth... despite the book itself being so slow.

I won't be actively seeking out any further stories in this series. ...more

LUNA’S 2023 BOOKS

really liked it

Katherine of Aragon, the True Queen by Alison Weir

My Mechanical Romance by Alexene Farol Follmuth

Anna of Kleve, Queen of Secrets by Alison Weir

really liked it

Katharine Parr, The Sixth Wife by Alison Weir

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

really liked it

I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar

Treasure Island Excl by Robert Louis Stevenson

it was amazing

The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding by Holly Ringland

A Semi-Definitive List of Worst Nightmares by Krystal Sutherland

it was amazing

Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe by John Boswell

Can I Steal You for a Second? by Jodi McAlister

The Jane Austen Project by Kathleen A. Flynn

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

it was amazing

In Watermelon Sugar by Richard Brautigan

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune

Delilah Green Doesn't Care by Ashley Herring Blake

Prettier If She Smiled More by Toni Jordan

it was amazing

Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Murders by John Mortimer

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

really liked it

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke and Other Misfor... by Eric LaRocca

Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

Anxiety is Really Strange by Steve Haines

For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy On My Little Pain by Victoria Mackenzie

Trauma is Really Strange by Steve Haines

it was amazing

really liked it

The Buddha Of Suburbia by Kureishi Hanif

Toil and Trouble A Women's History of the Occult by Lisa Kröger

really liked it

Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi

Firefly - The Ghost Machine by James Lovegrove

Breathe and Count Back from Ten by Natalia Sylvester

When the Earth Had Two Moons by Erik Asphaug

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

Luna’s last review of the year

liked it

A friend bought this book and told me to read it for her. So I did.

It fits in well with the wider Stranger Things universe. Robin really felt like a developed character here. Her parents being ex-hippies and her having some awkward friends did fit in well with her... to an extent. Her urge to just go to France by herself simply so she could try to rebel did seem poorly thought out, given she does come across as fairly sensible (if a little impul ...more

2023 READING
CHALLENGE

Luna read 129 out of 120 books.

108%

What did you read this year?