scijessreads

2024 was a good year for ARC reading. At least for me, it was. I am always grateful and amazed that I get to read books early. I mean, I read anyway, but I love having the chance to get an advanced copy and be able to share my love for these books. My mantra is that even if only one other person reads a book because I mentioned it, then that is a success. Reading and books have always been part of my life, and I hope that others can find beauty in the written word that I do. Words are there for me when I have none of my own. They take me places I could only ever dream of. They give me joy and humor and heartbreak and new perspective. Books are life.

Most of the ARCs that I read are from NetGalley. I joined in 2022, and am – as of writing this – almost 69 books in. Not counting the others that I have been fortunate to receive from author ARC teams/sign-ups. With those, its probably over 80 ARCs in the last couple of years. In 2024, I finished 33 ARCs. The images above are a little small, but are the covers of all the books finished. The ones with a small heart in the corner were my 5-star favorites.

In choosing ARCs, I also try very hard to only ask for books that I think fit my reading habits and preferences. So, of all these books, the lowest “rating” would be 3 stars, which for me is still a good book, but just missed something for ME that would make it perfect.

My faves were the duology Beyond the Aching Door and Beneath the Buried Sea by Victoria Mier. These books are on my top fave fantasy books of all time. The yearning was perfection, the female rage palpable, and the Unseelie King… morally gray in all the best ways.

Another fantasy fave was the second entry into the Nightshade Crown trilogy by Hannah Whitten – The Hemlock Queen. Even better than The Foxglove King, IMO, this book takes us deeper and darker into the death magic and political chaos. We are left on a huge cliffhanger, but book 3 comes out soon, so we will soon find out how it all ends. I have loved Hannah Whitten since the Wilderwood duology, and she is one of my auto-buy/read authors.

I read three ARCs from Allison Carr Waechter last year – At the White Wolf, The Ravaged Dark, and my soul book: The Consulate. It is John Wick, The Old Guard, Underworld, The Matrix, Blade Runner, Dark City… all the best dark noir films with an urban fantasy story that feels both lived in and new. It is gritty and visceral and absolute perfection. Also, in full transparency, I am on the permanent ARC team for ACW, and I love all of her books. Been a fan since The Immortal Orders trilogy.

Another author that I am on the street team/ARC team for is Sarah A. Bailey. She write contemporary romance that is full of all the emotion and fun banter and MMCs that are down bad for their women. Last year Heathen & Honeysuckle and Wicked & Wildflower came out, the start of the Pacific Shores series. This year we’ll be getting Reckless Roses and Vice & Violet to round out that series. Heathen & Honeysuckle was one of those books that made me cry multiple times. It was so heartbreaking, and yet Leo and Darby also put you (and themselves) back together in the end.

The last three top ARC faves are Your Blood, My Bones by Kelly Andrew, The Universe in Verse by Maria Popova, and Sunastara & the Venusian by Jess K. Hardy. Sunastara is a space romance that knocked me over and made me cry and also laugh and also want to start a fan club for Garran the giant Argosian with a heart of gold.

Honorable mention books (more faves): Until We Shatter, A Dance Macabre, Strange Beasts, By Any Other Name, All the Painted Stars, A Monsoon Rising.