Compared to 2021, 2022 didn't have the same zing. Out of the 70ish books I read, all fell into the category of unforgettable or forgettable whereas 2021 had a mixture of forgettable, unforgettable, and good enough. I think the lack of good enough books really threw off my reading perspective but thankfully there were some standout reads and those are the ones I want to share with you and encourage you to read this year. Obviously I couldn't read every book published in 2022 but for the ones I did, these are the seventeen books released in 2022 you need to read in 2023.
And if you want to know my top 5 reads of 2022 - click here (publication in work).
1 - Blood Sugar
Ruby has killed - three times to be exact - but she is not a sociopath. Ruby is a respected therapist with a thriving practise, has long-lasting and meaningful friendships, and is married to a man she adores but, the Miami Beach PD are not confident about her adoration and believe her to be Jason's killer. Except, Ruby would never kill her husband. As she's interrogated, her life flashes before her filling in the story of how she ended up inside that interrogation room.
Through altering between Ruby's present and past, Blood Sugar transforms into a thrilling read that will make you question how a killer can also be such a rootable protagonist.
Find the review | HERE | for Blood Sugar
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2 - The Change
In the oceanfront community of Mattauk, three women discover that middle age comes with changes... and a new type of empowerment. It doesn't take Nessa James long to figure out her childhood gift has resurfaced and that the voices calling to her, are those of the dead. Harriet Osborne's career has imploded and to the outsider, it seems her life has collapsed, but Harriet isn't hiding - she's going through a metamorphosis. Jo Levison has spent decades fighting her own body and when the start of menopause brings hot flashes and rage, it feels like the last straw, until she realises it can be channeled.
Forming an unexpected friendship, the three women discover the body of a teenage girl, guided there by the voices only Nessa can hear. The police write her off as a druggie sex worker but Nessa, Harriet, and Jo are certain that is not the truth. It is up to them to find it, even if it leads them to more bodies and into the town's most exclusive neighbourhood, where wealth erases the rules of society. With their newfound powers and a sense of change about them, it is time they took justice into their own hands.
Find the review | HERE | for The Change
3 - Daisy Darker
Nana's estate is located on a tiny island and it is at this deteriorating estate where estranged family members have come together to celebrate her 80th birthday. Each member arrives harbouring secrets and at the stroke of midnight, a storm begins to rage. An hour later, Nana is found dead. An hour after that, another body is found. Trapped on the island with only family, the Darker's must confront the present deaths and their past secrets, otherwise all may be revealed.
Find the review | HERE | for Daisy Darker
4 - Dead Silence
Claire Kovalik is on her final mission, days away from being unemployed and skilled in a position now obsolete, when the beacon on her repair ship picks up a distress signal. With nothing to lose and no desire to return to Earth, Claire and her team respond.
What they find at the other end of the signal is something of a dream. It is the Aurora, the famous luxury space-liner that vanished on its maiden voyage more than twenty years ago. A salvage claim like this could set Claire and her crew up for life. It is upon entering that they realise their discovery is not a dream, but a nightmare.
There are whispers in the dark, warnings written in blood, and flickers of movement that cannot be explained. To survive and return home victorious, Claire must fight to hold on to her sanity and find out what really happened on the Aurora, otherwise she and her crew may meet the same ghastly fate of the previous passengers.
Find the review | HERE | for Dead Silence
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5 - The Diamond Eye
In 1937, Mila Pavlichenko focused on her dissertation, her library job, and her young son - but Hitler's invasion sends her on a vastly different path then expected. Mila is one of the first to sign up for the fight and as one of the only females registered and a sharp shooter, her road through the war is unexpected and unforgettable. Known as Lady Death, her three hundredth confirmed kill makes her a national hero in Russia and she is soon swept away from the bloody battlefields and to America on a goodwill tour.
The distance from the battlefield doesn't lessen her war wounds and her devastation leads to isolation in Washington DC - until an expected friendship with the First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and the prospect of connection with a fellow silent sniper brings to her the prospect of happiness. But when an old enemy and a new foe join together to take down Lady Death, the fight is brought to her and to save herself she must battle her own demons and survive the deadliest duel of her life.
6 - Dirt Creek
In a rural Australian town, twelve-year-old Esther disappears. Detective Sergeant Sarah Michaels arrives on the scene determined to find answers and hopefully, Esther alive and safe - having just been lost in the vastness of the outback. Ronnie too, is determined to find her best friend and bring her safely home.
When schoolfriend Lewis tells Ronnie he saw Esther with a strange man at the creek the day she went missing, Ronnie knows she's one step closer to finding Esther and she doesn't get why Lewis, a true friend of Esther's, doesn't want to go to the police. His reluctance makes her wonder who else in town is lying and do any of them know what happened to Esther?
Find the review | HERE | for Dirt Creek
7 - Gallant
Olivia Prior only has one thing connecting her to her past, her mother's journal that towards the end unravels into insanity. The journal has been in her possession since her arrival at Merilance School for Girls and when a letter arrives inviting her to Gallant, a relatives' manor, she eagerly accepts hoping for a new start and insight into her past. Upon arrival, nobody is expecting her and despite the unwanted welcome, she is reluctant to leave. There is hostility from her cousin and half-formed ghouls in the hallways but why would she leave the first place that has ever felt like home?
Olivia can sense Gallant is hiding secrets, secrets she wants to uncover. And then she discovers a ruined wall and is transported back to Gallant - but different. The manor is derelict and the half-formed ghouls from the other world are solid. It is in this world she realises what caused her mother's insanity and that it also could be her father's homeland. Olivia has always wanted to belong and will taking place as a Prior to protect her world against the Master of the House be that opportunity? Or does she belong ruling beside him?
8 - The Golden Couple
If she can't help you in ten sessions, she won't take you on as a client. From abuse to assault, Avery Chambers will help you overcome your trauma all whilst avoiding her own. Her newest clients are Marissa and Matthew Bishop, previously a golden couple, until Marissa cheats. Marissa is desperate to repair her relationship with Matthew, to fix it for their son but also because she still loves him deeply. When the newest client's enter Avery's office, an inevitable collision course is set and the biggest secrets in the room are the ones not being told.
Find the review | HERE | for The Golden Couple
9 - Hidden Pictures
Mallory Quinn has recently accepted the babysitter position for Ted and Caroline Maxwell's five-year-old son, Teddy, in an affluent neighbourhood. It is the perfect job for Mallory who, fresh out of rehab, is looking for a new start on life. The new position comes with accommodation, nightly runs, and bonding with Teddy, whom is never without a sketchbook and pencil.
His drawings start out as standard five-year-old drawings until the day he draws a man dragging a woman's lifeless body into the woods. From that drawing forward, Teddy begins creating sinister and uncomfortable images transforming his usual stick figures into highly detailed and lifelike figures - drawings that a five-year-old should not be capable of.
Mallory suspects his drawings aren't his and that a supernatural force is lingering around Teddy and using him as a messenger. With the help of an eccentric neighbour and a handsome landscaper, Mallory sets out to decipher the images and hopefully save Teddy before it's too late.
10 - Hide
Mack is one of the fourteen competitors chosen to compete in a new reality show where to win the life-changing cash prize, you must stay hidden for seven days and seven nights in an abandoned amusement park. An easy thing for Mack to accomplish as her speciality is hiding but as each competitor begins to vanish, Mack realises the game is more dangerous than it seems and that to survive, she may have to team up with the remaining competitors. There is nowhere to run in the decrepit amusement park but everywhere to hide.
Find the review | HERE | for Hide
11 - Hotel Magnifique
Hotel Magnifique by Emily J. Taylor is presented as a must-read for lovers of The Night Circus and Caraval. With the backdrop of a Belle Époque inspired hotel, you follow Jani and her discoveries within and about the legendary hotel.
When Hotel Magnifique comes to town, Jani sees the glittering lights as a source of freedom for her and her younger sister but the only way to obtain that freedom is to become employed as hotel staff. Positions that initially glitter with magical delight but underneath the glamour hide dangerous secrets, secrets so terrifying that quitting is the only safe option except, their contracts are unbreakable. It is up to Jani to save her sister and free all from Hotel Magnifique even if she has to risk everything she loves to succeed.
Find the review | HERE | for Hotel Magnifique
12 - The Night Shift
From author of Every Last Fear, The Night Shift is another thriller about survival. In 1999, four teenagers working the local Blockbuster night shift were attacked, only one survived. In 2014, four teenagers working closing at an ice cream parlour were attacked, only one survived. Both survivors recall the killer's final words to them - "Goodnight, pretty girl."
In the aftermath of the second attack, three lives become intertwined: The survivor of the Blockbuster massacre, the brother of the initial suspect in 1999, and the FBI agent whose determined to solve the cases. All three lives will be forever changed by that night and not all will survive.
13 - Nothing More to Tell
| Young Adult
Four years ago her favourite teacher was murdered and three of her classmates were the ones to find his body in the woods. Despite having left Saint Ambrose afterwards, the murder has stuck in Brynn's mind and she's certain the teens who found him are hiding something, especially Tripp Talbot, her ex-best friend.
When Brynn accepts the offer to work for a true-crime show, she uses the opportunity to explore what happened that day and hopefully uncover the truth. There are secrets to be unburied and a killer to be found.
14 - Ordinary Monsters
Set in 1882, Ordinary Monsters is a fantasy novel about magical talent, those who possess it, those who protect it, and those who seek its power. Sixteen-year-old Charlie Ovid is one of those magically talented who despite a lifetime of brutality, has not one mark on him. Young Marlowe has the power to melt or mend flesh and when the two are found and escorted to a secret institute dedicated to the safety and empowerment of those with power, they are forced to confront their past but also their future and what it means within their magical but monstrous world. It is at the institute where the world of living and dead collide and as secrets are revealed, Marlowe and Charlie along with the other Talents must find their true power and protect themselves from the evil stalking them.
Find the review | HERE | for Ordinary Monsters
15 - Siren Queen
Siren Queen by Nghi Vo follows Luli Wei and her journey towards stardom in Hollywood despite the limited opportunities presented to her as a Chinese American. Luli doesn't care that her road to success will be difficult - she'd rather play a monster than a maid.
What Luli doesn't realise is that the worst monsters in Hollywood aren't the ones on-screen. The studio wants to own Luli and for any part of her to be owned, a bargain must be made in magic and blood. Unfair bargains are commonly made by those like Luli, those who will do anything it takes to achieve their dreams. And Luli is determined to succeed even if it means transforming from playing a monster into being come.
Find the review | HERE | for Siren Queen
16 - The Weight of Blood
When those who remain are questioned on what happened the night of prom, they all have the same response... Maddy did it.
Madison Washington is an outcast at her high school in Georgia, an easy target for bullies because Maddy has other things to worry about then standing up for herself. Until the one thing she's hidden is exposed during a surprise rainstorm - Maddy is biracial. At the demands of her white father, she's been pretending and successfully passing as white her whole life.
When a virtual bullying video exposes the high school's racist roots, student leaders devise a plan to change the narrative and host the school's first integrated prom. The popular white class president convinces her Black quarterback boyfriend to ask Maddy to prom, leaving Maddy to wonder what it would be like to live a normal life. The sign of good faith doesn't mean her classmates are quite done with her but what they don't know is Maddy is hiding another secret, one much deadlier, that if exposed will cost them their lives.
17 - Wrong Place Wrong Time
It's past midnight and you're waiting for your seventeen-year-old son to come home. He's late. You spot him from the window and realise he isn't alone. There is a stranger nearby and your son is walking towards him, your son is armed. You watch in horror. Your son just killed someone. You don't know why. You don't know who. All you know is that a stranger is dead and your son's future is ruined.
That night you fall asleep in a fit of despair and when you wake, it's yesterday. When you wake again, it's the day before yesterday. Each morning you wake, it's earlier than before and another chance to stop your son. There is a reason for this crime and you've been granted time to find the trigger, to save two individuals from that night.
Find the review | HERE | for Wrong Place Wrong Time
