Here are all my highly rated reads with under 10,000 written reviews on Goodreads (at the time of reading).
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The Death of Jane Lawrence: Strange and speculative
Jane proposes a marriage of convenience to the local surgeon, whose only rule is that she never join him at his manor. When fate forces her there, she learns the good doctor is hiding some dark secrets.
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She Started It: Mean girls and murder
Four women receive an invitation to a tropical bachelorette getaway. There’s just one problem: the hostess is Poppy Greer, an old schoolmate they bullied as teenagers.
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The Tiger Came to the Mountains: Reflective and engaging
In war-torn Mexico, a young girl’s family goes to hide in the mountains. There, her resolve to protect her brother is tested.
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Half a Soul: Delightful
After a faerie steals half her soul in her youth, Dora no longer feels emotions like fear or embarrassment, which can leave a young woman vulnerable to much accidental scandal in regency-era England. When the uncouth noble magician, Elias, discovers her condition, she is swept up in his magical affairs.
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Undercover: Goulish crime noir
A stranger comes to a gang-run town and takes on the most unwanted job: bodyguard to a ghoul.
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The Lion Women of Tehran: Thought-provoking and compelling
This story follows the wealthy, high-born Ellie and her best friend from the slums, Homa, as they grow up in midcentury Tehran, facing both life and political oppression – sometimes from opposite sides.
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The Isles of the Gods (Book 1): Surprisingly enjoyable
In a world where slumbering gods are awakening, a young sailor, a prince, and a scholar must survive both the ocean and their enemies if they’re going to prevent a war.
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Ordinary Monsters (Book 1): For the adults who loved Miss Peregrine’s
In 1880s Scotland, there is an Institute for children with special magical talents. An evil entity wants to eat these children, and only a select few can stand in its way.
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The Book of Essie: Compelling and interesting
Essie, the youngest daughter in an evangelical family with a reality TV show called Six for Hicks, is pregnant. Now she must orchestrate her freedom.
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The Six Deaths of the Saint: The best short story
The Saint of War spares the life of a servant girl so she can fulfill her destiny as the kingdom’s greatest warrior.
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We Are the Light: Emotional and hopeful
After a community is shaken by a violent tragedy, Lucas, who insists his deceased wife visits him as an angel, forms an unlikely bond with an ostracized young man who has decided to set up camp in Lucas’s backyard.
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A Curious Beginning: A romantic mystery
After a close call with an intruder, Veronica Speedwell is deposited with a curmudgeonly but handsome fellow scientist for safekeeping, where she must unravel the secrets of her lineage and find out who is out to get her.
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When We Were Bright and Beautiful: Twisty and engaging
A college student, Cassie, and her affluent family reel from the aftereffects of her brother’s rape charge. As the case unravels, Cassie must face the truth about the people she loves most.
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Wolf by Wolf: Duology review
In an alternate history where Hitler won, a concentration camp survivor joins a treacherous Hitler Youth motorcycle race with the goal of assassinating the dictator.
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The Hacienda: Gothic horror done right
After marrying a man she knows little about except his politics and that his first wife is dead, Beatriz moves to his hacienda in the country only to find something disturbing lurking within its walls.
