Here are all my highly rated reads with under 10,000 written reviews on Goodreads (at the time of reading).
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Gifted & Talented: A magical character study
Three miserable siblings reconnect over the death of their magitech billionaire father. As they contend with the will, they must also reconcile their own pasts and futures, including those of the people caught in their orbit.
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Godshot: Unusual and off-kilter
Lacey is a young girl whose family is part of a cult. Set on the backdrop of a small town suffering a drought, we follow Lacey through a coming-of-age story bent and twisted out of its usual shape by a pastor with strange ambitions for his flock.
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A Short Stay in Hell: Existential comedy horror
Soren Johansson, a lifelong Mormon, has died. Except he finds himself cast into Hell by a God he’s never heard of and assigned a practically impossible task, with literal eternity to accomplish it.
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The Bullet Swallower: For the Red Dead fans
A generational story that follows two men: a bandido in 1895 bent on a quest for revenge, and his grandson in 1965 learning about his bloody family legacy.
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The Bog Wife: Finally, a 5-star read
After their father dies, five isolated, codependent siblings, who were raised on cultish rituals in the bog lands of West Virginia, must face the possibility that their bog – which has produced a wife for every Haddesley heir for generations – may no longer be complying.
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The Love of My Afterlife: Life-affirming and adorable
The grumpy and prickly Delphie is dead – but there’s a catch. She can return to Earth and stay alive if she manages to find and kiss her soulmate in ten days.
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The Last Tale of the Flower Bride: Fairy tale horror
A marriage built on stories and secrets is threatened when a trip to the bride’s childhood home begins revealing the mysteries of her past – including a friendship that ended with the other girl’s disappearance.
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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.
