Golden Son is the second book in the Red Rising series by Pierce Brown. If you’d like to see what the first book is all about, check out my Red Rising recommendation. If you’d like to see what the series is all about (spoiler free) check out my recommendation for Morning Star, the last book of the Red Rising trilogy. If you read the first book and are a bit unsure if you’d like to proceed with the trilogy, please proceed.

Golden Son is much like the first book in the series in terms of tone and pacing: a relentless, action-packed novel that will have you turning the pages (or swiping the screen) without you even noticing. If, for whatever reason, you finished the first book and were mildly satisfied, I’m here to say that Golden Son is better than Red Rising.

Red Rising takes place almost entirely at The Institute, which is great, but it is also very contained. Golden Son really ramps things up and goes bigger. We learn more about the universe that Brown has created and the stakes become higher than ever. There is more politics involved as well, but not in a boring way or dry way. This is Pierce Brown, after all.

If your read Red Rising, then you tentatively know what kind of book you’re going to get, but with the plot progression and twists I can assure you that you don’t know where it’s going.

Wow, what a surprisingly fantastic read. I honestly was just scrolling through amazon when I saw it and decided to roll the dice. I was only fifty pages in when I recommended it to my book club, who, also to my surprise, voted to read it for that month. Everyone ended up loving it.

Uprooted is a fantasy novel about a young woman discovering her magical abilities and fighting against the corrupted Wood that has been spreading into the kingdoms of humankind for centuries. It is beautifully written and is well paced. There was never a point where I felt bored or overwhelmed. I always felt right in that cozy spot between entertained and intrigued.

The protagonist, Agnieska, has this lovely connection with nature, too. The way Naomi Novik describes it and the setting will leave you in a fairytale-like trance. I think this is what I loved most about the book. The plot and character development will leave you engaged, but this book is truly an escape into another world. Totally absorbing. Highly recommend.

Honestly, the top three books of this year could have been put in any order and I would have been happy with it. I see the Nightingale in third and think that I immediately have to move it to the top spot. Objectively, it is probably the best book of the three and the story has really stuck with me. I mean, check out the ratings below. Its reviews to rating ratio is absurdly good.

The Nightingale is a moving story about two sisters’ experiences in Nazi occupied France. The elder sister, Vianne, must protect her family while a Nazi officer occupies her home. The younger sister, Isabelle, is rebellious by nature and joins the resistance against the Germans.

Kristin Hannah is an extremely talented author, and her writing style is wonderful. I mean, lets face it, there are a lot of WWII historical fiction books out there. The fact that this one is so vastly popular and beloved tells you something about what kind of writer Hannah is.

The Nightingale is a tense and emotional read and I’m not ashamed to admit that I was more than a bit teary-eyed by the end. I’m extremely happy that I read this book and I think you will too, just make sure you’re in the right mood for it. Like, don’t read it when the current political landscape already has you down. Just be sensible.

I love fantasy. It’s probably my most read genre. But in the end, I realize that for most people, it’s not really there thing. That being said, there are a few fantasy books out there that have really struck a cord with main stream readers. Take GoT for instance. There are also a few fantasy books that I would recommend to anyone. My go to is Patrick Rothfuss’s The Name of the Wind. It’s one of my favorite books and you can check out the recommendation here. 

Dawn of Wonder is one of the only fantasy books that reminds me of the Name of the Wind. It isn’t as good, but it does have the same sort of tone and feel to it. It follows the story of Aedan, an extremely intelligent and capable young man. I really like Aedan and how capable his mind was.

Aedan also attends a special school meant to train the best of the best. In this way, it has a very coming of age story that never seems to get old. Like GoT and The Name of the Wind, the magic aspects of this world are on the periphery for most of the book. So if you don’t like the bolts of lightening thrown from powrful mages while they ride their dragon, then no need to fear, this isn’t one of those fantasy books.

If you enjoy fantasy even a little bit, then you may like Dawn of Wonder. I know I did.

I’ll make this quick. If you looked at any of the other years, you might have noticed a trend in Brandon Sanderson books. I won’t try to hide it, I really enjoy his stories. 

Shadows of Self is the third book in the second series of his Mistborn saga (there is supposed to be 10 Mistborn books total, I believe). I definitely enjoy this second series of Mistborn books, but they’re not nearly as good as the first trilogy. 

You really need to be a fan of Brandon Sanderson to have gotten this far in his Mistborn series. If you haven’t read the first trilogy, start there. It’s really, really good. I would also recommend his other series, The Stromlight Archive.