It’s time for another round of 5-star predictions! In August, I dropped another list of ten, and I swear, this time I’ve actually read all of them before we drop a new list. LOL NO I HAVE NOT. There’s two missing from the list, but oh well, I want to get this post published, it’s been sitting in my drafts for months now. Out of 10 predictions, I got 8 right, HOLY. And the two missing are the two that I didn’t read, so that’s 100% success? That’s way better than my previous 3/9 from last time, so I’m starting to feel good about my odds here.

My previous list was:

1. The Wrath & the Dawn by Renée Adhieh | ★★★★★ | WOW DON’T EVEN COME NEAR ME WITH THIS BOOK. I loved it so much that I could not bear to have mismatching covers, so I ordered the sequel from the UK, which means I didn’t get it for months, BUT IT WAS WORTH IT.
2. The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake | ★★★★★ | Well, this is a top ten. I am just so astounded by how out of this universe wonderful this was.
3. Even the Darkest Stars by Heather Fawcett | I really, really want to read this, and I read an excellent review that’s made me want to read it even more, but it just keeps not happening?
4. You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson | ★★★★★ | Damn, alright! Did this book make me cry twice in 30 pages? YOU BETCHA.
5. The Weight of Feathers by Anna-Marie McLemore | ★★★★★ | I mean, I knew that I was going to love this, but wow, McLemore continues to just yank the rug out from under me every time.
6. A Secret History of Witches by Louisa Morgan | I don’t think this one is going to happen for a while, oh well.
7. Ghost Squad by Claribel A. Ortega | ★★★★★ | HELL YEAH THIS WAS ADORABLE! I want a whole series with these characters and a television show.
8. The Bedlam Stacks by Natasha Pulley | ★★★★★ | This was totally cheating because I knew I was going to love this, but I didn’t know that I was going to sob into my pillow at 1AM in the morning over it, soooo there’s that.
9. Iron Cast by Destiny Soria | ★★★★★ | Okay, the best part is that I’d already read this when I posted my August list, but I’d literally just finished it two days before the list went up, and I totally forgot it was on there, and it was the one book on there that I knew was going to be a five-star no matter what because I loved Soria’s other book so much. But yeah, this was a guaranteed five star.
10. Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri | ★★★★★ | Wow, this was just? Truly perfect, and I’m going to read everything Suri writes now.

I probably cheated on some of the ones below because of reasons, but whatever.

A lot of these books have “this gives me xyz vibes”, so just a warning that you’re going to hear that a lot repeated throughout this list, and The Angel of the Crows by Katherine Addison is the first one because I read the summary and immediately thought of Jon Steele’s The Watchers, which is one of my favorite adult urban fantasies, and which absolutely blew my mind when I read it, so I’m hoping something similar is going to happen with this! I haven’t read The Goblin King, though I know it’s a favorite for a lot of people.

Queen of the Conquered by Kacen Callender feels like cheating because Felix Ever After is one of my all-time favorite books, and I’ve already reread it a second time and am thinking about a third, all in under a year, so like? This kind of feels like a given, and if it’s not a five star read, I may just rage against the world.

Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova also feels like cheating because a) I’ve long loved Córdova’s social media presence, and b) WITCHES. Not only that, but Latin witches! Y’all, that’s already my jam and half of my entire writing career, plus this sounds like it’s also going to have some necromancy involved, and I am so excited.

Someone I know once rec’d Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey for me for specifically when I was writing vampire detective, and if that doesn’t immediately spark my interest, then I’m lying to you. I don’t think I’ll be writing vampire detective anytime soon (at least, not that portion of it, but the much earlier side of the story), so it won’t surprise me if it takes me a while to get to this one, but I’d also really like a supernatural police procedural, so may happen sooner than expected!

Literally all you had to say was magic library, and I was in. That, and The Midnight Library by Matt Haig has been getting very happy reviews from a lot of authors that I trust, so I’m feeling extra hopeful about this. I’m also excited to have more adult books on my radar because I so rarely read them, and sometimes you just need a break from the drama and chaos that is YA fantasy.

Speaking of! Realistically, Havenfall by Sara Holland is on this list to guilt myself into finally reading it because it was a 100% cover buy, and though it also sounds fantastic, I need it off my TBR. It’s probably the oldest one on this list (only just over a year, though), and I’m so curious if the inside is as wonderful as the outside, so this is me officially holding myself accountable for reading this damn book.

A Pho Love Story by Loan Le is probably the most recent purchase on this list, and one that I’m almost positive I’m going to love purely because FOOD. Give me food in any book, and it’s an immediate five star, and I’m going to be hard convinced to lower that rating, so this is probably the one that I’m the most confident about. Plus, it’s rivals WITH food, and that just levels it up so much more.

Honestly? Am I cheating with The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller? Yes? It’s a gay Greek retelling, and everyone I know has just fallen to pieces over it, so it feels like a given that I’m going to die over this. I’m really hoping it’ll just make me weep endlessly, too, and rage at the world about the loss of these sweet gay boys, and even if it doesn’t do that, it’s gonna do something based on how others have reacted, and I’m ready.

I’ve been wanting to read We Are Not From Here by Jenny Torres Sanchez for probably a year now, and I have no idea why I haven’t, especially because I bought it last damn year, but here we are, still with it hanging out on my TBR shelf. I don’t know why, but it’s reminding me of Patron Saints of Nothing, and if it’s anything like that, I’m going to ugly cry over it.

A Peculiar Peril by Jeff VanderMeer is giving me very The Death & Life of Zebulon Finch vibes, so I’m feeling pretty confident that I’m going to love this. Plus, it’s the size of an actual brick, and it sounds like it’s going to have a chaotic type of narrative, and just all of those things combined are making for a hopefully wonderful read. That, and a reviewer I trust liked another of VanderMeer’s books, so here’s hoping I love this!

Have you read any of these?