#1 all systems red by martha wells

i. love murderbot. So Much. 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

also read artificial condition and rogue protocol, which were also Top Tier but i wanted some variety in the list lol

#2 blood price by tanya huff

played the game, which made me watch the show, which made me read the book. which is very good! and much gayer than the show! and interesting/sad to see the ways the subject matter has aged and the ways it hasn't

#3 dinosaur sanctuary by itaru kinoshita

dinosaur zoo! dinosaur zoo!

with sections where the paleontology consultant just gets to infodump about dinosaurs!

#4 emily wilde's encyclopaedia of faeries by heather fawcett

i love books about nerds doing research!!! also a rivals to lovers where i don't hate the love interest? holy shit!

#5 the tainted cup by robert jackson bennet

this one took me off-guard. again, i don't do much hard fantasy, but this was So good??? i loved the characters and the mystery was super fun

#6 what moves the dead by t. Kingfisher

mushrooms, edgar allan poe, and fun gender shit, need i say more?

#7 grave witch by kalayna price

love a good necromancy-based urban fantasy. the allegorical stuff was mostly cool, a few issues but nobody's perfect. also had issues with the love interest but otherwise very interested to read the rest of the series

#8 the murder wheel by tom mead

i love these books, they’re so saw-coded. not gorewise but the ending reveals read so much like the end-of-movie twist breakdowns. like you can *read* the saw cuts. i don't go for historical often but this series is Extremely my shit please write 20 more

#9 dungeon meshi

i don't feel like picking out a specific volume but just. all of dungeon meshi. i'm not super into fantasy but tumblr made it seem neat. and it was. v good

#10: whalefall by Daniel kraus

initially wrote this one off because the premise sounded too pinocchio but. it's good actually. mostly. it has some flaws but i liked it