Syren's Shelf: My Top reads of 2023

 2023 was a big year for me reading wise. It was my first year living away from the city, living away from my dad. And even though I homeschool, clean and do other housewife-ish work, I still found my self with way more time than I ever had. 

So I decided around my birthday in early March that I would get back into reading. I had recently bought The Unfavorable by Sam Risdon about a month before, and after all the chaos that is tax season ( mew house, new furniture 😊🤣) I decided to finally go at it. 

And after that the flood gates were opened. 

Of course, I read some typical picks, A good girls Guide to Murder, ACOTAR ( both of which I still have to finish the last book of the series), Fourth wing. Others are sitting on my Amazon list patiently waiting for me to get to them.

But I've also taken some chances on some lesser known and new authors. Just to be clear, before joining booktok, it was very rare of me to pick up a book written by an indie author, simply because I was exposed to them very much. So with BookTok, I was able to see all the Wonderful authors I just never knew about, as well as the news ones who were just putting their hats into the ring.

These are the books I want to focus on. Because, to be honest, ACOTAR and fourth wing take up like the first half of my list, which I would like to point out is in no particular order 😜 so let's jump in.

             The Unfavorable by Sam Risdon


This was the first indie book I picked up off BookTok. I had followed Sam, seeing someone like me, a mother juggling her family and dreams of being an author. It was so wonderful to see her book come out and even better to be able to purchase it and support her. 

Now the book.

The characters amazing, each with their own thought out persona making me curious as to how some of the story may go. Ryder is so interesting, a mystery in a sense but still familiar. Alora is the curiosity I feel we all have, but only very few of us actually try to sate it. The other characters, those who follow the order and way of this society, they are a beautiful representation of the system and how it works to control more than it should, in my opinion.

The setting of Leda and the whole thing with the ways of Geha are awesome. A very interesting view on the evolution of mankind and how humans have changed, especially emotionally it seems. Aside from the emotions we see displayed by Alora, we don't see much for anyone else in the above ground city.

And finally the story. The story is amazing, nicely written from many, relative perspectives. And I don't know if this was done on purpose, but looking back, so many subtle little details point to the twist at the end.

I do wish I saw more people talk about this particular book on BookTok, but I understand some gems remain hidden. I can't wait to get my hands on the second book because it is definitely one of my most anticipated reads of 2024.

The second book, The nameless, is already out and available on Amazon. 


                    In The Pines by Mariah Stillbrook


My very first ARC. Like ever. 

A family of witches haunted by a generational curse, it's seems after the actions of their mother, they begin to unravel their mystery and fight back against the forces against them.

I absolutely loved this. It gave me all the vibes watching an old charmed episode would. Ellie definitely gave me the young Phoebe vibes, you know back when Cole was still just the ADA. And Olivia definitely gave me post- Pure Piper vibes. And the whole story itself felt vaguely like I was read a secret story of the sisters.

 Not only that but as a pagan myself, it was amazing to see so many familiar things, such as practices, lore and so on. The familiars, the salt and it many uses, and so many more little things. 

This was an amazing book to start off with as an ARC and I would definitely recommend it if the vibes fit with you. 

Check it out on Amazon.


           That's Not My Name by Megan Lally


The first book review I wrote on this blog. This YA thriller was definitely one of my tops reads. I loved the pacing, the characters and the whole story overall. 

Read my full review here. 


             Hallowed Games by C.N. Crawford


And here's the book that is the topic of my second review ever on here. This was an ARC I got off of Book Sirens. I honestly didn't know what I was getting into when I picked to read it. But I am very glad I did.

According to Amazon, book two will be available in November of 2024.

You can check out my full review on it here.



Next year, I definitely plan to have a longer list. Now that I have curated my interests and have seen what some of the indie authors have to offer, I'm ready to take a deep dive next year and find the absolute best indie books I can recommend.


Have some Authors I should check out? Drop a comment or follow me on TikTok and shoot a DM. I'm all for socializing within my book community.


That's all for now lovelies 😊🤗

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