Best books of the year revealed: Yellowface tops Goodreads Choice Awards while TikTok sensation Emily Henry picks up best romance (but Britney beats Harry for best memoir!)
- R. F. Kuang, who wrote, Yellowface is currently working on her sixth novel
- READ MORE: Goodreads reveal the 76 most popular books of the past decade
A satirical thriller about the publishing industry has been voted the best book of the year by Goodreads readers.
Yellowface, by R. F. Kuang, won more than 200,000 votes in on the poll by the world’s largest site for readers and book recommendations, voted for by user’s across the world.
The novel tells the story of Athena Liu, a young darling of the literary world and Juniper Hayward is her jealous friend.
When Athena suddenly dies in a freak accident and Juniper steals Athena’s just-finished manuscript. She publishes it under another name.
Exactly how far Juniper will go to defend her project provides the jeopardy in the highly-rated satire.
Yellowface, by R. F. Kuang, won more than 200,000 votes in on the poll by the world’s largest site for readers and book recommendations
Kuang, who is only 27 and already has five best sellers, is set to be a force in the literary world
R.F. Kuang, who calls herself ‘Becky from Boston’ on social media, is currently working on her sixth book
Kuang, who had previously written fantasy books, won praise for the novel, with the Daily Mail’s review praising her ‘knack for one-liners and is alarmingly convincing on the cutthroat hypocrisy in publishing that will to go any lengths to be seen taking a virtuous position on race and all things woke, however many lies they have to tell.’
More than 5.8million readers voted for various books across 15 categories for the awards. Previous winners include Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, Sally Rooney’s Beautiful World, Where Are You and Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library.
Weyward by Emilia Hart, topped the best historical fiction category and won best debut novel.
Weyward follows three desperate women along three timeline threads—separate but related—in 1619, 1942, and 2019. Hart’s story stitches back and forth in time as the women encounter an abiding feminine power, deeply rooted in the land.
One reviewer called it ‘Sublime – a beautiful exploration of three women and their deep connection to the natural world and each other.’
Elsewhere, Britney Spears beat out Prince Harry in the Best Memoir category, getting 132,867 votes versus 71,461 votes for Spare.
In the gripping book, the pop superstar talks about growing up with an alcoholic father, being exploited in the music industry, and having an abortion while falling pregnant when dating Justin Timberlake.
Tiktok sensation Emily Henry won best romance for her novel Happy Place, the third year in a row she’s won the honour.
It tells the story of a ‘perfect couple’ who break up and don’t want to tell their friends, in order to enjoy a group holiday.
Britney Spears beat out Prince Harry in the Best Memoir category, getting 132,867 votes versus 71,461 votes for Spare
Britney talks about her romance with Justin Timberlake (pictured together in 2001) in the book
The best books of 2023, according to Goodreads
BEST FICTION
The overall winner was bestseller Yellowface but Boston author RF Kuang
BEST HISTORICAL FICTION & BEST DEBUT
Weyward by Emilia Hart won both best debut and best historical fiction
BEST MYSTERY & THRILLER
The follow-up to the housemaid won the best thriller
BEST ROMANCE
Tiktok famous Emily Henry was also a hit with Best Romance
BEST ROMANTASY
Fourth Wing, another Tiktok sensation, won best romantic fanstasy
FANTASY
Hell Bent, by Leigh Bardugo, was the number one fantasy book
BEST SCIENCE FICTION
The Sci-fi category was won by TJ Klune’s In the Lives of Puppets
BEST HORROR
He’s the King of Horror so it’s no surprise Stephen King topped this category
BEST YOUNG ADULT FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION
Best YA fantasy went to Divine Rivals but Rebecca Ross
BEST YOUNG ADULT FICTION
Ali Hazelwood, another BookTok sensation, picked up the prize for best young adult
BEST NONFICTION
Judges said Matthew Desmond’s Poverty By America will be read for ‘years to come’
BEST MEMOIR & AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Britney pipped Prince Harry to the most with the most popular memoir
BEST HISTORY & BIOGRAPHY
Killers of the Flower Moon author David Grann won best historical non-fiction
BEST HUMOUR
Funnyman Henry WInkler won best humour
The Housemaid’s Secret, a sequel to the best selling Housemaid, wins the Mystery & Thriller category.
Written by practising physician Freida McFadden, the novel finds maid-with-a-secret Millie Calloway in another dodgy situation as author McFadden delivers her patented blend of psychological suspense and switchback plot twists.
Fourth Wing, a romantic epic fantasy filled with very steamy scenes, sarcastic dragons and a resilient heroine lead, won best ‘Romantasy’.
It’s sequel, Iron Flame, became Waterstones’ fastest-selling pre-ordered title in history, after the first book in the series went viral on TikTok.
The book, which is the first in the planned Empyrean series, has become a huge success on Tiktok, with nearly 200 million views on #fourthwing.
One reviewer described it as ‘brutal games, grumpy dragons, sizzling sexual tension, a fantasy like you’ve never read before’
Set in a ‘war college’ the novel tells the tale of Violet Sorrengail.
Violet had been destined to become a scribe, but was instead forced to enter her school’s brutal ‘riders quadrant’ where students train to become dragon riders – or die trying.
Along the way she meets fellow student Xaden, a tall dark and handsome ‘wingleader; (the equivalent to a general) who has it out for her due to dark and bloody histories between their families.
However, as the novel grows Xaden and Violet’s relationship becomes more and more tense, resulting in furniture-breaking sex scenes and eventually love.
The book ends of a huge cliffhanger, leaving many fans desperate for more.
Stephen King, the ‘King of Horror,’ has sold hundreds of millions of copies of his books
Speaking to the Bookseller, Gaby Lee, genre fiction buyer at Waterstones, explained Iron Flame had become the fastest selling pre-order title in a single day on the Waterstones website.
In the pure Best Fantasy category Leigh Bardugo won with Hellbent.
According to Goodread’s Bardugo’s beloved series has established a new trajectory for dark academia books, promising Ivy League hopefuls a world of secret societies, occult rituals, and interdimensional portals.
Best Science Fiction went to In the Lives of Puppets by T.J. Klune.
Goodreads say the book is a skillful mix of fantasy with science fiction elements.
Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross, picked up the best Young Adult Science Fiction award after going viral on BookTok.
Ali Hazelwood’s Check & Mate got the prize for best Young Adult fiction.
Meanwhile, horror godfather Stephen King picked up the prize in the horror category for Holly.
The book pits an old fan-favourite character Holly Gibney, a private investigator, against a pair of ‘uniquely depraved antagonists’.
Poverty, by America, won the best non-fiction.
Goodreads said the book by sociologist and Pulitzer Prize winner Matthew Desmond will be ‘cited for generations by future historians’.
Journalist and veteran researcher David Grann profiles the bloody fate of an 18th-century British warship to win Best History with the tale of The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder.
While Henry Winkler rounds out the non-fiction category with Being Henry: The Fonz . . . and Beyond.
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