09“Games Untold” by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
As the latest installment of the Inheritance Games saga, “The Grandest Game” follows the story of several contestants in the world’s most infamous and deceiving competition: The Grandest Game. Hosted by heiress Avery Grambs, Juliet “Gigi” Grayson, Lyra Kane and Rohan are forced to endure a series of challenges for the grand prize of $26 million dollars. However, the supposed “randomized” choosing of the contestants turns out to be a complete ruse. Beneath the game’s carefully constructed façade of trust, even darker truths and connections between unsuspecting characters are revealed along the way.
“The Grandest Game” was released on July 30, 2024, sold over 4 million copies and made it onto the New York Times Bestselling List for over 15 weeks. It is the perfect cozy mystery read for all Young Adult fans, or those searching for a simple, exhilarating read.
“Reckless” by Lauren Roberts
Lauren Roberts’ “Reckless” was released on July 2, 2024, as the second book of the “Powerless” trilogy. It continues the tale of forbidden love between Paedyn Gray — a young, clever thief born without magic in their otherwise magic-reliant kingdom of Ilya, and Kai Azer, Ilya’s ruthless Enforcer who was tasked to kill her. Throughout the course of the book, the “couple” plays a darkly romantic game of cat and mouse as they undergo the everlasting battle between duty and matters of the heart.
This book is fitting for all lovers of YA Fantasy, romance and forbidden love tropes. According to The Bookseller, “Reckless” sold just 36 thousand copies in its first week and continues to be in the literary spotlight as one of 2024’s most successful books.
“The Prisoner’s Throne” by Holly Black
Released on March 5, 2024, “The Prisoner’s Throne” takes place in the land of Elfhame, after Holly Black’s successful Folk of the Air series. Taking place in Black’s famously dark, clever and magical kingdom of Elfhame, this second installment furthers the events of Prince Oak’s life and the heart-wrenching romance between him and Queen Suren of the icy, unforgiving Court of Teeth. As the ever-important heir of High King Cardan and Queen Jude Duarte, Oak struggles to find what is truly the most important — the queen he always loved, or the future of his kingdom, put in jeopardy by a looming war.
More than 12 million copies were sold worldwide. As the latest book taking place in a world created in 2015, “The Prisoner’s Throne” is great for readers of old folklore, fairy tales, Young Adult and fantasy.
“Human Acts” by Han Kang
A special shoutout must be given to Han Kang, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature on Oct. 10, 2024. Celebrated for her raw and personal writing that delves into the pains and beauties of life, her magnum opus, “Human Acts,” originally published a decade ago on May 19, 2014, has reemerged to the shelves.
A poetic, yet stark reminder of South Korea’s turbulent past, Han recounts how the Coup d’état of a dictator in 1979 only gave rise to a harsher leader. The book focuses on the Gwangju Uprising against the new military dictator, the protests of which were brutally crushed in 1980. Each chapter features a different character’s perspective of the Gwangju Uprising, starting with a young boy named Dong-ho, and offers varied viewpoints of events leading after the uprising. Han jumps between the past and present, and the span of time the story covers shows how violent acts by the government leave lasting scars on citizens, how people can’t forget. Ironically, “Human Acts,” a fragile cry for remembrance of lives lost during a dictatorship’s rampage, led to Han being blacklisted by South Korea’s right-winged government from 2013 to 2017.
If you’re looking for a novel that’ll leave you questioning those “human acts of which we are all capable, the brutal and the tender, the base and the sublime,” make sure to read Deborah Smith’s translation of Han Kang’s “Human Acts.”