An Unkindness of Magicians by Kat Howard is by far the most underrated standalone I've read recently with less than 8k ratings. It looks like it may become a duology, but can stand on its own.
middlegrade fantasy: Momo by Michael Ende (the author of The Neverending Story). I have never heard anyone else talk about it and discovered it mostly by accident. It's about the concept of time. A bunch of grey men appear in town and they start stealing time. Momo (who has the rare gift of being able to truly listen to people) tries to stop them. It touches on topics such as consumerism and stress.
Yay! Another episode of the standalone-series! This is definitely my favourite way to get to know new authors, because it feels like you're not investing that much time or money into it and it feels a lot better still getting to finish something.
Totally agree! Sometimes, no matter how well reviewed a series it, it feels like such a big investment to start if you don’t know how you like their writing.
watching booktubers throughout the years is sometimes weird especially when u remember somebody reading a specific book like...i think ive heard you about most of these at least twice before 😃
I literally just rewatched Arrival last night and had no idea that it was inspired by a short story 😱 Super excited to check out that Ted Chiang collection now!
Ughhhh I just get soooo jealous of how many books people own! How could anyone afford that? I have a 3 shelf bookshelf with a fair amount of books, but I couldn’t afford ceiling to floor shelves!
i only ever buy books second-hand! thriftbooks.com, good will, bookmans, and library sales are the best places to get lots of books on the cheap - especially if you're not particularly concerned with the condition of the books :)
The best book I've read so far in the "living the same day over and over" trope is Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver. So give that a read if you haven't already :)
That book will always have a special place in my heart, and this makes me sound like a sensitive person but I cry every time I read it. Absolutely beautiful book.
I loved Ted Chiang's Exhalation. I think short stories in general are often underrated / overlooked. I recommend The Science Fiction Hall of Fame volumes that are on audible. Great sci-fi short stories and novellas.
@@jacksonwrightmusic6805 I've been reading quite a few collections of short stories and his are my favorite. The funniest stuff I've ever read and many stories of his have sci-fi elements.
I feel like I approach standalone books differently to a book series. Sometimes I need to fully commit to a series and read multiple books in the world, and sometimes I need a book I can fall in love with but that comes full circle and I don’t need to worry about when the next book will be released, what about X character that I love ... etc I love both, they just fill different roles for me
I'm so glad you mentioned More Than This, I loved that book and still think about it even though I read it ages ago! I think Patrick Ness is underrated in general. So many books I need to pick up in this video 💜
I remember, years ago, I had watched a video where you talked about we are the ants, and I immediately went and bought it. It immediately became my favorite book! Such a sad book with a hopeful ending.
I've had The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August on my tbr for ages. Need to get to it soon. Also I absolutely agree about Sorcery of Thorns. It's so good. Really excited to read more books by Margaret Rogerson.
I read The fifty first lives of Harry August due to your recomendation, and i really liked it. I also want to read the stories of Ted Chang , since i also loved loved Arrival.
I really like your videos since I really like books and like telling people about ones that I like too. I'm a 10 year old in 4th grade - I think the first fifteen lives of harry august sounds cool - do you think that would be a good one for a 10 year old? thank you!!!!
Reincarnation Blues by Michael Poore. I've never heard anyone talking about it! It's scifi, it's alternative after-life, it's reincarnation. It was SO good.
I've been meaning to read More than this by Ness now definetly gonna add this to my TBR haha. I looooove videos about standalones and even more if tey are underrated.
Thank you for mentioning Stuart Turton's book(s). It really is underrated. Unfortunatelly. I would mention Replay by Marc Levy as an underrated book. Try it. Especially because you loved The fifteen lives... ;)
More Than This is the only Patrick Ness novel I’ve read! I read it years ago. I think I’ll have to check out a few of these. Not into alien encounters so I’ll skip those x
I read “more than this” by Patrick Ness a few years ago...I don’t remember much about the plot itself but I know that my final reaction after finishing it was “wtf did I just read” 😂
you should check out zero repeat forever, sci-fi type vibe,its not a standalone, but it has got aliens! its supersuper underrated and needs more readers for a third book to be published, maybe you can help!
Not sure if this is underrated, but I've never seen it mentioned on booktube, Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm. It was a highlight of 2020 for me and the only character driven and emotional novel outside of Ursula Le Guin's works that I really liked. Normally I prefer action or big idea sci-fi books. The tone is depressing and may make some people cry, but it's worth reading.
I read the devil in the dark water and thought the end was the weakest point as well. Also i listened to it, i liked the narrators voice. If it wasnt for the narration in the 1st couple of chapters i prolly would have put it in my dnf list. Over all i would give it right around 3.75 stars! 😁
Just to let you know, Shaun David Hutchinson a sorti un livre cette année, "a complecated love story set in space" et il y a un mini passage où le personnage principal revit un jour plusieurs fois. 😉
I agree that the endings is the weakest part of Stuart Turton´s writing, but I do think the ending of 'The Devil and the Dark Water' was a bit better than his first book. Hopefully it will get better with each book he writes!!
Looking at the subscriber count with every video you publish is giving me "watching the clock in school" vibes. I don't like it and you need to hurry up.
