My Favourite Books and Movies of 2022

Hello again! 👋🏻 I took some time away from blogging (again) because life was getting to be very hectic, but I’m back now with a fresh mindset.

I read 26 books and watched 141 movies, so picking my favourites was both a breeze and a chore, no thanks to my memory. I did manage to narrow it down to five each and I tried my best to actually remember things. It may not sound like it at times, but these are my favourites of the year 😅

This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron - I read both books in this duology and I liked the first book more than the second, but I think that’s because I forgot who most of the characters introduced at the end were and they ended up playing a much bigger role in the second book. Unfortunately, my poor memory plays a part in how much I enjoy a story. I haven’t read as much YA as I used to, but this one was still a good time.

Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan - I’d never heard of the story that this book is a retelling of, but I did love the story of this book and the way it’s told is stunning. I also read the second book in the series (and I have a whole story about the fuss someone I work with started over it), but I thought the ending was a little disappointing and it does delve into love triangle territory which has been a beloathed thing for a long time.

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas - This is a book that I wanted to read for a long time but never got around to, but I finally did! I believe there is a sequel coming out next year and I can’t wait for that one. Yadriel is one of my favourite protagonists of the year and I can’t wait to see what he gets up to next.

A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson - This was the last book I read in 2022 and it’s probably my favourite of the year. This is a queer reimagining of Dracula’s brides, told from the point of view of his first bride, Constanta. It did take a while to get into the writing style because even though the narrative is in first person, it constantly refers to Dracula as ‘you’ and without his name. This is another one that has a sequel and I need that book by yesterday.

The Woods Are Always Watching by Stephanie Perkins - I’m very confused as to why this book is referred to as a companion to There’s Someone Inside Your House because it has absolutely nothing to do with that book other than sharing a genre. It does dive into the problematic “crazy hillbillies” trope but I loved how brutal the story gets. Stephanie Perkins has come a long way from Anna and the French Kiss.

Prey - I’m not the biggest fan of the Predator movies outside of the first one, but I was very interested to see how Prey turned out since it’s a sci-fi movie that takes place in the 18th century. I didn’t watch the Comanche dub since live-action dubs don’t really work with my brain, but I may give it a try since I enjoyed the English version so much.

The Invitation - Apparently, this movie didn’t get very good reviews but I don’t pay attention to reviews so I don’t care. This one was a case of me being pleasantly surprised because, from the trailer alone, I thought that this was going to be a movie about ghosts, but it’s not. I’ll not say what it’s about because that’s a huge spoiler, but if you like Gothic, I’d definitely recommend it.

X - X gave me one of the most awkward cinemagoing experiences of my life, but that doesn’t bother me too much because I expected that going into it. It’s a movie about people making a porno, so there are obviously a lot of sex scenes in it. I’m glad that this movie ended up making as big a splash as it did because even though it’s an A24 movie, I saw next to no advertising for it.

Pearl - Here’s something that’s really annoying about Pearl: it still hasn’t been released outside of the US. Pretty much everybody who wanted to watch this movie has already pirated it because it’s not going to be released in cinemas in the UK until March. I’m still going to see it in the cinema when it finally comes out here, but I was just way too impatient and watched it on a dodgy website before I could get spoiled too badly. I can’t really decide if I liked it more than I liked X, but I like the two about an equal amount for very different reasons. Mia Goth’s very likely going to get snubbed for all the awards but she gives an amazing performance.

The Black Phone - I’m not familiar with Joe Hill’s works at all apart from this movie but it’s always nice to see a horror author who isn’t his father (Stephen King, if you didn’t know) get some attention from a bigger studio. This movie is so creepy that it managed to make Ethan Hawke get under my skin, so that’s pretty much a win in my book.

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What were some of your favourites from 2022?