Well, maybe I'll have this as a yearly tradition going forward. Here are the books/book series I read this year and my general reviews and thoughts on them all along with tier list placement, being a synopsis of my personal enjoyment and a bit of how I felt about the quality in general.

The Shattered Reigns series: A-/B+ tier
The series only has two books so far and it's honestly difficult to really 'rate' it as a whole due to how differently I feel between the first and second books. The first book is a lot of setup and seriously only kicks really into gear nearly two thirds of the way in. Until then, there's a lot of weird narrative excuses that the authors give to avoid giving the reader and the main protagonist more information as to exactly wtf is happening. Meanwhile, the characters are all kinda bland archetypes who don't really have much going for them barring the mysterious shape-shifting dragon. That being said, the second book really kicks off in an exciting way and kinda stays that way nearly the whole way through. It was released several years after the first and after many other books by the main author had been published, so I can see where the improvments definitely showed up. So yeah, if you're willing to push through a pretty mid first book, I think the second book is worth it and I'll be interested to see where the third goes if/when it releases.

Axtara Banking and Finance: A tier
This is an adorable short read about a dragon who wants to open up her own bank in a relatively underutilized newly-founded country. It kinda gives me Kiki's Delivery Service vibes in a way. If you're ok reading through some basic banking and loan explanations and a pretty predictable plot, it's a lovely short read.

The Gryphon Generation series: C+/C tier
It's about genetically engineered gryphons living in a modern society. There's more to it as it goes and I haven't read the newly released 4th book, but it has kinda failed to really intrigue me enough to continue bothering with the series beyond the 3rd book. The prose is ok and some of the characters have potential, but the story and pacing are really borked and I just don't care that much for it. If you're really into gryphons, you may get more mileage out of the series than I did, but there's a lot of other books I'd recommend in general.

Wings of Fire book 15: B- tier
Books 14 and 15 both felt pretty limp and I didn't like that the whole societal revolution angle was largely abandoned for a new powerful magical antagonist to suddenly take the spotlight instead. BUT, I still found myself interested in what was happening and the new characters were compelling enough. I just wish they had more time throughout the 3rd arc or just had their own arc to be fleshed out. Oh well. Epilogue was waaayyy too brief for a series that is now in limbo until the author announces whatever the future may be for it.

The Priory of the Orange Tree: A tier
Whew, what a story to tell! I have some gripes about the pacing for the first couple of parts, but once things kick off, I loved the progression of the story and the world that was formed. I appreciate the fact that we have a fantasy story with lots of politicking and a wlw romance that have zero sexual assault thank fuck. The progression of the 'main'protagonist of the 4 was great to see unfold. The other 3 protags have varying degrees of success and I wish that Tane had more time dedicated to her and her bond but oh well. This book is a doozy but for as much as it crams into its pagecount, I believe it largely succeeds.

The Tide Child trilogy: S tier
Pirates on ships made from ancient dragon bones in a world archipelago. That's the premise. One of the best series I read this year. The first book is solid, but books 2 and 3 take it to the next level. It was kinda like watching Arcane and being constantly impressed out how it kept getting better with each new episode. The themes, lore, and characters only get better the further you get in and it doesn't let up until the finale which left me in tears. I HIGHLY recommend this series.

The Evertide Series (The Summer Dragon): B tier
This series has a lot of potential for future books, but on it's own? Eh. I like a lot of things about it including the art included by the author himself, the lore of this family and how they raise their dragons, the lengths at which the mc goes to try and find herself a dragon of her own, etc. But good lord is the mc insufferable for swathes of this story. She's not necessarily a Mary Sue, but every action she takes, including incredibly stupid ones, are always proven to be right or justified in some capacity and it really doesn't feel like good character growth as a result. I'll read the sequel if there ever is one, but I hope the author really works on writing the mc better going forward. Side not, this book has the funniest moment in a book I've read so far that had me laugh out loud.

Highfire: C tier
A vodka loving bum of an anthro dragon that loves pop-culuture references living in the Louisiana bayous? Pretty solid premise. Unfortunately, there are three protagonists, and the least interesting protagonist unironically gets half the pagecount. So if you wanted to read about the dragon, be prepared for half the book to follow the generic, uninsteresting crooked cop instead of him or the teen that the dragon tries to help out. So much wasted potential.

Phoenix Extravagant: D tier
Speaking of wasted potential, how the fuck did this book end up so shitty with the premise it had?? This standalone book follows a nonbinary artist protagonist living in an alternate Earth-like world in the past where a sort of magic paint can give power to automotons. However, the paint is only as powerful as how it is created, and the method by which it is created is through the destruction of valuable art. The more priceless the art being destroyed, the more potent the paint. It seems VERY relevent in this era of NFTs and AI generated imagery. Also it focuses on a nation having its culture systematically erased by a colonizing force who is in control. AND it has an automoton dragon as a companion. What isn't to like? Well...
The main character is insufferable and stupid af. Their entire personality boils down to "I am an artist and I see the world only through that lense all the time" and it never lets up. The story also has the trope of prisoner falls in love with their capturer, except it's so out of the blue and makes no fucking sense in any way. The dragon is pretty much in the story only for aesthetics like 95% of the time. The ending is so out of left field and doesn't solve anything. The author tries to make you care for this oppressed society by 80% of the time just dogging on the oppressive colonizers without actually focusing on the society and its values as much as it should have. As a result, I really didn't care too much what happened to it and it felt more like a bone the author had to pick.

This story also gets shit point for the lack of a competent editor who was willing to step up to the author and inform them that the way that the nonbinary protagonist was written was shit. Look, I am totally fine with them being nonbinary, but holy fuck when the pronoun usage of they/them/their is used 4-5x the times their actual name is used along with the various circumstances ranging from them being alone to being in a group without clear specification of who is being referred to left me constantly struggling to read through the book and having to pause every few sentences to figure out what in the fuck I'm seeing. This book actually kinda pisses me off with how badly it squandered its premises.

The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm: B+
Another short book, this time following the Eragon/Inheritance Cycle franchise as sort of anthology of tales being told to Eragon himself at his new home for training the next generation of dragonriders to help his mood and outlook on his mission. It's been a WHILE since I actually read the Inheritance Cycle books, but this was a nice refresher story to bring me back into this world I grew up loving. The stories are all interesting and hint at possible future stories in the world if/when Paolini gets around to them. The Worm was my personal fav. I'd recommend it if you desire a small Eragon fix if you liked that series.

Age of Fire series: Books 1-3: B tier, books 4-6: D tier
I no longer trust dragonkin or general dragon lovers to recommend me good stories after god-knows how many people I had seen who recommended this series to me or claim it was really good. Spoiler, it's really not. The first 3 books are decent, with 1 and 3 being average imo. The second book in the series was the only one I would say I truly enjoyed a lot and actually had a both cohesive and compelling story on its own. Book 4 is 'ok' but pisses me off in how the author seems to not know a good way to take advantage of the few moments that had potential for good drama and interactions. 5 and 6 are just trash where I don't think the editor even bothered to show up for work, especially in book 6. I don't mind politicking if done well like Game of Thrones or Priory of the Orange Tree, but all the dragons in this series outside of the main 3 are fucking stupid and I was actively rooting for their society to fail by the end for just how bad it got by the end with unironic time travel shenanigans. IF you do ever decide to read this series because you're desperate for dragon pov, then only read books 1-3, maybe 4 if you're dying to.

Stormlight Archives (The Way of Kings): S-/A+ tier
The book is fucking long but it takes its time to really build up this world and the characters in it in some of the most compelling ways. It definitely takes some dedication to read through, but I can tell the whole series is worth it (in the middle of book 2 atm). I love the depiction of Kaladin as a character who suffers from depression and his search for meaning in even trying to push to do what is right when it just keeps failing for him. The magic system is interesting and I can see it expanded on so much more down the line. The final 100-150ish pages of this book are non-stop shit hitting the fan and I loved it and the revelations that came at the end. Really excellent start to this series and I'm enjoying the second book right now as I post this.

World of Warcraft Dawn of the Aspects: C tier
Dunno really what to say besides it essentially is a lore book that probably could have been summarized better in like 20-30 pages and I wish it did more with the characters it covered. Oh well, I was excited for the Dragonflight expansion and was curious to see if the book elaborated on the Aspects' personalities. It... did, but not that much lol.

Aaaaand that's it for this year! Feel free to ask any questions about any of this if interested at all. May be potentially a bit slow to respond.