The Top 10 Things I Consumed in 2023

I started doing this in 2021 and decided to continue it last year. I’ve enjoyed these posts so much that I’m making it an official annual series.

I always have such a hard time narrowing down the list to only 10 things, but I actually feel really good about this year’s top 10? It’s a pretty good mix of books, movies, TV shows, music, and—to nobody’s surprise—fanfiction.

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#10. Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments

Synopsis: Clary Fray finds out on her 18th birthday that she is not who she thinks she is, but rather comes from a long line of Shadowhunters–human-angel hybrids who hunt down demons.

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance

Number of Seasons: 3

Episode Length: 39–60 minutes

Where to Watch: Hulu

Review: I legitimately sobbed for at least 10 minutes over the ending, which amuses me now because at least 90% of this show is just wild fanfiction. If you’re desperate for more Shadowhunter content, I would recommend it. But, if you are the type of person who hates adaptations that change stuff, this is not going to work for you.

Favorite Quote: “I’ll love you until I die. And if there’s a life after this, I’ll love you then, too.”

Rating: TV-14

Content/Trigger Warnings: Addiction, alcohol, blood, classism, cursing, death, death of a parent, drug abuse, drug use, emotional abuse, fire/fire injury, gay characters and relationships, genocide, gore, grief, incest, injury/injury detail, kidnapping, medical content, misogyny, murder, panic attacks/disorders, racism, sexual content (there are F/M, M/M, and F/F relationships in this show. Both F/M and M/M sex is implied), suicidal thoughts, torture, violence, and war.

#9. Shadow and Bone (S2)

Synopsis: On the run after the showdown with Kirigan, Alina and Mal find new allies — and face heartrending choices — in their quest for more mythical amplifiers.

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance

Episode Length: 55-65 minutes

Where to Watch: Netflix

Review: I have complicated feelings about season 2. It’s hard to pinpoint what went wrong because the cast were perfect and the story was told so beautifully. Maybe it’s because they combined three books into one season? There were parts that felt rushed where I really wanted them to spend more time expanding on certain subplots and deepening certain relationships. But, I really can’t bring myself to say anything that bad about the show. It was a really good adaptation, it just…felt a little too heavy on the LGBT themes for my personal taste.

Favorite Quote: “But what’s inside you, that’s steel. It’s brave, and unbreakable, and it doesn’t need fixing. You don’t need fixing.”

Rating: TV-14

Content/Trigger Warnings: Alcohol, animal death (implied through taxidermy), blood, confinement, cursing, death, drug use (some characters are drugged), haphephobia, injury/injury detail, medical content, murder, panic attacks/disorders (one character has repeated flashbacks of trauma from his past), physical abuse, sexual assault (mentioned and recounted briefly), sexual content (kissing, implied sex between both F/M and M/M couples, F/M sex scene that is romantic but not graphic in terms of nudity), torture, and violence.

Episodes that have Graphic Content: S2E6, S2E7, S2E8.

#8. [Carousel] | Shuntaro Chishiya

Synopsis: Ren Murakami was on her way to meet up with Arisu who had wanted to introduce her to his best friends, Karube and Chota, when her sight goes black and Tokyo twists itself into a horrifying and gruesome version of how it once was.

Genre: Fanfiction, Dystopia, Romance

Chapters: 53, but it covers season 1 and season 2 of the show.

Review: I’ve never sobbed so hard while reading FANFICTION. This author broke my heart, and then somehow managed to stitch it back together in one night.

Favorite Quote (edited to avoid spoilers): “When Chishiya reached towards [REDACTED], he could barely feel it. Chishiya could barely feel [REDACTED] and that, that right there, might have been the last straw because Chishiya let his tears fall.”

Content/Trigger Warnings: Abuse, abusive father, blood, cursing (strong and frequent), and sexual assault (mentions).

#7. Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)

Genre: Pop, country.

Length: 1 hour, 44 minutes.

Review: This is my favorite of Taylor’s re-recorded albums. I feel like I embody so much of this album’s target audience, and it’s the one I listen to the most (out of her re-recorded albums). I highly recommend to the hopeless romantic girls and the fictional-boyfriend-loving girls.

Favorite Songs: Mine, Back to December, Enchanted, Long Live, I Can See You, Castles Crumbling, and Timeless.

Favorite Lyrics: “You made a rebel of a careless man’s careful daughter” from Mine, “Please tell them my name” from Long Live, “When all is said and done, he just wasn’t the one” from Foolish One, and “We would have been timeless” from Timeless.

Songs that are Explicit: There are no explicit songs on this album.

#6. The Call by Peadar O’Guilin

Synopsis: Imagine a world where you might disappear any minute, only to find yourself alone in a grey sickly land, with more horrors in it than you would ever wish to know about. And then you hear a horn and you know that whoever lives in this hell has got your scent and the hunt has already begun. Could you survive the Call?

Genre: Young Adult, Horror Fantasy

Pages: 307 (hardcover)

Review: Wow. This book was INCREDIBLE. I literally couldn’t put it down. This book is not for the faint of heart, since the content is both disturbing and mature, but I’d still recommend for older YA audiences. There are a ton of body horror/injury/deformation descriptions in this book. If you are sensitive to that, please don’t read this book. If you like The Hunger Games, disturbing fae, boarding school stories, forbidden romance, and otherworldly cat-and-mouse games, you’ll love The Call. Click here to read my full review.

Favorite Quote: “She says, ‘I’m going to live. And nobody’s going to stop me.’ She believes every word of it.”

Content/Trigger Warnings: Ableism, abortion (implied), blood, body horror, bullying, cannibalism, child abuse, child death, confinement, cursing, death, excrement, fire/fire injury, gore, gun violence, grief, injury/injury detail, LGBT characters (there are references to homosexual dating, kissing, and desires), medical trauma, murder, panic attacks/disorders, physical abuse, pregnancy, self-harm, sexual assault (a male character attempts to rape a female character. It is a traumatic scene, but not overly graphic. It is mentioned that the male character forcibly kisses her and pushes himself against her. He also touches her boobs), sexual content (some kissing), suicide, suicide attempt, suicidal thoughts, torture, violence, and vomit.

#5. The Problem With Forever by Jennifer Armentrout

Synopsis: Growing up, Mallory Dodge learned that the best way to survive was to say nothing. And even though it’s been four years since her nightmare ended, she’s beginning to worry that the fear that holds her back will last a lifetime. Now, after years of homeschooling, Mallory must face a new milestone—spending her senior year at a public high school. But she never imagined she’d run into Rider Stark, the friend and protector she hasn’t seen since childhood, on her very first day.  It doesn’t take long for Mallory to realize that the connection she shared with Rider never really faded. Yet soon it becomes apparent that she’s not the only one grappling with lingering scars from the past. And as she watches Rider’s life spiral out of control, Mallory must make a choice between staying silent and speaking out—for the people she loves, the life she wants and the truths that need to be heard.

Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary

Pages: 474 (hardcover), 443 (paperback)

Review: This is one of those books that changes you. That sticks with you long after you finish reading the last page. That leaves you feeling like not only were the characters real, but that they have made you want to be a better person. Click here to read my full review.

Favorite Quote: “Forever was knowing moments of weakness didn’t equate to an eternity of them.”

Content/Trigger Warnings: Abandonment, alcohol, blood, bullying, child abuse, child death (a teenager is shot and killed. It is traumatizing for the other teenagers who are there, and the grief that follows is heavy), drug use, injury/injury detail, cursing, grief, gun violence, medical content, murder, panic attacks/disorders, physical abuse, sexual content (there are several sexual scenes between consenting teenagers. They don’t have sex, but they do other things and those things are briefly described), toxic relationship, and violence.

#4. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Synopsis: When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder― much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disapperas into thin air. It’s hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing―not even a smear of blood―to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy? This is Clary’s first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It’s also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace’s world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know…

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Paranormal

Pages: 485 (hardcover), 510 (paperback)

Review: My exact words after finishing this book were, “I am wounded and will be starting City of Whatever is Next immediately. Should I be sleeping right now? Absoultely. But as the great Sheldon says, ‘I don’t need sleep. I need answers.’ 👁️👄👁️”. If that isn’t enough to convince you to read this, then my official review probably won’t be much better: “Yes. I love it. This book is everything to me. I will not accept slander or negative comments at this time. Please give me 5-7 business days to fully process and write a real review.”

Favorite Quote: “When there is love, there is often also hate. They can exist side by side.”

Content/Trigger Warnings: Abandonment, alcohol, blood, child abuse, cursing, death, grief, incest, injury/injury detail, medical content, murder, pregnancy, sexual content (kissing), and violence.

#3. Alice in Borderland

Synopsis: An aimless gamer and his two friends find themselves in a parallel Tokyo, where they’re forced to compete in a series of sadistic games to survive.

Genre: Young Adult, Thriller, Dystopia,

Number of Seasons: 2, but it’s been renewed for a third season

Episode Length: 42-80 minutes

Where to Watch: Netflix

Review: This show was my everything at the beginning of the year. It was the story that got me back into fanfiction, and it really helped me escape reality. I fell in love with Chishiya (my Instagram followers know that I’ve claimed him as my husband), and the whole gang just means the world to me. I would highly recommend if you want to watch a show that feels like a live-action anime.

Favorite Quote: “To gain something, you need to lose something.”

Rating: TV-MA

Content/Trigger Warnings: Alcohol, animal death, attempted rape (disturbing, but not necessarily graphic), blood, car accident, child death, confinement, cursing, death, death of a parent, drug use (smoking), emotional abuse, fire/fire injury, gore, grief, gun violence, injury/injury detail, kidnapping, mass/school shootings, medical content, medical trauma, mental illness, misogyny, murder, nudity (partial male), panic attacks/disorders, physical abuse, self-harm, sexism, sexual assault, sexual content, suicide, torture, toxic friendship, trans character (you find out late in season 1 that a female character is a trans woman), and violence.

Episodes that have Graphic Content: Almost every episode has graphic violence or some sexual content, but the worst episodes are S1E2, S1E7, S1E8, S2E3, S2E5, S2E7 (the most violent episode in the entire show), and S2E8.

#2. The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones

Synopsis: A teen endowed with supernatural vision recruits a band of youthful human-angel hybrids to help rescue her kidnapped mother from a sinister stranger.

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Runtime: 2 hours, 10 minutes

Where to Watch: Netflix

Review: I’ve rewatched this movie an obscene amount of times this year. I’d seen it on Netflix for a while, but just wasn’t willing to fall into the fandom because I didn’t like the “spoiler” that I’d heard of years ago. But, somehow, I changed my mind, and I regret nothing. I would highly recommend for fans of Jamie Campbell Bower, 2000s romantesy vibes, and strong female protagonists.

Favorite Quote: “I know, it’s ridiculous, isn’t it? We would never have all fit.”

Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of fantasy violence and action, and some suggestive content.

Content/Trigger Warnings: Alcohol, abusive parent, blood, cursing, death, gun violence, incest, injury/injury detail, medical content, murder, sexual content, torture, violence (there are several intense fight scenes throughout the movie) and witchcraft (occult symbols, demonic characters, and taro cards are present throughout the movie).

#1. BTS

For the sake of not dragging this on for 23957 hours, I’m not including any of their solo work.

Genre: Kpop.

Review: My feelings for BTS run incredibly deep, so I’m going to link this post that I wrote instead of repeating everything here. But, if you want the quick summary: I love these seven Korean men, and I am an ARMY forever. *insert purple heart here*

Favorite Albums: Love Yourself: Answer and Map of the Soul : 7.

Favorite Songs: I Need U, Silver Spoon, Trivia : Seesaw, Louder Than Bombs, We Are Bulletproof : The Eternal, Permission to Dance, Spring Day, and Run BTS.

Favorite Lyrics: “Someone has to get off of this seesaw / I can’t, but” from Trivia : Seesaw, “The morning will come again / Because no darkness, no season / Can last forever” from Spring Day, “Let’s breathe, like the first time / And you gonna be happy” from 0:00 (Zero O’Clock), “I’m the one I should love in this world” from Epiphany, and “If we live fast, let us die young” from Run BTS.

Let’s Talk!

What was the best thing you consumed this year? Did we consume any of the same things? What was your best find this year? What’s on your TBR or watchlist for 2024? Let’s talk all things “best of 2023” in the comments below!