The question about top ebooks this year makes me wonder—ratings are useful but sometimes popularity outshines actual quality. I’ve been keeping a spreadsheet of titles that keep popping up across communities like r/Fantasy and niche booktok lists, not just storefront rankings. 'The Stormweaver' sequel by Bryce O'Connor seems genuinely adored, with people saying the action scenes feel cinematic even in text. Another one is 'The Will of the Many', which a lot of long-time fantasy readers call a return to classic, intricate plotting.
Some quieter picks that impressed me: 'Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries' held onto its charm, surprising given it's not a new release. I saw a thread debating whether it’s better as an audiobook because the narrator adds a dry wit the text alone might miss. For translated works, 'The Husky and His White Cat Shizun' started dominating certain circles, but ratings got messy because some folks docked points over translation pacing, not the story itself. Moral? Reader reviews help, but you gotta read between the lines to see what’s actually clicking.