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16 top-starred book reviews of 2024

Which books earned the coveted five-star rating from ArtsHub's reviewers this year?
13 Dec 2024 9:00
Thuy On
An illustrated finger pointing to five gold stars.

Writing and Publishing

Image: Mohamed Hassan, Pixabay.

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Now is the time of year when ArtsHub looks back at our book reviews, via a mountainous pile of books, to sift through the ones that received a five-star rating from our stable of book reviewers. Here are the ones – in no particular order – that rose to the top, covering novels, short stories, non-fiction and poetry. If you’re thinking of gifting books this season and yet to decide which ones, the following are excellent options. Buying them at your local independent bookstore is an even better way to support the businesses that support authors.

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Thuy On

Thuy On is the Reviews and Literary Editor of ArtsHub and an arts journalist, critic and poet who’s written for a range of publications including The Guardian, The Saturday Paper, Sydney Review of Books, The Australian, The Age/SMH and Australian Book Review. She was the Books Editor of The Big Issue for 8 years and a former Melbourne theatre critic correspondent for The Australian. She has three collections of poetry published by the University of Western Australian Press (UWAP): Turbulence (2020), Decadence (2022) and Essence (2025). Threads: @thuy_on123 Instagram: poemsbythuy

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