TOP 10 BOOKS OF 2019
Well, it's finally here. The end of 2019. Without further ado, I'm not going to waste time and just jump straight into the best books I read this year.
10. Black Bird of the Gallows by Meg Klassel
I saw this book at my library and decided to check it out without really knowing anything about it. I hadn't read a book in less than a day in forever, so it felt really good powering through this bad boy so fast. The beginning act was rough, but it grew on me a lot. The romance was so unrealistic but gave me fuzzy feelings nevertheless. The supernatural aspect was really interesting and I would love to know more about the lore behind it.
9. Storm and Fury by Jennifer L. Armentrout
This really banged. I can always count on Jennifer L. Armentrout's books being absolutely everything I need them to be. Paranormal romance will forever be my favorite genre and I can't wait to see what happens next. It doesn't even matter that I remembered next to nothing from the main series this spin off series is based on because the characters and plot make it great on its own.
8. Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
This book was a curve ball. I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did just because contemporaries aren't really my thing. There was also so much hype surrounding this book that I was afraid the hype would let me down, but it didn't. This was a cute LGBTQIA+ read, which unfortunately, is a genre I haven't had a lot of exposure to, which as the a (for asexual), is a bit sad. You can read my full review here, but basically this book was an excellent enemies to lovers book (which if you know anything about me, I love that trope- read my list of fav romances from this year here and you'll see).
7. Matchmaking for Beginners by Maddiw Dawson
This book was a complete curveball. This was a free book I decided to pick up on Prime Reading and it ended up being perhaps my favorite book I read this summer. Like this was a 4.5 Star book. I don't typically like women's fiction or chick-lit, but this book was just an amazing read. I love the two POVs we get to read from and the events that unfold in their lives. It was written so well and I just devoured it for the 5 hours I was at the airport coming home from my Bahamas cruise. If women's lit isn't typically your thing, I recommend giving this a go.
6. The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black
While I was slightly let down by the end of this trilogy with this book, I still enjoyed it. You can read my full thoughts here, but overall this book gave me the YA fantasy romance vibes I needed.
5. Winterwood by Shea Earnshaw
I liked this book more than I anticipated, as seems to be the trend with the majority of the books on this list. I knew little going into it other than the author wrote "The Wicked Deep" which I enjoyed last year for my school's book club. You can read the full review here, but basically I enjoyed the way the story was written and the little plot twists that really gave the book a new layer.
4. Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson
This was a YA fantasy book that featured one of my favorite couples of this year. Nathaniel, the main love interest was just a hoot to read. While I had issues with the plot itself, I enjoyed the characters and their interactions, even then non-love interest characters like Silas. You can read my review for the book here.
3. The Wicked King by Holly Black
So even though this book came out last year, I didn't read it until this year. Sue me. This book was hands down the best one in the entire trilogy. We got to see more into Carden and Jude as individuals and as a couple. Their power dynamics were off the charts in all of the right ways. It was in this book that I felt the plot was really going somewhere. It's dissapointing that the last book didn't do justice to the plot of this book, but that's neither here nor there.
2. Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin
This was a really tough decision. This book almost made the top of my list, but there were other factors at play that bumped this down to second place. That being said, I loved this book. I buddy read it with Olivia from Oliva's Catastrophe (twitter link here) and we both enjoyed this far more than we anticipated. What to say about this book. I loved the romance, I loved the setting, I loved the plot. You name it, I probably loved it. I'm so excited to read the sequel when it comes out next year. I'm planning on rereading this book before the sequel comes out, so if anyone wants to buddy read this, I'm game!
1. The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
How this ended up being my favorite book is a mystery to even me. This isn't in my typical genre of favorites, as evidenced by the plethora of YA fantasy/paranormal romance on this last. But alas, this book snuck its way into my heart. I've read this book three times this year. Three! The first time I read this book, I only rated it about 3.5 stars, but now it's between 4 and 4.5 stars. I have no idea what it is about the romance in this book that gets to me, but it does. I didn't realize how much I love the enemies to lovers trope until this book. I also didn't realize how much I love the whole "healing another person" trope. That shit really got to me. I'm thinking of rereading this book again when the new year kicks off. Why? I apparently have an addiction to this book and the couple in it.
Honorable Mention: The Guinevere Deception by Kierstin White
I'd already ranked everything on this list and written half of it when I read this book and didn't feel like rearranging things on my list. That being said, this would have probably made it into the top 5. This was an Arthurian retelling that I enjoyed more than I probably should have considering the predictable nature of it. I just really enjoyed the characters and their nausances.
This book was a curve ball. I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did just because contemporaries aren't really my thing. There was also so much hype surrounding this book that I was afraid the hype would let me down, but it didn't. This was a cute LGBTQIA+ read, which unfortunately, is a genre I haven't had a lot of exposure to, which as the a (for asexual), is a bit sad. You can read my full review here, but basically this book was an excellent enemies to lovers book (which if you know anything about me, I love that trope- read my list of fav romances from this year here and you'll see).
7. Matchmaking for Beginners by Maddiw Dawson
This book was a complete curveball. This was a free book I decided to pick up on Prime Reading and it ended up being perhaps my favorite book I read this summer. Like this was a 4.5 Star book. I don't typically like women's fiction or chick-lit, but this book was just an amazing read. I love the two POVs we get to read from and the events that unfold in their lives. It was written so well and I just devoured it for the 5 hours I was at the airport coming home from my Bahamas cruise. If women's lit isn't typically your thing, I recommend giving this a go.
6. The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black
While I was slightly let down by the end of this trilogy with this book, I still enjoyed it. You can read my full thoughts here, but overall this book gave me the YA fantasy romance vibes I needed.
5. Winterwood by Shea Earnshaw
I liked this book more than I anticipated, as seems to be the trend with the majority of the books on this list. I knew little going into it other than the author wrote "The Wicked Deep" which I enjoyed last year for my school's book club. You can read the full review here, but basically I enjoyed the way the story was written and the little plot twists that really gave the book a new layer.
4. Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson
This was a YA fantasy book that featured one of my favorite couples of this year. Nathaniel, the main love interest was just a hoot to read. While I had issues with the plot itself, I enjoyed the characters and their interactions, even then non-love interest characters like Silas. You can read my review for the book here.
3. The Wicked King by Holly Black
So even though this book came out last year, I didn't read it until this year. Sue me. This book was hands down the best one in the entire trilogy. We got to see more into Carden and Jude as individuals and as a couple. Their power dynamics were off the charts in all of the right ways. It was in this book that I felt the plot was really going somewhere. It's dissapointing that the last book didn't do justice to the plot of this book, but that's neither here nor there.
2. Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin
This was a really tough decision. This book almost made the top of my list, but there were other factors at play that bumped this down to second place. That being said, I loved this book. I buddy read it with Olivia from Oliva's Catastrophe (twitter link here) and we both enjoyed this far more than we anticipated. What to say about this book. I loved the romance, I loved the setting, I loved the plot. You name it, I probably loved it. I'm so excited to read the sequel when it comes out next year. I'm planning on rereading this book before the sequel comes out, so if anyone wants to buddy read this, I'm game!
1. The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
How this ended up being my favorite book is a mystery to even me. This isn't in my typical genre of favorites, as evidenced by the plethora of YA fantasy/paranormal romance on this last. But alas, this book snuck its way into my heart. I've read this book three times this year. Three! The first time I read this book, I only rated it about 3.5 stars, but now it's between 4 and 4.5 stars. I have no idea what it is about the romance in this book that gets to me, but it does. I didn't realize how much I love the enemies to lovers trope until this book. I also didn't realize how much I love the whole "healing another person" trope. That shit really got to me. I'm thinking of rereading this book again when the new year kicks off. Why? I apparently have an addiction to this book and the couple in it.
Honorable Mention: The Guinevere Deception by Kierstin White
I'd already ranked everything on this list and written half of it when I read this book and didn't feel like rearranging things on my list. That being said, this would have probably made it into the top 5. This was an Arthurian retelling that I enjoyed more than I probably should have considering the predictable nature of it. I just really enjoyed the characters and their nausances.
Well those are the best books that I read this year. As you can see, it was a pretty YA fantasy heavy year with some contemporaries sprinkled in. I didn't read as many books this year as previous years, and that's ok because I still took away some great books. Some of these books have more books to come, and I'm excited to see where those stories leave. To the ones that are over, I'm sure I'll revist them in the future.
What did you think of my list? Did you like some of the books on my list too? Or did you dislike some? What made the top lists for you this year? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments down below. I can't wait to see what 2020 holds for all of us!
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