Top 10 Most Anticipated Releases of 2020

These are in no particular order as I'm pretty fucking excited about all of them. Sadly, there are some that did not make them on this list. There are probably so many that I missed because there are just so many good books coming out this year, just know that these were the first on my mind when making this list.

1. Brothersong

I already preordered the paperback of this one. I’m so ready to read it. This is the final book and the one I’ve been waiting for for what seems like decades. It’s only been a couple of years, but still. That's way too long to have to wait for Carter’s story. I love Carter.

2. Nightfall by Penelope Douglas

My mind is running wild with all the possibilities of this last book. I’m wondering how long it’s going to be or if there is a possibility of a fifth book because there is just so much to unpack. I’m also curious if Pen will finally do her Reverse Harem novel because I know she was originally gonna do that with Corrupt but then chickened out. Possibilities? Many.

3. Fall Boys by Penelope Douglas

There's no cover for this one yet so we'll just have to go without. I’ve been thinking non-stop about this series too. Penelope Douglas knows what her readers want. I’ve reread the three short stories she’s written about these guys about 10 billion times. This series can’t come out soon enough.

4. Feather 

This book sounds so fun and sexy. The synopsis alone is enough to have me on the edge of my seat. This is going to be a good one. This book is actually set to be released next week, I ordered a copy and it has already been shipped. Very excited about this one.

5. Chain of Gold

I’ve been ready for this ever since we met some of the characters in Shadowhunter Academy. We’re getting more Will and Tessa, we’re getting new characters to love. I don’t even care that this book was pushed back from its original 2019 release date because that just means Cassandra Clare has more time to perfect it. 

6. House of Earth and Blood

Honestly, don’t even remember what this one is about, just know it’s by Sarah J. Maas, so I know I’ll love it. Also, I looked it up, this is coming out on the same day as Chain of Gold. WTF, how am I supposed to choose which to read first. I say that, but honestly both of these are probably going to be sitting on my shelf for a while because I'm pretty sure I have a midterm that day.

7. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

I’m still a very big fan of The Hunger Games trilogy. I know it really died out after a few years, but I still think it’s one of the best dystopian series’ that I’ve ever read. I don’t know what this book specifically is going to be about other than the fact that it’s about the 10th Hunger Games. I’m interested in what Suzanne Collins has in mind for us.

8. World of Throne of Glass

I honestly don’t know what’s going on with this book. I preordered it, but then I got an email saying it was cancelled, but then it was put back on the website then it was taken off again. I don’t know what’s happening so I’m crossing my fingers that this ends of happening this year. Now while looking at the book page on Goodreads it doesn't have a date on it. I'm just gonna put this book on this list and hope for the best.

9.  Credence

I know. I know. This is my third Penelope Douglas book on this list, but is it my fault that she writes good books? Is it my fault that she decided to release at least three of them this year? No. So I will be grateful and put them on my list. This is coming out in early January. AKA January 14th, AKA next week so mark your calendars. I really don't know a lot about this book and what it's about. I feel like it's going to be similar to Birthday Girl, but I'm not really sure. 

10. The Prince and the Pawn

This one doesn’t actually have a release date but I’m going to go out on a limb here and assume that it comes out in 2020. I need this book so bad because of the way things ended off in that last book. I think I might die if this doesn't come out sooner rather than later. Also, I didn't realize that there was a chance that Vaughn wasn't gonna be with Tyra until B. B. mentioned that they originally wasn't going to put them together. But I'm pretty sure they are actually going to. Unless I misread something along the lines. I'm pretty sure Tyra is the love interest. I really love Tyra so I'm excited to read this one.

What are your most anticipated books of 2020?

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Top 10 Best and Worst Books of 2019 + Giveaway

My favourite post of the year! Today I'm talking about my favourite books of the year and my least favourite. I'm also just saying that just because I didn't like a book doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad book. Some of them are probably considered very good books by others. Just not by me.

As always at the end of this post, there will be a giveaway for the winner's choice of one of my 10 favourites!

So let's first start with the Top 10 Worst books of 2019!

10. The Wall of Winnipeg and Me

This was probably the most okay book from this list. I didn't actually hate this story. I just hated that it was so fucking long. Like neverendingly long. It was a story that didn't warrant that many words. You really shouldn't write a book that long that is that uneventful.

9. Motherless Brooklyn

I had to read this for a class, otherwise, I would not have picked this up. Now when I was talking about books that I didn't like that were probably actually very good books I was talking about this one. I just did not vibe with this book. I found it hard to read. I didn't particularly care about any of the characters. It was funny at times, but that wasn't enough to save it. It was written in a very film noir kind of way and that I also wasn't a huge fan of. However, it did shine a light on Tourettes and I like seeing the representation. Also, I do believe that the movie just came out so check it out if this actually sounds like something you would be interested in.

8. Serious Money

This was for the same class as Motherless Brooklyn. Unlike Motherless Brooklyn, with Serious Money I had no idea what was happening. I still don't know what this book is about. I think stockbrokers or something, but I'm not entirely sure. (If you're wondering what this class was it was Literature and Culture, so basically a class on swearing in literature).

7. Boys of Brayshaw High

I really don't know what it was about this book that ground my gears so much but I read this, gave it four stars and it just went down from there as I sat on it. I didn't really care about any of the characters other than Raven. I didn't really care about any of the plot points. I will probably actually continue to read the series because I wanna know what's up with Raven.

6. It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time

I don't remember much about this book other than they were Australian and the main character was a girl who was trying to fuck her dad's friend. I DNF'd it because it was incredibly dull and I didn't like the characters.

5. The Silver Swan

Everyone and their mother loves this book so I picked it up and hated it. The writing is bad, the plot points are messy, I just didn't see it developing well so I stopped reading it because I couldn't continue to do this to myself.

4. Winter King

This book was short, but even in those limited pages, I was able to realize how much I didn't like this book. I had it preordered on kindle, so publishing day I read it front to back and immediately returned it because I couldn't believe I spent money on it. People who were reading advanced copies were talking about how good it was and man I felt cheated. I don't even remember what happened but I just know that I can't recommend it. 

3. Royal Academy

I tried to return this one too, but Amazon was having an error and wanted me to call to return it so to avoid human interaction I just sucked it up. Bad. Bad writing. This was like a really shitty fanfiction. 

2. Dark Ties

I finished this book and I can honestly say that I don't think I've ever read anything like that. You know, I liked some of the characters in this story, if they were in different stories I wouldn't have minded them. This story, however, is a monstrosity. I know some people will probably like everything I hated about it. To sum it up: weird sex cult.

1. Mate Me

I hated everything about this. Starting with the fact that you have to read it on a specific app where you have to wait every day for a new chapter or pay so you can continue reading it. Literally, if you want my money, just put it on Amazon. I would have bought it. The second thing I hated was everything about this story. I hated the main characters as things progressed, I hated the plotlines, I hated that I spent money so I could read this thing faster. In conclusion, don't bother. It's not worth your time. It's a shitty story, and the author is acting really aggressive about her decision to put it on the app. 

Now onto my favourites of the year. This has been a pretty great year for books and I can't wait to share my favourites with you guys!

10. Heartsong

While I loved this book I still didn't love it as much as Wolfsong. Man, I love this series. I felt like with this book, in particular, I really didn't know what to expect. Robbie and Kelly were both such closed books to me that I really didn't know what I was going to get with this book. The beginning is a bit confusing, but then everything starts to make sense. I loved how the author did that because it gave you the same sort of confusion as the characters.

9. The Wicked King

While I did enjoy the Queen of Nothing, the Wicked King has to be my favourite book in this series. The Cruel Prince was good, but it didn't make me want to jump right into the next book like The Wicked King did. I really read this one at the right time. I had the book sitting on my shelf, I literally even had an ARC and yet I didn't even read it until the last month because my brain just decided it was ready to read this.

8. Stalking Jack the Ripper

I'm really not that interested in the Jack the Ripper killings. I love true crime, but this just was never the case that really drew me in. However, I found the premise of this book to be so intriguing. Honestly, I don't think the synopsis on the back of the book does it justice. From reading that alone, I didn't want to read the book. It wasn't until I read about it elsewhere that I actually became interested. If you're looking for a Victorian-era crime mystery novel with a hint of romance this would be a good choice for you.

7. The Risk

This has probably been my favourite solo Elle Kennedy book to date. I loved both the leads so much. On their own they were so much fun to read about and together they were a power couple. 

6. Untouchable

If you like very taboo romance novels, then you'll probably like this one. I've read some of the author's other works and this one is actually really tame for her. I personally really loved this book but I can definitely see how it isn't for everyone. I will also issue a trigger warning. 

5. Infinity + One

This book. Amy Harmon really had my heart pumping this year. I had read two books by her previously that I liked, but didn't really do it for me the way that this book did. I picked up this book on a whim, I didn't think I was going to love it as much as I did. It's a sad story, it's a hopeful story, it's a romantic story, it's a story that I think you should read.

4. A Promise of Fire

If you love high fantasy, a spicy romance, and badass main characters, this book is for you. I loved every second of not only this first book but the whole series. I just read this a month or two ago and I already want to do a reread of the entire thing. That's as much as I'm going to say because I think this would be such a good book to go into knowing almost nothing.

3. Twisted Pride

So I started this series this year and I did really enjoy all the books, but this book, in particular, reigned supreme over the others. Remo is just my kind of antihero. You guys know how much I love my antiheroes and villains. Remo is so different from other Mafia bosses in any of Cora Reilly's other books. That has just given this series such an interesting twist. 

2. Killswitch

I'm honestly thinking that the Devil's Night series is my favourite romance series and that's really saying something. It's just so thoughtfully planned out, each book has its own arc but is still part of a bigger idea. The characters are all so much and I never skim over the sexy scenes. This series doesn't follow a formula and it never makes you feel like you already know what's about to happen. Killswitch featured the love of my life, Damon, so of course, I was going to love this book. 

1. Without Merit

"What could possibly have knocked Killswitch into second place?" you were probably thinking to yourself. None other than Colleen Hoover's Without Merit. Colleen Hoover has got to be one of my favourite authors and she almost never does wrong. I just ate this book right up. It is a top contender for my favourite COHO book. I feel like I've already mentioned it a million times how much I love this book.

Lmao as I was writing this post I realized how much easier it is to talk about things I didn't like than it is to talk about things that I did enjoy.

Onto the Giveaway! 

Rules:

• The giveaway is international as long as The Book Depository ships to you
• You have to be following my blog
• You have to be 18 or have parental permission
• There will be one winner who will receive their choice of one of the books off my favourites list or a book that is in the same series as one of the books.
• This giveaway will run from December 31st, 2019 to January 31st, 2020.

Enter:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Books I Want to Get to in 2020

These are a few books that I have sitting on my bookshelf that I finally want to read. These are all already out, this is not my most anticipated reads of 2020 list, that'll come later. These are just books that I already have that I just want to get to.

1. Ninth House

You know, I really wasn't drawn into the premise of this book, but I've suddenly been struck with the desire to finally read it. I have it sitting on my shelf and I want to give it a go.

2. Little Women

I keep getting Instagram ads for the movie trailer and it's making me really want to read the book. And then I'm gonna watch the movie and have a grand old time. Unfortunately, I already know some of the plot twists because of Friends. I still feel like I'll have a great time reading it though.

3. The Mime Order

I read the first book at least a year ago and I really enjoyed it. I've wanted to read this second book, but I just never started it. I had other things that I got more interested in and I never read this one.

4. Ghosts of the Shadow Market

I know that once I start this I won't want to stop, but I don't think I'm ready yet. I can usually feel when I'm ready to read certain books, and I'm just not ready for this one. It's like popping a pimple. It's not ready yet. I'll hopefully get to it before Chain of Gold.

5. Harry Potter

I'm slowing down a bit in 2020. In 2019 I tried so hard to keep up with my Goodreads reading goal and prioritizing it over things I shouldn't have been neglecting. So in 2020, my Goodreads goal is just going to be 50 books so I don't need to feel rushed. I want to be able to just slowly read at my own pace and finally do a Harry Potter reread.

Bonus: A Little Life

Every time I see this book on my shelf I just think to myself "I want to read that" and then I never read it. You know what, if I have time this year, if I get around to it, I'm going to read this one. If not I'm okay with putting this one on the backburner for another year.

Did you guys have any books you want to finally get around to reading in 2020?

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Top 10 Favorite Main Characters of 2019

Now, this list is in no particular order, I love all of them. As I was writing this post, half of it didn't save, so all of my beautiful beautiful words are now replaced by cheap imitations. Enjoy.

1. Raven

This is the anomaly of this list. I actually liked all the other books on this list, but I hated the Boys of Brayshaw High. Like I read it, gave it four stars, then the longer I sat on it the more I disliked it. I ended up giving it 1.5 stars. The thing that kept me from giving this book 1 star is that I liked Raven. She is so funny and has so much personality. Honestly, I would take a book of Raven just being Raven, I don't care for any of the other characters or any of the other plot points. 

2. Cat Fisa

You guys know how much I love badass leading ladies. Cat is probably the most badass lady on this list. 

3. Baz

The lone guy on this list. You guys know how much I love Baz. He's the snarkiest character on this list. He is so antagonistic sometimes, yet he is so devoted to Simon. I just love that balance. 

4. Serafina

While I love a badass lady who can take care of herself, I also love the silently strong types. The ladies that although they may not be able to physically fight off attackers, are powerful inside. Serafina was was graceful and poised and didn't take shit. 

5. Audrey Rose

Audrey Rose is a high-class lady living in the Victorian Era who wants to be a medical examiner. Everyone tells her she shouldn't be doing this and it isn't ladylike, but she doesn't let this stop her from pursuing her passion. I love this about her. I'm not a very ambitious person, but I wholeheartedly support women with ambitions. I love that she won't allow societal norms to get in the way of what she wants to do with her life. 

6. Jude

Jude has my unending respect. It takes a special kind of heroine to put up with someone like Cardan. I like Cardan but he's a tricky asshole. Jude was willing to do whatever it took to get where she wanted to be and to protect those that she loved.

7. Merit

Merit Merit Merit. A lot of people did not like her. I think this might have been one of Colleen Hoover's least well-received books, but I loved it. I loved Merit. Throughout the entire story, I kept putting myself in Merit's shoes and thinking to myself "I get it. I feel that". I always love her books, but Merit spoke to me in a way that I haven't had since I read Hopeless.

8. Mackenzie

I felt like I related to Mackenzie so much. As someone who has a sister that I am close with I know what it's like to hate her so much at times and then also be best friends. I feel like I could really relate to Mackenzie because I could really understand how her thought process works. 

9. Brenna

Brenna was just such a fun character to read about. She was full of confidence but still had her issues. She's also hilarious might I add. Of all of Elle Kennedy's main characters, Brenna has been my favourite.

10. Lennix Moon Hunter

Lennix is just as cool as her name. She's Apache and very proud of the fact. I feel like a lot of the times when there is an Indigenous person in a romance novel, they're just very watered down. You never forget who Lennix is. Her entire story arc is about her love for her people and her determination to stop them from getting screwed over. I have all the respect for Lennix Moon Hunter.

Who were your favourite main characters this year?

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