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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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:
Enter:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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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