1) We Are Okay by Nina LaCour
I don't really make notes when reading books, so I can honestly say that I cannot remember what happened in this book. But I remember really enjoying it, and it has a beautiful cover!
2) They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera
Like the first book of the year, I can't remember all of the details of this story (note to self, next year write this as I read the books!) but I really liked this book! It blatantly says what is going to happen to the characters on the cover of the book, but that kind of made me more attached to the characters as I read about what was happening to them. I find the whole concept of a company calling people on the day they are going to die quite scary to be honest. It's like "okay I've got a day at most but can die at any moment.". It's cute that the two main characters stick out their last day together, and there was a part in the book where I thought they were going to live and that they were going to beat the system.
3) The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
This book was quite eyeopening to me. As a white woman, I have never really realised how privileged I actually am because of the colour of my skin and this book awoke something in me about how people of colour have this issue which isn't necessarily their fault. I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to watching the film adaption which was released earlier this year.
4) All About Mia by Lisa Williamson
Lisa Williamson is a fantastic writer and I really enjoyed reading The Art of Being Normal last year, so when I saw this book I was expecting to feel a similar way. However I didn't really like this book very much. I feel as though the book was immediately linked to its predecessor due to it being on the front cover and with a very similar art style. Mia was a very unlikable character and I just found the storyline generic. There was nothing particularly special about this book in my opinion.
5) The Exact Opposite of Okay by Laura Steven
A book that I did not expect to enjoy but really surprised me. It focuses a lot on sexism, with the main character having to cope with the fact that her nudes have been leaked on the internet and how her classmates treat her. She is treated as a lesser human and that she is filthy because she took naked photos, which when experiencing this sort of thing in real life I fell like you don't actually realise how much this kind of thing can impact someone's life. An amazing book to read and among my favourites of the year.
5) Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst
Finally, a fantasy story where there is a lesbian romance! This book was very focused on the characters, not a lot happened and there were chapters where the characters were literally just bonding with each other. However I felt like these chapters really connected you to the characters in the story and the struggles they were going to. I loved that although there was a lesbian romance in the story, it was not in the story to be sexy, it felt as though these characters were genuinely in love. The events at the end of the story were engaging and I am excited to see where the next book in the series will take us!
6) Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
This book felt like I was reading my coming out story. It was written beautifully and I absolutely love how real Simon felt to me as a character. There were even moments where I felt genuinely upset, since I have been though a similar time and knew exactly how Simon felt. This is an amazing story and I would recommend it to any one!
7) A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
Wow, this was possibly one of my favourite reads of the year! I am obsessed with the world building in this book! It gave me major Dr Strange vibes with the travelling between the alternate Londons, I also loved the characters that were presented to us. And get this, we have a male and female lead that are not really romantically involved with eachother! This had been a book that has been on my to read list for years, and I am glad that I have finally read it.
8) Girl Up by Laura Bates
A great book taking a look at feminism that is not just "Women should be better than men". I believe this is the only non-fiction book that I have read this year, but it was a very interesting read! I loved the facts that it presented to me and it also showed some valuable opinions, not to mention the fabulous art style featured through out the book.
9) A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab
A very good sequel to a very good story! I enjoyed how this book expanded on the characters story lines from the first book in this series and this is a universe that I am absolutely obsessed with! I am conscious of story spoilers, so I will just say that I am very excited to read the third book in the series!
10) Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz
A book that has been on my reading list for years, now it is finally on my read list! This story was such a lovely read, I really enjoyed the writing style of Benjamin Alire Saenz too! The characters were so sweet and were well written and had realistic relationships. I feel like the LGBT relationship was not forced into the story too, the characters felt as though they genuinely cared for each other and the relationship was realistic.
11 - 18) The Throne of Glass Series by Sarah J Maas
(The Assassin's Blade, Throne of Glass, Crown of Midnight, Heir of Fire, Queen of Shadows, Empire of Storms, Tower of Dawn)
Back again for another year! I was rereading these books in preparation for Kingdom of Ash, and I have included them all under the same section since I can't really talk about them all individually without spoiling the books. I can say it was interesting reading them in a slightly different order though. Last year, I read them in order of being written, so I read The Assassin's Blade before Queen of Shadows, however this year, I read The Assassin's Blade before the other books and it as weird how much I noticed after reading all of the books. I would recommend to new people to the series should read this in order of when it was written though! I absolutely love this series, it is among my favourite book series'.
19) Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel
The only graphic novel on my reading list this year. I loved the artwork in this book, although there were moments where I suddenly had to close my book when reading it near my mum... It was a lovely story to read and was refreshing to read. Not to mention that this has been made into a Broadway show! (okay I'm a little late to that party....)
20) A Twisted Tale: Once Upon a Dream by Liz Braswell
This book was added to my reading list after speaking to a co-worker about it, we were discussing Disney and this came up in conversation. It was a conversation worth having as I really enjoyed reading this book. It was not the story that I was expecting to read and completely surprised me. It was a refreshing interpretation on the story of Sleeping Beauty and was a lovely quick read too! Maybe I will add more of the Twisted Tale series to my reading list for 2019.
21) Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J Maas
The long awaited conclusion to the Throne of Glass Series and my early 20th Birthday present. This has officially now overtaken Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix as the longest book I have read. This book reminded me of how complex this world was and just how many characters were focused on. I do not want to spoil much of the story, but this book was a satisfying conclusion to the series (although I do wonder what would happen if Sarah did go down a darker path for the ending - I may elaborate on this in the future). It took a long time for me to read this book due to the amount of focus I needed to understand who was where at what point and who I was reading about now ect. I wondered how much of it was actual story and how much of it was filler, but I think this is due to the fact that I am not a fan of two of the characters in the story and when reading their parts of the story I just wanted to get back to the characters that I cared about the most. I feel like this is a common theme with this book when speaking to others about it, but nevertheless, it is absolutely fantastic! Thank you Sarah J Maas!
22) A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J Maas
This book gives me mixed opinions. I like the ACOTAR universe and their previous stories, so I enjoyed reading more into the world. But this book felt very much like filler to keep people quiet for the upcoming release of Kingdom of Ash which has been pushed back many times. I don't know if this is officically a novella or a book, but I think it should be cast as a novella due to the length and the lack of narrative. I do not know how relevant the events in this book will be to the next book in the series, but my thoughts at this point in time is that this was like a "Christmas special" and will not massively impact the events of the next story drastically.
23) Catwoman: SoulStealer by Sarah J Maas
I really loved the take on the DC universe in this book! I have not read any of the previous DC Icons books, I read this because I am a fan of Sarah J Maas' other work. I liked the interpretation of Catwoman, although there were plot conveniences at times and some things did not make sense, it was a pleasure to read! The story was not centered around Batman, which a lot of DC stories I have read do tend to centre around Batman, so it was refreshing to be introduced to a new hero.
24) The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw
A book I thoroughly enjoyed reading this year was The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw. It gave me major Hocus Pocus vibes and was an interesting read. I loved the characters in the story and was invested in each story line; when the twist was revealed I was quite surprised! A great read especially for the spooky season!
25) Animal Farm by George Orwell
The last read of 2018! I only read this for the shortness of it to be honest, but it has been on my to read list for a while anyway. I did enjoy this book though and I feel like it is probably one that everyone should read at some point in their lifetime.
So there you go, my reads of 2018! Did you read any of these books? Are there any on here that you want to read? Let me know! And I will see you next year when I am more organized so can go into more detail about the earlier books on this list!
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