Ok, so I took a very long break from this blog which is fairly justifiable since I had the pretty big life change of moving to University alongside starting a new job and working on assignments but I really missed posting on here and since it’s the new year it felt like the best time to start posting again!
I was looking through all my Goodreads stats from the year and thought the best way to close off the last year is to go through some of my favourite books from the past year, it doesn’t necessarily mean these books were released in 2021 but simply the best ones I read that year.
The first book is ‘These Hollow Vows’, I was lucky enough to receive the e-arc for this book thanks to Netgalley and I just fell in love with it. The world the author had created was just magical, with some complex characters and a juicy love triangle what wasn’t there to love? I was so happy to also receive this book in my Fairyloot box which meant I could own such a stunning version of it too! Luckily the sequel ‘These Twisted Bonds’ will be released this year so we don’t have too long to wait!
Next, we have ‘These Violent Delights’ and ‘Our Violent Ends’, after reading and loving ‘These Violent Delights’ I was able to get the e-arc for ‘Our Violent Ends’ not too long after (thanks again Netgalley!) and I was heartbroken (you’d think I would’ve been prepared since its basically a Romeo and Juliet retelling but nooooo). Honestly, such an amazing duology and deserves every single bit of the hype it receives. I’m so excited to see what Gong has for us next.
I’m not going to talk too much on the next one since I think I’ve raved on about this trilogy an insane amount but ‘The Folk of the Air’ trilogy by Holly Black obviously deserves a mention. I’m actually reading ‘How the King of Elfhame learned to hate stories’ right now (thanks Waterstones sale <3) so I’ll let you all know what I think of that!
Another book I absolutely fell in love with (and I know I’m incredibly late to the game) is ‘The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo’, it felt so raw and real and was the first time I cried at a book in a very long time, I just regret not having read it sooner. I’m excited to see what they’ll do with the film (although I wish they would make it a limited series instead) however, I feel very protective of the characters so we’ll see! I think this book came at such a perfect time for me though and I just loved everything about it.
Next up is ‘Six Crimson Cranes’, I received this book in my Fairyloot box and it is just. so. good. I know all I keep saying is oh this book is good, I loved it, buttt these are my favourite books of the year. It’s a fantasy retelling and follows the main character after she has been cursed and her brothers turned into cranes as she ventures to turn the curse. The storytelling in this book is insane and I would recommend this to everyone!
(Now I’m going through my list I actually have so many favourites from this year so I’ll just stick with two more, sorry for the lengthy post)
Another one I received through Fairyloot (I’ve actually enjoyed every book I’ve received from them so far) is ‘Once Upon a Broken Heart’, this is the only book in 2021 that I managed to read in a day, I was so hooked. I won’t even attempt to explain it because so much happens but this is very high up in my favourites from the year, and there are definitely some characters you’ll fall in love with. (After reading this I gave Caraval a go but this was sooooo much better)
And finally, this book doesn’t release until February but ‘The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea’ was such a beautiful book (thanks Netgalley again). There is a lot of comfort found within the tales in this story and the characters are so loveable, there was nothing to dislike about this book. I really can’t wait for this one to be released to hear what everyone thinks and I truly hope you guys will read it!!
Honourable mentions of the year are: ‘Only a Monster’ (Feb release), ‘Defy the Night’, ‘Afterlove’, ‘In the Ravenous Dark’ and ‘The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue’.
If you’ve read any of these let me know! and I’ll try to keep updating this blog as often as I can.
Twitter: @iadyblrd
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