Top 10 Books of 2016

As of right now, I’ve read 198 books this year (trying to power through 2 more to reach my goal of 200!), so it was extremely difficult to narrow it down to just ten favourites. But there were quite a few clear standouts on my list and here they are. If you would like to see other lists of my favourites from this year, I posted my top ten contemporary reads of 2016 on Happy Indulgence and was also a part of Joey @ Thoughts and Afterthoughts’ 2016 Thinking Awards.

10. The Smell of Other People’s Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock

This novel took me completely by surprise. It was a highly anticipated book of mine but I had no idea that I would love it as much as I did. This book is set in Alaska in the 1970s and follows four different perspectives. I thought the writing was absolutely beautiful and there was a wonderful balance in themes. I also especially loved how the four perspectives came together and how seamlessly the book tied it all together.

9. Corruption by Jessica Shirvington

Corruption is the sequel to Disruption by Jessica Shirvington. While I really loved the first book in this Aussie YA duology, it was this sequel that completely took my breath away. It was packed full of action and omg the romance in this duology is just off the charts good. Maggie and Quentin are my OTP of the year! If you haven’t read this yet, you have to pick it up.

8. Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

I love the Shadowhunter books and Lady Midnight was no exception. In my opinion, it’s actually one of the better books from Cassie Clare. The Infernal Devices is still my favourite but Lady Midnight definitely surprised me. I wasn’t a huge fan of the characters when I first read about them as pre-teens in City of Heavenly Fire but I absolutely loved the whole cast of characters (yes, even Perfect Diego)!

7. The Winner’s Crime by Marie Rutkoski

The Winner’s Trilogy was one of my favourite series that I read this year and The Winner’s Crime was definitely my favourite of the three books. While I really liked The Winner’s Curse and The Winner’s Kiss, I just thought that this second book had really great tension and political intrigue.

6. When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore

This book. THIS BOOK. It’s perfect for all fans of magical realism. It had a whimsical and enchanting world and I love Anna-Marie McLemore’s storytelling abilities. The characters were perfection and the themes and messages in the book came across to me so clearly. I thought it was brilliantly executed.

5. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

This was my first Ruta Sepetys book and I have no idea why it took me so long to read one of her novels, since I’m a massive fan of WWII historical fiction. What I loved about this book was the research that Ruta Sepetys put into writing her novel. It was obvious from the very first page and I really enjoyed reading about a little-known event in history. This book also transcends time and marketing categories. Even though it’s a YA novel, I can see so many different people appreciating it and loving it.

4. Blood for Blood by Ryan Graudin

This was one of my most anticipated sequels of this year after I read Wolf by Wolf earlier in the year and it didn’t disappoint at all. There was so much action and the plot twists were almost heart-stopping. There were a few plot points that I didn’t like (not because they were bad but because they hurt my heart) but this book definitely gets all the stars from me.

3. The Weight of Feathers by Anna-Marie McLemore

This is probably one of the books that I raved about the most this year. I highly, highly enjoyed this Romeo and Juliet-inspired story and I couldn’t stop thinking about it for months and months. In fact, I’m still thinking about it. I enjoyed it so much when I read it that I couldn’t bring myself to write a review for it. It’s absolutely beautiful and has a romance that had my heart out of control.

2. I’ll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios

This is my favourite contemporary read of this year. It had been recommended to me multiple times by different bloggers, so I finally picked it up earlier this year. And it was so good! There was nothing that I didn’t like about this novel. The characters were perfection, the romance was perfection and the plot was perfection.

1. Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

Crooked Kingdom is without a doubt my favourite book of this year. It was my most highly anticipated book of the year and it definitely lived up to all of my high expectations. It had everything that I wanted from this sequel and it wrapped up the duology in the most incredible way. I didn’t think that I could love it more than Six of Crows but it was absolutely amazing. If you haven’t read this duology yet, I honestly don’t know what you’re waiting for.

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What was your favourite book of 2016? Stay tuned for my next post: 2016 End of Year Survey!

Review: Starflight by Melissa Landers

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Release date: February 2, 2016
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased
Pages: 369
Goodreads || Book Depository

Life in the outer realm is a lawless, dirty, hard existence, and Solara Brooks is hungry for it. Just out of the orphanage, she needs a fresh start in a place where nobody cares about the engine grease beneath her fingernails or the felony tattoos across her knuckles. She’s so desperate to reach the realm that she’s willing to indenture herself to Doran Spaulding, the rich and popular quarterback who made her life miserable all through high school, in exchange for passage aboard the spaceliner Zenith.

When a twist of fate lands them instead on the Banshee, a vessel of dubious repute, Doran learns he’s been framed on Earth for conspiracy. As he pursues a set of mysterious coordinates rumored to hold the key to clearing his name, he and Solara must get past their enmity to work together and evade those out for their arrest. Life on the Banshee may be tumultuous, but as Solara and Doran are forced to question everything they once believed about their world—and each other—the ship becomes home, and the eccentric crew family. But what Solara and Doran discover on the mysterious Planet X has the power to not only alter their lives, but the existence of everyone in the universe…

MY THOUGHTS

Starflight is a fast-paced and addictive YA sci-fi novel. I was hooked from the very beginning and devoured the book in two short sittings because there was so much action and hilarity. I highly enjoyed the plot and the characters, but the standout for me was definitely the romance!

In this story, we follow Solara, who’s a criminal desperate for a new start in the Outer Fringes of the universe. But in order to get there, she needs passage on a ship and her only option is to indenture herself to her high school enemy, Doran Spaulding, heir to the biggest fuel company in the universe. But things quickly go wrong and the two of them find themselves on board the Banshee, which is home to a crew of misfits with their own secrets. What I loved most about the plot of this book was that it was nothing like what I expected going into the book. I started the story with an idea of what was going to happen but it deviated pretty quickly from what I expected. I enjoyed all of the action in the book and it kind of had everything: from space pirates to accidental marriages to betrayals to unexpected surprises at the end. I loved it all. I also really loved that the book was really funny. There was a lot of banter between the characters and some of the things that happened were hilarious.

The characters themselves were great and while I wasn’t sure about some of them at the start, I grew to love all of them really quickly. The crew were a family and it was hard not to fall in love with all of them. My favourite character was definitely Doran. He was super cute and I loved his learning curve in the novel. He really developed from a bratty rich kid into a wonderful and loyal man. I also really enjoyed Solara throughout the book. She did annoy me a little at the start but it was impossible not to relate to her and fall in love with her character and personality. I also loved the crew members, especially the first mate, Renny. He’s a kleptomaniac and steals the most random things because he can’t help it. I thought he was so funny and I loved him to bits. And of course, I really enjoyed the Captain, who has a pet sugar bear that he pretends not to love but secretly does. I just loved them all.

She’d learned that home was a fluid thing, and whether on a planet, on a satellite, or on a rusted bucket of a ship, this crew was her home.

The romance in the book definitely had my attention from the start. One of my favourite romantic tropes is hate to love and this book executed it perfectly. The development from enemies to friends to lovers was perfect and I shipped Solara and Doran sooooo hard. I cannot wait for the sequel, Starfall, to come out so that I can see my two babies together again.

If you’re looking for an addictive space opera, look no further. Starflight is absolutely amazing and it’s honestly embarrassing that I’ve had it for so long and only just picked it up now. It’s a fast-paced and light read and perfect for anyone who just wants a bit of action and fun.

Review: This Adventure Ends by Emma Mills

Publisher: Henry Holt & Co.
Release date: October 4, 2016
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased
Pages: 320
Goodreads || Book Depository

Sloane isn’t expecting to fall in with a group of friends when she moves from New York to Florida—especially not a group of friends so intense, so in love, so all-consuming. Yet that’s exactly what happens.

Sloane becomes closest to Vera, a social-media star who lights up any room, and Gabe, Vera’s twin brother and the most serious person Sloane’s ever met. When a beloved painting by the twins’ late mother goes missing, Sloane takes on the responsibility of tracking it down, a journey that takes her across state lines—and ever deeper into the twins’ lives.

Filled with intense and important friendships, a wonderful warts-and-all family, shiveringly good romantic developments, and sharp, witty dialogue, this story is about finding the people you never knew you needed.

MY THOUGHTS

Oh my gosh, I loved this book. I really enjoyed Emma Mills’ debut novel, First and Then, but this one blew me away. It was more polished and sophisticated and I really enjoyed the story and its themes. It’s a great coming of age story and I loved the friendships in the book.

This is a story about different relationships and I loved the way that they were explored. At the forefront of the book is a story about friendship but romantic relationships and familial relationships are also interwoven into the narrative. Not only were these different relationships explored wonderfully, they were also extremely relatable and resonated with me throughout the reading experience. The story begins when our main character, Sloane, who has recently moved from New York to Florida, meets some new people at a party. She’s used to being alone and not having close friends but she quickly develops close bonds with these new friends and learns what it’s like to be dependable to them and depend on them too. I loved these coming of age aspects of the book and I connected with them because I’ve always been the same introverted and independent person trying to find the people who I belong with.

I absolutely loved ALL of the characters in this book. There wasn’t a single one that I didn’t like and I especially loved Sloane. She was funny and sarcastic and I highly enjoyed her voice. I related to her story and I appreciated her coming of age journey. I also loved her group of friends, Vera, Gabe, Aubrey and Remy. I thought they were all extremely realistic characters and their stories were also relatable and believable. The characters are also likeable from the  very first moment that you meet them, which is sometimes rare in YA, and I really appreciated that. I also absolutely fell in love with Sloane’s family. Her dad is a pretty major side character in the book and he was so funny and adorable, and I also really loved Sloane’s 9 year old sister, Laney. She was the sweetest! I also highly enjoyed the romance in this book. It was very low key and I appreciated that it didn’t take over the whole story.

“We should all find something to be weirdly passionate about, don’t you think?”

What I also loved in this book were the different arty hobbies. Sloane’s father is a writer who’s going through writer’s block and he’s rediscovering his love for writing through his obsession with fanfiction. There are a lot of fandom things in the book that readers can definitely identify with and I loved all the shipping that the characters were doing. I also enjoyed the art aspect of the story that ties in with the cover of the novel and I really loved the search that Sloane did for her friends’ painting, and how that brought her closer to some of the other characters.

There’s not a lot  that I didn’t love about This Adventure Ends. I loved the writing, the characters and the themes of the book. It’s a slow-paced book but the messages and the coming of age story is extremely beautiful.

Review: Children of Eden by Joey Graceffa & Laura L. Sullivan

Publisher: Keywords Press
Release date: October 4, 2016
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased
Pages: 278
Goodreads || Book Depository

Rowan is a Second Child in a world where population control measures make her an outlaw, marked for death. She can never go to school, make friends, or get the eye implants that will mark her as a true member of Eden. Her kaleidoscope eyes will give her away to the ruthless Center government.

Outside of Eden, Earth is poisoned and dead. All animals and most plants have been destroyed by a man-made catastrophe. Long ago, the brilliant scientist Aaron al Baz saved a pocket of civilization by designing the EcoPanopticon, a massive computer program that hijacked all global technology and put it to use preserving the last vestiges of mankind. Humans will wait for thousands of years in Eden until the EcoPan heals the world.

As an illegal Second Child, Rowan has been hidden away in her family’s compound for sixteen years. Now, restless and desperate to see the world, she recklessly escapes for what she swears will be only one night of adventure. Though she finds an exotic world, and even a friend, the night leads to tragedy. Soon Rowan becomes a renegade on the run – unleashing a chain of events that could change the world of Eden forever.

MY THOUGHTS

I had been seeing Children of Eden around for a while and the synopsis sounded interesting enough that I eventually picked it up. There are two things that you should note about this book before picking it up. The first is that this book isn’t written solely by Joey Graceffa. Despite there being no indication on the cover, it clearly states on the title page that it was written with Laura L. Sullivan. The second thing is that, while this book is ostensibly a standalone, it really is not. The story does not end with any kind of resolution and actually leaves more questions than have been answered. There is definitely a sequel planned for this book.

Children of Eden is a dystopian novel, set in a post-apocalyptic world where the sole survivors of Earth now live in Eden, where everything is regulated, including the human population. Each family is only allowed to have one child, in order to preserve the little amounts of food that exists in Eden. Second Children are illegal and are usually killed before they are even born. Those who have been hidden away in secret by their families, usually live a life of imprisonment and are not able to live a normal life, unless they are able to obtain black market lenses that are used for identification, and assume a new identity. Rowan is a Second Child and comes from a well-respected family who have the means to buy her a pair of lenses and a new identity. However, having this new identity and freedom means that she can never see her family again. When Rowan learns about this, she has her first act of rebellion and escapes from her house for a night. There she meets a friend but this taste of freedom leads to dangerous and tragic consequences. Soon, she finds herself on the run from the Greenshirts and meets other Second Children along the way.

I liked the world in this book a lot. It was well conceptualised and nicely described. It wasn’t the most original of worlds and it’s definitely similar to other worlds that I’ve read about before. But I thought it included some interesting elements and I liked that there was a pretty big focus on it in the novel. Having said that, I do think that too much of the book was dedicated to the world building and there wasn’t a lot of anything else in the novel.

I thought the book was well written for the most part. The writing was much better than I had expected going into the book. My criticism with the writing was that there was a bit too much telling and not enough showing. Rowan asks all the questions for the reader, which is not a style that I typically enjoy. Being told exactly what questions to ask about the story makes the reading experience less enjoyable for me and I was a bit bored with the book about 40% of the way in. There needed to be a lot more subtlety and a lot less telling. There was also some made up curses and swear words in the book, and I found them to be incredibly distracting and honestly, kind of stupid? It was something that I couldn’t really get over.

The plot itself was fun and adventurous but I thought there needed to be better transitions and development. There isn’t a lot of action in the book, which is fine, but what was going on in the story gave me whiplash at times. For example, Rowan goes from hating someone to not wanting to be away from them within the span of a few pages. There just needed to be a bit more gradual development for my liking. There were also some things that I found to be unrealistic or hard to believe and I checked out of the story about halfway through. I did not understand the last 20 pages of the book at all and I disliked the way that it ended. I also found Rowan to be extremely annoying throughout the novel and I didn’t like her as a main character. I thought some of her decisions were very illogical and didn’t make sense to me. I just never managed to connect with her.

My biggest issue with the book was the romance. There is love triangle in the book and they were both cases of instalove. My overall impression of the romance in the book was that it felt extremely forced and I was just disinterested in the romance. The only thing that I did like about it was that it was a bisexual love triangle but other than that, I was not on board with the romance. Needless to say, I probably won’t be picking up the sequel.

Dumbledore’s Army Readathon TBR Pile

Aentee @ Read at Midnight is hosting the Dumbledore’s Army Readathon in January. It’s a two-week readathon that is dedicated to reading diverse books. Each challenge is inspired by a Harry Potter spell and it looks like a lot of fun! There is also a points system and a house challenge. I will be playing for Ravenclaw, which is my Hogwarts house. For all of the readathon details, including the rules for calculating points and some FAQs, see Aentee’s sign up post!

There are seven prompts for this readathon. All of the graphics in this post were made my Aentee.

For this prompt, I am reading Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng. I’ve heard some good things about this one and it features a Chinese-American family that I could probably relate to. I enjoy reading family sagas so I’m hoping that this one is a great read.

304 pages, potential +30 points

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is set in and features characters from Nigeria. This is definitely a group that I have read very little about. In fact, the only book that comes to mind when I think about Africa or African characters is The Shell Collector by Anthony Doerr. I’m very excited to check this one out because I’ve heard endless amazing things about it.

477 pages, potential +47 points

I had an endless number of options for this one so I decided to choose a book that I recently bought. I’ll be reading We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson.

455 pages, potential +45 points

I’ve had Only Ever Yours by Louise O’Neill on my shelf for probably close to two years and I am so glad this prompt will finally push me to pick it up. It’s a book about feminism and hopefully one that is inclusive and empowers all women.

392 pages, potential +39 points

It wouldn’t be a readathon for me if I didn’t read a book about mental illness. Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone has been on my TBR for ages and it’s a book about OCD.

368 pages, potential +36 points

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates has received a lot of hype and, from what I’ve heard, it’s all well-deserved. I’ve been meaning to read this for a while and I picked it up intending to read it straight away. But, as with a lot of non-fiction books, they tend to be forgotten in my stack of unread books. I will be endeavouring to finally read this one for the readathon.

152 pages, potential +15 points

Freedom Swimmer by Wai Chim is one that Jeann @ Happy Indulgence has been raving about since she read it a few months ago. It’s a little embarrassing that I haven’t picked it up yet since Wai is a Sydney-based author and is extremely supportive of us bloggers! But it will be devoured in January!

272 pages, potential +27 points

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There is a 5 point bonus for each prompt that you complete so if I finish all 7 books, my total will be 274 points! There are also bonus points for reviewing each of the 7 books. Go forth and share your thoughts and opinions on these diverse books!

I also have a stack of other diverse books that I want to read when I finish these 7 prompts and you’ll get to see what they are in my wrap up!

Will you be joining Dumbledore’s Army too?

Book Haul: November 2016

My monthly hauls are always really massive but I feel particularly bad about it this month because I was away for two weeks and did barely any reading, so it feels as if my TBR has grown immensely with all the books I’ve hauled in November. It’s only a few days into December and I’ve already got a sizeable haul for the month. I think I’ll be on a no-buy until the end of the year!

BOOK DEPOSITORY

• Once Was a Time – Leila Sales
• Eleanor & Park Exclusive Edition – Rainbow Rowell
• Between Shades of Gray – Ruta Sepetys
• The Sun is Also a Star – Nicola Yoon
• Maybe in Another Life – Taylor Jenkins Reid
• Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy – Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Brennan, Maureen Johnson & Robin Wasserman
• Scythe (Arc of a Scythe #1) – Neal Shusterman

A few of these were preorders that I made a few months ago: Scythe, The Sun is Also a Star and Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy. I’m super keen to jump into Scythe and Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy, but because I’m 20 books away from hitting my Goodreads goal for the year, I might leave these two bigger books until 2017. When I visited Jeann @ Happy Indulgence in October, I went with her to the library and saw Once Was a Time, which I immediately had to get for myself because I really enjoyed Tonight the Streets Are Ours. I ended up buying the exclusive special edition of Eleanor & Park that was recently released because it has fanart as its endpapers. And finally, I ordered about 10 books off my wishlist and Between Shades of Gray and Maybe in Another Life arrived In November!

DYMOCKS

• The Universe of Us – Lang Leav
• Under Rose-Tainted Skies – Louise Gornall
• A Million Worlds With You (Firebird #3) – Claudia Gray
• The Road to Winter (Winter #1) – Mark Smith
• Gemina (The Illuminae Files #2) – Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

Dymocks had a ‘spend $75 and get a Harry Potter tote bag’ offer, so I spent quite a bit of money in November. I also bought some Aussie YA books for overseas friends, so my total was actually over $150 (whoops!). I went to the monthly YA Bookmeet at the start of November, where Mark Smith was the guest, so I ended up purchasing a copy of his book to be signed, and picked up everything else on the same day.

BARNES & NOBLE

• We Are the Ants – Shaun David Hutchinson
• Why We Broke Up – Daniel Handler
• Children of Eden – Joey Graceffa
• Lab Girl – Hope Jahren

When I was in Boston for my work conference, there was a Barnes and Noble pretty much right next door to  the conference venue (thank you conference organisers!). I was tempted to buy a lot more but was limited by suitcase space T_T.

INDIGO

• Still Life With Tornado – A.S. King
• Tell Me Three Things – Julie Buxbaum
• The Female of the Species – Mindy McGinnis
• The Sky is Everywhere – Jandy Nelson

When I visited Toronto at the end of November, Jesse @ Books at Dawn took me to many different bookstores and I ended up buying four books at Indigo. I’ve been wanting to read The Sky is Everywhere for a really, really long time since I’ll Give You the Sun is my favourite YA novel of all time. But I haven’t been able to find the edition I wanted… until now! I snapped this one up so quickly! I’ve also been eyeing Still Life With Tornado since before it was released so I’m happy that I now have a copy. Tell Me Three Things and The Female of the Species were recommendations from Jesse.

RECEIVED

• The Light That Gets Lost – Natasha Carthew
• Falling Kingdoms (Falling Kingdoms #1) – Morgan Rhodes
• The Unexpected Everything (ARC) – Morgan Matson
• Irena’s Children: Young Readers Edition; A True Story of Courage – Tilar J. Mazzeo

Thank you to Bloomsbury Australia for sending a copy of The Light That Gets Lost. Jesse @ Books at Dawn gave me Falling Kingdoms, which is his favourite series. I’ll definitely be picking it up soon, now that I have a copy. The ARCs of The Unexpected Everything and Irena’s Children were given to me by Joey @ Thoughts and Afterthoughts. Thanks Joey!

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That’s all for this month. Hopefully my December haul will be much shorter!

Wrap Up: November 2016

Hello! I am back from my semi-hiatus, which ended up being a two-week hiatus anyway. I spent the first half of November getting read for my conference trip and the last two weeks of the month travelling to North America for the conference and various lab visits. It’s been a very busy month and I posted a measly four posts in November. I was a little bit slumpy in November and didn’t read for a whole week while I was away but I did manage to get through 13 books (no idea how!). I’m currently 4 or 5 books behind schedule for my Goodreads goal of 200 books but I’m not going to give up hope yet. I can totally read 22 books in December… *lays out all my super thin books*.

In case anyone is interested, I went to LA, Boston and Toronto on my trip. I have a recap of my time in Toronto (feat. Jesse @ Books at Dawn and Joey @ Thoughts and Afterthoughts) up on Happy Indulgence where I am a co-blogger.

1. Moon Chosen – P.C. Cast 

Moon Chosen is the first book in a new fantasy series. It had a bit of a caveman sort of vibe, which is definitely not my usual kind of read but I still, ultimately, enjoyed it. My main criticism is that it was kind of wordy and could have been a 300 page book instead of 600 pages.

2. The Sun is Also a Star – Nicola Yoon 

I highly enjoyed Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon and I have to say that The Sun is Also a Star was even better for me. I loved the cultural diversity and I really enjoyed the romance too. While there was definitely insta-love in the book, I found that I was able to overlook it for the most part because the story was so charming.

3. The Pain, My Mother, Sir Tiffy, Cyber Boy & Me – Michael Gerard Bauer 

This is an Aussie YA novel that I didn’t really have any high expectations for, and it definitely surprised me. I enjoyed this book so much and found myself relating to the main character a lot. I liked the writing in the book and I enjoyed all of the characters and the relationships they had with each other. It was a very quick read and I would definitely recommend it.

4. The Universe of Us – Lang Leav 

I don’t read much poetry and I’m not very good at critiquing it, so The Universe of Us gets an above average 4/5 from me.

5. Gemina – Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff 

I wasn’t as big of a fan of Illuminae as most of the YA community is/was, and I feel the same way about Gemina. I liked Gemina a lot more than Illuminae but ultimately, I found it to be kind of predictable, especially having read Illuminae and being somewhat familiar with the twists that the authors use. I did like the romance between Hanna and Nik though.

6. Under Rose-Tainted Skies – Louise Gornall 

This is a book about agoraphobia that is written by an own voices author. I liked the agoraphobia aspect of it and found it to be extremely accurate, but I felt that the book lacked plot overall. It read to me as a book of symptoms and there wasn’t a whole lot that happened in the book.

7. When Michael Met Mina – Randa Abdel-Fattah 

When Michael Met Mina is an Aussie novel that tackles political issues that are very relevant to us today. It deals with refugees and racism and I thought it was a very important and thought-provoking read. I enjoyed both of the main characters and loved their relationship, but there were times when I wanted the plot and the writing to be a bit more sophisticated.

8. By Your Side – Kasie West 

I love all of Kasie West’s books and By Your Side is no exception. I loved the main character, Autumn, and I highly enjoyed the plot as well. This novel is probably one of my favourite Kasie West novels, along with The Distance Between Us.

9. Why We Broke Up – Daniel Handler 

I’d been wanting to read this book for over a year and I’m glad that I finally did because it was beautifully written and conceptualised. I found it to be so relatable and I connected with the main character and her story very deeply. I wasn’t a huge fan of the ending and the ultimate reason why they broke up but that didn’t detract from how much I loved the story.

10. Tell Me Three Things – Julie Buxbaum 

Tell Me Three Things is a cute contemporary read that contains a mystery aspect to it. Our main character has recently moved to a new school in California and receives an email from a mystery person who offers to be her anonymous guide to high school. The book revolves around this mystery of who this anonymous emailer is. I predicted who it was quite early on but I still really loved the story and how adorable it was.

11. Metaltown – Kristen Simmons 

I received this book in my October Fairyloot and was really looking forward to reading it because steampunk is a genre that I tend to enjoy. However, I found Metaltown to be quite boring. Nothing happened until about two-thirds into the book and I didn’t really enjoy the ending. I found the characters to be annoying and I couldn’t get on board with the romance.

12. Him – Elle Kennedy & Sarina Bowen 

Him is a new adult novel about ice hockey that has LGBTQ+ themes. I binge read Sarina Bowen’s The Ivy Years series last month and loved it, so I thought I’d check out some more of her ice hockey themed books. I highly enjoyed this one and loved the two main characters in the novel. There is a sequel that I’m sure I’ll be picking up really soon.

13. Tales of the Peculiar – Ransom Riggs 

This is a collection of short stories that is set in the Peculiar world. This book is referenced in the Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children series but it isn’t linked to that series at all and can definitely be read as a standalone. If you enjoy short stories that are slightly weird and peculiar, you will love this collection. Also, the hardcover edition is beautiful!

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How was your reading month?