My favourite 10 books of 2019

1. The Heart of a Changeling by Caitlyn E. Lloyd
2. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery (reread)
3. The Final Empire (Mistborn #1) by Brandon Sanderson
4. Becoming by Michelle Obama
5. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
6. Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
7. Nevernight by Jay Kristoff
8. Dance of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson
9. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
10. King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo

Series’ I’ve finished in 2019

1. All For The Game series by Nora Sakavic
2. To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before series by Jenny Han
3. The Folk of the Air series by Holly Black
4. The Kane Chronicles series by Rick Riordan (reread)
5. A Discovery of the Witches by Deborah Harkness

I loved all the series I’ve read this year, but my absolute favourite read of this year has to be “All For The Game” series by Nora Sakavic. I made the mistake of reading it at the beginning of the year, which kind of determined the standard for the whole year. But I absolutely loved that series, and I 100% recommend it to everyone.

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‘Sky in the Deep’ Adrienne Young
★★★★

I actually gave it 4,5 stars, because it was really damn good. We don’t have many books about tribes in Young-Adult, which is a shame. I liked the characters, who were from different tribes, but realise that they are the same despite fighting for centuries – I think it sends a strong message, and additionally, it’s a really good read. I can’t wait for Adrienne’s new book!

‘Onyx and Ivory’ Mindee Arnett
★★★

The beginning was really good – it pulled me right in, the middle of the book was a little boring, but I guess every book has a boring part? The ending was an absolute mess – I honestly have no idea what happened there, and I couldn’t decipher which characters were on the good side? I’m going to read the second book in the series, just to find out what happens next.

‘A Little Book of Hygge’ Meik Wiking
★★★

For those of you who don’t know, hygge is a Danish lifestyle involving a lot of happiness and cosiness. I fell in love with the idea when we discussed it during English class, and I bought this book because I wanted to find out more – sadly, the book was very general. The author wrote about general things, like the fact that hygge involves candles. I expected more details and more information.

‘Wicked Saints’ Emily A. Duncan
★★★★

This book was so damn good. Everything was great – the characters, who were complex and interesting; the plot that was surprising; and I didn’t even mind the dual narration – one was from Nadya point of view, and one was from Malachiasz’s. The only thing that annoyed me throughout the whole book was the similarity to Grisha trilogy by Leigh Bardugo – I could foresee the ending because I’ve read Grishaverse before.

‘Anna and the French Kiss’ Stephanie Perkins
★★★★★

If you like contemporaries, you need to read this book – it stole the first place for my favourite contemporary after the first chapter. Every part of the book was amazing – the main character, Anna, was adorable and relatable; the second character, St. Clair, was a perfect bookish boyfriend; the plot was full of twists which could have been avoided by honesty, but I guess that’s similar to real life.

‘A Curse So Dark and Lonely’ Brigid Kemmerer
★★★

I had such high expectations for this book, but I was really disappointed. The main character annoyed me, the whole story had nothing to do with ‘Beauty and the Beast’, and the plot was really boring and predictive. I just expected more from this book.

‘Hunting Prince Dracula’ Kerri Maniscalco
★★★★

I definitely liked ‘Stalking Jack the Ripper’ more. The beginning of this book was so boring, but the second part was really interesting. What saved my rating of this book, was the characters – the amazing Audrey Rose and the charming Thomas. I just can’t help but love them.

‘Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies’ J.K. Rowling
★★★★★

To be honest with you, I would love anything connected to the magical world of ‘Harry Potter’. It doesn’t matter that this book only had 73 pages – for a couple of minutes I took an amazing trip back to my childhood and back to the magic of Hogwarts. I know, I know – I sound like a such a dork, but I can’t help it!

‘Daisy Jones & the Six’ Taylor Jenkins Reid
★★★★★

An absolute masterpiece. I loved everything about this book – the characters, the storyline and the rock n’ roll. I can’t even articulate how much I loved this book. Taylor Jenkins Reid managed to convince me that the band really exist, and I just wanted to listen to their songs so much.

‘If You’d Just Let Me Finish’ Jeremy Clarkson
★★★

I always like to read about Clarkson’s witty and sarcastic approach to life, which for me is also an inside look into life in England (which fascinates me). This one was much better than the previous book of Clarkson’s I read – he has definitely grown up a bit and managed to make me laugh out loud a few times.

I also read a book in Polish by a Polish author, but it’s not available in English so I didn’t include it in my wrap-up. For any Polish readers, I may have, it’s ‘O pisaniu. Na chłodno.’ Remigiusz Mróz.

Just a short post, because January was a busy month for me, and so is the beginning of the February. I didn’t read a lot this month, but my definite favourite I discovered this month was ‘All for the Game’ series by Nora Sakavic. I absolutely fell in love with this series, and I have a feeling you are going to hear much more about it from me.

‘The Foxhole Court’ Nora Sakavic
★★★★★

Oh. My. God. This book (this series) broke my heart like no other book before it (maybe ‘Lost Boy’ by Christina Henry can compete, but only maybe). I have been waiting to read a good gang story since ‘Six of Crows’, and I got one. ‘The Foxhole Court’ is incredible – the characters are so amazing, unpredictable, and so twisted that you have no choice but to love them. I think I’m going to do a full review on this series when I have time because I feel like I could talk about it forever.

‘Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Ship of the Dead’ Rick Riordan
★★★

I am so disappointed with this series, and even more with this final book of ‘Magnus Chase’ trilogy. I adore Rick Riordan and his writing, but this one felt a bit too forced when it comes to funniness, and the amount of diversity felt a bit overwhelming. This series just did not click for me, even though I still laughed at the funnier parts. My favourite character was Mangus’ sword, and I think it says a lot about this book.

‘The Wicked King’ Holly Black
★★★★

It did not click for me the way ‘The Cruel Prince’ did. I don’t think I can explain it, but I feel like all the action was packed in the last two chapters. What I loved about this book though, was Cardan, and his character development – he finally became a king – and took the matters into his own hands. Jude was a bit annoying in this one, but I blame it on her family – it must be difficult to rule a country without being able to trust someone. AND THAT ENDING. No spoilers, but holy cow.

‘The King’s Men’ Nora Sakavic
★★★★★

Can I marry this series, please? I swear I will protect all the characters, even though they would probably kill me for even suggesting this. I have so many feelings regarding this series – I adore Andrew Minyard, Neil Josten, Nicky is such a cinnamon roll, and the other Foxes are all incredible. Allison is a freakin’ badass, and Matt is just perfection.

‘The Language of Thorns’ Leigh Bardugo
★★★★

To be honest, I would probably love a book about eating breakfast if it was written by Leigh Bardugo. I loved these short tales, taking place in the Grishaverse universe. I absolutely adore Leigh Bardugo, and the stories were amazing (as I thought they would be).

This month was also a good reading month for me – I have to admit that bookstagram is really motivating me to read more (not to mention all the book recommendations). Both October and November are ‘Harry Potter’ months for me, so I’ve mostly reread the series. I’ve also started rereading ‘Grisha Trilogy’, even though I read it in July. Overall, I liked all the books I’ve read this month so here they are.

‘Shadow and Bone’ Leigh Bardugo
★★★★★

Even though, I have read ‘The Grisha Trilogy’ for the first time this summer, I fell in love with these books. So when it turned out that FierceReads is doing #ShadowandBoneTrilogyReread I just had to join. ‘Shadow and Bone’ was as amazing as it was when I first read it, and I cannot wait for ‘King of Scars’ so I can get more Grisha, Nikolai and more Nina from ‘Six of Crows’.

‘Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban’ J.K. Rowling
★★★★★

The continuation of my October ‘Harry Potter’ reread – I did not manage to complete it in one month, but I hope to finish it by the end of the year. I honestly cry every time the Marauders are mentioned, so this one was very teary. BUT I’M NOT ASHAMED OF IT, OKAY? Basically, this part was very emotional, also I’m kind of sad it was the last book where we got Oliver Wood and his Quidditch obsession. In conclusion, ‘Harry Potter’ is my life, Remus Lupin is cinnamon roll that needs to be protected and Sirius Black is perfect.

‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’ J.K. Rowling
★★★★★

Let me just tell you, I was not ready for Cedric’s death. I knew it was coming – I mean, I have read this series what feels like a hundred times. But after such a break in reading those books, I cried my eyes out on his death scene. Also, I noticed how much of a cinnamon roll he is. And did I mention getting teary every time Sirius, James or Lily are mentioned? Every. Damn. Time. I’m such a cry baby when it comes to books. Getting away from the subject, I know. Basically, I love ‘Harry Potter’.

‘Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix’ J.K. Rowling
★★★★★

This book is simultaneously my favourite and my least favourite. It is incredible because of all the jokes and pranks that Fred and George did. But it is horrible because of what Harry had to go through and, because of Sirius’ death. I understand why she killed him, though I don’t think I could ever forgive her for that. Also, this is the book where one starts to realise that Dumbledore wasn’t so great. Well, now I’m off to read the next part. Hopefully, it won’t make me cry so much.

‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince’ J.K. Rowling
★★★★★

This the part that conceived me that I dislike Severus Snape. What I love most about this part is the fact that Draco is shown as a victim of a war, and Ginny is presented as a badass (which she is). I also always liked Dumbledore’s lessons with Harry – it helped me understand Voldemort much better. I always feel weird writing about ‘Harry Potter’, because I feel like I could talk about it forever, and this is just supposed to be some kind of conclusion.

‘What Could Possibly Go Wrong…’ Jeremy Clarkson
★★★★

To be quite honest with you, I don’t give a damn about cars. I know basic brands, and I know whether I think a car is beautiful or not. But I adore Jeremy Clarkson’s books – his humour is incredibly witty, and he probably offends everyone in Great Britain. This book focused mainly on cars, but I still found a few columns I loved. Some fragments made me laugh out loud, and I just had to read them aloud to my parents. Now I need to find a book of his in my house that I haven’t read yet…

‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ J.K. Rowling
★★★★★

I managed to finish ‘Harry Potter’ series in two months! (I was supposed to do it in one, but oh well, life happened). It has been so many years, and I still cry every damn time I read this book. Also, I still haven’t forgiven J.K. Rowling for so many deaths, but now as I read it when I’m older, I cannot forgive her for mistreating Slytherins the way she did. Overall, this book is neither my favourite or my least favourite. My favourite parts of this book are the beginning and the ending – especially the fight between Harry and Voldemort. I guess now I’m off to watch the movies…

‘Red Rising’ Pierce Brown
★★★★

Rarely does a book surprise me – usually when I don’t like the beginning, I don’t like the whole book. When I’ve started ‘Red Rising’, I thought it was dull and confusing (I don’t usually like such confusing worlds which are presented in such a confusing way). But after reaching 150 it pulled me in, and I ended up staying up till 3 am to finish this book. My favourite thing about ‘Red Rising’ was the main character, Darrow. He is everything a protagonist should be and now he is my favourite male hero.

‘Sword of Destiny’ Andrzej Sapkowski
★★★★★

Finally, after many years, I proceeded to reading the rest of ‘The Witcher’ series. Can I just say it’s only thanks to my sickness that I’ve read it? So thanks! I like the format of stories, though I’ve never thought I would. Geralt is one of my favourite protagonists, even though he is socially awkward. Jaskier is annoying, but aren’t all bards? And Yennefer is queen, but I cannot wait to finally meet Triss!

‘Blood of Elves’ Andrzej Sapkowski
★★★★★

Let me just tell you that being sick is really helpful in reading books (just sayin’). I love all of the characters – even though Jaskier is still annoying. And Yennefer is a really difficult human being. This is the book where everything starts to be complicated – the plot, the geography and the alliances. I had to be focused all the time in order to be caught up with who is who. But I loved it nonetheless, and I cannot wait to read book four!

October was such a good reading month for me! Honestly! I have managed to read 10 books which, compared to September, is a lot. My favourite read of this month was ‘Everless’ (I don’t include ‘Harry Potter’ in that, because ‘Harry Potter’ is ‘Harry Potter’). Here is my October wrap-up!

‘Catwoman’ Sarah J. Maas
★★★★★

I was so excited to finally get my hands on one of the books from the DC Icons series. The authors that feature in this series are incredible – Marie Lu, Sarah J. Maas and Leigh Bardugo are among my favourite authors in the world. I stumbled upon ‘Catwoman’ in a small bookstore in Malta and I knew I had to have it instantly. I have read in one day, before and after classes, and I have loved it so much. The plot is incredible and all the decisions come to a perfect conclusion in the end. The characters are well-done and intriguing, especially the female ones – Selina, Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn. I adore this book and I will definitely order the rest of DC Icons books.

‘Daughter of the Siren Queen’ Tricia Levenseller
★★★★

I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed by this one. I love the first part of the duology, ‘The Daughter of the Pirate King’, and was anticipating the second part for weeks until it finally arrived. The plot felt forced and not very well-planned. The characters I have loved so much in the first book – Alosa and Riden – were so flat in the second one. They always seem to create problems where there were none. If ‘Daughter of the Siren Queen’ was a standalone, it would be a much better book. But as a continuation of ‘The Daughter of the Pirate King’ I have felt like it was missing something important.

‘Grace and Fury’ Tracy Banghart
★★

Ugh, I was so disappointed by this book. I’ve seen people fuss over it on bookstagram and I had great expectations of ‘Grace and Fury’. The plot was too simple, besides the plot twist at the beginning. The characters were too plain and I couldn’t help to think that the idea of two princes was taken from Victoria Aveyard’s ‘Red Queen’. The book was supposed to be very feministic, but I had an impression that Nomi and Serina, the main characters, were only depending on men.

‘A Whole New World’ Liz Braswell
★★★★

At first, I was excited for this retelling. After the first few chapters, I was disappointed – everything seemed to be written down from the Disney’s movie. And then, everything changed – the characters were different from the fairy-tale and I liked the storyline with the rebellion of Agrabah. Also, I think that writing the book from Aladdin’s point of view was a great decision. Now, I’m on to read the retelling of Mulan by Liz Braswell and I hope it will be as good as ‘A Whole New World’ was.

‘The Last Wish’ (‘The Witcher’) Andrzej Sapkowski
★★★★★

I love this book – I have read it four before so technically it is a reread of a reread of a reread. Or something like that. It is probably one of the few books written by Polish authors that I like. It is also my sister’s favourite book. The main hero is perfectly written and, even though I don’t usually like this form, this time the form of short stories was fitting. I strongly recommend reading this book, even if you are not Polish – I can guarantee that you will love it.

‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’ J.K. Rowling
★★★★★

There is no better month than October for a ‘Harry Potter’ reread. Well, every month is good for that, but there is something about October and fall that just screams ‘Harry Potter’. I am a big Potterhead and it felt amazing to read the first book again – I have to admit I cried every time James and Lily were mentioned. And when Sirius was mentioned. I’m so emotional when it comes to ‘Harry Potter’. Well, now I need to watch the movie, don’t I?

‘Descendants of War and Magic’ Ruby Fitzgerald
★★★★

I’m torn whether this book should get three or four stars – I think I would settle on 3,5 ★. It was a good book and I liked it, yet it was nothing outstanding. It did not make me wanna cry, laugh or scream (maybe a bit scream when some people were mean to Xenos). The magic realm was well-written and organized, which I liked a lot. The characters were fine, but there were too many of them, and the book was too short for me to get attached to them. It is not a book to obsess about, but it is a good one to read in a tram.

‘Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets’ J.K. Rowling
★★★★★

It is my least favourite of all ‘Harry Potter’ books. But it still gets five stars, because it is Harry Potter. I do not know what to write here, because if I start discussing the book it would turn from being a ‘wrap-up’ to my monologue about ‘Harry Potter’. I have to admit though that my heart skipped a beat when Ginny was taken into the chamber, even though I knew the ending. ‘Harry Potter’ does make me emotional. Also, that Slytherin hate is breaking my heart.

‘Everless’ Sara Holland
★★★★★

I love this book so much and I cannot wait for continuation! It had me turning pages since the first chapter, and I have read it in two sittings! I was on my toes the whole time – I could never predict what is going to happen next. Jules is an amazing main character and I loved her nerve and wit. ‘Everless’ had me crying, smiling, putting down the book to stare into space blankly – basically it had everything one needs from the book.

‘True Fire’ Gary Meehan
★★★★

At the beginning I was sceptical about ‘True Fire’, but I appreciate a book that can surprise me, especially if it surprises me multiple times. And this one definitely did. Megan is not a heroine I had expected, since she is sixteen and pregnant. The plot twist that occurs at the end (I’m not going to say anything more, not to spoil the book) made me put this book down for a moment and stare at the wall. It missed a kind of swiftness which made it not easy to read, but other than that I recommend it strongly.

It was a terrible reading month for me, really. I wasn’t home for the most time and I didn’t take any books with me. Then, I was on my holidays where I was too busy sightseeing, resting and bonding with my family. But I still wanted to share the books I have read this month with the world. I managed to find two interesting books when I was staying over at my aunt’s. Also, I bought ten books on my holidays and so far I have read two of them. So here is my September wrap-up and hopefully October will a better reading month for me.

‘The Girl on the Train’ Paula Hawkins
★★★

I am not a big fan of thrillers or criminals, but I was really bored and needed something to read. That was the only interesting book on my aunt’s bookshelf. The beginning was too dull for me and I felt I had been waiting forever for something to finally happen. The whole plot had unsolved in the last forty pages which was irritating and felt a bit forced – like the book was supposed to be longer. The only thing I liked was the turnout – the denouement of the plot was thought out and the clues left throughout the whole book all match up. I liked this book, but it was nothing special. Shame since I heard so much buzz around this book and I expected great things from it.

‘Fablehaven’ Brandon Mull
★★★★

I know, I know – ‘Fablehaven’ is a children book, but theoretically also Rick Riordan’s books are and they are freakin’ awesome. And so was ‘Fablehaven’. It was a perfect read for a rainy day with a perfectly thought-out and planned secret world. Kendra and Seth are exact oppositions of each other and with a traditional sibling bond. Seth was a bit irritating for my taste – his every mistake had terrible consequences for him and his sister, and for Fablehaven.

‘Lost Boy: The True Story of Captain Hook’ Christina Henry
★★★★★

It was my favourite read out of all four books I have read this month. It was incredible and it stayed in my thoughts for days after I have finished it. ‘Peter Pan’ is my favourite fairy tale and even though it’s a untraditional look at the story. It shows Peter Pan as a childish and narcissistic villain and James Hook as one of Peter’s victims. The only drawback of this book is how bloody it is – it was a little bit like a ‘Game of Thrones’ meets ‘Peter Pan’ without the sex parts. I quite liked how brutal it was – that made it more real – but considering that the cover suggests it’s a children’s book it might be an unpleasant surprise for a reader.

‘The Belles’ Dhonielle Clayton 
★★★★★

What an interesting idea for a book and, at the same time, what an important topic. I completely fell in love with the main character, Camellia. She wasn’t perfect, she had her own ambitions and she was driven. With all of her traits she was more appealing to me. Camellia was beautiful, but she was also imperfect, confused and had a lot of different dilemmas that she didn’t always handle right.

It was so difficult to choose whether I liked ‘Lost Boy’ or ‘The Belles’ more. In the end, I chose ‘Lost Boy’, because it stayed with me days after I have finished it. Seriously, I was walking around the beach and I just thinking about this book. I’m definitely going to read more books by Christina Henry – I saw that she has a book about ‘Alice in Wonderland’. Hopefully October would be a better reading month for me and I hope I will find the book I love as much as I have loved ‘Lost Boy.’