Top & Bottom Reads of 2018

Hello readers!

Today I am going to be recapping my favorite reads of 2018.

One of my favorite lists to see from book bloggers, book-stagramers, or booktubers is their best and worst lists for the year. When I started my blog, it was most definitely something I was super excited in sharing with all of you.

Dislikes:

We will start out with the books I didn't really love for the year. As I hope you all know, just because I didn't like these books doesn't mean they aren't good or worth reading, I just didn't enjoy them as much as others.

If I Run by Terri Blackstock

If I Run I listened to on Overdrive at the beginning of the summer shortly after downloading the app. I was looking for an easy quick read to match the reading pace I was at with a few other books. 

The story itself is okay, it's about a girl who was witness to a murder and how she handles the situation. It has a murder mystery with a tiny romance, but the logic behind it happening doesn't make any sense. It was like watching a crime TV show on the Hallmark channel.

I don't plan on continuing this series, which I did state in my review. 

Beyond The Pale Motel by Francesca Lia Block

Block is one of my favorite authors, so when I found a new book of hers that was a murder mystery novel I was pretty excited. In general, I really like murder mysteries or crime thrillers, generally more for television than books. 

This story though was a disappointment. Block's previous works have always been more whimsical and about young girls that fit the "manic pixi dream girl" trope. I recently re-read Dangerous Angels which is about one of Block's most popular characters, Weetzie Bat. The lyrical and simple writing was what I devoured in my adolescence.

I'm sure most of my disappointment was my expectations for the book. I was comparing the characters and writing from my previous experience to this "grown up" story, which wasn't fair. I would love to see a similar story from Block that did marry her previous charm to the newer stories she's writing. 

War Storm by Victoria Aveyard

War Storm was an unsatisfying end to the Red Queen series. I loved the first book and the Cruel Crown bind-up, however after book two the entire story felt like a long, monotonous plot to get nowhere. King's Cage and War Storm are both huge, but in my opinion, they were unnecessarily girth-y. There were scenes in both books that felt like they could have been cut out, and I've also come to realize that I'm not a huge fan of the multiple-POV that carried through the series. The additional action that was added in, such as fighting in Montfort with the Silver rebels seemed utterly pointless as it didn't showcase anything that propelled the story forward. Everything started to become predictable and I honestly expected a much better end to Maven's reign. The only character arc I even remotely liked was Cal's, even though he wasn't a character a liked. Overall, I can't really suggest anyone reading this series simply because Red Queen was the only book worth reading and it's a lot of pages to get a meh ending. 

Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake

I'm pretty on the fence about this series in general. I've only made it through book two, and I think I may read the novellas before trying to finish the final book. None of the characters I feel particularly attached to, aside from Katharine. The purpose of a lot of the characters is still pretty murky as well, which I was hoping would be cleared up a little in One Dark Throne but it just became even less clear. Is Katharine actually a naturalist? Mirabella seems to have no point anymore, Katharine is the villain and Arsinoe is now our protagonist? 

Unhonorable Mentions:

These two I added as unhonourable mentions just because I can't say I full disliked them like the previously mentioned books, but I didn't care for them either.

The Siren was a light read, I just didn't care for the characters.

City of Bones I know I will get crap for but I ended the book so confused and disgusted. I do plan on continuing the series and hope to finish it in 2019.

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Likes:

Illuminae by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman

 I picked up the Illuminae files as Kindle books earlier this year. If I can suggest one thing to you from reader to reader, don't read these on Kindle. Especially the kindle app on your phone. The formatting of the book doesn't translate well.

However, this book was AMAZING. I didn't know much going into it, but I absolutely loved every bit of it. I even started telling my husband about it, and he doesn't really care for books, especially fiction ones. 

The research that went into this must have been insane, but it was totally worth it as the story and setting was executed flawlessly. I loved the troubled relationship between Katy and AIDAN, especially as he goes from murderous AI to trying to understand and display emotion.

Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff

 Earlier this year I also read Nevernight, however I prefer the story in Godsgrave a little more. Mia has gone against the church in her mission to avenge her father and chosen to place herself in servitude to participate in the gladiator battles between esteemed houses. I love the twists that are in Kristoff's stories, especially as we enter Godsgrave hating Ashlin and leaving with her and Mia in a potential relationship. The struggle that Mia experiences both physically and personally were fun to read. She got a chance to prove herself more as a bad-ass murderous bitch, which in my opinion, is always fantastic.

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

The Cruel Prince was a book that I was looking forward to reading, but after the first third of the book I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy it. For me, the beginning was a little slow and odd but then Jude's motivation changed and I started to really like her character. I'm super excited for the next book to come out and I can't wait to get my hands on it.

Honorable Mentions:

These two books I liked, but I didn't fall in love as much as those mentioned above. 

Six of Crows I listened to on audiobook mostly because Sara Evan's is my favorite narrator on Audible and she voices Nina. I'd heard positive things about the book as well, I think I didn't fall as in love with it as I thought simply because of the format in which I consumed it. I did pick up a physical copy and I do plan on re-reading and continuing the series.

The Song of Achilles I picked up because Circe was coming out. I wanted to see what else Miller had previously written and I wasn't disappointed. This was my most recommended book to people throughout the year, despite it taking a while to get through the first 100 pages. Patroclus was a beautiful character and I loved getting to read his story.

What were your top reads this year? Anything you think I should definitely pick up for next year? Let me know in the comments below.