WHAT. A. YEAR. I feel like I tried to read a LOT and there were so many books I had to slog through. But I did fulfill my 2018 goal of just putting a book down if I’m not feeling it, and recognize when I’m just never going to pick it back up.
What I loved:
– The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X. R. Pan – In June, I said this was the best book I’d read all year, and I stand by that. This is the best book that came out in 2018.
– Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
– Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan
– The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton – Also Sam’s dumb review (Editor’s Note: RUDE)
– Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds – talk about a book that 1,000% needed to be written
– The Black Prism by Brent Weeks – I totally forgot I read this book this year. It’s FANTASTIC.
– Wolf by Wolf and Blood for Blood by Ryan Graudin – I hate duologies. I loved this duology.
– Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor – maybe I don’t hate duologies, maybe they were just poorly executed til now (Sam’s review here)
– The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas – I tried writing a review for this a few times and couldn’t because I just cried. But it is absolutely beautiful and the voice is perfect.
– The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wrecker – a little weird but absolutely beautifully written and structured, it’s somehow both a fairytale and a historical fiction.
– The Crescent Stone by Matt Mikalatos – we randomly picked this up at BookCon and I am overjoyed I got to read it (Sam’s review here)
– Grace and Fury by Tracy Banghart
– Lethal White by Robert Galbraith – DAMMIT JK ROWLING
(Editor’s Note: Linz clearly has no self control in picking her faves…. just sayin’)
What I did NOT love this year:
– Glitter by Aprilynne Pike
– Warp by Lev Grossman – Quentin Coldwater’s predecessor, like most John Green protagonists, is a punk bitch. DNF. (But the show is EXCELLENT.)
– The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine – I think the tone was supposed to be witty-dark, but it just didn’t land and everyone was obnoxious
– Artemis by Andy Weir – What worked in The Martian did not work here. DNF. (Ginny’s review here)
– All of This Is True by Lygia Day Peñaflor – I’d still read a book with Ramona Singer as a character.
– Legendary by Stephanie Garber
– I Am Not a Serial Killer by Dan Wells – I liked it better when it was I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga
Hope you had some good highs and few lows this year!
FBGM,
linz
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