Here are my favorite books of this past year. In no particular order because I don’t think I truly liked one more than another. Cop out as that may be, it’s how we are rolling.
The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater – Historical fiction but with Maggie’s signature magical elements. Set against the backdrop of WW2 in a luxury hotel in West Virginia. Instead of their normal clientele, they are serving the diplomats of the United States enemies.
The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh – I do love a good Vampire book, and this one is no exception. As soon as I finished, I had to go to my library to get the next one.
The Dark Mirror by Samantha Shannon – This series just keeps getting better and better. Fleshing out more of the world to include outside of Scion, and for once, a hopeful ending.
Accomplice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer -This series is so funny. I can’t help be amused by the whole premise and story. So glad to find out that it isn’t a trilogy and more books to come because I am not ready to say goodbye to these characters.
Red City by Marie Lu – The complicated world we live. Nothing is black and white. What would you do for family? Power is addictive, but it is also destructive.
This is actually the third YA author making their adult novel debut that I have read this year. If you think about it, it makes sense. They have all been writing for over a decade. They are growing with their readers, who at this point are adults themselves. I have read many of Lu’s books in the past, and they have all been very different but still grounded in reality. Red City is no different. It follows Sam and Ari, who meet in high school and find themselves on alternate sides of a turf war. Sam is an immigrant who came to Angel City with her single mother. They have struggled to make ends meet until Sam gets an offer to join the Grand Central syndicate. Sam is a resourceful girl who can remember everything she sees and reads, but her real ability is that she can move through the world almost invisibly. People don’t seem to notice her or forget her as soon as they turn around. Ari is also an immigrant who was brought to Angel City by the Lumines syndicate after being noticed. He is always noticed. It doesn’t matter what he is doing, people always watch him, notice him, want to be his friend or more. They bond over their own loneliness and the opposing ability, not knowing that each are alchemist. In this world, Alchemy is a real ability that people possess and is mostly run by the syndicates and organized crime. Diamond Taylor and her husband discover the Philosopher’s Stone and use it to create a new drug called sand. From this, Grand Central was born. Sand heightens a person’s best and worst qualities. It makes a beautiful actress more beautiful, but it also makes someone who is depressed more depressed. Sand is only made through alchemy, hence why organized crime pretty much only employs them. Years after Sam and Ari graduate and have gone their separate ways, they reunite only to find they are on opposing sides of the sand distribution fight. A true Romeo and Juliet story. They still have feelings for each other, so you can imagine how much they struggle with their new situation. As things start to unravel, they have to figure out who they are, but also how far they want to go. I truly love how morally ambiguous Sam is. She knows she has done some pretty terrible things, but she also can’t deny that she kind of likes it. The power she gets from her position is something that she has been looking for in her own life. How can she leave? Ari is more of a compromised hero. He didn’t choose to join the Lumines the way Sam chose to join the Grand Central. He was brought to the US for a new life and a better life for his family. It does make for an interesting dynamic because the roles are usually reversed. I didn’t know it was a series until after I started reading, and I am glad. There is so much to explore with these two characters, and if the first book is any indication, we are in for a ride.
This month’s theme is Fall into Family. I’m stretching the theme a bit because this is only kind of about family, since the Mob is a family, right? You never go against the family? Anywho, this is Marie Lu’s adult novel debut. I’m sure it’s going to be as good as her YA novels.
Hello! And welcome back to our new seires in which we suggest things you may want to pick up this weekend, if you’re looking for your next read! This week’s theme is Enermies!
The first in a series, Carry On the Fan Fiction that the Cath is writing in Fangirl. The tale is sort of Enemies to Lovers fan fiction for a novel series that is a little Harry Potter-esque. These books are fun!
Sydney is a covert operative and Winter is the biggest pop star in the world. After being invited to play at a birthday party for the daughter of a man the CIA has their eyes on. Sydney must play the role of Winter’s bodyguard in order to infiltrate and get the evidence she needs to take the bad guy down. Of course, Sydney and Winter don’t like each other. But can they work together to survive?
Kit is a retried highwayman just trying to live his life. Percy is the son of a Duke who is up to some shit. Can Percy convince Kit to help him pull off a marvelous heist? Or will Percy just get both of them into a world of trouble and hurt? I loved this book and it’s follow up so much! There’s enemies-to-lovers vibes, there’s some spice, there are excellent supporting characters. It’s all so good.
This was a fun book. Winter is the biggest pop star in the world. He also happens to be the favorite singer of the daughter of one of the most dangerous men in the world. So when Winter gets invited to play her birthday party it is the opening that Sydney, a covert operative for an agency that does what the CIA won’t. Which if you know the CIA’s history that’s some real shit. Sydney poses as Winter’s bodyguard as they try to infiltrate the bad guys inter-circle to get the evidence needed to finally take him down. One problem. Sydney and Winter don’t really like each other. Well mostly Sydney doesn’t like Winter. She just thinks he’s just another spoiled rich, famous person and she doesn’t like being saddled with him on this mission. Of course the more time they spend with each the more they start to find they like each other. Maybe even love each other. The mission gets complicated and the must work together to survive. Everything you need in a spy romance novel. I loved it and I can’t wait for when they make the movie and cast a real C-Pop star. I could also see them trying to tap the Hallyu wave and change Winter to Korean and cast a K-Pop or Korean actor because why not. I don’t even know if there is a movie or TV show in the works but this would make a great one and with sequels on the way. It will have more material to work with.
I know I’m several reviews behind. I’ll get to them soon but in the meantime, I started a new series. I’m not going to lie, I decided to read it when the evil Federation was named KARENsa. haha
After years of following your favorite characters. You’ve laughed. You’ve cried. You’ve screamed at them for every stupid decision they make. And then you come to the end. As everything must end at some point. Here are the series that I finished this year and I will miss.
The Dark Artifices Series by Cassandra Clare – Another Shadowhunter trilogy in the books. It was good and I love that Cassandra continues to push boundaries and populates her worlds with diverse set of characters. I was kinda surprised on how it ended but as always with her books, one series bleeds into another.
Caraval Trilogy by Stephanie Garber – It’s rare that I actually find a series as it’s ending but this one I hit at the right time and read all three back to back and I’m glad I did because I don’t think I would have liked to have wait to see how the Caraval ended. Even if only liked one of the sisters.
Three Dark Crowns Seriesby Kendare Blake – This is like the Game of Thrones but mostly only the women in the kingdom. It had everything from palace intrigued to rebellions and betrayals and magic. It really kept me guessing to the end and really cemented Kendare Blake as one of those authors I just have to read.
Legend Seriesby Marie Lu – Technically I’ve already said good bye to this series once already a couple of years ago but that was before Marie Lu decided she needed to close a few plots she left open and give us readers the closure we all needed.
Renegades Trilogyby Marissa Meyer – Superheros with superpowers fighting each other is pretty awesome stuff. It was a quite ride as we follow our heroes and watch them debate who has what best for the city in mind. In the end, it was villains and heroes coming together to save the day.
The Folk of the Air Trilogyby Holly Black – I’ve probably said this numerous times but Holly Black really knows how to write fairies. She just understands how they think or how they would think. This was a perfect ending to a really great series and she even seamlessly wove in her other characters from past books into the narrative without it being obvious or distracting. That’s a true feat.
The Magisterium Series by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare. – Call and friends when through a lot in the year 5 years at the Magisterium. I kinda miss Call’s sassiness.
The Charlotte Holmes Series by Brittany Cavallaro – Charlotte Holmes would have made her famous ancestor proud in how she solved her mysteries. She was truly a class above all else.
What Series did you finish this year? Comment below and let us know what series we need check out next.
**POSSIBLE SPOILERS** Fans of Marie Lu’s Legend trilogy knows that it ended on a bittersweet note. Our heroes June and Day save the Republic and live to tell the tale but don’t end up together. The illness that Day suffers gave him amnesia and he doesn’t he remember who June is. June for her part, promises that if Day pulls through she will let him live in peace. So Day takes his brother, Eden, to the technological advanced country of Antarctica to get away from the Republic and give his brother best education. June stays to help the new Elector reshape and rebuild the Republic. The Epilogue of Champion left readers with hope that one day June and Day will one day end up together and Rebel answers that questions. As well as to what happened with the Republic and Eden. Rebel picks up about a month after the Epilogue, which took place 10 years after the events of the Legend trilogy. Eden is a top student at Antarctica’s top university and is about to graduate with his Masters and will soon return to the Republic for a prestigious internship. Thanks to Day’s heroics, Eden and Day are afforded to live in the luxury and all the benefits that go with it. Day, who now goes by his real name of Daniel works for the AIS, Antarctic Intelligence Service. Daniel has been investigating the mob boss Dominic Hann in the Undercity. Ross City the capital city of Antarctica is split in to two parts, the Undercity and the Sky floors. Citizens are live in a kind of gamified society, in which every action they do are given points. The more points citizens earn the higher level they are the higher level they are the more opportunities they have. The levels determined where they can live, where they can work and even what food and medicine they access too. The system is supposed to inspire people to make the right decisions and work hard. The better and harder they work they more points they earn and the more opportunities they earn but in reality it hard for those with low levels to move up. If you are limited in what food you can buy and because of that left hungry. How are you going to have the energy to work harder? If you are sick but your level doesn’t allow you to see certain doctors or get the right medicine, how can you expect to get better? Eden and Day see the Undercity and it’s unfairness as reminders of how they lived in the Republic but react to it different. Eden is drawn to it, while Day tries to avoid it even though his job requires him to work down there. It’s no surprise that Eden gets caught up with Dominic Hann, the same man that Daniel has been investigating and that’s really where the story picks up. This also coincidentally is when June, the Elector and the Republic delegation visit Ross City. Daniel has slowly been recovering his memories of June since their chance meeting with her in the Epilogue. He remembers how much he was in love with her and even though the last decade he didn’t remember her he never took off the paper clip ring she gave him. So really deep down he never stop loving her but does she still love him? It’s been 10 years and they have both grown up and changed and had other relationships. Can they just pick up where they left off? Well, not really because chaos once again strikes and they are retreating back to the Republic.
While we still don’t know what happened that split the US into pieces and how or when people settled in Antarctica, we do know that change is slow and really there isn’t a perfect form of government. We learn from June that while the Republic has improved and is rebuilding but that costs money and you will always have those who will want to go back to what they are familiar with. Meanwhile, the gamified society of Ross City seems like a fair solution, that we are all rewarded and penalized for our actions because we don’t all start at the same point it makes it hard for people to move up. More importantly when you treat half of your population with contempt and just assume that they are lazy and that is why they stay at such low levels, well you’re going to have trouble. What makes a good villain is that you might agree with them. There is a reason after all why Eric Killmonger is the best Marvel Villain because he wasn’t wrong. He was absolutely right that Wakanda was wrong for their continuous isolationist policy. It’s how he went about it that was wrong. Nakia argued the same thing but proposed a different method of going about it and that is what T’Challa ultimately went with. Hann is also not wrong that the system that Antarctica wasn’t the fair system it was presented as but he’s solution wasn’t the way to go about it either. Eden, Daniel and June once again come to the rescue and save another nation from ruin. For us readers, it gives us the ending that we truly wanted for our characters and gave closure to a fantastic series. I’m glad that Marie Lu decided to write it because it was a fun read. For me it hit all the right notes of the original trilogy and gave a satisfied ending. There are still many questions left open as to how Antarctica and the Republic will move forward but you do have to hope that they both took lessons in what each nation has gone through and learn from it.
2 Women, So Many Books 