My Favourite Books of 2016

We're 11 days into 2017 and I know I'm posting late but a Bitch has been working Eleven hour shifts and doing Four days straight leaving me no time to actually get things written up and planned out. Hopefully 2017 is the year I'll finally manage time to produce some great posts for you guys. To myself it seems rather fitting that my first post of the year is all about the books I truly loved in 2016. Did I think 2016 was a great year for books? Nope, absolutely not. However, I did read a few books that instantly became a favourite of mine and I feel like you guys deserve to know about them.


THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR BY NICOLA YOON

I had read Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon before it first came out as an e-Arc and really enjoyed it: the writing was beautiful and the characters lively, so I knew what to expect going into The Sun is Also A Star. Except I didn't. I never knew that one book could break my heart into a tiny pieces. I never knew how much of an affect on me it'd truly have until I read the last sentence of the book. I never knew just how powerful words truly were until I experienced the lives of Natasha and Daniel and the people all around them. It made me question society and how we live life. How we choose to live life not really thinking about how our actions can affect someone else. The Sun is Also A Star was an experience to read and I enjoyed every second of it.



THE ROSE SOCIETY & THE MIDNIGHT STAR BY MARIE LU


I had hesitantly read The Young Elites back in 2015 and ended up staying up until 2am to finish reading it, then I put off reading The Rose Society that same year because I wasn't sure if it could live up to the expectations I had built up. It did. In fact it blew all expectations out of the park and then got even better in the last instalment of the series, The Midnight Star. Marie Lu went darker, darker, darker with this series creating twists and turns that no one could have expected. The Rose Society gave us new characters, new loves and a whole lot of messed up and it all came to a beautiful conclusion. Adelina's story was a brave one and I'm so happy I gave it a chance. The fact that Adelina is an Antagonist may put people off it but she's a character with heart. Plus we all love to hate a Villain.


BAD FOR YOU BY ABBI GLINES

I never went into Bad For You expecting anything more than smutty romance and sweet filthy sex, however, Abbi Glines threw a curveball and wrote something so special and empowering. The characters learn so many life lessons during their story and seeing them tackle them on their own and as a couple was something that I feel like so man
y New Adult books leave out. Honestly? I should have been reading Because of Low since I had only read the first book in this series but Krit and Blythe's story captured my attention to the point where 'I'll just read a few pages' turned into me reading the whole book.




THE WRATH & THE DAWN BY RENEE AHDIEH

I finally gave into the hype of Renee Ahdieh and her writing and it was so worth it. The Wrath & the Dawn is simply stunning with such vivid characters that just have mundane problems. Essentially I thought the story would have a lot more of a fantasy element to it, however, it had enough in there to satisfy my needs. I lived and breathed the novel the entire time I read it. When I was in work my mind was going to when I could go on my break or lunch so I could read a chapter more of the story I was becoming to love. Even when I was sleeping I was thinking about the book: I was dreaming that Khlaid actually had an older brother who was gay but because of society's opinions he was in hiding. I was a servant in the story and fell in love with Jaaeh. Of course it was just a dream and no such brother actually exists but I was so inspired that I imagined so many novellas following different characters in this series.



What were some of your favourite books of 2016?
Let me know!

5 Popular Books I Have Not Read

At this rate I'm really just trying to write up a bunch of blog posts so I can get quite a few out for the last month of the year. For 2017 I really hope to at least get 5 posts a month up on the blog, however, it all depends on my working schedule and the schedule I have for all the Drag events I have coming up. When it comes to reading I'm finding I do have less and less time for it, so it's always precious when I find a book that completely enthrals me. These 5 books are hugely popular and I've not read them. Some of them I will never read, other's I plan on reading but just have not got to reading them.

So let's go ahead and introduce you to the popular books I've not read...


LADY MIDNIGHT BY CASSANDRA CLARE

I love Cassandra Clare. The Mortal Instruments is one of my favourite series, it's iconic. And Sophie and Gideon from The Infernal Devices are forever and always an all time OTP of mine. But I've not yet read Lady Midnight. I own it. In fact I own 2 copies of it; the normal paperback and what was, at the time, a signed limited edition of the book. I did write a blog post about me not having read Lady Midnight a few months ago and I'm really glad I waited to read 'Tales From the Shadowhunter Academy' because it gave me a slight introduction to some of the characters who will be in 'The Dark Artifices' series. My plan is to start reading Lady Midnight when I get time off from work, which is in roughly in less than a weeks time.



THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER BY STEPHEN CHBOSKY

Everyone. And I mean everyone has talked about this book and how good it is, and yet here I sit not having read it. And the bigger scandal? I don't care to read it. I hate books written in diary or letter form. They're just not for me. However, I would like to watch the movie because it's one I've also not watched. I can fully appreciate people's love for this novel and the author; I can also appreciate that it was one of the first YA contemporary novels a lot of people read and either got them into reading or got them into YA, and I love that. I truly do.


VICIOUS BY V.E SCHWAB

I know, I know, I know. Please do not shoot me. I have not read a book by V.E Schwab. I definitely do want to read a book by her because I've heard such incredible things about her writing and her characters, more so in regards to Vicious because she made Villains loveable. Out of all her books, This Savage Song is definitely the one I'm most interested in and will probably end up reading before the others but Vicious is definitely giving me some 'The Tomorrow People' vibes. Also V.E Schwab is so hilariously lovely on Twitter.




A COURT OF MIST AND FURY BY SARAH. J MAAS

I loved A Court of Thorns and Roses. It was one of my favourite books of 2015 and was also one of the very first Fantasy books that I really, really enjoyed. So when Bloomsbury emailed me about receiving a copy of ACOMAF to review I jumped at the chance thinking I would read it as soon as it arrived. Only I never did and have still not read it. I'm not sure what's stopping me. I did start it, even read around 79 pages but the size was so intimidating and I'm just not in the mood for something filled with romance and magic.



HOPELESS BY COLLEEN HOOVER

This is actually one of the only Colleen Hoover books I have yet to read and I don't know if I will read it. Colleen Hoover is one of my all time favourite authors, however, Hopeless has a storyline that just hasn't seemed to grab my attention. Maybe it's waiting for a right time to pop out at me and shout "READ ME" and then I will but at the moment I'm content with the books I've read and enjoyed by her.





Now I'm sure I'm not the only one who hasn't read quite a lot of the popular books out there. In fact I know there's at least another thousand books that are super popular that I have no interest in reading. But what I want to know is: What are the top 3 popular books you guys have not read? Tell me in the comments!

Majorly Disappointing Books of 2016

So we're coming to the last month of 2016, and therefore, that means many book bloggers will be posting about their favourite books of the year, their favourite authors, book covers, etc. And I've decided to start it off with my least favourite reads of 2016. This list will be completely honest, especially since two of these books were some of my most anticipated. If you're willing to share your most disappointing books of 2016 with me then please publish the link to your post in the comment section of this post.

Now let's get this started...


IF I WAS YOUR GIRL BY MEREDITH RUSSO

If I Was Your Girl was one of my most anticipated releases of 2016. The author herself is a Transgender woman and knowing the main character of the book is a newly outed Transgender girl called Amanda Hardy I thought she would have represented something stripped back, honest and heart-breaking. She did neither. What she represented was a passable girl with good feminine looks, soft voice and a girl who can get all the guys; if she wanted, that is. Meredith also doesn't have the writing and storytelling skills to have produced the book in the best way. It was short and choppy, leaving no room for Amanda to be liked. She had no personality. However, I did like that Meredith kept it very realistic on the scale of hormones as some books about Transgender characters have left that out.


IT ENDS WITH US BY COLLEEN HOOVER

I never expected a book by one of my all time favourite authors to be on this list but Colleen Hoovers release this year really left me feeling heart-broken. And not in a good way. I honestly just did not like the book. The main character, Lily was so conflicting and I could not connect to her at all. And while I appreciate what Colleen was doing with the taboo subject of mental and physical abuse, I just thought it got over shadowed by the awful love triangle in the book. I actually really liked Atlas, especially getting to know him through those letters Lily wrote to Ellen but Ryle's reasoning for the abuse was just utter bullshit and I think Colleen knows that as well.


THE PROBLEM WITH FOREVER BY JENNIFER L ARMENTROUT

I was sent this book to review from the publishers. I've previously read and enjoyed books by Jennifer, so I was excited to read this one especially because I know how well Jennifer writes romance. But I was just so disappointed by every page. The characters only got worse as the book went along and the romance/relationship just did not sit well with me. I understood that Rider protected her when she was a child but the fact that they both love each other when they first see each other after like 4 years? Not at all realistic, or good to read about.




UP IN FLAME BY ABBI GLINES

This was the last book in the Seabreeze series and I was super excited as this was about Nannette who's known as the bitch in the series. However, what I got was a waste of time. If anything I don't think Abbi Glines had a clear plot for the story but just wanted to add one in for Nannette. Major (he's a character by the way) just did not need to be involved in the story and this whole mafia type thing between Major and Gannon was awful. A story of just Nan and Gannon would have suited me just fine.





Before I started writing this post I did believe I had more than 4 books that left me feeling disappointed, however, it turns out that some books I didn't have a high standard about before reading. Now while I did not enjoy these books that does not mean that you will feel the same. We're all different in regards to what we read and all views I've expressed are my own. There's no need to be getting salty over them.

Book Characters I'd Love to Drown | Top 5 Wednesday

Top 5 Wednesday was created by GingerReadsLainey

 

 

 

Titus from Fire and Flood by Victoria Scott

 

Titus isn't a main or recurring character in Fire and Flood, but he does pop up in the last 100 pages. He's definitely the villain of the series. He abuses his Pandora's, well gets his minion's to do it for him, and he treats people like shit. He's definitely a character you wish you had a giant rock to smack him over the head with. But then again, he's in the game to save someone he loves and you have to do whatever you can to survive.

 

 

Adolf Hitler from Prisoner of Night and Fog by Anne Blankman

 

Who wouldn't kill of Adolf Hitler? He's the most known villain in world history and there's no doubt that I'd love to drown him and kill him off. However, in this book he's not exactly the ruler of Germany. He's on his way to being on top and is also in a secret relationship with a niece (It may be second cousin, not sure).

 

 

Four and Caleb from Divergent by Veronica Roth

 

You all probably think I'd say Eric and Jeanine, but honestly, they're my favourite characters in the series. However, Four and Caleb are just plain annoying, irritating characters that I could see myself stabbing over and over and over. It's a pity that they both never died....

 

 

Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

 

Yeah, do I really have to explain this one? I hate the girl so much, and she's not even real. I just don't see how anyone can relate to her because she's boring. She has no personality and just comes across as stuck up and arrogant. It's sad she not got a spear to the heart during the Games.

 

 

Dolores Umbridge from Harry Potter by J K Rowling

 

I thought she was horrible in the movie, but apparently she's even worse in the book (I've not read it yet, sadly). Wouldn't it be cool if all her kittens inside the plates could move out of them, grow a thousand feet and eat her alive?

 

 

 

 

Which fictional characters would you kill off?

Let me know in the comments