Jayde’s Books of the Year
We’re nearing to the end of 2023, how time has flown. Now it’s time to have a look at the books I’ve read and pick out the ones that I have absolutely adored (as you can see I am terrible at narrowing down my favourites so you have most if not all my favourites). I’m going to combine series I’ve read otherwise this will be an extremely long post. And if you didn’t know already most of these are fantasy reads, with a dash of other genres mixed in.
The Wolf Den trilogy by Elodie Harper. The Wolf Den was the first book I read this year and it was a 5 star read, getting me off to a great start in 2023. Set in Pompeii before it fell, we follow Amara. A freeborn girl sold into slavery to ensure her survival. Now she is a concubine but she wants to be free again and she might just be cunning and corageous enough to pull it off. Amara is one of the most in depth and compassionate characters I’ve ever read in a story, I was compelled to continue and find out the end and after recently finishing the final book, I have to say this is a 5 star series for me.
Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney. Undoutably one of the best bookclub reads from the general fiction booklub. I adore Alice Feeney’s writing she’s one of the only thriller writers that can get me hooked into reading a thriller which is one of my more neglected genres. However this one captivated me, I could feel the atmosphere through the entire book and the book kept on giving with all of the twists and an ending that I did not see coming at all.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. This is the most beautiful book I have ever read and I don’t think I’ve connected with any other book like I did with triple T. The inclusion of games was only the start, the characters themselves all felt so realistic, like they were sitting right next to me when I read. The descriptions of the games created by the main characters was so in depth, I desperately wanted the games to be real so I could play them for myself. And the one thing that I always say when people ask me what i think is “It feels like this book was wrote for me” because I have never read a book like this before and it’s made a massive impact on my life.
Getting Away with Murder by Kathryn Foxfield. This managed to squeeze on to the list just in time, one of the last books Ive read this year and it was a super easy, super quick read. The fact it’s on this list is a bit of a surprise because it’s a dark YA thriller and I tend to not enjoy YA anymore. However this one was set in an Escape Room which intrigued me straight away and I had a lot of fun trying to figure out the secrets of each of the characters and yelling in delight when one of the characters I hated got eliminated from the book.
The Dangerous Damels trilogy by India Holton. A truly hilarious series, following socities of posh pirates, illegal witches and a household spy organisation. I had the best time reading this trilogy of companion novels, they are easy to read and quick to get through and full of lines that genuinely made me laugh out loud. It’s not my usual type of book but I definitely would have been missing out if I hadn’t read these books.
The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart. A brilliant first book to a series. This fantasy is action-packed from beginning to end with an intriguing magic system and multiple points of view that start to intertwine and start a bigger story towards the end. I devoured this book in a day, I love fast-paced fantasy and this was full of twists and turns. It helped that one of the characters in the books reminds me of a favourite in another series and while I haven’t yet read the next two books, they will definitely be a high priority in 2024.
The Nevernight trilogy by Jay Kristoff. If you haven’t heard me yelling and screaming about this series then you must be on another planet because this series simaltaneously ruined and saved my life. Offically my first 5 star series where every book was a 5 star series. An assassin female main character whose hellbent on revenge for her family, how could i not love this book? It had everything I wanted, including many gasp out loud moments which I would then proceed to scream about at Robyn who originally recommended the series to me.
Fourth Wing and Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros. These were of course going to be on the list, if you don’t know, Fourth Wing took the world by storm a few months ago and I can definitely say it lived up to the hype. Romantasy, grumpy dragons, rebellion, this book has everything I love in my fantasy and more. It genuinely became my entire personality until the second book released and still is, it also took over from Throne of Glass in my number one favourite fantasy series which hasn’t happened in the past four years, which is a bit crazy. And while I have heard people saying mixed things about Iron Flame, I loved it minus a few interesting choices in plot that were made.
The Sheperd King Duology by Rachel Gillig. A book that filled the Fourth Wing shaped whole in my heart while I was waiting for Iron Flame. One Dark Window is a gothic, dark romantasy which has a really unique magic system using tarot cards and our main character has a monster in her head. This was another instant love book for me, hooked from start to finish and thankfully I didn’t have to wait too long for the sequel which I must say was the best sequel I’ve read this year.
The Bone Season Series by Samantha Shannon. It took me a long time to read this entire series but I managed it all this year and the fact we do not have a release date for the fifth book yet is extremly painful. So much happens within this series but The Mask Falling (the fourth book) is undoubtly the best book so far. I love the unique magic system in this with clarvoyance and it pretty much being illegal, this is a slow burn series but worth every single second you spend on it and I’m super excited to read the revised editions coming out next year.
The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon. An epic, enemies to lovers fantasy that is a must read for any Fourth wing fan. While this had a slow build up with the political side of the story, it was definitely worth the wait for the second half of the book. It’s one of the first books where I think the enemies to lovers was perfected in the truest meaning, it felt very realistic compared to the other books I’ve read with the same trope.
The Serpent & The Wings of Night. After months of being yelled at to read this, I finally did and adored every second. It’s a romantasy with vampires and a hunger games feel to it. I binged this in two days, the writing was nice and easy to follow. The tension was built perfectly and I genuinly could not put this book down. The plot twists at the end could have had a bit of a better build up but other than that this was the perfect read for me after Iron Flame.