Jayde’s Favourite Reads So Far This Year!
It’s been an interesting year so far with lots of new books coming out and my genre phases chopping and changing constantly and slumps hitting left, right and centre. Despite all that, I have managed to read 35 books this year with a mix of good, bad and unmentionable books. These unmentionable books are ones I’ve DN'F’d over the past 6 months and as the name suggests, aren’t worth mentioning but in total I have DNF’d 7 books.
The past couple years I’ve tended to race through books and finish the year with a massive goal completed. This year my reading has taken a bit of a slow turn and I haven’t read as many books as I did last year at this point. I’ve decided that instead of stressing over my lack of progress towards my goal, I’m going to enjoy the great books that I’ve already read. So here are my favourite reads of the year so far:
The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper is a historical fiction set in Pompeii following Amara who has been sold into slavery after her father’s death and is now owned by a despicable man and is made to live as a concubine in Pompeii’s most infamous brothel. This was my first read of the year and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book as I hadn’t read too much historical fiction before this book. Amara’s character is a massive selling point for me, she’s incredibly well developed, deteremined and compassionate, while also being cunning and ruthless when she needs to be. The love she has for her friends is inspirational.
The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart, this was a high-paced, high-action fantasy with twists and turns on nearly every page follows a multitude of characters from heirachy rebels who want to put a stop to the use of bone shard magic, to the emporer’s daughter who isn’t quite who she thinks she is and finally to a mysterious island full of people who have no idea how they got there. This was another book I binged, my attention was kept on every page and I couldn’t help but jump straight into the sequel.
Lessons In Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, as you may or may not know from my previous review. I loved Lessons in Chemistry. I’m a massive fan of our main character Elizabeth Zott, who isn’t afraid to speak her mind in a time when it wasn’t common for women to do so, creating a lot of inspiration for characters in the book and for myself.
Gothikana by RuNyx was by my first dive into dark academia, though you could also class it as fantasy romance. Set in a secluded university on top of a mountain, we follow Corvina as she’s mysteriously invited to attend the university where she meets the enigmatic Vad Deverell. While being warned away from him by her roommate, Corvina can’t help but be drawn to Vad and as they inevitably get closer, a long standing mystery of the castle starts to unveil it’s self.
Nevernight by Jay Kristoff, the first book in The Nevernight Chronicle and highly recommended by Robyn (if you didn’t know, she kinda likes this book) and definitely a book that was super up my street. I love dark, twisted fantasy and this book was definitely it with Mia Corvere being introduced to death at a young age, death at the hands of the empire, Mia swears to take revenge on the people who took everything from her. Starting at an academy for assassins, which if you didn’t know, assassins are one of my favourite character tropes so of course I was all in for this book and it didn’t disappoint, though Robyn’s recommendations rarely do.
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, this is the first book in a new fantasy romance series and it has everything you want and more. It has all of my favourite tropes, it has dragons and a strong, female main character. I binged this book in 24 hours and I could not get enough, I was addicted to every single word and this is the first book in four years to knock Throne of Glass from it’s number one spot in my favourite books of all time.