I absolutely can’t believe that we are already halfway through 2019! Normally I would post a Top Ten Tuesday today, but today’s prompt, Books On My Summer TBR, didn’t really appeal to me since I don’t ever make or stick to a TBR lol. Last year I listed my top ten favorite books from the first half of 2018 as a TTT, and I wanted to do that again this year since I’ve read so many amazing books! It was hard to narrow down, but these are the ones I just love love loved!
10. King of Scars
We were all waiting for this book and it definitely lived up to its hype! I loved getting back into the world of the Grisha characters, and seeing everything thrown at the poor people just trying to recover from war.
9. You’d Be Mine
This book was such a great contemporary! The love of music the characters had really came through in the writing, and they went through such growth and healing. Also, who doesn’t love stories about celebrities?
8. This Mortal Coil
I don’t typically love science fiction, and this was so sciency, but it was such an exception because I ended up loving it! The world was backed by hard science in a way that was super cool, and I loved the idea of DNA gene hacking!! Girls in STEM rule!
7. The Wicked Deep
This book was so insane and cool. It really gave me creepy vibes, set in a spooky haunted town, and the ending was so insane and I definitely didn’t anticipate it like wow.
6. Girls of Paper and Fire
This book, dealing with abuse, was hard to read. But it was so worthwhile to see the beautiful story of two girls in love rising up above their abuser, their terrible fate. And of course my Asian rep!
5. Legendary
This book was aptly titled; it’s absolutely legendary! I loved how it became so twisted, so hard to tell reality from the game, the mystery, the intrigue, the romance (!!), the twists–this book blew my mind.
4. Starfish
This book was absolutely phenomenal. The writing was so beautiful, the story was so raw and emotional, the characters and their growth were amazing. And most of all, the biracial representation means the world to me. I feel seen ❤
3. A Curse So Dark and Lonely
With so many Beauty and the Beast retellings it can be hard to stand out, but this one did it! I loved the darker take on the story, the elements of the real world mixed in, the strength through struggles of the characters, and basically everything.
2. Sorcery of Thorns
I love love loved this book! The premise of magical libraries was so cool, the characters are amazing, the plot was everything, the world was enchanting, and I just flew through this book!
1. The Wicked King
THIS BOOK WAS INCREDIBLE. I was a bit apprehensive since I didn’t actually love Cruel Prince, but this book absolutely blew me away! The twists, the characters, the plot–everything was absolutely insane and I’m dying for the next book!
It was kind of interesting to see the breakdown of these books by genre: 1 science fiction, 2 contemporary, and 7 fantasy. I typically read about half contemporary and half fantasy, with just a few of literally every other genre thrown in there, so it was a bit surprising that my favorites skewed so fantasy! I guess I just read some really amazing fantasies that became instant favorites!!
These were just the books I loved from the first half of the year, so we’ll have to see how that changes after another six months at the very end of the year! Which ones will remain favorites and which ones won’t…hmm 😉 I have some new releases from the second half of the year that I’m absolutely dying to read though…
Let’s Chat
What were some of your favorite books from the beginning of this year? Did you fall in love with any of the books on this list like me? I’d love to chat in the comments below ❤
Legendary! Yay! I have been seeing Mortal Coil around and it wasn’t on my radar at all before but now I think I need to get this book lol
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They’re both amazing ❤
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Wonderful post, Kay
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Thanks 😀
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I was so in love with Wicked King, this year seems to be going so fast, but Queen of Nothing doesn’t feel like it is getting closer! 😦
-Emma
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I neeeeeed it
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It looks like you’ve read some amazing books so far this year! 🙂 Impressive!
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Thanks 😀
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You were like me with The Wicked King, I didn’t LOVE the first book (it was decent but not mind blowing) but I pushed on because people said the second book was better and boy were they right!!!
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The second book was owilksjdfioaskldjfsaoikldfj so gooood
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Fantasy has been absolutely killing it lately!! Great list, Kay 💕
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thanks 🙂
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Wow, Kay! I loved this post so much❤ I’m so glad you enjoyed the first half of 2019 as a reader 🌼
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thanks 🙂
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i feel like This Mortal Coil is the underrated book of the year because so many people have been yelling about it lately. I recently read summer bird blue my akemi dawn bowman, and i enjoyed it so much. but i think that i’m gonna like Starfish even more! my copy of Sorcery of Thorns just arrived yesterday, and i just want to read it right now!
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All those books are amazing ❤
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I adored Sorcery of Thorns too!
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It’s incredible ❤
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Ahh, I loved Girls of Paper and Fire and Starfish! I’m so happy to see you enjoyed them as well. ❤ You'd Be Mine looks like a book that I would love so I added it to my TBR too- great post, thank you for all the recommendations!
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I love those three books ❤
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Of these, I think the ones I loved most were Girls of Paper and Fire and King of Scars. I’m really excited to get around to The Wicked King soon, because I adored The Cruel Prince and it’s good to know that it gets better.
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Wicked King is 10000x better than Cruel Prince I hope you love it!!
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I loved A Curse so Dark and Lonely! I’m so excited for the next one! I almost picked up This Mortal coil a while ago, but I should give it another try!
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Those two are both fantastic!
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I have King of Scars sitting at home, waiting to be read…I may just have to pick it up ASAP based on your recommendation!
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hope you enjoy!
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Sorcery of Thorns was such an incredible read. I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much as well. I can’t wait to see what we get next from Margaret Rogerson. Hope the rest of your 2019 is full of wonderful books!
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It’s amazing!! Thanks 😀
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Brilliant list! I loved wicked deep and wicked king 😀 And mortal coil was great 🙂 Really looking forward to king of scars, cos I love Nikolai from Shadow and bone.
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Nikolai is bae ❤
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I can’t believe I haven’t read a single book from your list! I must remedy that NOW
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You really must!!
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