We’re only a few days into the New Year, and I figured I’d do something new this year. Although I’ve done a “Best Books I Read for the First Time in 20XX” list for years, I’ve never did a Best 20XX Release list. I read so many books this year that I thought I’d do one of these lists too. Some of the books on this list will be the same as my Best Books I Read for the First Time in 2018 list, but not all of the books weren’t eligible, and other books that were part of series didn’t make it on their own.
10. War Storm – Victoria Aveyard – I wanted this series to make the list of Top Books I Read for the First Time in 2018, but there were just so many good books that I couldn’t squeeze it in. Fortunately, War Storm was able to make the list of best 2018 releases I read.
9. Ace of Shades – Amanda Foody. This was a fun book with an interesting magic system. I’ll be looking forward to reading the next book when it comes out this year.
8. The Kiss Quotient – Helen Hoang. Most of the books that made it to my year-end list were fantasy books. I read this cute book shortly after reading a ton of other darker books. This is the perfect book if you want to read something light
7. Legendary – Stephanie Garber. This was a great story and I can’t wait to read Finale when it comes out. Tella and Scarlett make this story wonderful, although this story focuses on Tella.
6. The Fates Divide – Veronica Roth. I hope to give all of the books on this end-of-year list a reread at some point. I loved The Fates Divide and will definitely want to reread it, especially since Veronica Roth won’t be releasing a new book this year.
5. Muse of Nightmares – Laini Taylor. This was a beautiful book that left me in tears at the end. It’s also a gorgeous book with a wonderful ending.
4. A Reaper at the Gates – Sabaa Tahir. I loved Reaper as much as I loved Ember, which is why it placed so highly by itself. I will definitely be pre-ordering the final book in this series, and will be rereading everything before it comes out.
3. Queen of Air and Darkness – Cassandra Clare. I loved this book, but without the rest of the books in this series, I think I’m going to place The Cruel Prince one slot higher. Maybe if it would have been slightly shorter? Still, placing #3 on both lists is pretty good.
2. The Cruel Prince – Holly Black. This was a great book, and I can’t wait to read The Wicked King next week. I have to know what happens!
1. Wildcard – Marie Lu. I had the hardest time deciding which I liked better last year: Wildcard or Enchantée? Since Enchantée is a 2019 release, is wasn’t eligible for the 2018 release list (but will be eligible for next year’s 2019 top books). Will I have a difficult time deciding between Enchantée and the fourth Legend book? We’ll have to find out next year. I have a feeling that they will both end up as favorites.
So there’s the list of my favorite 2018 releases. There are so many good books coming out in 2019. I can’t wait to read them.
Brooke,
This was such an awesome post for me because a lot of these books are on my shelves or my wish-list. I am glad to hear that Veronica Roth’s new book was fun. I remember that first wave of dislike of the first book in that series and I kind of just cowered in fear since then. I am going to keep my eyes peeled for the first book to be at a good price for me to grab.
Oh yes, it’s lovely to see Marie Lu get some loving on here. I only read her first novel, Legend, and it was so good. She just writes clever characters and fascinating worlds. Warcross and Wildcard are joining my wish list!
Man, Cassandra Clare is up there for me when it comes to writers. I do agree, though, that Queen of Air and Darkness was a bit too long. I am still trying to figure out what exactly was not quite part of the story. I did feel like it was way too many characters thrown at readers.
I had mixed feelings about Cruel Prince but I still am curious about Wicked King quite a bit. Holly Black seems to always nail the cruelty and beauty of fae.
I hope your 2019 is going beautifully!
Maybe Carve the Mark got hate because they were expecting something more like Divergent? The first chapter took a bit to get into (especially in the Spanish version) because it was a completely different world and there were so many unusual terms. Once you got past the initial chapter and got the feel of the world, the rest of the series was great. And I loved the twist in the book.
Helen Hoang took me by surprise in the best way with TKQ. She really did something special with that book.
I kinda joke that one book reviewer had me at math, but there was a lot more to the book than that, LOL. When I read it, I had just read a bunch of dark books where the girl and the guy didn’t end up together (yet, in the case of one quartet) so I was really happy to read this one.
I have read none of these, but I am on a waitlist for The Cruel Prince, so that should count. Hopefully this year I’ll get to read all of last year’s books.
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That counts. I got a whole lot of books from the library last year. Sure I’ll be reading a lot more from the library this year too.
I love these lists because they’re all so different!
It’s been pretty cool to see everybody’s favorites!
Great list!! A few of these are still on my TBR! I can’t wait to read them!
Hope you like them as much as I did. 🙂
I loved The Cruel Prince, and I definitely found a new books on this list to add to my tbr. Thank you for sharing!
Yay! I love it when people find new books they want to read.
So many sequels on here that I still need to read. Wildcard, Legendary, Queen of Air and Darkness…
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2018 was the year I read a lot of series. I was burning up my library card for a while there. 🙂 Wildcard and The Fates Divide were the only books that prior to last year I had read the first book to.
I’ve heard great things about The Kiss Quotient, so I want to check that out. I still have Strange the Dreamer to read, but I’m glad you loved the sequel.
-Lauren
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I’m glad that both the books in the duology were good. I hate it when the second book disappoints.
The Cruel Prince really surprised me because I am typically NOT a fantasy reader. But the synopsis just grabbed me and I’m so glad I took a chance on it. The Kiss Quotient was just so yummy. I adored Stella + Michael. 🙂
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I’m glad you gave it a chance. I hope you get to read The Bride Test later this year, since you liked The Kiss Quotient.
I really want to read The Kiss Quotient, it sounds exactly what I would like 🙂
Daniella x
I hope you do!