Hi all!

Before I dive into a brand new year of reading, I wanted to share (in my personal opinion) the five best and worst books of 2017. Please don’t be offended if one of your favourite books makes my thumbs-down list. We all have different tastes and preferences. This is what makes reading fun. Without further ado, let’s get into it.

THE BEST OF 2017

1.) READY PLAYER ONE by ERNEST CLINE

This book was everything I wanted it to be and more. It spoke to my geeky little soul that adores 80’s pop-culture and gaming. This story follows Wade Watts, an impoverished kid, living in a post-apocalyptic world. His only means of escape is via the OASIS, a virtual-reality experience, created by James Halliday. When James passes away, he leaves clues to find his hidden ‘Easter Egg’ within the OASIS. Whomever finds it first, gains ownership of the entire thing. As you can imagine, chaos erupts. Ready Player One was definitely my favourite read of 2017. As soon as I finished it, I wanted to pick it up and start all over again!

2.) FANGIRL by RAINBOW ROWELL

I read my very first Rainbow Rowell book this year. It didn’t take long before I bought all of her works and read them. My favourite however, was Fangirl. The story is simple, yet hilarious and emotionally resonant at the same time. Cath is a twin, who is having trouble letting go of her sister Wren when they move to college. Wren asks Cath if they can live apart, so they can form their own identities. This leaves Cath feeling incredibly lost and confused. Not only that, she is accused of plagiarism in her creative-writing class, is concerned about her father’s mental-health, her new roommate is rude and her roommate’s cute ex-boyfriend, Levi, may be interested in her. I would recommend this book to anyone. 

3.) NEVERNIGHT by JAY KRISTOFF

Jay blew me away a lot this year with Nevernight, Godsgrave, Illuminae and Gemina. I picked Nevernight for this list however, because it took me by complete surprise. I wasn’t expecting to love it as much as I did. In this fantastic and compelling trilogy, we follow Mia Corvere, a girl who witnessed her father hung for treason at the age of ten. At 16, she decides to join the Red Church, a school for assassins. Her end goal is ultimately to avenge his death. There are hilarious footnotes throughout this book, as well as maps. Every time I thought I knew where this story was going, Jay completely turned the whole thing around. I was shocked by all of the twists. It was incredible. 

4.) THE HATE U GIVE by ANGIE THOMAS

The Hate U Give was a book that changed my entire perspective on life. I realised just how privileged I was and through Angie’s writing, was able to step into the shoes of another race and society. To summarise, it follows Starr Carter, a teenage African American, who witnesses her best friend get shot by a white policeman, for no reason. Both my husband and I read it, feeling the exact same way. This is a story that every single person needs to read. I was very fortunate to meet Angie in 2017 and express just how powerful her novel was. I wrote an entire review on this book (click here).

5.) PAPER TOWNS by JOHN GREEN 

Paper Towns is still my favourite John Green book, even after reading all his other works. I loved it so much because I connected very strongly with the protagonist, Quentin Jacobson. Quentin is close to finishing high school, but is having trouble letting go. When his childhood crush, Margot, goes missing, he embarks on an epic road-trip with his friends to find her. A lot of people dislike Margo and this is why they don’t enjoy the book. In my opinion, the story actually has nothing to do with her. It is about Quentin and his friends. It’s about spending time together, enjoying their last moments as teenagers, before everything changes. I related to his nostalgic narration, because I too had the same attitude when it came time to graduate. I also loved the movie adaptation. 

THE WORST OF 2017

1.) WHY WE BROKE UP by DANIEL HANDLER

Now for my naughty list. Let me just preface by saying that none of these books were bad, they just didn’t speak to me. To start, I had really high expectations for Why We Broke Up. It took me forever to purchase a copy and when I finally did, I felt very let down. The artwork was absolutely beautiful but the story fell flat for me. I didn’t enjoy the writing style. It felt overly poetic to me and unnatural. I also strongly disliked both the main characters. This story follows Min, who recounts exactly why her and her ex-boyfriend, Ed, broke up. I found both Min and Ed to be superficial, shallow and pretentious. I felt no sympathy for either of them. No wonder they broke up! I just didn’t enjoy it at all. Sorry!

2.) PRINCE LESTAT AND THE REALMS OF ATLANTIS by ANNE RICE

I never thought I would dislike an Anne Rice book so much. She is one of my favourite authors of all time. However, this latest instalment of The Vampire Chronicles was very disappointing. I noticed the majority of online reviewers saying the same thing. When I first started this story, I was so excited to dive into the realms of Atlantis. It seemed so ancient and mysterious. In reality, the plot was extremely boring. Not to mention, the elusive creatures from the forgotten city, turned out to be odd birdlike/alien things. It was too strange and all over the place for me. Why Anne? Why?

3.) THE SILVER MASK by CASSANDRA CLARE and HOLLY BLACK

Another book from one of my favourite authors, that turned out terrible. I am a huge fan of Cassandra Clare’s writing but this one was a complete flop. NOTHING HAPPENED. For the entire 200+ pages, not a single thing happened. Not only that, all of the characters behaved differently to how they normally would. I kept thinking: ‘he would never do that!’ I have thoroughly enjoyed The Magisterium series up until now. I’m not sure what went wrong but it was awful. 

4.) THESE BROKEN STARS by AMIE KAUFMAN and MEGAN SPOONER

I’ve mentioned this before but I was pretty upset that I didn’t like the first book in The Starbound Trilogy. So many people raved about this series but I struggled to understand the hype. I found it to be very confusing and the majority of the plot, super slow. It follows two characters in space, that land on a strange planet after their ship crashes. They spend most of the novel travelling across the spooky terrain, but in all honesty, not a whole lot happens. Moreover, I felt zero connection with the characters, who I found quite whiny. At the end, something big happens but it wasn’t clear what and that left me so underwhelmed. I tried to read the sequel and gave up after a few pages. 

5.) ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD by KENDARE BLAKE

I undertook the Anna Dressed in Blood duology with high expectations. I love a good ghost story and I expected to be taken on a wild, horrific ride. It started off very well but the middle, end and sequel (Girl of Nightmares) were just off for me. The final book just ended with no real closure. I wasn’t scared, nor super invested in the characters. I was certain this would hit the top of my list, but instead, it hit the bottom. 

There you have it! I hope you enjoyed this post and it didn’t offend anybody. Let me know your best and worst books of 2017. Thanks for reading.

Peace & Love xoxo