With the year already half over and my Mid Year Freak Out Tag complete, I got to thinking more about the books I’ve read so far this year. I’m not reading as much as I have the past couple of years, life events sometimes just get in the way, but I have truly read some fabulous books! I wanted to share with you my top 5 favorite reads so far in 2019.
A Curse so Dark and Lonely (Cursebreakers #1) by Brigid Kemmerer
I have to say, when I first heard about this book when it was announced in 2018 I wasn’t terrible excited for it. Retellings are very hit or miss with me and I’ve never been a particularly huge fan of Beauty and the Beast. However, after it was released, glowing reviews started popping up everywhere for this book. One thing I have no resistance to is hype so I gave this book a shot. Very easily one of the best things I have read this year and I cannot wait to grab the sequel when it comes out!
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
This book was mind blowingly amazing. So much so that nearly 6 months since I read it I still think about it every day. This was my first encounter with a Rumplestilskin (I will never spell that right) retelling and I wasn’t entirely sure what I was getting myself into. The writing quality of this book is superb, the characters are fascinating and vivid, and the story just sweeps you away to a magical world that you never want to leave.
The Gilded Wolves (The Gilded Wolves #1) by Roshani Chokshi
This book, while I gave it 4 stars and not 5, is getting put on this list purely for its enjoyment factor. I picked up this book and simply did not want to put it down. Page after page I fell more in love with the story and even there were a few bits that I might not have necessarily agreed with, overall this was an amazing read. It also gave me one of my favorite characters so far this year in Enrique!
Once & Future (Once & Future #1) by Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy
There is no other way to say it, I adored this book. We have a gender swapped, LGBT, Arthurian retelling that has substance of story and great inclusion. I can’t wait for the next book of this series to come out so I can jump right back in with these entertaining characters.
Red Rising (Red Rising Saga #1) by Pierce Brown
I first read this book not long after I started Literary Weaponry and, while I loved it, it wasn’t my favorite of the original trilogy. That spot belonged to Golden Son. Just last month I reread the series and this time I have to say that Red Rising was my favorite this time around. I loved watching Darrow’s character grow, change, and learn as he becomes entrenched in a society that was once completely unknown to him in order to overthrow it. How was that for the crappiest description of one of the best books ever?
2019 has been a fantastic year for reading. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the year holds. What are your favorite books that you’ve read so far in 2019?
I got to meet Brigid Kemmerer last night, and I’m afraid I didn’t gush about A Curse so Dark and Lonely enough. It is such a wonderful book; I’m glad to see it’s getting the recognition it deserves. I keep meaning to read Spinning Silver; I’ll have to get on that.
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I am so jealous that you got to meet Brigid! She seems like a wonderful person at least through her social media.
If you like audiobooks I highly recommend Spinning Silver as audio. The narrator really adds just a little something extra to an already fabulous story.
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I’ll definitely check out the audio. Thanks!
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Yes, I LOVE Spinning Silver. 😀 It’s my book of the year so far and I don’t know if I’ll read anything else that beats it, I loved it so much.
I want to get to Once & Future soon – I recently read Amy Rose Capetta’s The Brilliant Death and really enjoyed it so I’d like to check out more of her work this year. 🙂 I hope the rest of 2019 is full of amazing books for you!
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Once & Future is such a great story, I hope you end up loving it, too. Fast moving story, great SFF elements, and the inclusion is the best I’ve read.
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Glad you enjoyed Spinning Silver – I loved it too! One of my favorite books I’ve read so far is In The Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, and of course I have to mention The Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty.
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I haven’t heard of In the Time of the Butterflies, I’ll have to look it up. I also adored The Kingdom of Copper. Nahri is one of the fiercest characters I’ve come across and is completely unapologetic about who she is. Absolutely love that.
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Me too!
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I keep hearing about A Curse so Dark and Lonely! I NEED IT SO BAD.
My favorites so far are definitely Big Little Lies and The Raven Boys. Can’t wait to finish this series! 🙂
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You definitely need to read A Curse so Dark and Lonely. I went into that book not really expecting much of anything and ended up being blown away. Hope you love it, too!
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Yes, I’m glad you liked The Gilded Wolves as well! I also loved it and gave it 4/5. Enrique is amazing and my fave is Zofia. I also really need to read Spinning Silver because I’ve heard so much about it.
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Zofia was definitely a great character as well. Most of that cast was amazing although I never was quite on board with Tristan’s storyline which is why I ended up giving it a 4/5 as well.
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I also loved A Curse So Dark and Lonely!!!
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It was an amazing book! Glad to hear that you loved it, too. 🙂
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I haven’t read any of these yet 😬
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If you enjoy SFF might be worth it to take a peak at one of them. 🙂
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YAY for the gilded wolves 😀 i needed that sequel yesterday lol. I PROMISE i’ll read Curse as soon as I’m not drowning in ARCs lol (it’s very scary)
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