I am fully aware that pretty much every book blogger/tuber/grammer/you name it and their neighbor have done a list like this of some sort so I figured it was time to jump on the bandwagon before everyone including me stops reading those posts!
In 2018 I read 108 books and gave ten 5-star ratings. Two of those were for web comics that haven't finished yet so I don't know if they count? I was also in a reading slump that didn't properly bugger off and leave for another dimension until September so I do feel like that really impacted on how much I enjoyed reading this year. BUT, even if I'm a bit disappointed that I didn't read a lots and lots of 5-star books, I'm grateful for reading the few that definitely chewed up my heart. Onto the books!
WINTERSONG & THE MIME ORDER
So I don't know if other people do this but I have "5-star" books which are books that absolutely deserve every one of those stars and I will love fiercely forever (probably) BUT THEN I have books that don't deserve 5-stars...they deserve EVERY STAR IN THE BLOODY GALAXY. It physically pains me to give books like these "5-stars" BECAUSE THAT IS NOT ENOUGH STARS FOR THEM OKAYYY??? I call them "million-stars" books because that is the rating they deserve. Both WINTERSONG and THE MIME ORDER are "million-stars" books and they could not deserve that grand title more. I have a couple of blog posts coming up explaining my obsession for these books soon but definitely check them both out!
THE BONE SEASON TRILOGY
I hadn't reread the THE BONE SEASON in three years and it WAS SO GOOD to revisit the world and the characters and then finalllllllly be able to move onto THE MIME ORDER and THE SONG RISING which both in turn wrecked me! I really recommend this trilogy if you're looking for a series to get addicted to this year -- it balances dystopian with fantasy with a touch of sci-fi absolutely magnificently and is SO ADDICTIVE. The 4th book is also supposed to be coming out next year so there won't be too long a wait if you start now!
ACT LIKE IT & PRETTY FACE
So whereas reading THE BONE SEASON series felt like being run over (in a good way), ACT LIKE IT and PRETTY FACE is like eating a whole cake by yourself and not feeling sick. I've talked about why I love this series so much here if you want to check out my more in-depth thoughts!
ELEANOR OLIPHANT IS COMPLETELY FINE
This gave me such A MAN CALLED OVE vibes and being the massive AMCO stan that I am, I can't put into coherent words how happy that made and still makes me! ELEANOR OLIPHANT was a really easy read that also handled difficult topics with delicacy and kindness. It was also quietly hilarious which I love finding in a book. And the fact that it made me read it from beginning to end when I was in the depths of a reading slump is just a small sign of how good it is!
THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO
Originally this felt like a 4.5-star read for me but I haven't been able to get this book out of my head since I finished it in April last year. I have to try and not think about it a lot otherwise I start to feel really down that I can't read it for the first time ever again, lmao.
LORE OLYMPUS & MISS ABBOTT
Got the great romantic setting with the added bonus of beautiful art which just makes my heart SQUEAL. I'm all up-to-date with LORE OLYMPUS now (sobs) but I still haven't caught up on MISS ABBOTT yet and realllllllly don't want to because it's so painful waiting week by week for a new episode!
aaaand that's all my favourite reads of 2018. a part of me is really disappointed that i had so little *favourite favourites* this year but at the same time i feel very lucky to have even read these books and web series at all! what was a favourite read of yours in 2018?
