Favorite Books | 2016 Edition

Hey, guys! I can’t believe its coming to the end of the year. 2016 is coming to an end and 2017 is just upon us (with a whole new president…I am very nervous about the chaos that will erupt once Trump takes office…) and with that, its time for me to finally reveal my favorite reads of this year. I did so much better in my reading habits this year than last year (I read nearly fifteen more books than I did last year!) and with that, I did read a lot of good books, but oddly enough, I have a slightly smaller favorites list, only about seven books. I guess I am more picky about my favorites list this year. Also, if you read through this list and are wondering why your favorite book isn’t on this list, it might already be on my other list because I did make a post about my favorite books of 2016, so you can look at that here. But let’s just go ahead and get into these amazing books.

7: First up on my list is Truthwitch by Susan Dennard.

This is the book this year that really got me into High Fantasy. For years, I’ve been saying that I strictly read urban fantasy and that high fantasy just really isn’t my thing. And then I read this and my world opened up. I saw for the first time how magical high fantasy is. What I really didn’t like about high fantasy was its complicated world and I honestly was too lazy to try to learn the world, but this book just clicked for me. I fell in love with the characters, the world, and the unbelievably kickass story line from the start. I just loved every second of reading this book and I actually need to rebuy this because my friend borrowed it and I never got it back, unfortunately. But the second book, Windwitch, is coming out in January and I am so buying it and I am so excited for it (which I will talk about in my 2017 Most Anticipated Releases). So I am just so thankful I read this book because it was epic and I highly recommend you check it out! If you are interested in my spoilery thoughts, opinions, and feels, I did do a full spoiler book review, which I will link here.

6: Next up we have Faking Normal by Courtney C. Stevens.

This book was so emotional and such a powerful and impacting story. It has a trigger warning for rape and self-harm, if that gives you an idea and its just about actually letting people know what happened to you, speaking out, dealing with trauma, and just not letting this person get away with it. This book also brought to light that rapists aren’t just on the street. They’re in your homes, in your life. Sometimes they aren’t even completely terrible people. But that doesn’t make what they did any less wrong. This book just shed a light on a very difficult topic and Courtney did it so well, so I commend her on that. I did do a spoiler-free review of this, so if you are interested in reading that, it is linked here.

5: Coming at number five is Carry On by Rainbow Rowell.

This is a book that really took me by surprise in how freaking epic it was and so freaking good. I had heard all of the raving, especially from Katytastic on YouTube, but I just bought it because it was another Rainbow Rowell novel that I hadn’t read yet. And then I started reading it and I couldn’t stop. I stayed up all night to read it, and it was so freaking good. I immediately was enthralled by Rainbow’s writing (as always) and then I really loved the characters and the romance (I will go down with that ship) and the story line, and just…gah, it was so good. And the magic system was really interesting. It dealt with the power of words and it wasn’t like any other magic system I had read about. It was so, so good, and I highly recommend it! I did a full spoiler-free review of it where I discussed all of my thoughts, opinions, and feels, so I will link that right here. Just know that it was insanely good and incredibly epic.

4: The next book on my list is none other than Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo.

This is the first book in Leigh’s Six of Crows Duology and it was fabulous. The conclusion to this duology came out and I still have not gotten to it, much to my chagrin, but the beginning to this series just completely blew my mind. First off, it was worlds better than the Grisha trilogy. Secondly, all of the characters are unique and complex and I love every single one of these bastards. The thing about this book is none of these characters are really reliable. They are all bad characters trying to escape from even worse characters. And you will ship these characters with each other until your last dying breath. And you won’t even be aware of it until like 3/4 of the way through, and you’re like, “Oh my fucking God. I will die just so they can have a happy ending.” Its so good. I love all of the characters, the kickass story line, the amazing and complex world, and the fantastical writing. It was just so damn good. I also have a review up for this one, so you should check that out, and I highly recommend you give this series a go because it is fantabulous.

3: Coming at Number Three is the Illuminae Files series by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff.

This series is one of the best series I have ever read in my entire life. Its unlike anything I have ever read about. Its told through IM’s and emails and journal entries and files and it is just so good. If you love scifi and/or fantasy (yes, both), you will love this series. Its so kickass and so suspenseful and thrilling and fast-paced. Its just so freaking epic. For each of these books, I read them in one sitting. They are that good. They are around the same length and they are pretty chunky books. I literally could not put them down. I did spoiler-free reviews of both of these if you want to know more, which I will link here and here. Just know they were epic and you should read them even if their different format seems daunting. The format makes the story more compelling, in my opinion. They’re so fantastic! I could just go on and on…

2: Coming at Number Two is Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare.

This is the first book in The Dark Artifices series set in the Shadowhunter World, like her other series (The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices). So I sort of broke the rules when I read this. I did not read the Tales From Shadowhunter Academy before I read this (I now own it thanks to my grandma, so thank you for that!) I realize I missed out on some background stories, but I will be reading them soon and they didn’t really at all hinder my reading experience in reading this fabulous book. I loved all of the characters we get to know. Emma is now my new favorite heroine that Cassie has written. She has all the elements of the previous characters that I loved with some bad mixed in to make her intersting. I freaking love this badass bitch. She’s hilarious, she’s kickass and I just love her. I was so on board with the romance because I am all about that forbidden romance. And this book did shock me and break my heart and crush it into little pieces, but I just love the parts of the Shadowhunter World that we go to explore in this novel, I loved the antagonist, and the humor was so on point. I just really loved it. It was a huge toss up between this and my number one book of this year, but the other book won. I could not deny it. But before I get into that, I did do a spoiler-free review of Lady Midnight as well, so you should check that out.

1: And my Number One Favorite Book of 2016 is none other than A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas.

I am sure some of you are not very surprised. I have been raving about this book for months, ever since I finished it. Let me just say that if you read A Court of Thorns and Roses and stopped because you didn’t like it, you will love this book. I have talked to people who read ACOTAR and hated it, but read ACOMAF and freaking loved it. It is so much better than ACOTAR (and I actually liked ACOTAR at the time but am now questioning why I was so in love with it) and I actually switched ships (Yes, I was one of those unfortunate readers who at first shipped her with Tamlin. We don’t speak of that time in my life.)

It was such a kickass story, the writing was fantastic, and oh my God the characters. I wasn’t totally sold on Feyre in the last book, but I love her now after reading ACOMAF. She really came into her own and became a stronger, better version of herself. She basically told Tamlin to kiss her ass and I admire the shit out of that. Also Rhys. Just Rhys. *fans self* He is now my all time favorite book boyfriend, guys. He beats Damon Salvatore. HE BEATS DAMON FUCKING SALVATORE. THIS IS LEGIT, GUYS. But I just loved all of the characters we were introduced to and this book did break me. I didn’t think I would recover, but I am so freaking ready for the next book. Because this is going to be a tough one to beat. I also did a review of this book. If you want to know all of my feels in spoilery detail, then I highly recommend you check it out. My God, this book was fanfuckingtastic…

And there you have it! Those are my all time favorite books of this year. What was your favorite book you read in 2016? Comment down below! And that is going to be it for this post today. Thank you so much for reading this and for giving me such a fantastic year in blogging and reading. I hope you had a very Merry Christmas, and I will see you next time!