Favorite Books of 2015!

Hey everybody! I hope everyone had an awesome holiday weekend and avoided the mistletoe like the plague . . . okay maybe that was just me. Anyhoo, I've been seeing so many awesome posts on my favorite blogs about their favorite books and authors of this year and I thought it'd be fun to show you guys what some of my favorite books were this year. Here are my 15 favorite books of 2015! I hope y'all enjoy!

STAND ALONES:

These four books are a collection of 2015 releases and I loved all of them!! Vanishing Girls was so good and had such an awesome plot twist that I can't believe I didn't see coming. Saint Anything is probably my new favorite book by my favorite author, Sarah Dessen! It was very emotional as well as meaningful and I just loved every second of it. The Last Time We Say Goodbye literally had me sobbing into my pillow for AN HOUR after reading the last page. OH. MY. WORD. Made You Up was just fantastic, almost as much as the beautiful cover. I loved how different of a story it was and how all of these book explored mental illnesses such as suicide and schizophrenia. 

These last four stand alones are ones that I can't even handle because I loved them so much. Hello, I Love You is pretty much another Anna and the French Kiss but with KPOP and awesome food and I freaking loved it. It's one of my favorite contemporaries by far and I'm so eager to reread it in 2016! The Vanishing Season was such a beautiful story and I seriously recommend it to anyone who wants a hauntingly beautifully told novel that is just riddled with mystery. What Happened To Goodbye was a reread for me since Sarah Dessen is my favorite author of all time and I felt like picking up one of her books. I really loved it the second time around! And finally, we have Confess which was my first ever Colleen Hoover that I not only read but touched. Like seriously, I've never laid a finger on one of her books before buying this one. I have to say. I can see why everyone is nuts for this talented author, like WOW.

SEQUELS:

Oh my gosh how I loved every single one of these books! P.S I Still Love You is the second book in the To All The Boys I've Loved Before duology by Jenny Han and I can't even with how amazing it was. I really loved it so much more than the first book and it had me wanting more of the characters and their story. The Rose Society is the second book in The Young Elites series by Marie Lu and OH MY GOSH I loved it. This series by another of my favorite authors is just so good and I'm dying to find out how the series ends with the third book coming out next year! Winter is the final book in the Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer and it was 800+ pages of pure perfection. Enough said. Sanctum is the second book in the Asylum series by Madeleine Roux and if you love Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, you'll devour this series. It's creepy, dark, mysterious and utterly shocking.

GRAPHIC NOVELS:

I love graphic novels so much so of course I have to feature some of my favorites that I read this year. Anya's Ghost is probably my favorite out of the bunch and I recently reread it around Halloween and loved it just as much as the first time. I highly recommend this one! Through The Woods is the creepiest graphic novel I think I've ever read which just made me love it even more. I love all things horror so this one was right up my dark, creepy ally and I loved it so darn much! Friends With Boys is the definition of my life which is why I adored it. It's one of my favorites, I recommend it and I plan on rereading all of these again in the future.

So those were my favorite books of 2015! What book was your top favorite of the year? If I had to choose, I would probably say mine was Winter, hands down. Let me know what your favorite book(s) were of 2015 in the comments or leave a link to your post so I can stalk your blogs! Read on bookworms! See you in the next chapter!

FULL REVIEWS of all books listed are available on my blog!

Bang by Lisa McMann

Bang by Lisa McMann

Rating: PG

Genre: YA Action, Romance

Score: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Book #2 of the Visions trilogy
Page Count: 242

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Published: October 8, 2013

 

Jules should be happy. She saved a lot of people’s lives and she’s finally with Sawyer, pretty much the guy of her dreams. But the nightmare’s not over, because she somehow managed to pass the psycho vision stuff to Sawyer. Excellent. Feeling responsible for what he’s going through and knowing that people’s lives are at stake, Jules is determined to help him figure it all out. But Sawyer’s vision is so awful he can barely describe it, much less make sense of it. All he can tell her is there’s a gun, and eleven ear-splitting shots. Bang. Jules and Sawyer have to work out the details fast, because the visions are getting worse and that means only one thing: time is running out. But every clue they see takes them down the wrong path. If they can’t prevent the vision from happening, lives will be lost. And they may be among the casualties…

 

Review:

PROS:

1. After reading the first book in the trilogy, Crash, I fell so in love with the story and really wanted to hurry up and pick up the second book. I wasn't able to do so, however, seeing as tracking down this sequel took literally months! When I finally got my hands on it, I was so excited to get started on it and only just recently picked it up. After starting and finishing it in just a few hours, it's needless to say that I desperately need to find the third book!

 

2. The characters were just as amazing in the second book as in the first. I really loved Jules in Crash and thought she was a very good main character and I really loved how she was strong, driven and didn't give up easily and pretty much welcomed danger. I really loved seeing all the characters develop even more in this second book. I'm so in love with the other characters and really enjoyed getting to know them a little better.

 

3. I fully enjoyed the storyline in this book! It was very interesting and had an air of mystery throughout the entire story. It kept me on the edge of my seat for a good half of the book when everything seemed to be building up to an epic climax. From the very first page it had me hooked, had me wondering what the heck was going on and what was going to happen next. 

 

4. I felt like this story had a little something for everyone. The romance was just too sweet and perfect, the action was thrilling, the comedy was hilarious and overall, it was just an amazing sequel to an amazing first book. I recommend this trilogy to anyone who's looking for a thrilling read with other elements thrown in or for someone who just wants something exciting and fast-paced. 

 

Age Recommendation: 14+

 

I hope you guys enjoyed this book review! If you have any other book requests you would like me to review, just leave a comment or send me an email! Read on bookworms! See you in the next chapter!  

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry

Rating: PG

Genre: Sci-fi, Dystopian

Score: ⭐⭐⭐

Book #2 of The Giver Quartet

Page Count: 215

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin



Published: 2000

 

Kira, an orphan with a twisted leg, lives in a world where the weak are cast aside. She fears for her future until she is spared by the all-powerful Council of Guardians. Kira is a gifted weaver and is given the task that no other community member can carry out. While her talent keeps her alive and brings certain privileges, Kira soon realizes that she is surrounded by mysteries and secrets. No one must know of her plans to uncover the truth about her world- and to find out what exists beyond it.

Review:
PROS:
1. Living up to The Giver is a pretty hard thing for this companion novel to do since the first book was just so good in many ways! This book definitely had it's pros and cons but I honestly thought this was still an enjoyable read. Needless to say, this book wasn't as good as the first book but I still liked reading it.

2. The characters in this book are just as enjoyable as the first book. I really loved the main character Kira and thought she was a good female lead for the story. I also enjoyed the other characters strung throughout the book and really liked seeing their personalities grow and thought they were fun and sometimes witty.

3. The storyline was very simple to follow but still had a bit of mystery so as not to be predictable. I really liked how simple it was with the writing and the climax and other scenes that had you wondering how certain things added up. It wasn't overwhelming or too simple to the point of it being boring.

4. I really loved the world that this book is set in. I really loved how the people thought about certain things and what they saw as right and wrong. It was a bit twisted and sometimes disturbing but interesting. This book perfectly depicted a form of a broken society and I applaud that.

5. This was a very small book so it takes no time at all to read but I really wanted there to be more. I really wanted to know where Kira finds herself after the end of the book and where her friends and family end up as well. I'm really excited to pick up the third book in this amazing quartet.

CONS:
1. Even though I really liked reading this book, I didn't love it as much as The Giver. As I said before, it's a hard book to live up too and I felt like Gathering Blue had a chance but didn't exactly deliver on it. At times, the book got a bit slow and I would've have liked to see more action just like in the first book.

Age Recommendation: 10+

I hope you guys enjoyed this book review! If you have any other book requests you would like me to review, just leave a comment or send me an email! Read on bookworms! See you in the next chapter!



Days Of Blood And Starlight by Laini Taylor

Days Of Blood And Starlight by Laini Taylor

Rating: PG-13

Genre: Romance, Fantasy

Score: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Page Count: 513

Book #2 of the Daughter Of Smoke and Bone trilogy

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Published: November 6, 2012

 

Art student and monster's apprentice Karou finally has the answers she has always sought. She knows who she is- and what she is. But with this knowledge comes another truth she would give anything to undo: She loved the enemy and he betrayed her, and a world suffered for it. In this stunning sequel to the highly acclaimed Daughter Of Smoke and Bone, Karou must decide how far she'll go to avenge her people. Filled with heartbreak and beauty, secrets and impossible choices, Days Of Blood and Starlight finds Karou and Akiva on opposing sides as an age-old war stirs back to life. While Karou and her allies build a monstrous army in a land of dust and starlight, Akiva wages a different sort of battle: a battle for redemption. For hope. But can any hope be salvaged from the ashes of their broken dream?

 

Review:

Pros:

1. This continuation of the beautifully written Daughter Of Smoke and Bone is probably one of the best sequels I've read so far this year! It was just as beautiful as the first book and I had a hard time putting my love of this book into words for all you beautiful people. Let's get this review started!

 

2. First thing's first: The characters. In the first book, the characters were of course still being developed and still had to be learned by the reader. However, in this book, the characters were already established and I was so ready to get even more of them. The second book shows just how strong and brave they all are and really shows more of their personalities. I really loved seeing the characters grow from the first book and I almost felt like by the end of this book, they were completely different in a sense. They grew stronger, braver, and more powerful as the story progressed and chaos came upon them and I loved seeing how they reacted in each situation. I could go on for hours talking about these amazing and unforgettable characters!

 

3. The first book was a lot simpler with the world building and character building but this sequel was even more interesting. There was a ton of complexity with the new world that the author had to build and a lot more character development that I found very detailed without having to be overly descriptive and confusing. It is a book that you really have to focus on when reading seeing as you might miss something and there was a lot going on all at once. I loved drowning myself within the story and I loved learning more about not only the characters, the world, the conflict and more but I loved learning about the new battles and wars getting ready to be fought, the history of the old and new characters as well as the history of so many other things like the cities and the people.

 

4. The writing for this story was just absolutely beautiful in every sense of the word! The writing was so poetic in a way and made reading it that much more interesting. With a higher vocabulary, this book was not the easiest to fly through but it made me really focus on every single word and made me collect so much more of the story because of it. The story wasn't too descriptive to have been so detailed and it wasn't at all boring in any part of the book for me.

 

5. There was also a lot of excitement all throughout the book and I had a hard time finding a dull moment when something didn't attack someone or there was no war being fought. Every page was exciting and kept you wanting more. I couldn't finish a chapter without wanting to read just one more as the book was fast-paced and had so many high moments, it kept me on the edge of my seat. If there wasn't a killing going on, there was either a threat of war or an epic sword fight and maybe a blood bath amongst multiple fighters. In other words, it was freaking awesome!

 

6. Overall, this book was better than the first book, and I didn't even think that was possible. I really enjoyed this book and I can't wait to get my hands on the third and final book of this amazing and beautiful trilogy!

 

Age Recommendation: 14+

 

I hope you guys enjoyed this book review! If you have any other book requests you would like me to review, just leave a comment or send me an email! Read on bookworms! See you in the next chapter!

 

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