[Top Ten Tuesday] Favorite Reads of 2018

It's officially 2019! A year that is going to be a big one for me, but for now I am excited to reflect on my favorite books of 2018! Some of these books may not have been released in 2018 but  I read them all in 2018 and they resonated with me in a way that they landed themselves on this list. There are a few books I am behind on reading that I have a feeling that may have been on this list, so they'll have to be on next years if I end up loving them enough. But for now, let's jump into the ones I did read and love! I am going to try to rank them this year, so it'll be least favorite favorite to my most favorite favorite. But know that I loved all of these. But for now, let's jump into the ones I did read and love!

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

Taylor Jenkins Reid 
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Review | Goodreads | Amazon

This is probably one of the most hyped, if not the most hyped, book of 2018. I feel like not only did everyone seem to read Evelyn Hugo's story, but the majority of people seemed to love it. I being no exception. I was unsure about reading it because it didn't really seem like my kind of book but I am so glad I did. It is such a powerful story that made me bawl, which I hear is also super common for most of the readers who ended up loving this story. It has themes such as bisexuality, being mixed raced, old (and unfortunately, some of them still modern) problematic aspects of Hollywood, domestic violence, racism, and more. It's such a powerful read and I hope to pick up more of Taylor Jenkins Reid's books in 2019. 

Orange Volume 1 (& 2)

Ichigo Takano 
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Review | Goodreads | Amazon 

This is such an amazing manga that centers around mental illness and suicide. So if those two things can be triggering for you I'd read with caution. However, I absolutely loved it and was brought to tears and sobbed throughout both of the volumes. I think it's one of the most heartbreaking and heartwarming I've read about mental illness. It centers around a group of friends, and our main character gets a letter from her future self saying a new addition to their group of friends ends up dying by suicide, and the main character does everything in her power to prevent that from happening.It's so touching. I love the friendship so much and how absolutely pure the story is the entire time. 

The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding

Alexandra Bracken 
 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Review | Goodreads | Amazon

This is my first Alexandra Bracken, despite the fact that I have both The Darkest Minds and Passenger on my kindle. I absolutely loved this middle grade story so much. It was a perfect  Halloween read and it put me right into the best kind of spooky mood. I got completely swept away by the story and I could not put it down. I loved humor, characters, super cool plot, and the ending totally took me by surprise. This is such an amazing middle grade book and I cannot wait for book two. 

Heartless

Marissa Meyer 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Review | Goodreads | Amazon

This is a Alice's Adventure in Wonderland retelling/prequel and I absolutely loved it! I was nervous going into it, because Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is my favorite book ever, so I was hesitant about picking up Heartless.  However, it was amazing and I am so happy I read it. It had the same magical feeling that the original has but also modern at the same time. I had my heart broken and then shattered by the end and it made me want to read Alice's story all over again, which  I then did. 

A Gathering of Shadows 

V.E. Schwab 

 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Review | Goodreads | Amazon

 This is the second in the Shades of Magic series, but it's my favorite of the three. Granted, I'd take that with a grain of salt because all three books got a five star rating from me, so I obviously loved them all a lot. From what I can tell this is a bit of an unpopular opinion since I have seen a lot of people say they disliked this book compared to the first and third ones. I think this was the most fun for me to read, who knows if I will say the same thing when re-read the trilogy one day but for my first read this was my favorite of the trilogy. I am so excited for the new ones. Of course because this is the second one, you can click for my reviews of A Darker Shade of Magic & Conjuring of Light if you are interested.

Undead Girl Gang

Lily Anderson

Review | Goodreads | Amazon

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This book was so much fun and I loved it so much. The plot is simple but the characters really make the story so amazing. I am still learning about Wicca, a topic I am super interested in, but it was fun to see it as such an important theme in a young adult book. It also has such important topics like grieving, friendship, and learning to not being so judgemental. 

Sadie

Courtney Summers 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Review | Goodreads | Amazon 

 I was lucky enough to receive an ARC for Sadie and I thought it was fantastic. It's a dark, intense, story about a girl who is trying to avenge her sister's murder. It's gripping and powerful and heartbreaking. The ending had me so shocked that I honestly just sat on my couch in silence, and I can't remember the last time I was so broken after reading a book. Honestly, I feel like this book is best go to in blind. However, I recommend listening to the podcast The Girls while reading the podcast chapters (or just listen to the audiobook) because it really adds to the reading experience. 

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown

Holly Black

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Review | Goodreads | Amazon

I had been putting this book off for so long, and it just collected imaginary dust on my kindle until I finally decided to pick it up randomly one day this winter. I listened to the audiobook while I read along and it was so much fun. The audiobook had a really great narrator and even spooky sounds to really freak me out when I decided to read to help me fall back to sleep at like 2AM haha! I enjoyed the characters a lot and thought the plot was a lot of fun. I'll probably re-read it for Halloween. 

City of Ghosts

Victoria Schwab

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Review | Goodreads | Amazon

I was worried going into City of Ghosts. I have complete faith in Victoria Schwab, who has become maybe my favorite author ever, but with the mixed reviews I was worried I wouldn't love it as much as I thought I would. But that was obviously not the case because I loved this middle grade book so much. It was so much fun, spooky, and I loved the characters. It reminds me of a mix of Danny Phantom and Coraline. I recommend this to any younger reads looking for a spooky Halloween read. 

Down Among the Sticks and Bones

Seanan McGuire

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Review | Goodreads | Amazon

Once again, like the Shades of Magic series, my favorite book in the Wayward Children series is this one one so far, which happens to be the second book. I loved this prequel so so much. I gave the first two books five star and the third one four, so overall this series is an amazing one and I love them all. But so far Down Among the Sticks and Bones is my favorite. I am so excited for book four to come out this year. If you want my review for the first and third books here they are! Every Heart A Doorway and Beneath the Sugar Sky.

Children of  Blood and Bone 

Tomi Adeyemi 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Review | Goodreads | Amazon

This was such an amazing fantasy debut novel! I loved the characters, plot, the world building, and the writing. I love Tomi Adeyemi so much as a person, which makes me so happy that this book has got such great reviews and the fact that there is going to be a movie! I am so excited for the sequel to come out in just a couple months. This story is what I would explain as Avatar: The Last Airbender and Black Panther.

Reign of the Fallen

Sarah Glenn Marsh 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Review | Goodreads | Amazon

If you've read my blog posts throughout the year it's no surprise that this is the book I had deemed my favorite book of 2018. I absolutely love this book, and the sequel (coming out in only a few more weeks!!) so so much. It's got a bisexual main character, such a cool unique magic system, dark themes, and an amazing cast of characters that is this found family gang that I love so much. I am so protective over these characters and they mean so much so me. I can't recommend it enough. Also, if you like it, make a stink about it online that there are only two books. Sarah said she would easily write more and so I am hoping Penguin/Razorbill give her the green light to write more. 

So those are my favorite books of 2018!! Honestly, the year as a whole has been pretty great. I believe my average rating of 2018 was 3.8 stars which isn't half bad! I would love to know what were some of your favorites of 2018! Do we have any ones in common? If you're interested in my post of My Worst Reads of 2018 I will link it! 

Thanks for reading!