My top 10 books from 2019
- Fatima Zepeda
- Apr 1, 2020
- 14 min read
Updated: Apr 10, 2020
1
by: Shelby Mahurin
I'm going to tell you a secret. I really like the love-hate stories, and this book has those kind of stories.
This book includes a little bit of everything: fantasy + romance + adventure.
It makes you feel a range of emotions to the point where you don’t know whether to laugh or cry It’s an easy read and once you start you won’t be able to put it down
Here is a brief review:
"Two years ago, Louise le Blanc fled her coven and took shelter in the city of Cesarine, forsaking all magic and living off whatever she could steal. There, witches like Lou are hunted. They are feared. And they are burned.
Sworn to the Church as a Chasseur, Reid Diggory has lived his life by one principle:thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.His path was never meant to cross with Lou's, but a wicked stunt forces them into an impossible union—holy matrimony.
The war between witches and Church is an ancient one, and Lou's most dangerous enemies bring a fate worse than fire. Unable to ignore her growing feelings, yet powerless to change what she is, a choice must be made.
And love makes fools of us all."
Genres:
Romance
Fantasy
Young Adult
Characters:
Louise le Blanc.
Reid Diggory
Rating:
2
The Kiss Quotient
by: Helen Hoang
Okay, so, this book it was really cute. I enjoyed it a lot.
Stella and Michael's relationship leaves you with a desire to have a love story like theirs. What is Special about this book is it teaches you what Aspergers is and how it is to live with it.
What I like about this book is that the drama is balanced and quite romantic. The climax is well developed and if it leaves you intrigued. You get to love Michael so much that you wish you had a pocket size one to go with you everywhere.
I also loved that Stella takes her time to trust love and not isn't totally and dramatic about falling in love.
If you really want a romantic book that leaves you satisfied, this book is the ideal for you.
Here is a brief review:
"Stella Lane thinks math is the only thing that unites the universe. She comes up with algorithms to predict customer purchases--a job that has given her more money than she knows what to do with, and way less experience in the dating department than the average thirty-year-old.
It doesn't help that Stella has Asperger's and French kissing reminds her of a shark getting its teeth cleaned by pilot fish. Her conclusion: she needs lots of practice--with a professional. Which is why she hires escort Michael Phan. The Vietnamese and Swedish stunner can't afford to turn down Stella's offer, and agrees to help her check off all the boxes on her lesson plan--from foreplay to more-than-missionary position...
Before long, Stella not only learns to appreciate his kisses, but crave all of the other things he's making her feel. Their no-nonsense partnership starts making a strange kind of sense. And the pattern that emerges will convince Stella that love is the best kind of logic..."
Genres:
Romance
Contemporary
Adult
Characters:
Rating:
3
The Way I Used to Be
by: Amber Smith
This is seriously a strong book. Talks about little girls rape by a teenager.It shows how she tries with all her heart to erase that episode from her life, but her efforts are all in vain.
It shows how that episode marked her life forever and how the people around her act on it.
What I liked about this book is that it does not try to make this event less and insignificant, it shows her suffering and how it affects her life. I also like how she narrates her life for her 4 years of high school and how it becomes increasingly difficult to keep her secret. It is a book that really leaves you wanting to scream and heartbroken.
If you are looking for a deep book that teaches you something, this is the one.
Note: Please don't judge Eden and try to understand her with the decisions she makes.
Here is a brief review:
"Eden was always good at being good. Starting high school didn’t change who she was. But the night her brother’s best friend rapes her, Eden’s world capsizes.
What was once simple, is now complex. What Eden once loved—who she once loved—she now hates. What she thought she knew to be true, is now lies. Nothing makes sense anymore, and she knows she’s supposed to tell someone what happened but she can’t. So she buries it instead. And she buries the way she used to be.
Told in four parts—freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior year—this provocative debut reveals the deep cuts of trauma. But it also demonstrates one young woman’s strength as she navigates the disappointment and unbearable pains of adolescence, of first love and first heartbreak, of friendships broken and rebuilt, and while learning to embrace a power of survival she never knew she had hidden within her heart."
Genres:
Contemporary
Young Adult
Characters:
Eden McCrorey
Kevin Armstrong
Joshua Miller
Mara
Rating:
4
Defy Me
(Shatter Me #5)
by: Tahereh Mafi
Okay, this year I read the 5 books of the "Shatter Me" saga and I can tell you with all certainty that they are incredible.
They have a perfect combination of adventure, fiction, romance and drama.
The first book is a bit long and boring, but as you read more books of this saga you fall in love more and more with the characters and the plot becomes more interesting and entertaining.
I chose to put this book in my top 10 because it’s the one I liked the most from the saga. There are so many turn of events that make your head explode with love for Warner. You really never expect what’s going to happen in the book. You get to say “what the fuck” at least 8 times throughout it.
The end is so beautiful that a few tears of happiness come out of you. The book is so good that you cannot drop it, I am not lying but I finished the book in one day because of how good it is.
Note: Warner is my number 2 literary boyfriend, he is so beautiful. If you want to make him a fan club, count me in.
Note #2: I really need a Kenji in my life.
Here is a brief review:
"The gripping fifth installment in the New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestselling Shatter Me series. Will Juliette’s broken heart make her vulnerable to the strengthening darkness within her?
Juliette’s short tenure as the supreme commander of North America has been an utter disaster. When the children of the other world leaders show up on her doorstep, she wants nothing more than to turn to Warner for support and guidance. But he shatters her heart when he reveals that he’s been keeping secrets about her family and her identity from her—secrets that change everything.
Juliette is devastated, and the darkness that’s always dwelled within her threatens to consume her. An explosive encounter with unexpected visitors might be enough to push her over the edge."
This saga has 6 main books and 3 mini books. If you want them, (obviously you have to read them), I leave the link of the books below.
Genres:
Fantasy
Romance
Young Adult
Characters:
Elle / Juliette
Warner / Aaron
Kenji
Nazeera
Rating:
1.- Shatter Me.
1.5.- Destroy Me
2.- Unravel Me.
2.5- Fracture Me.
3.- Ignite Me.
4.-Restore Me.
4.5- Shadow Me.
5.- Defy Me.
5.5.- Reveal Me.
6.- Imagine Me.
Books: https://vk.com/club191009105
5
Verity
by: Colleen Hoover
Surprise another one of Colleens books, I repeat, don´t hate me. This book is nothing compared to Colleen's other books
This book is so intense that I have no words to describe it. From the first chapter you get so confused that you don't know what's going on. This book exploits your brain so much that you don't know how to return to normality for a long time.
Some parts are so strong it makes you question if people are actually capable of doing those kinds of things. In truth, never, NEVER, can you imagine the end. It is so unpredictable that it makes you read the last chapters over and over again to see if you didn't get confused.
I mean it, this is a very intense book that is not easy to digest and you have to be prepared for your brain to explode at least 5 times.
The chapters that Verity narrates are so heartbreaking and raw, that you have to read them calmly so that your heart does not suffer much.
Literally, WOW with this book.
Here is a brief review:
"Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of bestselling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish.
Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity's notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn't expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read. Page after page of bone-chilling admissions, including Verity's recollection of what really happened the day her daughter died.
Lowen decides to keep the manuscript hidden from Jeremy, knowing its contents would devastate the already grieving father. But as Lowen's feelings for Jeremy begin to intensify, she recognizes all the ways she could benefit if he were to read his wife's words. After all, no matter how devoted Jeremy is to his injured wife, a truth this horrifying would make it impossible for him to continue to love her."
Genres:
Romance
Thriller
Mystery
Characters:
Lowen Ashleigh
Jeremy Crawford
Verity Crawford
Rating:
6
The Unhoneymooners.
by: Christina Lauren
This book is actually quite fun. I quite liked it, I just read it in the summer and I felt that it put me more in the mood for vacations.
There are those love-hate relationships and I really loved the relationship of the characters. Olive and Ethan are opposite poles, but I feel it makes this relationship more beautiful. They´re so adorable. In the chapters where they realize they are attracted to each other, everything improves and you fall more in love with the book. I really liked Olive's personality, she made me want her to be my best friend.
The only thing that I did not love was that when Olive and Ethan are finally together, they narrate it very hastily, they spend 2 chapters of their relationship on vacation and then it all goes back to normal.. I feel like you don't even have time to fully enjoy their love relationship.
If you´re looking for a funny summer novel, this is the one.
Note: With this book you definitely take away the desire to eat shellfish.
Here is a brief review:
"Olive is always unlucky: in her career, in love, in…well, everything. Her identical twin sister Ami, on the other hand, is probably the luckiest person in the world. Her meet-cute with her fiancé is something out of a romantic comedy (gag) and she’s managed to finance her entire wedding by winning a series of Internet contests (double gag). Worst of all, she’s forcing Olive to spend the day with her sworn enemy, Ethan, who just happens to be the best man.
Olive braces herself to get through 24 hours of wedding hell before she can return to her comfortable, unlucky life. But when the entire wedding party gets food poisoning from eating bad shellfish, the only people who aren’t affected are Olive and Ethan. And now there’s an all-expenses-paid honeymoon in Hawaii up for grabs.
Putting their mutual hatred aside for the sake of a free vacation, Olive and Ethan head for paradise, determined to avoid each other at all costs. But when Olive runs into her future boss, the little white lie she tells him is suddenly at risk to become a whole lot bigger. She and Ethan now have to pretend to be loving newlyweds, and her luck seems worse than ever. But the weird thing is that she doesn’t mind playing pretend. In fact, she feels kind of... lucky"
Genres:
Romance
Contemporary
Adult
Characters:
Ami
Dane
Rating:
7
Vicious
by: L.J. Shen
This book is an exception, normally I don't like books that intense, but something in this book caught me and I can say that I really liked it.
The scenes are quite strong and the hatred that Vicious feels at the beginning puzzles you a little, you find it hard to believe how a human can feel so much hate.
I love that each character narrates from their POVs and also that the story is narrated in 2 time frames:
In the past, where they are in high school and where they first meet.
When they are adults, each with their jobs and they meet again.
There is so much tension between Emilia and Vicious that they make you suffer as a reader, you cannot stop reading until you know that they love each other and are happy. If you are looking for a book where there is a lot of drama and you like bad boy stories, this is your book.
So there are 4 books in this saga and they talk about the lives of "Four HotHoles". Personally, the one I liked the most was this one. If you want to read them I leave the link below.
Note: With this book you really want to have "Four HotHoles" in your school. They´re so hot :)
Here is a brief review:
"Emilia:
They say love and hate are the same feelings experienced under different circumstances, and it’s true. The man who comes to me in my dreams also haunts me in my nightmares. He is a brilliant lawyer. A skilled criminal. A beautiful liar. A bully and a savior, a monster and a lover.
Ten years ago, he made me run away from the small town where we lived. Now, he came for me in New York, and he isn’t leaving until he takes me with him.
Vicious:
She is a starving artist. Pretty and evasive like cherry blossom. Ten years ago, she barged into my life unannounced and turned everything upside down. She paid the price.
Emilia LeBlanc is completely off-limits, my best friend’s ex-girlfriend. The woman who knows my darkest secret, and the daughter of the cheap Help we hired to take care of our estate. That should deter me from chasing her, but it doesn’t. So she hates me. Big fucking deal. She better get used to me."
Genres:
Romance
Contemporary
Adult
Characters:
Rating:
8
Say You Still Love Me.
by: K.A Tucker.
I am a big fan of K.A Tucker. I like her way of writing a lot and almost all her books end up leaving me very satisfied and with a happy heart. All her stories intrigue me and normally I can't drop her books. This book was no exception. I loved the story. I think you already realized that I am a big fan of the books that are narrated in 2 different POVs at different times in history.
I think you also realized that I love hot guys with tattoos (don't judge me, I know you do too) and let's say that Kyle met the standards to be one of my fictional boyfriends.
I loved Piper's personality, she is totally a badass.
I liked the chapters narrated in the past, I love the way its told when Kyle and Piper meet and all the things they do in the camp.
I also liked the chapters that are narrated in the present, the tension between them is good and when they decide to give themselves the opportunity to fall in love again, I literally did a happy dance.
The plot is good and you never expect that ending. (let's say I cried a little)
If you are looking for a book that leaves you sighing for love and makes you want to believe in love and in perfect men, this is your book.
Note: I really hope God is reading this because I already gave him many hints that I want a hot guy with tattoos that is sensitive and romantic inside.
Here is a brief review:
"Life is a mixed bag for Piper Calloway.
On the one hand, she’s a twenty-nine-year-old VP at her dad’s multibillion-dollar real estate development firm, and living the high single life with her two best friends in a swanky downtown penthouse. On the other hand, she’s considered a pair of sexy legs in a male-dominated world and constantly has to prove her worth. Plus, she’s stuck seeing her narcissistic ex-fiancé—a fellow VP—on the other side of her glass office wall every day.
Things get exponentially more complicated for Piper when she runs into Kyle Miller—the handsome new security guard at Calloway Group Industries, and coincidentally the first love of her life.
The guy she hasn’t seen or heard from since they were summer camp counsellors together. The guy from the wrong side of the tracks. The guy whoapparentlydoesn’t even remember her name.
Piper may be a high-powered businesswoman now, but she soon realizes that her schoolgirl crush is not only alive but stronger than ever, and crippling her concentration. What’s more, despite Kyle’s distant attitude, she’s convinced their reunion isn’t at all coincidental, and that his feelings for her still run deep. And she’s determined to make him admit to them, no matter the consequences."
Genres:
Romance
Contemporary
Adult
Characters:
Piper Calloway.
Kyle Miller.
Ashley.
Eric.
Christa.
Rating:
9
Queen of Air and Darkness.
by: Cassandra Clare.
I think this is a good time to tell you guys that I am a very, very big fan of the Shadowhunter saga. I have read 12 books of the saga and every time I read a new one I fall more in love with it. I feel that all the characters are my children and it is my duty to take care of them and protect them from evil.
If we speak chronologically, this mini-saga of 3 books happens a few years after the saga "The Mortal Instruments" (where Jace and Clary appear, you probably saw the movie already).
I loved this saga, I fell completely in love with Jules and all his Blackthorn brothers. I love all the characters and the romantic drama there is between each one of them, it´s so intense that they made me suffer and laugh.
It was definitely a worthy book to end this series. There are so many moments that put you on hold that you can't stop reading and you finish the book in less than a week.
I can't tell you much about the book without saying spoilers, but I can tell you that I loved it and it left me in such a good mood....not even my brother teasing me made me change my mood.
The end was so special. I rectify. Everything was so special.
If you are a fan of books with fantasy, romance, and characters with such unique personalities, you should definitely read this book. I promise you, you will not regret it.
If you want to read The Dark Artifices saga, I leave the link below.
Note: I need to talk to someone about this series, so please read it. Thank you :).
Note #2: If you know someone like Julian, please contact me, (my details are on the main page).
Here is a brief review:
"What if damnation is the price of true love?
Innocent blood has been spilled on the steps of the Council Hall, the sacred stronghold of the Shadowhunters. In the wake of the tragic death of Livia Blackthorn, the Clave teeters on the brink of civil war. One fragment of the Blackthorn family flees to Los Angeles, seeking to discover the source of the disease that is destroying the race of warlocks. Meanwhile, Julian and Emma take desperate measures to put their forbidden love aside and undertake a perilous mission to Faerie to retrieve the Black Volume of the Dead. What they find in the Courts is a secret that may tear the Shadow World asunder and open a dark path into a future they could never have imagined. Caught in a race against time, Emma and Julian must save the world of Shadowhunters before the deadly power of the parabatai curse destroys them and everyone they love."
Genres:
Romance
Contemporary
Adult
Characters:
Kit Herondale.
Zara Dearborn.
Kieran.
Rating:
10
If I'm Being Honest
by: Emily Wibberley.
I liked this book because it is a teen drama and once in a while one needs to read high school drama to see that others suffer as well.
My thoughts when I read the review were, I have never read a book where the main character has that kind of personality, I usually read books where the girl is sweet and nerdy.
I liked the book, it was fun to see Cameron's personality and I really liked her a lot, I would like to have her self-esteem and be the queen bee of the school.
I also liked the romantic relationship between the characters, it really seemed very sweet to me.
There were quite a few scenes that made me laugh and the ending left me very satisfied.
If you need a book to laugh and read something different from teenage romance novels, I highly recommend this book.
Note: With this book I wanted two things:
1.- Copy Camerons attitudes and feel empowered.
2.- Watch the musical "Rocky Horror".
Here is a brief review:
"High school senior Cameron Bright’s reputation can be summed up in one word: bitch. It’s no surprise she’s queen bee at her private L.A. high school—she’s beautiful, talented, and notorious for her cutting and brutal honesty. So when she puts her foot in her mouth in front of her crush, Andrew, she fears she may have lost him for good.
In an attempt to win him over, Cameron resolves to “tame” herself, much like Katherine in Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. First, she’ll have to make amends with those she’s wronged, which leads her to Brendan, the guy she labelled with an unfortunate nickname back in the sixth grade. At first, Brendan isn’t all that receptive to Cameron’s ploy. But slowly, he warms up to her when they connect over the computer game he’s developing. Now if only Andrew would notice…
But the closer Cameron gets to Brendan, the more she sees he appreciates her personality—honesty and all—and wonders if she’s compromising who she is for the guy she doesn’t even want."
Genres:
Romance
Contemporary
Young Adult
Characters:
Cameron.
Brendan.
Paige.
Andrew.
Elle.
Morgan.
Rating:
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