Thursday, January 7, 2021

My Favorite & Least Favorite Reads of 2020

Hey, guys!

This year was full of so many books that I enjoyed, but only 14 made it to my true favorites list from the year. If you've followed me for very long, you'll know that I usually would have done a "top 20 of 2020" sort of situation, but it just didn't fit this year. There are quite a few runner ups for 2020, so stay tuned for that toward the end of the post. 

If you've read my long blurb about 2020 from my 2020 Wrap Up post, you'll know that 2020 was my year for historical romance exploration, but I decided that I would only choose two total HR titles from the 30+ that I had managed to read. It was hard to pinpoint, so stay tuned.


Here is a glimpse of my favorite reads, but here we go!

When I make these lists, I have a hard time making them in any sort of order. I usually know my favorite of the year, but that's about it. Sometimes the favorites are so close that I just pick a top 1-3 books, but this year's pick was just so definite in my mind. 


While creating this graphic, I attempted to narrow down my favorites in a pyramid shape to see how they rank in my mind. Here we go!

✨The Top 3✨



House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City #1) by Sarah J. Maas
5 stars
{goodreads link}
Date read: March 13

cw/tw: suicidal ideation, grief, loss of a loved one, drug use, blood, gore, violence. There are also explicit discussions surrounding sex and sexual content.

My #1 -- my all-time favorite read from 2020 was House of Earth & Blood by Sarah J. Maas. Who's surprised? Sarah J. Maas is one of my top 3 favorite authors. That will never change. HoE&B was such a phenomenal read. I cannot wait to reread it this year (before CC#2, maybe? I doubt it'll come out this year, but a reread is going to happen). 2021 is the year for rereading SJM's work and annotating. It's going to be wonderful.

CC was everything I could have hoped for. It was my last read before I was officially quarantined, before I went online for my last semester of college, and before my official romance reading marathon began. It. Was. Perfect. (for me). I know that this book didn't work for a lot of people, but it really spoke to me and I adored it. It means so much to me. I really want to reread it before I fully review it though. Stay tuned!

A Conjuring of Light (Shades of Magic #3) by V.E. Schwab

5 stars
{goodreads link}
Date read: October 27

cw/tw: abuse, torture, abduction, slavery, captivity, talk of suicide, violence, gore, heavy blood descriptions, abandonment, grief, PTSD. There is also a sex scene.

This was everything. I absolutely adored revisiting A Darker Shade of Magic in 2020 and finally continuing on with the series and finishing it. I'm so obsessed with V.E. Schwab's writing skills, her style, and the characters she creates. Her attention to the line between good and evil is so genius and her morally grey characters are my absolute favorite. I cannot wait to continue reading more from V.E. Schwab/Victoria Schwab because she is just quickly becoming an all-time favorite.

A Reaper at the Gates (Ember in the Ashes #3) by Sabaa Tahir

5 stars
Date read: October 2

tw/cw: physical abuse, paranormal possession, violence and warfare, torture, captivity, PTSD

I'm so glad that I picked up An Ember in the Ashes again. I hadn't realized how little I had remembered from my first read when it first came out. I think I loved it even more than that first read-through. It still read like a debut (which isn't a bad thing at all), but it was so much fun to listen and read to these books, see Sabaa's writing style improve this book was full of so many twists and turns. I'm so freaking jazzed to finish the series in 2021. I had planned on marathoning the last book on the day of its release, but I had had to work and I had managed to start three books before the release. 

Sabaa Tahir is such a gem of a writer!


✨My Other Favorites!✨
(in no particular order)


A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi

5 stars
Date read: February 22
 
Trigger/Content warning: Islamophobia, xenophobia, racism, physical/verbal harassment, parental abandonment

This is a must-read. You won't regret picking this one up. It was everything I had hoped for when it comes to a hard-hitting YA contemporary. The characterization was spot on, the discussions that it inspired were phenomenally executed, and I think that this is one of those books that needs to be circulated through schools. I would love to teach kids about this book -- and I don't even want to be a teacher. 

Heartstopper Volume 1 by Alice Oseman

5 stars
Date read: October 11

Heartstopper is absolute perfection. I adore Alice Oseman's writing style, but her art style is just one of my favorites ever. Her soft characters give me the best feelings. I cannot wait to read more volumes of Hearstopper in 2021.

It was so delightful to get a glimpse into Charlie and Nick's love story and I cannot wait to see how it progresses. 

Take A Hint, Dani Brown (The Brown Sisters #2) by Talia Hibbert

5 stars
Date read: July 29

This book was my favorite of the Brown Sisters series so far! I adore Chloe Brown, but Dani took my heart. 




Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

5 stars
{goodreads link}
Date read: August 15

This was such a phenomenal read. The audio experience was perfect and the care and detail that the audio narrator put into their performance were just flawless. Naomi Novik is a masterful writer and I cannot wait to read more from her backlisted works. I cannot stress enough that you should absolutely pick this book up.

Well Met (#1) by Jen DeLuca

5 stars
Date read: March 22

cw: this does contain sexual content, a pirate in leather, and a swoon-worthy man in a kilt

This book was so swoon-worthy and lovely. 



Bringing Down the Duke (#1) by Evie Dunmore

4.75 stars
Date read: March 27

The first historical romance novel that I actually adored! This was such a fun concept! I cannot wait to read more from Evie Dunmore! 




Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall

4.75 stars
{goodreads link}
Date read: July 20

This was such a wonderful m/m romance! This made me feel all of the feels. 

Check out my review {here}!

The Tea Dragon Tapestry (Tea Dragons #3) by Katie O'Neill

5 stars
{goodreads link}
Date read: July 29

This was a beautiful conclusion to the Tea Dragon series. Katie O'Neill is such a masterful artist and writer! I cannot wait to buy my own copies of the entire series. 

My series review can be found {here}!


Beach Read by Emily Henry

4.5 stars
Date read: April 15

This book has some pretty polarizing opinions surrounding it, but I really loved it. It really kicked my butt into gear to get back to writing and to start drafting a risky literary fiction piece. I'm really glad that I read it and I really loved the characters and the romance. 



Ninth House (#1) by Leigh Bardugo

4.5 stars
Date read: April 8

cw/tw: drug use, overdosing, murder, death, loss of a loved one, rituals, gore, PTSD depiction, grief depiction, self-harm, bloodletting, rape, child (12) rape (it is only two pages, but it is very graphic), statutory rape (15), sexual assault, forced sexual assault on video, talk of suicide, blackmail, physical abuse, a magical date rape drug, forced eating of human waste (to a rapist), and racism (always in a negative light)

This book took me quite a long time to read, but wow oh wow did I enjoy it. While this read quite slow, it's only because horror/mystery novels aren't necessarily my usual cup of tea. However, there were so many elements to this story that didn't make it just a horror/mystery novel. I adored the fascinating characters, the paranormal elements, and the constant shifts in time throughout. This was an excellently crafted novel. I need book 2, please.

The Duchess Deal (Girl Meets Duke #1) by Tessa Dare

4.75 stars
Date read: April 25

cw/tw: for abandonment, emotional abuse, talk of past war themes, and just for the main character that has very low self-esteem, who is constantly belittling himself.

Last but not least! Tessa Dare's The Duchess Deal had to make it to this list. This was the book that fully pushed me into the historical romance genre. This book -- the entire series really -- is a work of art. Tessa Dare is a fabulous historical romance author and I'm patiently and impatiently waiting for the final(?) installment to the series. 

If you're interested in checking out some historical romance titles, start with Tessa Dare!

✨The Runner-Ups✨

There were so many books to sift through -- so many wonderful, excellent books that I can't stop thinking about, so here are my seven runner-ups! 


    1. City of Brass (The Daevabad Chronicles #1) by S.A. Chakraborty
      • 4.5 stars
      • Beautiful mythology, intriguing characters, fabulous twists, and turns.
    2. The Okay Witch (#1) by Emma Steinkellner
      • 5 stars
      • Witchy lore, family-focused story, focuses on bullying and feminist ideals, and a fantastic art style.
    3. A Kiss at Midnight (Fairy Tales #1) by Eloisa James
      • 4 stars
      • Fantastic writing, hilarious moments, Cinderella-inspired historical romance
    4. Work For It by Talia Hibbert
      • 4.5 stars
      • Grumpy softy searching for self-confidence x Cynical softy searching for self-love; m/m romance, powerful friendships, and love
    5. Woven in Moonlight (#3) by Isabel Ibanez
      • 4.5 stars
      • Bolivian-based folklore and mythology, arranged marriage trope, masked vigilante
    6. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
      • 4.5 stars
      • Parallelled story between an interviewer and a famous actress, Evelyn Hugo. Powerful, romantic, originally written.
    7. Wayward Son (Carry On #2) by Rainbow Rowell
      • 4.5 stars
      • Full-on feels! This was so much fun to read! I love Simon and Baz's stories so much. I need to know how it ends!

    ✨Most Disappointing ✨


    There were quite a few just-okay reads this year, but there were only 5 that were true disappointments. 

    Find Me Their Bones (Bring Me Their Hearts #1) by Sara Wolf
    2 stars
    ~ This was just so bland and boring. The characters weren't who they were developed as in Bring Me Their Hearts. There was so much telling rather than showing the reader. It was just wholly disappointing. 

    2.75 stars
    ~ I wanted to love this story, but I was just so bored. The pacing was all wrong and the romance seemed forced. It was steamy and electric, but it wasn't my favorite.

    2 stars
    ~ This was one of the biggest letdowns. I was so underwhelmed and disappointed by this book. It definitely did not live up to the hype that was in my heart. I absolutely adored Kiera's previous novels. The Selection series is one of my all-time favorite series and I will love them forever, but The Betrothed was just a whole lot of nothing. 

    RM: 3 stars
    DM: 2.5 stars
    ~ Unfortunately, these were just not as good as the first three books. It just felt like the writing has just not lived up to my expectations. Shatter Me, Reveal Me, and Ignite Me were just so fantastic, but these were just a letdown. The writing just wasn't on par compared to the previous books. They didn't seem like complete drafts.


    What were your favorite and least favorite reads of 2020? Let's discuss!

    Happy reading!
    Olivia
    ~ Liv the Book Nerd ~

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