My Favorite Reads From 2017

For my first post of the year, I decided to try and narrow down my favorite reads of the year. I knew this list would end up majority fantasy if I didn't separate by genre, so of course not all of my favorite books made it onto this list. Narrowing down was very difficult, but I think I've come up with a pretty good list!



Fiction: Burial Rites, Hannah Kent

Hannah Kent's novel Burial Rites is one of the best books I've read in a long time. It tells the story of Agnes Magnusdottir, the last person to be executed in Iceland. Agnes, after being charged with the murder of her former employer and lover, is sent to await execution at a remote and isolated farm. Fearful of Agnes, the family that runs the farm is reluctant to include her in their daily life. The only comfort Agnes has is Toti, a reverend trying to help her find solace in her last days as a living woman. Kent's evocative, lyrical style of writing lessens the distance of time and place to Agnes' Iceland of the nineteenth century. I adored this book, and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys slow stories, and to anyone who wants to feel.
   

YA Fiction: To All The Boys I've Loved Before, Jenny Han

I don't often read YA romances, but I had seen so many reviews of Jenny Han's To All the Boys I've Loved Before online that I just had to pick it up. Two days later, I finished the trilogy. Lara Jean has been writing letters to her crushes since middle school. She never sends them out, of course, just writing to let out the emotions of the heart before storing those letters in an old hatbox. However, one day the letters are mysteriously sent out and Lara Jean's life turns upside down. This is not just any old high school romance. The theme of family is ever present in Han's story, specifically the strength and friendship of sisterhood. There is very little of substance in To All the Boys I've Loved Before, but it is still a pure delight. If you like fluffy, fun, love stories, this one is for you!

Fantasy: A Conjuring of Light, V.E. Schwab

I had a feeling I would like V.E. Schwab's Shades of Magic series as soon as I read the synopsis, but I had no idea how hard I was going to fall for them. As soon as I read the first sentence, "Kell wore a very peculiar coat," I was hooked. The world building, character building, and imagination give this series an incredible voice. In this series, there are four different worlds layered on top of each other, but each world has a city by the name of London. There is Grey London, magicless and drab. Then there is Red London, full of magic and thriving with life. White London is dying, the magic corrupted. And then there is Black London, a world that was so corrupted by magic that it died. Kell Maresh is one of two Antari, magicians that can travel between worlds. He is a prince of Red London and the most powerful magician in the world. Lila Bard is just a Grey London pick-pocket, but when she collides with Kell on one of his trips to Grey London, Lila is shown a whole new way of life. Full of adventure, magic, love, and friendship, VE Schwab's trilogy is one of the finest fantasy series I've ever read. The third installment A Conjuring of Light, was my favorite of the series, and I think it might have been my favorite read of the year.

    runner up: The Invasion of the Tearling, Erika Johanssan

YA Fantasy: The Raven King, Maggie Stiefvater

Maggie Stiefvater's southern fantasy involving dead Welsh kings, lay lines, and magical forests is one of the most whimsical stories I have ever read. Richard Gansey III is on the hunt for the body of a centuries dead Welsh king who he believes is buried on a lay line in Henrietta, Virginia. Blue Sargent comes from a family of clairvoyants and lives in Henrietta, Virginia with her mother, aunts, and cousin. There is an unexplainable draw between the two of them. Whether that draw is mutual hatred or love is unclear, but once their paths cross there is no going back. Blue is swept into Gansey's quest for his dead king. She meets Ronan Lynch, angry Irish Catholic; Adam Parrish, local Henrietta boy on scholarship at the local private school; and Noah Czerny, quiet and unexplainably 'smudgy'. The five of them quickly become thick as thieves in their search for a dead Welsh king.

    runner up: A Court of Wings and Ruin, Sarah J. Maas

Adult Sci-Fi/Dystopian: Golden Son, Pierce Brown

Sci-Fi is another genre that I don't often gravitate to, but the Red Rising Trilogy is just fantastic. It reminds me of  everything I loved about The Hunger Games, but with space ships and more violence. Red Rising begins far into the future, and Mars is being made ready for human population. The Red caste is forced to mine and tunnel to get the planet ready, a sacrifice for the future inhabitants of Mars. However not all is as it seems and when Darrow discovers the grievances he and his people are being forced to endure, a group of rebels light the spark of revolution inside of him. He decides to infiltrate the highest caste of civilians The Golds, and takes part in the game that determines who becomes generals, senators, etc. If you love funny, adventurous, violent, romantic books, then this series is for you!