Favourite Books of 2015

2015 has been a great reading year for me. My Goodreads Challenge started off at 50 books, then it was 60, then 70 and so on until I had it set for 100. In the end I reached 120 books and that's not including the books I have forgotten to add. The following is a list of my top 10 books of 2015. This list is in no particular order and only some of these books were published this year.

The Ruby Circle by Richelle Mead

This book which was released at the beginning of 2015 brought about the conclusion of the Bloodlines series and also brought about an absolutely fabulous ending to the Vampire Academy world. The ending of this book is one of those endings when you need more than 5 stars.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

This book was an intense and mind boggling read. This is one of those book that will test you and hold onto you long after you have read the last page. You will question everything in this book as to whether what you are reading is reality or not. So if you love a book that challenges your sanity this is your kind of book.

Click here for my full review.

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

Outlander (previously published as Cross Stich) is one behemoth of a historical novel. But don't let this put you off. This story is filled with history, action, romance and a little bit of time travel. This book will draw you into a dark past and make you wish you could stay there.

Click here for my full review.

Red Queen by Victoria Averyard

While I must confess that it was the cover that originally drew me in, the story itself was absolutely incredible. It took me a couple of chapters to get hooked into this story but in the end I read it in one sitting. This book is filled with betrayal and treachery around every corner.

Click here for my full review.

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

This is the first book in the Caster Chronicles and is set in a small Southern American town. This book makes many references to To Kill a Mockingbird and the two stories share many similarities in the sense that both books are about overcoming prejudice with Beautiful Creatures being the paranormal take.

Click here for my full review.

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

All the Bright Places is Jennifer Niven's debut novel. This book will make you cry and laugh as you are drawn into the intense and dark lives of Violet and Finch as they through each other they try and learn to find happiness. This book is an emotional roller coaster but well worth the read.

Click here for my full review.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Lani Taylor

This is the first novel in a trilogy and a book I can find no faults in. The characters, the plot, the worlds, the writing style. This book is like nothing I have ever read before.

Red Rising by Pierce Brown

This sci-fi book which is set on Mars was not what I expected. While I was intrigued I never believed I was going to be amazed. The characters are well thought out and the plot is well balanced. The book is filled with quite a bit of politics but this did not diminish the story.

Click here for my full review.

Cut & Run Series by Abigail Roux and Madeleine Urban

Cut & Run is the first book in a 9 book series which follows two FBI agents Zane Garret and Ty Grady as they struggle with falling in love with each other and trying to solve some of their toughest cases yet. Where Garret and Grady are involved things are bound to blow up, someone is sure to get shot and their may even be a big cat or two.

Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas

Queen of Shadows is the fourth book in the Throne of Glass series. A series which is quickly forging itself a permanent spot on my favourites shelf. While many people feel that this book sees the characters developing some major character shifts, I personally felt that this book was the first time none of the characters had to pretend to be anyone else in order to survive.

Click here for my full review.

Soundless

Title: Soundless

Author: Richelle Mead

Rating: 3.5 stars

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Number of Pages: 266

Publication Date: 2015

Publisher: Penguin

Summary: For as long as Fei can remember, no one in her village has been able to hear. Rocky terrain and frequent avalanches make it impossible  to the village, so Fei and her people are at the mercy of a zipline that carries food up the treacherous cliffs from Beiguo, a mysterious faraway kingdom.

When villagers begin to lose their sight, delivers from the zipline shrink. Many go hungry. Fei and all the people she loves are plunged into crisis, with nothing to look forward to but darkness and starvation.

Until one night, Fei is awoken by a searing noise. Sound becomes her weapon.

She sets out to uncover what's happened to her and to fight the dangers threatening her village. A handsome miner with a revolutionary spirit accompanies Fei on her quest, bringing with him new risks and the possibility of romance. They embark on a majestic journey from the peak of their jagged mountain village to the valley of Beiguo, where a startling truth will change their lives.

I read this book in one sitting, it was a quick, easy and light read of a very different and unique story. Three things in particular stood out about this book.

The first thing that I absolutely loved about this book was how Richelle Mead got around the fact that none of the characters could hear anything. We rely so greatly on sound and writing a book that is filled with people who cannot even fathom what sound is, takes some true talent. As you are reading and Fei gets her hearing back you feel as if you too are experiencing what sounds are for the first time. I was also amazed at how Richelle Mead described sounds. It's not easy to describe the sound something makes when we you can't use words associated with sound to describe it but Richelle creates a seamless way around this.

Another thing I loved about this book was the Chinese folk tale aspect. It is this folk tale aspect that brings the fantasy to the book. But if your not a big fantasy fan that's ok because this book isn't fantasy focused. Unfortunately this is one of things I also disliked about the book. I absolutely loved the Chinese folk tale idea and I would loved to have known more about it. Because of how short this book is, much of the story is told in the here and now. This meant that we only got the fantasy aspect at the end of the book when it was actually happening and didn't get much of a prelude or information in the beginning.

My final point about this book is the characters. Like with the fantasy aspect of this story much of the who the characters were was left untold due to happening outside the actual storyline. This I could understand because of how short the story was but I would like to have seen more character development that was directly tied into the plot events. Both Fei and Li Wei are strong characters who are spurred into action because it is called of them but this is who the characters are already. While they learn more about the outside world and lose some of their naive perspectives, this doesn't so much change them as educate them. But then perhaps that is the point, not everyone changes and grows from every event in their lives. 

Dangerous Lies

Title: Dangerous Lies

Author: Becca Fitzpatrick

Rating: 5 stars

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Thriller

Number of Pages: 384

Publication Date: November 2015

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Summary: Stella Gordon's life is a lie. 

She does not belong in Thunder Basin, Nebraska. As the key witness in a murder trial, Stella is under witness protection, living a life she doesn't want.

No on can know who she really is. Not even Chet Falconer, her hot, enigmatic neighbour. But against her better judgement, Stella finds herself falling under Chet's spell.

Becca Fitzpatrick is one of my favourite young adult authors. She writes fast paced books that you have to read, cover-to-cover, in one sitting. The characters and situations they find themselves in, suck you in from page one and don't spit you out until you are well after the last page.

One of the things that I loved the most about this book was the idea of who you are and what your identity is. Fitzpatrick created a believable and heart wrenching situation in which Stella is forced to come to terms with the fact that who she really is, is someone she can't be. The emotional strain of having to lie and be someone else when all you want to be is yourself.

I loved Stella as a character, especially because she is not your typical main character. Many authors write characters that are strong and unbreakable, great heroes and heroines. Fitzpatrick writes characters who could be anyone...you, your neighbour, the guy who walks his dog down your street every day. Rather than creating a character who is strong and guaranteed to come out on top because of all the special skills they pertain, Stella is an everyday average person, who when put in a difficult situation has to hope that she comes out the other side with the help of others and perhaps a little dumb luck. 

My only disappointment in this entire book was that I wanted more about the murder Stella witnessed. I wanted more of the thriller side of Dangerous Lies. (Spoiler ahead) I wanted to hear more about Reed and if the cartel caught up with him? Was Reed really involved or was Trigger just being Trigger?

Like with the rest of Becca Fitzpatrick's books Dangerous Lies is very focused on the romance of the characters. The thing that I love the most about the romances that Fitzpatrick creates is that the characters always have a strong connection. Their isn't just some smouldering romance with no real substance - Stella and Chet are good friends, they talk and listen to each other and support one another. So many authors write romances that are based almost entirely off attraction and have no mutual ground that make them cheesy and unbelievable. Stella and Chet contain flaws and are far from perfect characters but this just makes them believable and real.

The One

Title: The One

Series: The Selection Series - book 1

Author: Kiera Cass

Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopia

Number of Pages: 323

Publication Date: 2014

Publisher: Harper Collins

Summary: When she was chosen to compete in the Selection, America never dreamed she would find herself anywhere close to the crown - or to Prince Maxon's heart. But as the end of the competition approaches, and the threats outside the palace walls grow more vicious, America realises just how much she stands to lose - and how hard she'll have to fight for the future she wants.

This book is definitely my favourite of the series. In the first book, America whinged too much, and in the second book between America and Maxon's lack of communication and lack of information about the rebels, I am kind of surprised I kept going with this series. 

There was some serious character development in The One. America in this book finally learnt to let go of the past, to stop living life with a safety net. America does a lot of growing up in this book, she learns to stand and fight for her beliefs and even when intimidated and powerless to not lose who she is. This was a refreshing take on the girl she was in The Selection and The Elite. 

I would like to have seen a bit of America's strength in Maxon, especially when it came to his overbearing father. I think that if Maxon had a bit more strength and fight for what he believed in, then his and America's relationship would have had been stronger and would have had something that they had in common. While their ideas for the future of Illea are something that they share, these ideas are restricted to freeing the caste system and helping the poor but never looked at in great enough to detail to unify these two as good couple. Sometimes I felt that these two simply loved each other because they were written to do so.

The thing I loved most about the final book of Maxon and America's story was that we got answers on who the rebels were and what they wanted. FINALLY! The first two book have hinted greatly at the importance of the rebels and yet it is only in this final book that we get answers and then it's all over. For the first time we get to see how the two rebel groups really differ and the two things that are fighting for. 

I don't think that I will continue on with the rest of the books in this series, I'll just stick with reading the original three books. I don't think I could go and read about new angst filled characters. Cass' just creates a little too much angst for my tastes.

Illuminae

Title: Illuminae

Series: The Illuminae Files - book 1

Authors: Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Rating: 5 stars

Genre: Young Adult Science Fiction

Number of Pages: 602

Publication Date: November 2015

Publisher: Allen and Unwin

Summary: One moment Kady Grant and Ezra Mason have nothing bigger to worry about than each other. Specifically, avoiding each other in the wake of their messy break up. In the next second. their entire world falls apart.

The year is 2375 and one of the mega-corporations that control much of deep space has just fired the opening salvo in an intergalactic war, destroying Kady and Ezra's planet. Forced to flee on a small fleet of enemy warships chasing them down is at first all-consuming but soon becomes the least of their worries. A deadly plague is ravaging the refugees on the ships; the fleets AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be an enemy; and High Command is refusing to acknowledge that there may be serious problems. As Kady plunges into a tangled web of data in search of the truth, she realises that Ezra is possibly the only person who can help her save the refugees before it's too late.

This book is perhaps the most amazing and unique thing I have ever read. Even two days after I have finished this book I am still marveling at how well this book was done. When I first heard about this book I wasn't interested in reading it. I am not the biggest science fiction fan and the idea of reading a book written almost entirely in transcripts of interviews, IM's, emails and official documents sounded like it would be missing the fundamentals behind a good book.

I can safely say I am really glad I was wrong. The way this book is told isn't strange and weird, it's creative, unique and brings a whole new perspective to characters and plot. Despite the fact that you never have the story told from the characters perspectives, I never felt like I couldn't understand the emotion behind the characters or why they were doing what they were doing. Kaufman and Kristoff created such emotion and depth in the speech and actions alone.

My only complaint in the entire book was the twenty or so pages leading up the middle of the book. I felt that this part dragged a bit and lacked something. But in saying that, can anyone name a book that was entirely perfect?...

The thing I loved the most about this book was the commentary that was given by the Illuminae Group, especially when they describe what is happening on the surveillance videos; these moments bring a lot of humor and emotion in to the book.

This book is also filled with twists and turns that you don't see coming. Just as you are starting to work everything out, it all changes and you are thrown for a loop. This book gets a strong 5 stars and I can't wait for the second book to come out, because after the ending of the first book...well I need to know more.