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.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

Title: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

Series: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer - book 1

Author: Michelle Hodkin

Rating: 5 stars

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal

Number of Pages: 456

Publication Date: 2011

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Summary: Mara Dyer believes life can't get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there. 

It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her strangely unharmed.

There is.

She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love.

She's wrong.

There are some books that simply blow your mind away, they make all the books you have read recently look rather plain in comparison...for me this was The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is the first book in the Mara Dyer series and follows the story of Mara Dyer as she tries to piece together her mind and life following a tragic accident that kills her best friends and boyfriend and which she was the only survivor.

Through this book we see Mara learn to adapt without her best friend, Rachel, who has been by her side her whole life and watch as she tries to make new friends in a new school.

And then there is Noah Shaw! Noah is one of those character who just needs to be lifted from the pages of the book and just be real, he is amazing! And he is British! This character is totally swoon worthy and despite a slight bad boy rep he is also an incredible compassionate character too and is determined to help Mara in any way he can, despite the risks. This guy...just no words for how incredible he is.

I listened to the first third of this book as a audiobook and wow does the audiobook really bring these characters to life, especially Noah with his accent. This was the first book I have ever listened to and I don't think it will be my last. The thing I hated about listening to this as an audiobook, however, is that I can read faster than they talk, and this book was just too good to wait and listen.

As for the actual story line itself, well this is where it get interesting. The way this book is written just blows your mind! Mara, who is suffering from PTSD, is struggling to understand what is reality and what isn't and working out whether she does have supernatural powers or her hallucination are just creepy andcoincidental.

Michelle Hodkin's writing style is beautiful and manages to role complexity and simplicity all together to create a truly incredible book.

If supernatural is not your cup-of-tea don't be put off because this book is not focused around the strange in these strange events but instead around Mara's ability to cope.

This book is quickly moving up the ranks of my all time favourite books and I can't wait to get my hands on the next two books in a series.

Please leave a comment and tell me what you thought of this book, whether you loved it or hated and what you thought of the next two books in the series as well. If you have any recommendations for what I can read next, please let me know as I am always looking for something new to read.

Happy Reading!