To celebrate the end of 2018, I’ve decided to compile a list of all the books that I gave 10/10 to this year. These are the books that I loved the most, out of anything I read.
Thank you to the publishers for continuing to send me review copies in 2018, and thanks to my readers for continuing to visit my blog.
FICTION
The Three Secret Cities by Matthew Reilly
HELL HATH NO FURY LIKE FOUR KINGDOMS SCORNED.
THE HUNT FOR JACK WEST JR HAS BEGUN.
A SHADOW WORLD BEHIND THE REAL WORLD
When Jack West Jr won the Great Games, he threw the four legendary kingdoms into turmoil. Now these dark forces are coming after Jack … in ruthless fashion.
With the end of all things rapidly approaching, Jack must find the Three Secret Cities, three incredible lost cities of legend.
It’s an impossible task by any reckoning, but Jack must do it while he is being hunted …
You can read my review HERE
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The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin
If you were told the date of your death, how would it shape your present?
It’s 1969 in New York City’s Lower East Side, and word has spread of the arrival of a mystical woman, a traveling psychic who claims to be able to tell anyone the day they will die. The Gold children—four adolescents on the cusp of self-awareness—sneak out to hear their fortunes.
Their prophecies inform their next five decades. Golden-boy Simon escapes to the West Coast, searching for love in ’80s San Francisco; dreamy Klara becomes a Las Vegas magician, obsessed with blurring reality and fantasy; eldest son Daniel seeks security as an army doctor post-9/11, hoping to control fate; and bookish Varya throws herself into longevity research, where she tests the boundary between science and immortality.
You can read my review HERE
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NON-FICTION
Rebel Voices by Louise Kay Stewart and Eve Lloyd Knight
A beautifully illustrated celebration of the brave campaigners who fought for women’s right to vote.
Discover that it was never illegal for women to vote in Ecuador, or how 40,000 Russian women marched through St Petersburg demanding their rights. Find out how one Canadian woman changed opinions with a play, and Kuwaiti women protested via text message. And learn that women climbed mountains, walked a lion through the streets of Paris, and starved themselves, all in the name of having a voice.
Tracing its history from New Zealand at the end of the 19th century, follow this empowering movement as it spread from Oceania to Europe and the Americas, then Africa and Asia up to the present day. Meet the women who rioted, rallied and refused to give up. Stunningly illustrated by Eve Lloyd Knight, this book celebrates the women who refused to behave, rebelling against convention to give women everywhere a voice.
You can read my review HERE
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FANTASY
Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor
In the wake of tragedy, neither Lazlo nor Sarai are who they were before. One a god, the other a ghost, they struggle to grasp the new boundaries of their selves as dark-minded Minya holds them hostage, intent on vengeance against Weep.
Lazlo faces an unthinkable choice – save the woman he loves, or everyone else? – while Sarai feels more helpless than ever. But is she? Sometimes, only the direst need can teach us our own depths, and Sarai, the muse of nightmares, has not yet discovered what she’s capable of.
As humans and godspawn reel in the aftermath of the citadel’s near fall, a new foe shatters their fragile hopes, and the mysteries of the Mesarthim are resurrected: Where did the gods come from, and why? What was done with the thousands of children born in the citadel nursery? And most important of all, as forgotten doors are opened and new worlds revealed: must heroes always slay monsters, or is it possible to save them instead?
You can read my review HERE
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BOOKS FOR YOUNGER READERS
Cicada by Shaun Tan
The story of a cicada who works in an office, and all the people who don’t appreciate him. The new picture book from multi-award-winner Shaun Tan, author of The Arrival, The Lost Thing and Rules of Summer.
A story for anyone who has ever felt unappreciated, overlooked or overworked, from Australia’s most acclaimed picture book creator.
You can read my review HERE
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The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell
Before Carrie Bradshaw hit the big time in the City, she was a regular girl growing up in the suburbs of Connecticut. How did she turn into one of the most-read social observers of our generation?
The Carrie Diaries opens up in Carrie’s senior year of high school. She and her best friends — Walt, Lali, Maggie, and the Mouse — are inseparable, amid the sea of Jens, Jocks and Jets.
And then Sebastian Kydd comes into the picture. Sebastian is a bad boy-older, intriguing, and unpredictable. Carrie falls into the relationship that she was always supposed to have in high school-until a friend’s betrayal makes her question everything. With her high school days coming to a close, Carrie will realize it’s finally time to go after everything she ever wanted.
You can read my review HERE
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