Top 5 books of the year so far

I’m doing quite well on my reading goals this year and have so far read, or listened to, 47 books. So I thought, why not have think about my top 5? Will they be the same by the end of the year?

I know it’s weird to be doing this post three quarters of the way through the year, I meant to do this in June but here we are…

In no particular order:

1. Fourth Wing

I enjoyed this book SO MUCH. It has the same vibe as ACOTAR, something written purely for fantasy lovers, very readable, with nice broody enemies to lovers romance.

It’s got dragons, it’s got magic, it’s got a ruthless Divergent/ Hunger Games style school. It’s got morally grey characters, found family, ‘who did this to you’ trope.

I can understand some of the complaints on Tiktok about the writing style, sometimes the dialogue is a little unrealistic but this didn’t take away from the book at all and frankly, I wouldn’t have noticed it if it hadn’t been pointed out. If you can read some of the fairly ridiculous phrases in ACOTAR and still enjoy the books, you can 100% enjoy this book.

2. Two Necromancers, a bureaucrat and an elf

You can read my full review here but this was honestly just some silly goofy fun fantasy.

A Necromancer decides he wants out of the game in order to beat the statistics around necromancers survival rates and give his apprentice, Katie, a better life. The Council are offering pardons in exchange for services rendered so he goes to them and they set him on the mission to recruit other reluctant heroes (former villains) and defeat other bad guys.

It’s fun, there’s ninja rats, the apprentice sews pink outfits for the Zombies and lots of other silly details like that, it’s very Pratchett-esq humour.

3. Twisted Hate – Twisted series

Of the four books in the Twisted series, this was my favourite.

It’s enemies to lovers, enemies-with-benefits hate fucking, it has the best story arc of them all and the most believable dynamic.

You can read my full review here

4. Love on the Brain – Ali Hazelwood

This is even my favourite out of all the Ali Hazelwood’s I’ve read (including Love Hypothesis *gasp*). I found the STEM backdrop to this one the most interesting, especially the FMC fan grilling for Marie Curie and all the interesting facts about her that are sprinkled throughout. To be honest, I just preferred the narration style of this one overall. Also, I found the progression of the romance to be the most natural feeling, although the third act miscommunication can be seen a hundred miles off.

Read my full review here

5. Beach Read – Emily Henry

I think it might be one of my favourite romance books I’ve read so far in my romance girlie era.

Two writers (and former nemesis’s) struggling with writers block agree to swap genres, agreeing to go on research trips to teach the other about their genre, set in an ideal lakeside town in Michigan.

This book had so much more depth than a lot of romance books I’ve read this year, I really enjoyed how their relationship develops, set against the MC’s love of writing and books, as she struggles to overcome her writers block. I liked how, because her genre was romance, this was used to kind of break the fourth wall in places, naming staples of the genre as and when the MC finds herself in a cliche moment/ a cliche moment doesn’t go like it does in stories for her in real life.

Read the full review here

What are the best books you’ve read this year? I’m always on the hunt for recommendations!

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