It is now that time of year…the end of 2018. A time of closure, celebration, and reminiscing. So today, I’m going to share with you my favorite books of 2018! These are books that I have read that were released in 2018. Remember that these are my opinions, and you don’t HAVE to agree with them. These are books that inspired me this year and that I really recommend people pick up and read.
One Day in December by Josie Silver
This book! This book! Ah! I cannot stop thinking about how good this book was. I remember first seeing this novel on Instagram in fall of 2018, and I only recently got the chance to pick it up when I went to the bookstore last week. I was anticipating a fun, easy romance that would be light and fluffy, and what I got was a funny, romantic book that pulled at my heart and made me feel an array of strong emotions. I laughed, I cried, I loved this book! It is also a novel that takes place in multiple places around the world, which filled the place in my heart that is set aside for travel. If you love adult romance, then you MUST pick up this beautiful book. It will make your inner romantic sing with joy!
Synopsis:
Laurie is pretty sure love at first sight doesn’t exist anywhere but the movies. But then, through a misted-up bus window one snowy December day, she sees a man who she knows instantly is the one. Their eyes meet, there’s a moment of pure magic…and then her bus drives away.
Certain they’re fated to find each other again, Laurie spends a year scanning every bus stop and cafe in London for him. But she doesn’t find him, not when it matters anyway. Instead they “reunite” at a Christmas party, when her best friend Sarah giddily introduces her new boyfriend to Laurie. It’s Jack, the man from the bus. It would be.
What follows for Laurie, Sarah and Jack is ten years of friendship, heartbreak, missed opportunities, roads not taken, and destinies reconsidered. One Day in December is a joyous, heartwarming and immensely moving love story to escape into and a reminder that fate takes inexplicable turns along the route to happiness.
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
To say this novel is good is an understatement. I have always loved Holly Black’s writing, but I fell head over heels in adoration with her newest book, The Cruel Prince, when it came out in early 2018. I have always had a soft spot for faerie novels, and this book has just the right amount of dark beauty, vengeance, and elegance that the fae possess. Holly Black is truly the Queen when it comes to writing fae novels, and she doesn’t disappoint in this new series. If you love dark fantasy with just the right amount of lust and hate-to-love, then this is your book! It is gritty and truly fantastical. I was lucky enough to get an ARC of the sequel, The Wicked King, which comes out in January of 2019, and I must say that the series just gets better! Book 2 is just as, if not more, fantastic than Book 1. This series is a must read!
Synopsis:
Jude was seven when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.
To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences.
As Jude becomes more deeply embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, she discovers her own capacity for trickery and bloodshed. But as betrayal threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.
What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera
I remember when I heard that these two lovely authors were writing a book together, it was a moment of pure joy and excitement. I had high expectations going into this book, had heard so many amazing reviews, had already fallen in love with the synopsis on Goodreads; and all of these expectations were met and exceeded. This book is truly one that will be in my heart forever. It is one that belongs in the Young Adult contemporary romance Hall of Fame. It shows one of the most real and true representations of love and finding one’s own self in the journey. It brought me to tears, and showed me that love and the desire and hope for love are still very much alive in the hearts of people. This book is full of New York, boy meets boy romance, and LOTS of musical theater jokes that were amazing. I loved Arthur and Ben’s love story. It was truly one for the ages.
Synopsis:
Arthur is only in New York for the summer, but if Broadway has taught him anything, it’s that the universe can deliver a showstopping romance when you least expect it.
Ben thinks the universe needs to mind its business. If the universe had his back, he wouldn’t be on his way to the post office carrying a box of his ex-boyfriend’s things.
But when Arthur and Ben meet-cute at the post office, what exactly does the universe have in store for them?
Maybe nothing. After all, they get separated.
Maybe everything. After all, they get reunited.
But what if they can’t quite nail a first date . . . or a second first date . . . or a third?
What if Arthur tries too hard to make it work . . . and Ben doesn’t try hard enough?
What if life really isn’t like a Broadway play?
But what if it is?
Queen of Air and Darkness by Cassandra Clare
How could I not talk about this book? I feel like I always mention a Cassandra Clare novel whenever I am writing an article, and I honestly don’t see how I couldn’t. Clare’s The Dark Artifices series, the third book series in her Shadowhunter world, has been a favorite of mine since I opened and read the first few pages of Lady Midnight. And now, after I have finished Queen Of Air and Darkness, the third and final book, I am reminded of not only my love for the characters in this series but also of my love for all of Clare’s novels and characters. This finale was spectacular. It, in my opinion, was Cassandra Clare’s best closing book in any of her series. I was truly blown away by this book, and I cannot wait to see what Clare writes next.
Synopsis for Lady Midnight, the first book in The Dark Artifices series:
In a secret world where half-angel warriors are sworn to fight demons, parabatai is a sacred word.
A parabatai is your partner in battle. A parabatai is your best friend. Parabatai can be everything to each other—but they can never fall in love.
Emma Carstairs is a warrior, a Shadowhunter, and the best in her generation. She lives for battle. Shoulder to shoulder with her parabatai, Julian Blackthorn, she patrols the streets of Los Angeles, where vampires party on the Sunset Strip, and faeries—the most powerful of supernatural creatures—teeter on the edge of open war with Shadowhunters. When the bodies of humans and faeries turn up murdered in the same way Emma’s parents were when she was a child, an uneasy alliance is formed. This is Emma’s chance for revenge—and Julian’s chance to get back his brother Mark, who is being held prisoner by the faerie Courts. All Emma, Mark, and Julian have to do is solve the murders within two weeks…and before the murderer targets them.
Their search takes Emma from sea caves full of sorcery to a dark lottery where death is dispensed. And each clue she unravels uncovers more secrets. What has Julian been hiding from her all these years? Why does Shadowhunter Law forbid parabatai to fall in love? Who really killed her parents—and can she bear to know the truth?
The darkly magical world of Shadowhunters has captured the imaginations of millions of readers across the globe. Join the adventure in Lady Midnight, the long-awaited first volume of a new trilogy from Cassandra Clare.
Frat Girl by Kylie Roache
I have talked and talked and talked about this book since I read it earlier this year. I honestly cannot stop raving about it, and for good reason. IT IS AMAZING! This book was not only a book that I loved while reading it, it was a book that touched my heart and soul. It sparked my inner feminist and made me want to pursue gender studies in University. This book has what every Young Adult Contemporary needs, but exceeds those things and actually talks about important emotional and contemporary issues. It has such an incredible voice that is from a character who is still learning who she wants to be and what the F word, Feminism, truly means to her and to others. It does a fantastic job of representing feminism by exploring what it should mean, equality for ALL genders. Kylie Roache herself is inspiring, and this 2018 debut is a must read for anyone! I cannot wait to see what this amazing author creates in the future.
Synopsis:
For Cassandra Davis, the F-word is fraternity—specifically Delta Tau Chi, a house on probation and on the verge of being banned from campus. Accused of offensive, sexist behavior, they have one year to clean up their act. For the DTC brothers, the F-word is feminist—the type of person who writes articles in the school paper about why they should lose their home.
With one shot at a scholarship to attend the university of her dreams, Cassie pitches a research project: to pledge Delta Tau Chi and provide proof of their misogynistic behavior. They’re frat boys. She knows exactly what to expect once she gets there. Exposing them should be a piece of cake.
But the boys of Delta Tau Chi have their own agenda, and fellow pledge Jordan Louis is certainly more than the tank top wearing “bro” Cassie expected to find. With her heart and her future tangled in the web of her own making, Cassie is forced to realize that the F-word might not be as simple as she thought after all.
Check down below for a short list of more of my favorite books of 2018!
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
Always Never Yours by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka
Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa
All synopses were taken from Goodreads.
