Todays Top Ten Tuesday is meant to be about holiday reads but I’m taking a slight twist and doing the 2019 releases I read and what I thought of them. Should they make your Christmas list, spill over to your TBR next year or just disappear on that long list of books you feel a bit meh about and never really pick up?
Finale
1. We’ve had the books, we’ve had the pins, fanart, novelty mugs, special editions, book boxes, more special editions, a handful of stained pages and an array of secret covers. And the novel was only released in 2019?! Oh also, it was excellent.
The Deathless Girls
2. We were off to such a great start. I loved the premise of this novel but the character development was pretty non existent. Also why did the writer centre the secret powers and our narrators jealousy but didn’t actually work this into the plot or development?
Into the Crooked Place
3. In the interest of being fair I will say most people say this is a bit too similar to Six of Crows. But as someone who hasn’t read Six of Crows it was excellent.
A Curse So Dark and Lonely
4. This was 2019??? It felt so long ago. Anyway I was a fan, a take on Beauty and the Beast where Belle is hardcore, the beast is not a terrible person and the challenge is all the innocents like the tea pot and the candle stick that we all liked best from the film anyways.
Normal People
5. You wouldn’t think this was a 2019 release based on how worn the copy I got from the library was. It had been well loved. Normal People was good, it felt a tad like it was struggling to point out the social and class issues it centred on while focussing on the development of our protagonists but overall it was a good novel.
Two Can Keep a Secret
6. Although it didn’t have me hooked in the same way One of Us Lying did, I think that was somewhat circumstantial since I was craving the light hearted who dun it at the time, Two Can Keep a Secret had the shock factor. I actually didn’t guess this one! And having a competent police force made it feel more scary somehow.
Throne of Swans
7. I picked up an arc of this one at YALC and honestly, I wasn’t impressed. It felt very meh and I found the relationship at it’s core forced.
Muse of Nightmares
8. So I’ve somewhat run out of 2019 releases and will pad my list with a few late 2018 releases that spilled over. I got a copy of this from a publisher early this year for the release of the paperback. I did enjoy but it was very dark and not as good as Strange the Dreamer.
Becoming
9. Another late 2018 release. I read this on audiobook and can highly recommend, listening to all the intricacies of American politics spilt out in Michelle Obama’s Chicago twang.
Circe
X. Who would not be a fan of an avenging Titan witch plaguing ancient Greece while rocking a pair of sandals?! I should add this is not Rick Riordan, there is much gore, misogyny and rape. Think actual myths but not recited on a podium by a scholar on a dusty Athenian day.
Let’s Compare Notes
So there you have! Not so holiday themed but here are all the 2019 releases I’ve read this year! What about you? Any good ones? What should I be putting on my Christmas list?
Later this week I’ll have my November Wrap Up up (?). My next Top Ten Tuesday is a freebie so I’m doing all the books that came out in 2019 that are on my tbr, let me know in the comments if you’ve any additions to that list!
Books, Life and Other Oddities 