Hello, fellow book junkies and happy last day of 2016! Before launching into an exciting new year, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the best YA books and authors I read in 2016. I surpassed my 100-book reading challenge by 18 books and met many five-star worthy reads but, ultimately, these are the books that left the most lingering impression. Here’s the best of 2016.
Favorite New Author
V.E./Victoria Schwab – Thank you, 2016, for introducing me to the writing genius of Victoria “V.E.” Schwab. My gateway drug into Schwab ‘s amazing books was A Darker Shade of Magic, followed by: A Gathering of Shadows, Vicious, and This Savage Song. Oh, and I got to meet her at a book signing (my very first one). Yes, I am officially a Schwabling (at least I think that’s what they’re calling us diehard Schwab fans.)
Honorable mention: A.S. King – Her writing style is completely original and imaginative. I may not always love the plot, but I can’t get enough of her writing. I recommend starting with Reality Boy or Please Ignore Vera Dietz.
Favorite Series
Without question, my favorite series was The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater! It had everything: memorable characters, amazing writing, off-the-hook world-building, great plot twists. Once I started with The Raven Boys, I could not stop.
Books So Fun They Felt Like Reading Parties
Captain Marvel, vol. 1-6 by DeConnick and Lopez
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Best World-Building
A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater
Honorable Mention: The Reader by Traci Chee
Favorite Indie Series
Mermaids of Eriana Kwai by Tiana Warner
Best Female Protagonist
Agnieszka from Uprooted by Naomi Novik. A complete original with a powerful gift for magic.
Honorable Mentions:
Nimona by Noelle Stevenson
Miss Justineau from The Girl With All the Gifts
Best Male Protagonist
Day from Legend by Marie Lu
Favorite New Book Boyfriend
Zach from Pretties (Uglies #2) by Scott Westerfeld.
Best Setting
Alternate, modern world, czarist Russia from A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray. Dreamy, wonderful, unforgettable.
Favorite Plot Twist
Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton
Best Cover
Most Devastating Read
The First Time She Drowned by Kerry Kletter. I usually avoid sad stories, but Kletter is stunningly talented, and this story about a broken girl really moved me.
Honorable mention: The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner. Zentner got me good on this one. Tears were running down my cheeks before I fully realized what was happening.
Favorite Audiobook
The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella. Narrated in the best kind of wry, British style by Kathryn Kellgren. This fish out of water story made me laugh out loud, and the audiobook was perfect for listening to while putting around in the car.
Best Small Press Standalone
Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. It took a few chapters for things to come together, but once they did, there was no looking back.
The #1 Book No One Else Seems to Like But Me
The Graces by Laura Eve – I’m so glad I got a hold of this deliciously deadly, atmospheric book early on as a Netgalley ARC because otherwise I might have been turned off by the low 3.23 rating it currently has on Goodreads. Here’s to teen witches and morally ambiguous characters.
I would love to hear about YOUR favorite books of the year. To step up this challenge and give a massive New Year’s shout-out to bloggers who have brought so much bookish joy and friendship to my year, I hereby tag:
Carolyn @ A Hundred Thousand Stories
Amy @ Every Book You Need to Read and More
Danielle @ Books, Vertigo & Tea
Brittany @ The Grisha Lieutenant
Jesalin @ Blogging Everything Beautiful
Lila @ The Bookkeeper’s Secrets
Jocelyn @ 52 Letters in the Alphabet
Kelly Deeny
Elena Johansen
FamilyRules
Wallace Cass
Annika Perry
Pat Sherard
The Glitter Afficianado
Stephanie @ Eclectic Scribblings
Deby Fredericks
Nate Philbrick
Sabrina Marsi Books
Mackenzie Bates
Stephanie @ yourdaughtersbookshelf
Karen @ MyTrain of Thoughts
Erica @ Books the Thing
Beth @ Betwixt These Pages
Such a cool post!! And thanks so much for tagging me!! I love your answers! And yes Star Touched Queen has a beautiful cover! And I think Serpent King will be my answer for a book that devastated me the most
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Happy New Year, orangu-tan! I get what you mean about Serpent King. What an emotional shocker.
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happy new year to you too!!! Yes!!
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AWE THANKS FOR TAGGING ME. I love this idea, although I may mix it it up with a couple of other end-of-year things that I’m doing, if that’s alright. 🙂
-Amy
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Yayayay, Happy New Year, Amy! Mixing and matching sounds like an awesome idea. I can’t wait to see what you come up with.
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You too! Haha, thanks! 🙂
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Looks like you had a great reading year, Eve! I just added Reality Boy to my TBR a few days ago — it looks so good!! Here’s to an even better 2017 with even BETTER books 😊 Happy New Year!! (:
-Jess @jbelkbooks
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No way, really? That’s awesome. Enjoy it! Happy New Year, Jess!!
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Oh, and sorry for the double-comment, but thank you for the honorable mention ❤❤
-Jess @jbelkbooks
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His name is Zane, Eve! How could you forget?! He’s so scrumptious!
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Lmaoooooo
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That’s pretty lame that I don’t even know my new book boyfriend’s name.
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Guess that means I get to steal him away! 😀
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Hahaha, yes, you do. If I can’t remember my boy’s name, I guess I don’t deserve to have him.
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Yes! Cha-Ching!
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Pingback: Best of 2016 – YA Standalones, Series, Authors, and More | Ann's Reading Corner
I am totally with you on The Serpent King. I was late to the party in reading it, but when I did, it just broke my heart. Absolutely loved it!
I know horror isn’t your thing, but I’m still thinking about FROZEN CHARLOTTE by Alex Bell. 🙂
Not sure if you’ve read Mindy McGinnis before, but she’s got a couple of new books – GIVEN TO THE SEA and THIS DARKNESS MINE – coming out in 2017 that I’m excited about. Two of her earlier novels that I loved are NOT A DROP TO DRINK and A MADNESS SO DISCREET (both YA.)
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Yes! I’m planning to reading Mindy McGinnis’ Female of the Species? Do you think I should start with a different book of hers instead? Oh, Madeline, I’m so tempted by Frozen Charlotte, but my imagination runs so wild with those horror stories that if they’re super creepy I can’t shake them even when I’m not reading the book!
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FEMALE OF THE SPECIES is good, just not my favorite of hers. It’s contemporary YA, while NOT A DROP is post-apocalyptic and A MADNESS is historical fiction. Those are more up my alley. 🙂
I hate to say it, but maybe you should skip FROZEN CHARLOTTE. I don’t want to be responsible for recommending nightmares. 😮
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and thank YOU for introducing me to V.E. Schwab. I remember reading one of your posts earlier in the year and immediately downloading the audiobook for A Darker Shade of Magic 🙂 Thank you for the tag!
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I’m so glad you enjoyed your first Schwab experience. 🙂 What are you reading these days?
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Super late to this because when you tagged me it got marked as spam! But anyway, thanks for mentioning me, you read a lot of great books this year! Clearly I need to check out this Ready Player One that everyone is buzzing about! Did you finish the Uglies series? Are you (or did you) enjoy it?!
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Hey, Happy New Year! Glad you found my tag despite the spam subterfuge. Ready player one is a gamer boy’s dream, gets slightly nerdy-techie at times but overall is a super fun read. I’m only up to book two in the Uglies series. Not altogether sure why I’m reading it. It’s not like I’m invested in the MC much at all, but I think what keeps me coming back is the hoverboardin–so exciting, something I’d love to do if I weren’t–y’know–terrified, ha.
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Sounds good, and I heard it’s going to be a movie?! I have to admit that I hated Uglies, but let me know what you think when you finish. I agree the hoverboarding does sound fun though lol
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Yes, I heard that too! There’s this one thing I’m really wondering how they’ll handle in the movie version. If you read the book, I’d love to chat with you about it.
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I will add it to my list and let you know when I get to it!
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Hey Eve! I’ve finally posted my wrap-up! 😉
-Amy
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