My favorite part of the end of the year is reflecting on my favorite YA Fantasy books I read in the last year. Each year I discover new authors I love, or read new books by authors I already love. Either way, the YA Fantasy books I read make each year a new adventure.
And if you’re like me and always looking for some new YA Fantasy books to add to your to-be-read list, below are the books that stood out to me and were my favorite. A couple a closer to science fiction, but they are ones I thought had enough elements a lover of YA Fantasy would appreciate to add to the list.
A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas: If Sarah J. Maas releases a book, it will undoubtedly be in the #1 spot on my favorites list. I adore her writing and talent for story telling. I thought this was a lovely conclusion to the trilogy part of the series. There were quite a few loose ends in my opinion, which I found slightly annoying. But I figure that’s because she’ll be writing more books in that world for other characters, so she left it open for those.
Tower of Dawn by Sarah J. Maas: I have to admit, I was not as excited to read this book as Sarah’s other ones. Chaol was one of my least favorite characters in the ToG series.. I liked it SO MUCH more than I thought I would. I wanted to move to Antica by the time I finished and I was totally in love with Chaol. I couldn’t believe it myself. Can’t WAIT for the final book in the Throne of Glass series now.
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir: My favorite part about this book was it was action packed. It seemed like something was constantly happening. And it was so clear to me what each main character’s goal was that I was totally enveloped into their stories.
Storm Siren Trilogy by Mary Weber: I’m combining three books into one here because this is my blog and I can do what I want. Also, once I started this series I couldn’t stop so it all felt like one gigantic book to me anyway. The characters were fun and vibrant and the plot was engaging. And the last page of the first book literally made my jaw drop. And I am NOT misusing the word literally.
King’s Cage by Victoria Aveyard: Some parts of this book were slow as I anxiously awaited a certain reunion. But here’s what I enjoyed most about this book: Maven. Strange I know, but I thought the internal conflict we saw of his character through Mare’s perspective was so interesting and well done in my opinion. I wasn’t too into the other character’s perspectives, but I am curious to see where Victoria takes us in the fourth and final installment of the series.
Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige: This is another one I was surprised I liked it so much. I hadn’t done a ton of research on the book’s reception, but the concept intrigued me. Another girl from Kansas gets sucked into the land of Oz (note to self: don’t live in Kansas) only to find that Dorothy has turned evil and must be killed. Duh duh DUHHHHH. By the time I got to the last fifth of the book I couldn’t go to bed until I’d finished the story.
Carve The Mark by Veronia Roth: I adored the Divergent series (except for the last book, obviously), so I was looking forward to Veronica’s latest. I thought it was really good. I loved the sci-fi aspect of it and the almost inter-dependency of the characters (which would usually annoy me).
Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake: Heard mixed reviews on this one, but I enjoyed it. I loved how different each of the sisters were and hearing their different stories as they prepared to go head to head with each other. I wish there would have been a little more action, but I enjoyed the character development nonetheless.
Want more book suggestions? Check out these posts:
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