Wednesday 29 April 2020

Top 10 Best Books of 2019

Hello again!
2019 came to an end a few months ago, and I completely forgot to share my favourite books of the year with you. I had a blast when it came to reading last year, and I found a lot of new books to view as favourites. But which were the 10 best of the 60 read? Well, here they are.
(Note: You'll also find a list of my 10 most disliked books of 2019 in another post.)



10
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As my second read of the year, this book helped me get back from my reading slump. Had this novel not delivered in the way it did, I might haven given up early. However, this modern classic from the 1960's offered easy-to-love characters, heartwarming relationships between young boys, and a dazzling retro feel. I ended up giving this book 4.5/5 stars.

9
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I was blown away by the world building and adventures of this novel. It had a way of creating an absolutely uncomfortable atmosphere that had be shivering at times. The dream of the magical north had me hooked, and I ended up giving this book 4.5/5 stars.

8
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This book breathes feminism and strength, both in its story and writing style. We follow the long life of half Greek god Circe and her long road from a cowering young nymph to a witch and force to be reckoned with. I loved reading about her ups and downs, and I was especially honoured by being chosen by Bokus to pre-read and review this book upon its Swedish release. I ended up giving this  4.5/5 stars.

7
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I fell in love with this slow paced high fantasy novel and its dragon murder mystery and politics. Seraphina was a lovely protagonist to follow, and there were plenty of other characters to fall in love with. I'll remember this book as one of the best YA high fantasy novels I've read. The only thing that set it back was a slow beginning. I gave this a very strong 4.5/5 stars.

6
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Hey, I finally read this! This book brought out some real emotions, which I had not expected. The story is told in a brilliant way, and I can see what the hype is all about. In the end, I gave this book 4.75/5 stars.

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"The Priory of the Orange Tree" by Samantha Shannon
As real hunk of a book, this high fantasy story offers juicy politics, intrigues, and adventure. I had a blast reading it, and it was one of my most anticipated reads of 2019. It had some slight downsides, which is why I didn't give it 5/5 stars, but I still loved it soooo much! It got 4.75/5 stars.

4
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This was the gay magical adventure story that I wanted it to be! I flew through this novel and was charmed by its spells and characters. I loved both Simon and Baz, and I was happy to rave about the novel with friends. I gave this a full 5/5 stars.

3
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A historical fiction novel set during WW2 that follows two gripping perspectives. This was one of the toughest novels to get through emotionally this year, and that's what I value most about it. I won't forget this story for a long time. I gave this 5/5 stars.

2
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A beautifully written novella featuring norm breaking science fiction and a riveting romance. I loved it mostly for its truly poetic writing, which is out of this world! I also adored the characters and the way they grew to adore each other. I ended up giving this 5/5 stars.

1
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I describe this novel as tailored for my personal fantasy tastes. It was pretty much a perfect novel. At least when it comes to my preferences in YA fantasy fiction. This was the start to a purely fantastic series that I truly cherish. I adored this first novel and gave it one of my strongest 5/5 stars ever.

Saturday 25 April 2020

Covers in the World: Throne of Glass

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English covers 1:
Not a big fan of cover changes, but they did it well, I gotta say. Although Maas is stunning, this sort of cover is nowhere near original.

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English covers 2:
My faves. Gorgeous! And they even stick with the covers, which makes me a happy camper. I think we can agree, however, that "Tower of Dawn" drew the shortest straw when it came to covers. Pretty boring... Alas, still some good design on these covers all in all.

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English covers 3:
More clean, but I prefer the others. Too white (as some of you might know, I'm picky when it comes to white covers).

Throne of Glass Collector's Edition: Amazon.co.uk: Sarah J. Maas ...
English covers 4:
Special edition! I'm not one for special editions myself; I tend to prefer original covers or likewise. It's pretty, but it looks just like any other YA special edition out there :/

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Spanish covers:
Booooring. Not much else to say.

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Georgian covers:
Meeeeeh. The first one is ok, but the second one is not to my tastes. Not a fan of the depiction of Celaena. Nice castle, however!

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Italian covers 1:
*snore*
(I secretly like them a little bit though, they're pretty)

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Italian covers 2:
Meh. The colours are too saturated and I think the flames on the third cover are a bit over the top.

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German covers:
Oh, the creativity is overflowing. Or not! I like that they made an original cover for "Tower of Dawn", though.

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Dutch covers 1:
What is this, Graceling? Meh.

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Dutch covers 2:
Legends say petals continue to take over the Dutch covers... Honestly, I'm not very impressed with this, but at least the designer put some creative energy into making the covers look at least a little bit different.

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Turkish covers:
They made a break for original cover designs between the third and fifth book. I'm not a fan of any of these covers. They changed the style quite a lot for each book, which earns a minus point from me.

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Romanian covers:
I don't like it. Feels cheap and unloved.

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French covers:
Not great, France. I feel like this should be the poster for a video game.

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Chinese covers:
"Boring" done well, if you can understand what I mean. While being simple, they manage to be very stylish and modern. I like them quite a bit.

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Persian covers 1:
Badass woman in a fairy tale forest and on the moon-ish? I like it. I didn't imagine her dog looking like that, however. Too fluffy.

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Persian covers 2:
Oooh, so dark and moody! I'm liking the drama. Keep it going!

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Serbian covers:
Stylish and simple. Easy to like, but I don't love them.

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Hebrew covers:
I'm getting slight Buffy the Vampire Slayer vibes. They're a bit ugly tho.

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Russian covers:
Russian covers manage to make me both happy and frustrated. They leave me with questions and a thirst for answers! Is there only one cover designer in all of Russia who only does one specific style? Does the Russian people like these covers? I want to know...

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Swedish covers:
You know by now that I have to include Swedish covers if there are any. These are basically the same as the English ones. I'm impressed they almost managed to translate the entire series before giving up.