Best fiction books from the first half of 2021
I’ve mentioned a fair bit about my love of books. It’s probably one of my biggest hobbies besides painting and drawing and all things creative.
I may be 27 and not really a young adult anymore but I love me a good YA novel, and even better a good fantasy YA novel - just excellent. Here are five of my five stars from the first half of the year that I totally recommend if you’re into that sort of reading!
A Court of Silver Flames
Nesta Archeron has always been prickly – proud, swift to anger and slow to forgive. And since the war – since being made High Fae against her will – she's struggled to forget the horrors she endured and find a place for herself within the strange and deadly Night Court. The person who ignites her temper more than any other is Cassian, the battle-scarred, winged warrior who is there at Nesta's every turn. But her temper isn't the only thing Cassian ignites. And when they are forced to train in battle together, sparks become flame.
As the threat of war casts its shadow over them once again, Nesta and Cassian must fight monsters from within and without if they are to stand a chance of halting the enemies of their court. But the ultimate risk will be searching for acceptance – and healing – in each other's arms.
It's no secret I'm a big fan of the A Court of Thorns and Roses series. In fact, throughout the entire forty episodes of my book podcast with cohost Anjali I probably recommend these books in 80% of them. They're the right mix of fantasy, magic, and romance to make them exciting and entertaining. When I heard Sarah was going to continue the series but the protagonists would change I was skeptical, I loved Feyre and Rhysand they were the first OTP I had since I was 16 so I was not keen on change. BUT, I think I almost prefer Nesta and Cassian.
If you haven't read the series, start it. If you've read the series but have yet to make it onto this one, do it! Magic, sex, war... *chefs kiss **perfection.
Six of Crows series
Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone. . . .
A convict with a thirst for revenge. A sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager. A runaway with a privileged past. A spy known as the Wraith. A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums. A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes. Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don’t kill each other first.
Okay so I know that these books have been out for a while and I've been recommended them heaps along with the other series in this world Shadow and Bone, but since the TV show was coming out in April I needed to read them before. Cough I've totally read all the books but have yet to finish the series so there wasn't a big rush all along...
Going into the first book after binging the Shadow and Bone series I was a little let down at the lack of magic so thought I wasn't really going to like this series. But then I met the crew and the shenanigans began and Jesper existed and frankly I did not look back. I do like myself a heist movie but never really delved into a heist themed book and after this series I think that's going to change a lot, they're so fun! You don't need to read the Shadow and Bone series to read the Six of Crow series, but if you're going to read both do them in order and if you're only going to do one do Six of Crows.
The Duke and I
In the ballrooms and drawing rooms of Regency London, rules abound. From their earliest days, children of aristocrats learn how to address an earl and curtsey before a prince—while other dictates of the ton are unspoken yet universally understood. A proper duke should be imperious and aloof. A young, marriageable lady should be amiable… but not too amiable.
Daphne Bridgerton has always failed at the latter. The fourth of eight siblings in her close-knit family, she has formed friendships with the most eligible young men in London. Everyone likes Daphne for her kindness and wit. But no one truly desires her. She is simply too deuced honest for that, too unwilling to play the romantic games that captivate gentlemen. Amiability is not a characteristic shared by Simon Basset, Duke of Hastings. Recently returned to England from abroad, he intends to shun both marriage and society—just as his callous father shunned Simon throughout his painful childhood. Yet an encounter with his best friend’s sister offers another option. If Daphne agrees to a fake courtship, Simon can deter the mamas who parade their daughters before him. Daphne, meanwhile, will see her prospects and her reputation soar.
The plan works like a charm—at first. But amid the glittering, gossipy, cut-throat world of London’s elite, there is only one certainty: love ignores every rule...
Ah I may have hinted that I like to read the books before I watch the movie/tv show but I didn't actually know that Bridgerton was based on a book until I'd started the TV show and I couldn't stop watching it. The dramatics plus the fact that everyone wanted to read the book so I was 22nd in line for the book at my library meant I finished the show before I read the book but that didn't effect it's greatness. I'm currently 2nd in line for the second book, after starting at 26th, and I cannot wait for that to come through!
Drama, sex, fancy events and balls, exactly what the TV show brought and more. If you're not a big book reader but enjoyed the TV show then maybe this is a great book to start with, plus there's heaps in the series so you'll be set for a fair while.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
I put off reading this book because frankly I didn't really care to read more about President Snow, if you didn't know this is a prequel to The Hunger Games. However, I picked it up from the library because I was curious and I did want to read it because as much as I disliked President Snow I loved The Hunger Games books. I was truely mistaken for putting it off.
It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capitol, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to outcharm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute.
The odds are against him. He’s been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined—every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute . . . and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.
Coriolanus Snow isn't like the President Snow we see in the previous books, clearly he was nice once upon a time, and reading about the tenth ever hunger games was definitely intriguing. I warn you there is a twist part way through the book that actually made me put down the book in fear of chucking it at a wall, but it works out in the end.
House of Earth and Blood
Bryce Quinlan had the perfect life—working hard all day and partying all night—until a demon murdered her closest friends, leaving her bereft, wounded, and alone. When the accused is behind bars but the crimes start up again, Bryce finds herself at the heart of the investigation. She’ll do whatever it takes to avenge their deaths.
Hunt Athalar is a notorious Fallen angel, now enslaved to the Archangels he once attempted to overthrow. His brutal skills and incredible strength have been set to one purpose—to assassinate his boss’s enemies, no questions asked. But with a demon wreaking havoc in the city, he’s offered an irresistible deal: help Bryce find the murderer, and his freedom will be within reach.
As Bryce and Hunt dig deep into Crescent City’s underbelly, they discover a dark power that threatens everything and everyone they hold dear, and they find, in each other, a blazing passion—one that could set them both free, if they’d only let it.
Big Sarah J Maas fan here, so I couldn't not pick up her next series. However, my favourite character was killed 50 pages in and it turned out to be a police murder mystery investigation story which isn't really my thing. BUT once I got around a quarter of the way through I was hooked and could not put down the book before I found out what happened next.
Takes a little to get into and there are a few slow patches but I do totally recommend, however it is a good 800 pages so maybe not the best to start with if it’s been a while since you’ve read a book! I quote the message I sent to my friend the moment I finished “I FINDIHED. I CREID. IT WAS SOGOOD”, so good I couldn’t even spell correctly. If 800 pages doesn’t scare you off do it, you won’t regret it!
Have you read any good books so far this year? Let me know, my TBR list doesn’t need more books but I certainly do!
- Sophie
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