Tag: ya recommendations

My Top 10 Reads of 2021

Francesca Lucy3 Comments

Hi! I’ve been awol for a while now, but I decided today that it was time to come back and that it (hopefully) isn’t too late to be doing a post that everyone else did in the first week of January…

Anyway, I read 73 books in 2021(!!!) and picking my top 10 was so much fun! So many wonderful books came out last year and it was definitely difficult to decide, but I finally narrowed it down and have 10 exciting YA fantasy, contemporary and thriller recommendations. So, without further ado, the 10 best books I read last year:

Number 10: XOXO – This was one of my last reads of 2021 so was a very last-minute addition to this list! If you love k-dramas, or idols, or cutesy YA contemporaries, I 10000000% recommend this book. It’s a super fun, super sweet, very easy read, and turned out to be exactly what I needed when I was going through a really difficult time last month. It’s my new comfort book, for sure, and I already want to read it again.

Number 9: Jade Fire Gold – This was such a fun, action-packed fantasy read! It fits right into its genre, but I found the protagonists especially easy to root for and I got completely sucked in by the plot. It was a cover-buy that turned into one of my favourite fantasies of the year and, if that sounds like your kind of thing, I’d completely recommend.

Number 8: Once Upon a Broken Heart – I read the Caraval series for the first time fairly recently and, whilst I loved Jacks, I didn’t love him as part of the love triangle that he was in, so I was really excited to learn that he was going to be a protagonist in this one. This book flawlessly lifted him to be one of my favourite protagonists of the year, and I’m so excited to read the next part of his story.

Number 7: All of Us Villains – I’m obsessed with this book. I read it in November last year and I literally still cannot get it out of my head. The multiple perspectives meant I found myself rooting for different characters at different times, but Alistair Lowe is genuinely one of my new favourite protagonists ever and I desperately need to read more about him. Anyway… if you like morally grey protagonists, dark magic and Hunger-Games-esque Battle Royale plots, this book is IT.

Number 6: Gilded – So this book and the next one are both the newest books from very established YA writers that I’m embarrassed I haven’t read before. I’ve had a few of Marissa Meyer’s books on my shelf for years but this is the first one I got round to reading, and I cannot believe how much I’ve been missing out. The world-building was incredible, the protagonist was super fun to root for, though reckless to a fault, and the love interest is a definite new favourite for me.

Number 5: Defy the Night – As with Marissa Meyer, I can’t actually believe I haven’t read any of Brigid Kemmerer’s books before and I’m definitely a little mad at myself for it. Defy the Night is fun, exciting and pretty reminiscent of the 2014 YA that made me fall in love with reading in the first place. It’s not a short book but I was so hooked that I found myself reading it in literally every spare second I had until I was done and got through it, fairly obsessively, in a matter of days.

Number 4: Not Here to Be Liked – This book is the most unexpected one on this list because it’s pretty far from my usual favourite genre, but I completely adored it! It’s incredibly feminist and informative but, while many books with this level of agenda sometimes feel a little too forcefully educational, this one just felt inspiring and fascinating. This, alongside an adorable romance plot and a fiery, unapologetic protagonist, got it added to my top 10 list faster than most of the other ones here.

Number 3: Cemetery Boys – This was literally my first read of the year, and I read it because it was recommended for my ’12 friends, 12 books’ TBR. The description alone had me convinced I was going to love it, but Yadriel and Julian were such perfect protagonists, the LGBTQ+ representation was incredible and, despite having read like a hundred books since this one, I still can’t get it out of my head.

Number 2: Spin the Dawn – This book completely blew me away when I read it. I admit that I wanted it initially because of the cover, but Elizabeth Lim’s storytelling was so mesmerising that I fell completely in love. The sequel, by the way, is equally perfect and Elizabeth Lim’s other recent novel, Six Crimson Cranes, is ALSO incredible! After reading three of her books in quick succession last year, I’d definitely consider her one of my new auto-buy authors.

Number 1: As Good As Dead – …is my absolute favourite book of the year and, honestly, one of my favourite books ever. I was obsessed with A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder when I first read it, and I loved book two, but book three took this series in a direction that I wasn’t entirely prepared for but fell completely in love with. This book was so dark, so twisty and so incredibly clever that I will literally never ever stop recommending it to everyone who will listen.

And that’s all of them! I’d love to hear what your favourite reads of last year were, and if you agree with any of my choices!

10 Dark Reads For Halloween

Francesca Lucy2 Comments

Here I am, once again, coming at you with books to read on Halloween!

One of the first ever posts I made on Rarely in Reality was Halloween Book Recommendations and, in honour of the fact that today is my two year Blogiversary, I thought I’d recreate it. So, without further ado, here’s my top 10 dark book recommendations for reading next weekend:

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake – this book was definitely featured on my Halloween recs post two years ago, but it’s too good not to include again. It’s an incredible YA thriller/horror/romance with a heart-crushing sequel and I definitely cannot recommend it enough.

Slasher Girls and Monster Boys by April Genevieve Tucholke – I will never shut up about this anthology, and one of the best things about it is that there is a story for everyone. There’s so much variation in this collection and so many incredible authors that, even if one or two of the stories are not to your taste, there will be a story that you absolutely love. And at least one that scares the life out of you.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin – Any book that features a sleepover in an abandoned asylum and a girl who can kill creatures with her mind deserves a place on my Halloween recommendations list. This is dark, creepy and one of my favourite series’ ever – and also features your next fictional crush, Noah Shaw.

Good Girls Die First by Kathryn Foxfield – A YA horror set on an abandoned pier with a creepy magical presence, a group of suspicious teens and a mysterious invitation is also the perfect book to curl up with on Halloween. It’s a really easy standalone with the kind of scene-setting that makes you nervous to read while home alone.

The Shadow in the Glass by JJA Harwood – This one’s a little different to the others on the list in that it’s not exactly horror, but it’s just as deserving of a spot on your TBR. It’s a very gothic and creepy Cinderella retelling with a morally corrupt protagonist and a fair amount of gruesome deaths so, if fantasy is more your thing than straight-up horror, this could be the book for you.

In the Ravenous Dark by AM Strickland – or this one! This is another fantasy where the author does not shy away from gore. It’s got an excess of dark magic, a royal setting and plenty of untrustworthy characters, and it’s one of the first books that comes to mind when I think of genuinely dark YA.

Survive the Night by Riley Sager – the first and only non-YA book on this list, this adult thriller is dark, unpredictable and very fast-paced. It’s got a completely unreliable, grieving narrator, a mysterious stranger and an overnight car journey that could go wrong in a million ways. Though it’s definitely more thriller than horror, it’s perfectly creepy for Halloween.

Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco – A YA fantasy about beautiful princes of Hell, a sacrifice and a vengeful, witchy protagonist. I think everyone knows about this book at this point and it’s not exactly a niche recommendation, but it definitely deserves a spot on your TBR if you haven’t already read it.

The Devil Makes Three by Tori Bovalino – a very recent addition to this list, since I only read this book earlier this month! It’s a dark academia horror with a haunted library, gruesome violence and a demon that resides in an old grimoire. It’s very traditional YA horror and a straight-forward choice for reading on Halloween.

The Last Girl by Goldy Moldavsky – if you’re into horror films and looking for something more along the lines of your favourite slashers, this could be a great option. With a film buff protagonist who’s obsessed with horror movies and gore, a group of disturbed outcast teens and a masked stalker, this is another obvious choice to curl up with on a dark and stormy night…

And that’s it! I’d love to hear your favourite Halloween recommendations, so please let me know in the comments what go-to read for October 31st 🙂