Welcome to today's Best I've Read in 2013 post! Yesterday I talked about Contemporaries, but today I want to talk about my favorite Fantasy, Paranormal, and Science Fiction books I've read this year. And trust me, there are A LOT of them so brace yourself!
Clockwork Princess
Author: Cassandra Clare
Series: Infernal Devices, #3
Danger and betrayal, secrets and enchantment in the breathtaking conclusion to the Infernal Devices trilogy.First off, I don't have a review for this one and the reason for that is because I read it at a time that I was taking time off from blogging. I just wanted to read without having to feel like I had to review every book I read. With that being said, this is probably my favorite book I've read this year and my favorite book that Cassandra Clare has ever written. It's beautiful and eloquently written. Everything that happens pulls at your heartstrings and sucks you in instantly. I was thrilled with the ending and thought that it was the most perfect ending to this series. I couldn't have imagined it going any better. Several people didn't like the way it ended but in my mind, no series has ever ended so perfectly.
Tessa Gray should be happy – aren't all brides happy? Yet as she prepares for her wedding, a net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute.
A new demon appears, one linked by blood and secrecy to Mortmain, the man who plans to use his army of pitiless automatons, the Infernal Devices, to destroy the Shadowhunters. Mortmain needs only one last item to complete his plan. He needs Tessa. And Jem and Will, the boys who lay equal claim to Tessa's heart, will do anything to save her.
Incarnate
Author: Jodi Meadows
Series: Newsoul, #1
NEWSOUL Ana is new. For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why.
NOSOUL Even Ana's own mother thinks she's a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she'll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame?
HEART Sam believes Ana's new soul is good and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their relationship blooms. But can he love someone who may live only once, and will Ana's enemies—human and creature alike—let them be together? Ana needs to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else's life, but will her quest threaten the peace of Heart and destroy the promise of reincarnation for all?
Jodi Meadows expertly weaves soul-deep romance, fantasy, and danger into an extraordinary tale of new life.
This is one that I read towards the beginning of the year, but I remember being so captivated by Ana and her story. I couldn't fathom a world where every soul was thousands of years old. It was one of those things that was hard to believe yet Jodi Meadows made it entirely believable. Every part of the world was breathtaking and thrilling and it was all new to Ana, an outcast because she's a new soul. I flew through the pages. I could not put it down because it just that good. I can't wait to read the sequel. My Review
Unravel Me
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Series: Shatter Me, #2
tickYou can't even begin to imagine the feels that come along with this sequel. After having not enjoyed Shatter Me as much as I expected to, Unravel Me completely blew me away. It's the perfect blend of action, romance, humor, surprises, anger.. You name it, you've got it. Or you feel it. Juliette has a way of getting under my skin, making me so angry at her for being so weak but then she does something to redeem herself and then I'm all "now that's how it's done! Way to go, girl!!" This one also brought out feelings in my that I never knew I had for Warner, making me switch teams. It's just so, so good. My Review
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it's almost
time for war.
Juliette has escaped to Omega Point. It is a place for people like her—people with gifts—and it is also the headquarters of the rebel resistance.
She's finally free from The Reestablishment, free from their plan to use her as a weapon, and free to love Adam. But Juliette will never be free from her lethal touch.
Or from Warner, who wants Juliette more than she ever thought possible.
In this exhilarating sequel to Shatter Me, Juliette has to make life-changing decisions between what she wants and what she thinks is right. Decisions that might involve choosing between her heart—and Adam's life.
Obsidian
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Series: Lux, #1
Starting over sucks.
When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I'd pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring.... until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.
And then he opened his mouth.
Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something...unexpected happens.
The hot alien living next door marks me.
You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon's touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I'm getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades.
If I don't kill him first, that is.
As my very first book about aliens, I couldn't have chosen better. Obsidian makes your heart race with thrills and romance and playful, sexy banter with an incredibly hot bad boy. Jennifer has ways of making your pulse race and face flush with just a few sentences, usually being said by that certain sexy alien. This was also my first book by Jennifer L. Armentrout, which made me fall in love with her writing and read another series of hers. My Review
Being connected to Daemon Black sucks…
Thanks to his alien mojo, Daemon’s determined to prove what he feels for me is more than a product of our bizarro connection. So I’ve sworn him off, even though he’s running more hot than cold these days. But we’ve got bigger problems.
Something worse than the Arum has come to town…
The Department of Defense are here. If they ever find out what Daemon can do and that we're linked, I’m a goner. So is he. And there's this new boy in school who’s got a secret of his own. He knows what’s happened to me and he can help, but to do so, I have to lie to Daemon and stay away from him. Like that's possible. Against all common sense, I'm falling for Daemon. Hard.
But then everything changes…
I’ve seen someone who shouldn’t be alive. And I have to tell Daemon, even though I know he’s never going to stop searching until he gets the truth. What happened to his brother? Who betrayed him? And what does the DOD want from them—from me?
No one is who they seem. And not everyone will survive the lies
The heart-racing moments continue in the sequel to Obsidian with the thrilling chases, breathtaking banter and romantic moment and a few surprises at the end. The series started off amazing and continued on that train with Onyx. My Review
Half-Blood, Pure, Deity and Apollyon
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Series: Covenant, #1-4
Goodreads
Goodreads
The Hematoi descend from the unions of gods and mortals, and the children of two Hematoi pure bloods have godlike powers. Children of Hematoi and mortals--well, not so much. Half-bloods only have two options: become trained Sentinels who hunt and kill daimons or become servants in the homes of the pures. Seventeen-year-old Alexandria would rather risk her life fighting than waste it scrubbing toilets, but she may end up slumming it anyway. There are several rules that students at the Covenant must follow. Alex has problems with them all, but especially rule #1:Relationships between pures and halfs are forbidden. Unfortunately, she's crushing hard on the totally hot pure-blood Aiden. But falling for Aiden isn't her biggest problem--staying alive long enough to graduate the Covenant and become a Sentinel is. If she fails in her duty, she faces a future worse than death or slavery: being turned into a daimon, and being hunted by Aiden. And that would kind of suck.
Unfortunately I still haven't finished this series by reading Sentinel but I will get to it soon! The thing I love about this series is that it's full of action and romance and it's so well-written. It captivates you from the very first page and yes, every book is just so good. While I know a lot of you have read Half-Blood and have seen the similarities between it and Vampire Academy, I assure you the rest of the series is absolutely nothing like it and only gets better and better. It starts of great and only gets more amazing with each new installment.
Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. The earth has been invaded by a species that take over the minds of human hosts while leaving their bodies intact. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, didn't expect to find its former tenant refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.
As Melanie fills Wanderer's thoughts with visions of Jared, a human who still lives in hiding, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she's never met. Reluctant allies, Wanderer and Melanie set off to search for the man they both love.
Featuring one of the most unusual love triangles in literature, THE HOST is a riveting and unforgettable novel about the persistence of love and the essence of what it means to be human.
After all the Twilight hype faded away, I decided to give The Host a read. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I loved this story and the characters-both Melanie and Wanderer, as well as all the secondary characters. Even the mean ones. The story was nothing like I imagined it to be and I think that's one of the reasons I loved it so much. I had absolutely no idea what was going to happen with Melanie and Wanderer, keeping my interest piqued throughout the entire story. I even loved how it ended. The movie left out a lot of my favorite scenes, unfortunately, but with how Stephenie progressed the story on a slower note allowed for the reader to really immerse themselves and fully understand the characters and their actions. My Review
Boundless
Author: Cynthia Hand
Series: Unearthly, #3
The past few years have held more surprises than part-angel Clara Gardner could ever have anticipated. Yet from the dizzying highs of first love, to the agonizing low of losing someone close to her, the one thing she can no longer deny is that she was never meant to live a normal life.Boundless was for me another amazing ending to one of my favorite series. I loved every minute of it even if a certain someone wasn't in it as much as I would have liked. It was truly magnificent how Cynthia put all the pieces together in the end and finally revealed just what Clara's visions were about. There was a point in this story where my heart literally stopped and I thought "NO!! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!!!" If you've read the story, you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't? Well, I guess you'll have to read it and find out for yourself ;) My Review
Since discovering the special role she plays among the other angel-bloods, Clara has been determined to protect Tucker Avery from the evil that follows her . . . even if it means breaking both their hearts. Leaving town seems like the best option, so she’s headed back to California - and so is Christian Prescott, the irresistible boy from the vision that started her on this journey in the first place.
As Clara makes her way in a world that is frighteningly new, she discovers that the fallen angel who attacked her is watching her every move. And he’s not the only one. . . . With the battle against the Black Wings looming, Clara knows she must finally fulfill her destiny. But it won’t come without sacrifices and betrayal.
In the riveting finale of the Unearthly series, Clara must decide her fate once and for all.
You Are Mine
Author: Janeal Falor
Series: Mine, #1
Serena knows a few simple things. She will always be owned by a warlock. She will never have freedom. She will always do what her warlock wishes, regardless of how inane, frivolous, or cruel it is. And if she doesn’t follow the rules, she will be tarnished. Spelled to be bald, inked, and barren for the rest of her life—worth less than the shadow she casts.
Then her ownership is won by a barbarian from another country. With the uncertainty that comes from belonging to a new warlock, Serena questions if being tarnished is really worse than being owned by a barbarian, and tempts fate by breaking the rules. When he looks the other way instead of punishing her, she discovers a new world. The more she ventures into the forbidden, the more she learns of love and a freedom just out of reach. Serena longs for both. But in a society where women are only ever property, hoping for more could be deadly.
I had originally rated You Are Mine with 4 stars, but after several weeks of not being able to get this story or its characters out of my head I realized I had mis-rated it and changed my rating to 5-stars. Serena's story is one that has stuck with me since I read it and the world within the pages, while cruel, draws you in so completely with it's magic and terrible men and enslaved women. I loved watching Serena learn that not all of the world is as cruel as her own country. My Review
Sekret
Author: Lindsay Smith
Series: Sekret, #1
From debut author Lindsay Smith comes an espionage thriller with a dash of both history and dystopia.While Sekret doesn't come out until 2014, I am adding it to this list anyway since I did read it in 2013. I've recently fallen in love with historical fiction so when I read Sekret, it's really no surprise that I loved it. Especially with the fact that it is also a paranormal. Yulia and the characters within this story have special abilities that allow them to see and do things that normal people cannot do which adds to the paranoia of this time period. My mind was in complete confusion as to who she could trust, IF she could trust. It was extremely difficult to see someones true intentions with their abilites and their states of mind. This one definitely drew me in. I'm already dying for the sequel and this one won't be out for a while! My Review
Yulia’s father always taught her that an empty mind is a safe mind. She has to hide her thoughts and control her emotions to survive in Communist Russia, especially because she seems to be able to read the minds of the people she touches. When she’s captured by the KGB and forced to work as a psychic spy with a mission to undermine the U.S. space program, she’s thrust into a world of suspicion, deceit, and horrifying power where she can trust no one.
She certainly can’t trust Rostov, the cruel KGB operative running the psychic program. Or handsome Sergei who encourages her to cooperate with the KGB. Or brooding Valentin who tells her to rebel against them. And not the CIA, who have a psychic so powerful he can erase a person’s mind with his own thoughts. Yulia quickly learns she must rely on her own wits and power to survive in this world where no SEKRET can stay hidden for long.
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See what I mean?? I told you this list would be long! Imagine if I had split up the Covenant series and did one for each book. I was afraid to spoil the series for those who haven't read it though.
So what fantasy, paranormal, and science fiction books did you read this year and love? Did any of these books make your list as well??
Tomorrow I list my favorite Dystopians and a classic! Don't miss it ;)
Loved The Host and You Are Mine. I was actually one of the few people who didn't love Obsidian, but by the time I got to book three I was really enjoying the series.
ReplyDeleteNicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction