This gets my top most rating because it was such a captivating continuation in the Arc of a Scythe trilogy. It had me angry, it had me intrigued. It was an honest to gosh all around good time.

Scythe was what made me love Thunderhead and appreciate it in all it’s glory. Such a unique concept that grips you from the start because of how realistic it could be. It really is a book that relates so much today’s world in different ways. You won’t regret picking this one up!

Do I even need to say why this made the top three? So much drama, so much romance, so much action, so much revelations, and so many questions I have after reading it all. I can’t wait for Chain of Gold and The Wicked Powers to come out so I can spend more time with my beloved characters.

I’ve been following Christine ever since I started high school and now I’m a Sophomore in college. When I heard that Christine was writing a book, it was honestly the best news that could ever come from her because if anyone could write a book it would be Christine. I followed along on her writing journeys from the get-go and if you don’t know, Christine Riccio is a booktuber at PolandBananasbooks or Polandbananas20. You can type that into Youtube and she will surely pop up. Her whole journey has inspired me with my own writing project as well as helped me whenever I struggled with writing.

Being new to college these last few years, this book could have not come at a more relevant time in my life. I feel like if I read this as a senior or freshman in high school, it wouldn’t have touched me as much as it did. But because I was living through the college experience, every part of me could relate to Shane and maybe on a deeper level to Christine. I’m the most socially awkward, stay in her bubble person, and for Shane to feel that way made me feel less alone. To also see Shane branch out and do something so outside of her comfort zone also gave me a lot of hope that things will get better in college and to really make the best of it. We all can’t go back like Shane and do it Again, but Better, but we sure as heck can make the situation better in the moment.

If your new to college or a situation, I hope you know that it sucks in the moment and trust me I know. You feel isolated, you feel tired, you feel scared because you don’t know what the future holds or where you’re going, but trust me, it gets better. Surrond yourself with good people, focus on bettering yourself and what makes you happy, and things will fall into place. It might not feel like it, but always have hope.

And if Christine Riccio ever reads this, I want to profusely thank you for writing an honest book that had me in tears of joy and happiness. I never really could see myself in someone until I met Shane. Also, thank you for making me feel less alone on my writing journey as well and for pushing me towards trying to write. It’s always been hard for me because I would write and give up because I would dislike all my words and just want to edit them, but you made me see that we all feel like that when we write, but to just keep on writing and then go back again, but make it better 💛

There’s something about Sandhya Menon that I just honest to gosh LOVE. Period. I love how inclusive and diverse her writing is and how it makes your blood bubble up like a sparkly champagne and how it leave you in the best mood. Her covers are bright and beautiful as heck, so that helps. But it’s truly what’s inside that counts and this book really touched my heart. As someone who grew up in an Asian household, I completely understand how Sweetie felt. The only difference was the strength Sweetie had in knowing she was enough no matter how many people made her feel otherwise. That’s something I admired about Sweetie because you would think all the comments she would get about her body and weight would bring her down, but it empowered her to be proud of herself. Sweetie is her namesake and she is someone I would love to be friends with for her confidence, her heart, and her smile. I mean, look at the cover—-pure joy.

Such a cute book! I fell in love with the cover first if I’m being honest, but I also grew to love the sweet plot. Such a simple romance that has family issues, a lot of heart, and so much mochi.

Justin A. Reynolds is an author you’re going to remember. He’s someone I fell in love with as his writing style is so unique and distinctive and there’s really nothing that you can NOT love about it. Also a very interesting plot to the story about many chances and the different possibilities that a situation could have turned out. Also a lot of friendship, fun, and overall heart-wrenching joy. It’ll definitely make you craugh.

Tahereh Mafi never fails to stun me speechless with her books. Defy Me was no less. There was so much action and revelations that were boggling. I also loved the Juliette and Aaron moments because they’ve both been through heck and back so to see them together is always heart-warming. The ending was also very hopeful and sweet, so I love that for everyone as well!

I can’t wait to read Imagine Me because gosh only knows there’s soooooo many things I can imagine happening as kind of the continuation ending to the series.

Beck Bloomwood (neé Brandon) is my spirit animal.

If you need a good laugh, this is the medicine to all your issues. It’s hands down the funniest book I read this year and had me laughing all throughout. I’m not joking. I was an emotional mess of laughter!

I also fell in love with Becky and Jess’s dynamic and sisterly relationship. I know how hard a sisterly relationship can be sometimes, but I appreciated how things worked out between such polar opposites.

This book made the list because I genuinely did not think I would like it as much as I did. What I loved about Some Other Life though was how unexpected it was and how invested it made me feel. I loved the relation to The Wizard of Oz to some extent and this whole idea of a parallel universe.

Such a simple and thoughtful read about loving the life you live.

Fantasy

It pains me to pick one book and I can’t fully claim this is my favorite beyond all, but it has a big piece of my heart.

A Court of Thorns and Roses.

It had to be a Sarah J Maas book, I just didn’t know which one. I was going to say the other books, but then I was thinking there is nothing better than the first book because that’s where the original love stemmed from.

I love Throne of Glass, but ACOTAR really had me captivated every page and had me in fits and tears and angst. I also read it during a time where a lot of changes were going on in my life. I was starting to get bored of reading too, but when I picked ACOTAR up, my love of reading grew again.

Series

This was beyond difficult for me to pinpoint because there are soooo many amazing series out there that I have loved.

So even though this is my top series of the decade, I just want to say that’s it’s not my only favorite and how it was painful for me to even choose one, but if I’m sticking to my roots, I’m going to have to choose The Mortal Instruments.

The Mortal Instruments (TMI) is what really drove my love of fantasy even more. The first fantasy-is book I read as a YA reader was Divergent, so I will always thank Divergent for planting my love of reading. But TMI is what bloomed it. Each book made me love fantasy and the world of shadowhutners, fae, vampires, and werewolves. I loved the romance, the betrayal, the fighting, and all of it. If I’m being honest, all of Cassandra Clare’s series gets my utmost love because they are written so beautifully as an overall world.

Another reason that this is my top favorite is because it really helped me through middle and high school. I remember when City of Heavenly Fire came out I carried that 800 page book that whole week to school as I read it because when I held it in my arms I felt less alone. Sure, the book was heavy as a boulder, but it didn’t matter because I had something that made me happy right there snuggled in my arms and that meant more to me than people who would stare at a shy, quiet, broken girl who just needed healing from a powerful world. That memory sticks with me a lot and will always, so this series truly does have my heart.

Contemporary

Again, such a hard position to be in as to just choose one. But if there was a book that had such a heartfelt YA feel to it, it had to be Second Chance Summer.

This book holds such a special place in my heart that no other book has ever left me feeling. The thing about this book wasn’t that I loved the romance of it, but the family love. I loved Dylan, the brother, and Kat. But I loved the father.

My dad is such a huge part of my life and the best part of it too. If you read this, it would make sense, but there’s really something like magic within these pages. I think they call it love.

Author

Do I even have to say it?

COLLEEN THE FREAKING HOOVER! 💕

I love love love Colleen Hoover. I would jump over rivers, climb mountains, swim oceans, and eat waffles for Colleen Hoover books.

There is no other author quite like Colleen Hoover in the beautiful, intricate way she crafts words and turns them into magic. All her books have something so powerful and so transcendent in them that it rips out your heart and also nourishes your soul. It takes you on this emotional merry-go-round that you never want to get off and it’s the best.

I can’t emphasize how thankful I am to have found her books because they are genuinely perfection in a compressed word form.

There are not enough words to describe how much I love Colleen Hoovers work and how excited I am to read more from her!