Top Ten Tuesday: The Best Books of 2015.

This weeks prompt: Top Ten Best Books I Read in 2015. 

It's that time of the year where I am forced to choose 10 books that completely gave me all the feels and pulled at my heartstrings because TBH, those are the best books in my opinion.

I read 59 books in 2015 and I'm supposed to pick 10 that were my favorite? I tried really hard to pick 10, but I couldn't so I chose 11 plus honorable mentions. 
P.S. In order to make my life less stressful and complicated, this list is in random order.

P.P.S I am probably going to use many uppercase words because they describe my feelings.

   

1. Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare. My 1st read of 2015 left me in tears and so many feels. These characters truly mean so much to me and they are some of my all time favorite!!

2. City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare. How could I not choose CoHF?! This book along with Clockwork Princess were read during my 1st semester of college. That semester was rough because I didn't really make friends and I didn't like being in my apartment. So the Shadowhunter world was my escape and that is why these books mean so much to me. To say that I love these books along with the characters is a HUGE UNDERSTATEMENT. 

3. The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski. The writing was brilliant in this book! Arin and Kestrel are wonderful characters who fight for what they believe and mix that in with some gov't/political stuff and you got yourself some pretty hard decisions. Which basically just means I was  am still a mess.

4. The One by Kiera Cass. There's nothing super special about this series, but there's something about them that just sucked me right in. It might have something to do with Maxon Schreave, though. I still remember how I felt after reading this book: my roommates were all out of town which meant I had the apt to myself which meant I could properly flail without judgement.

   

5. Hollow City by Ransom Riggs. Thanks to this book, I now wish I had peculiar abilities. Thanks Ransom Riggs for the ending in this book. It was WOAH and EPIC.

6. This Shattered World by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner. TBH, I don't really understand all the sci-fi stuff in here, but that doesn't stop me from loving this series. There was something about this book that reminded me why I love to read. The characters, Jubilee and Flynn are unique and great together and they left a mark on my heart...right next to Lilac and Tarver.

7. An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir. THIS BOOK. I was hooked from page 2 and was almost always on the edge of my seat throughout the whole story! It's full of heartbreaking decisions, but that's what makes it beautiful and why I couldn't stop thinking about it. #OBSESSED 

    

8. The Unbound by Victoria Schwab. Two words: WESLEY AYERS. What really made this book memorable is the dialogue. Sarcastic, snarky, and funny dialogue = VERY HAPPY ME.

9. Winter by Marissa Meyer by Marissa Meyer. THE BEST FINALE. This series is one of my all time favorites and the characters are the best! Full of sarcasm, funniness, craziness, and swoon worthy guys. It was AMAZEBALLS  and PERFECTION which means I AM A SATISFIED HUMAN. All the applause for Marissa Meyer who knows how to close a series with 824 pages.

10. The Wrath & the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh. Oh man, SO MANY FEELS with this one. Khalid and Shahrzad give me life.

11. Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard. Despite some negative reviews about this book, I LOVE IT. The plot twists and betrayals were insane and made it memorable for 2015. I think Cal is fire. Literally.

Honorable mentions:

  

Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson. This is an honorable mention because I cried like crazy at the end and I don't even know why.

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas. This whole series was actually a fav of mine this year, but Queen of Shadows just kinda sorta maybe ruined it for me. But Crown of Midnight is my fav so it deserves some mentioning.

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver. I loved this book. I was never bored while reading it and that ending deserves an honorable mention. Definitely did not see that coming. And Julian is just adorable.


What were your fav reads of 2015? Did we have some in common? Share your thoughts in the comments!! 

Review: The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson

Before I read this book, I saw reviews that said it was SO good, but I think it was just decent. I also heard about a huge plot twist, but I got to the end and I was like where is it? Must not have been that big of a plot twist if I missed it.
All in all, this book was kind of 3 stars for me, but I rounded it up to 4 stars because of the ending.
Here are my scattered thoughts in list form because lists make thoughts seem more collected.
Cover is linked to Goodreads summary.


-First, I had a hard time believing some parts of the story, like when Lia escapes on the day of her wedding. If I'm not mistaken, Lia is a princess living in a guarded castle/kingdom or whatever it's called. Yet, she manages to escape without one person or guard noticing. And on her wedding day where there should be people everywhere! I don't buy it! 
- I didn't care for most of the first 200 pages. I felt like nothing was really happening. It was basically just the Assassin and the Prince trying to get Lia's attention or Lia flirting with them. It was all really sort of annoying. OMG these guys. They were competing for her attention and I was just like:

 

-Yes, there is a love triangle. At least I think there is. The Assassin and The Prince. In the beginning, you don't know which guy is which and it frustrated the heck out of me, but I had my guess on who was who, but sometimes I would second guess myself. It's frustrating, but it made me keep wanting to read the book to figure out who was who and in the end I was right!
-I really do hate choosing sides because sometimes my ship sinks and it hurts my shipper heart, but I am on #TeamPrince.

-I really liked Lia's relationship with her brothers, especially Walther. They weren't around much, or at all really, but I liked how she talked about them. Through her point of view, we heard stories about things they did for her and it was so cute. *cries forever because I want an older brother*

-The 2nd half of the book was way cooler and interesting to read. There was traveling, but stuff was actually happening. The lies are revealed, some truths are let out, some people die, and discoveries are made!!! It was way cool.

-I'm not too attached to the characters like I thought I'd be. Lia  reminds me of Shahrzad from The Wrath & the Dawn because of her mouth. Other than that, I think she's just alright.

I think the sequel will be a little less boring and things will actually happen.