Favorite and Least Favorite Books of 2015 So Far
Can you believe that June is over and we've already made it halfway through 2015? I feel like it was just a couple of weeks ago when I contemplated whether or not to hang out with my friends on New Year's Eve and watch the countdown. Now, we're going into the second half of 2015 and boy, it's going to be a hectic six months for me.
Anyways, enough of that. I'm here to tell you my favorite and least favorite books that I've read so far in 2015. I'm proud to say that I have passed the halfway point of my Goodreads Reading Challenge of 50 books.
If you want to know more about why I loved or hated a book, you can just click on the link and read my full review of the book.
Please, don't think that I'm bashing any of the authors who wrote books that I disliked, I just had very strong negative feelings about those particular books. If you like the books I dislike, that's totally fine. You're perfectly entitled to your opinion and I don't have a problem with that at all. I apologize if I offend anyone with my opinions about these books, but let's just agree that we have and are entitled to different opinions and agree to disagree.
So, let's go on to the list!
Favorites
I have 7 books on my favorites list, and I'll be going in chronological order of how much I loved these books.
#7 - Autumn Getaway by Jennifer Gracen
I read this in February and it was the first contemporary I picked up in 2015. I remember thinking that it was a nice break from all the dark Mystery & Thriller books I had been reading since the beginning of the year.
It was such a refreshing read and had a very different style than I was expecting. The way it was written was so detailed and beautiful, and it was so amazing! I loved the plot and the characters and the writing style so much and I'm really looking forward to continuing with the rest of the series on my own!
#6 - Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott
This was the last book I read in March and it was the first book from my own TBR pile that I picked up in awhile.
I had heard so many great things about this and owned it for awhile, so I decided that it was about time for me to get around to reading it.
It was so dark and different from what I had expected when I first heard about it. There was so much more to the story than just the kidnapping and the desire to escape. It had a deeper storyline than that and really made me think about the overall story, why, and how the author was telling the story in the way she did.
#5 - Never Smile at Strangers by Jennifer Jaynes
This was the first NetGalley review book I ever read, which probably played a part in how I feel about this book.
I had never read anything like this before. It was entirely different from the YA genre, which I normally read, and it was so different from the other mystery books I've read before from the adult genre. It was so well written, thoughtful, and kept me engrossed the entire time!
This is a book that I still think about once in awhile and I think that it has impacted my life in a way that makes me think about human behavior more than I would normally do.
It was also the first time I had ever interacted with an author, and I have to say, Jennifer is super sweet and such a nice person!
#4 - Cress by Marissa Meyer
I decided to pick this up again in April after putting it down earlier in the year.
This was my favorite so far in the series, and no, I do not own Fairest just yet. I remember finding it pretty easy to get through this, even though there were some parts that I wasn't really a fan of, which is basically almost every scene that Dr. Erland was in.
After reading this, I was so excited for the release of Winter and I have decided to re-buy all the books in the series in hardcover. I also know that this is one of the series I want to bring with me when I go off to college.
#3 - Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
Yes, I finally jumped on the Stephanie Perkins bandwagon in May. I read this in about a week while commuting to work and it was just so easy to fly through this!
It was a great contemporary that really made me enjoy them again. It was also the first YA contemporary that I loved this year and it was actually something that was really good for me at that point in my life.
I loved the story, though I did have some problems with it, but like I said, it was good for me at that point in my life and actually had some influence in a few decisions that I made later.
#2 - The Young Elites by Marie Lu
I loved Marie Lu's Legend trilogy, which I read last year, and I was super excited to finally pick this up in April.
There was no doubt in my mind that I would love this, because I love how action packed Marie Lu's writing style is. And I was right. I flew through this book in about a week, also reading this while I was commuting to work.
This book pops into my mind every couple of weeks and I find myself either thinking about the plot or the characters. I can't wait for The Rose Society to come out later this year!
#1 - Method 15/33 by Shannon Kirk
Again, another book that I read in April, which I guess was just a really great reading month for me, because I loved 4 out of the 5 books I read that month.
This was definitely the best book I read in April and I'm absolutely sure that this will be one of my favorite books this year! I encourage all of you to pick this up if you like darker, more twisted books.
Also, I had a fantastic experience talking to the author, who is an absolute sweetheart and just such a nice person!
Least Favorites
There are also 7 books on this list, and I'll be listing them in chronological order of how much I disliked, or even hated, each book.
#7 - Miramont's Ghost by Elizabeth Hall
I read this in March, and to be entirely honest with you, I hardly remember anything about this book. If you asked me to, I can't even tell you the main character's name. The only thing I can remember is that I struggled through this so much and felt so misled while I was reading this.
I just thought that the synopsis and the actual plot were nothing alike and was so sad to realize that I despised the book.
I managed to push through the whole book, but the only impression I have of this book was that it was terrible and had so many plot holes and terrible characters. I ended up feeling like I wasted my time by reading this.
#6 - Shadows by Jennifer L. Armentrout
If you saw my review, then you already know that I read Shadows this month and struggled with it so much.
It wasn't so much that the book was bad or boring, but I just felt like there was a massive case of deja vu and I lost interest. I spent over a month on this book, stopping after chapter 8, and then starting it again by forcing myself to get it over with.
Will I be continuing with the series? Yes, I plan to read Opposition sometime over summer and to just finish up the series.
#5 - The Originals: The Rise by Julie Plec
I read this in January and I was super excited about it because I loved the TV show and jumped at the chance to hang out with Klaus, Elijah, and Rebekah more.
But when I read this, oh gosh, whoever wrote this did a terrible job of capturing what the characters were like on TV. These characters were nothing like the Klaus, Elijah, and Rebekah that we know and love on screen. Instead, here we get a failed attempt to bring them to life on paper, though a series of mishaps and inconsistencies in writing.
I was so disappointed and decided that the rest of the books were not worth picking up.
PS: I have also stopped watching The Originals since reading this, but the book did not affect that decision.
#4 - A Vintage Wedding by Katie Fforde
The first book I read in April, this was supposed to propel me to read more and to brighten me up a little after reading Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott (featured above). Unfortunately, this ended up putting me into some kind of slump.
I found the plot and characters to be so mediocre and annoying. It actually led to me starting another book, which I unfortunately also did not like as much. But this, I just couldn't deal with how much the characters irritated me. And I hate when characters do that, especially when the characters are adults who act like immature teenagers.
#3 - Paper Towns by John Green
After strongly disliking Looking For Alaska, I was hoping that this would redeem John Green's writing for me. It didn't. In fact, I couldn't understand why people said they liked this better than TFIOS, which I consider to be my favorite out of the three John Green books I've read so far.
The characters annoyed me immensely with their behavior and logic. The plot reminded me too much of LFA. All that just led to me seriously disliking this book. This is actually one of the few books I've thought about throwing against the wall, knowing that I would not regret it at all.
#2 - The Beautiful Daughters by Nicole Baart
If you've read my review about this, then you shouldn't be surprised that this made it onto the list. It holds the second-lowest rating I've given to a book this year.
I felt misled by the cover, which made me think it was historical fiction. That confusion mixed with the overall plot of the book just made me facepalm at each chapter. The surprising mystery that was supposed to be such a secret, I figured out really early on. I predicted practically everything that would happen. Nothing came as a surprise.
If I ever had to give an award to the most immature adult characters I've ever read about, this book would win. I hated the characters and thought they were so incredibly stupid and annoying the entire time. In fact, I actually have nothing good to say about this book, which hardly ever happens.
#1 - His Other Life by Beth Thomas
Guys. This book. Just. Guys. If you haven't read my review of this, oh gosh. I can't even begin to describe it.
I thought this whole book was stupid. I can't even believe it had been published. I mean, I've never said that before about a book. Never. And this was just so bad.
It's quite safe to say that I hate this book. I thought it was going to be so good and it just let me down so much. I just can't find the words to fully express how badly I hated the book and how terrible it was.
I'm sorry. I really am. I can't say anything nice about this. And I might be the only blogger out there who hates this. Yes, I looked it up.
So yes, that concludes my list. I will be doing a "Top 15 of 2015" list at the end of the year as well, but these are my favorites and least favorites so far this year.
Let me know in the comments what your favorite and least favorite book of 2015 is so far. (Was that grammatically correct? I feel like it is. But now I'm thinking about it, so I'm confused. It's correct, right? I don't know anymore)
