In 2017 I made it my aim to read 50 books throughout the year. While I fell 2 short of my target, I’ve compiled the fully list of all 48 books read over the year, with notes on each.

  1. The Crown’s Game, Evelyn Skye. Billed as a tale of Russian magicians during the time of the tsars. It was okay, not enough action for my liking. Unlikely to re-read and did not purchase the sequel. 3/5
  2. The Silver Tide, Jen Williams. A fantastic conclusion to one of my all-time favourite fantasy trilogies, the Copper Cat books. So much action, and such an amazing piece of writing. 5/5
  3. Shadow and Bone, Leigh Bardugo. First in the Grisha trilogy. I enjoyed this one a lot, having read her other books, it gave a nice amount of backstory and I enjoyed the way the relationships were written – just wish it was longer! 4/5
  4. Siege and Storm, Leigh Bardugo. Second in the Grisha trilogy. Comments as above, I still enjoyed it but still felt there was something slightly missing. 4/5
  5. Ruin and Rising, Leigh Bardugo. Conclusion to the Grisha Trilogy. Excellent ending for the trilogy, was very pleased with how this was wrapped up. Still 4/5 though, sorry!
  6. Broken Sky, L.A. Weatherly. 1940’s America meets sci-fi – yes please! This series was a stand-out of the year for me. Incredible action, fantastic character relationships, lots of plot twists, and a nice change away from more magic-based fantasy for me. The series gets 5/5
  7. Darkness Follows, L.A. Weatherly.
  8. Black Moon, L.A. Weatherly.
  9. Dreamwalker: The Ballad of Sir Benfro, J.D. Oswald. The 5 part series of Sir Benfro was an enchanting fantasy series with some seriously dark turns in it. Loved the character development, loved the plot development, and liked how Benfro struggled a lot with his own place in the world. The whole series gets a solid 4/5.
  10. The Rose Cord: The Ballad of Sir Benfro, book 2, J.D. Oswald
  11. The Golden Cage: The Ballad of Sir Benfro, book 3, J.D. Oswald
  12. The Broken World: The Ballad of Sir Benfro, book 4, J.D. Oswald
  13. The Obsidian Throne: The Ballad of Sir Benfro, book 5, J.D. Oswald
  14. Six of Crows, Leigh Bardugo. A re-read for 2017, and still hugely enjoyed this novel. The cast of characters and the action of the heist is superbly balanced. 5/5
  15. Crooked Kingdom, Leigh Bardugo. Sequel to Six of Crows and another reread. Again, the cast of characters play off each other beautifully and the story is both heart wrenching and action-packed. 5/5
  16. The Ninth Rain, Jen Williams. The first in her new trilogy, the Ninth Rain blends science fiction, fantasy, and Japanese anime (I see you Studio Ghibli) into another fantastic adventure with an equally tenacious cast. Very much enjoyed, can’t wait for The Bitter Twins this year! 5/5
  17. A Court of Wings and Ruin, Sarah J Maas. The conclusion to the Court of Thorns and Roses trilogy, the book was good but it felt a little rushed, despite it’s length. A Court of Mist and Fury (the second in the series) was a much better exercise in storytelling and building I felt. I still enjoyed it but felt many plots were left too open for my liking. 3.5/5
  18. Empire of Storms, Sarah J Maas. Book 5 in the Throne of Glass series was one I felt needed revisiting after rushing through it when it was first released. This book is mixed for me. I love the relationship built between Elide and Lorcan – it feels very genuine and very honest. The ending was very good too, but I felt there was a bit too much focus on romantic pairings. I think you can tell she’s setting up a lot in this book for the rest of the series. 4/5 (gets an extra half point for the Elide/Lorcan relationship).
  19. Warbreaker, Brandon Sanderson. A favourite novel from one of my favourite authors. I find Brandon Sanderson to be one of the most creative fantasy writers out there. I love his approach to magic and world building and he’s not afraid of female protagonists – something I love to see from a male writer. This standalone novel is a brilliant read and would highly recommend. 5/5
  20. Elantris, Brandon Sanderson. Despite being his debut novel, Elantris is extremely well crafted and holds all Sanderson’s usual writing flair. I just wish the Sheod wasn’t quite so grim! 4/5
  21. The Final Empire, Brandon Sanderson. Another of my all time favourite fantasy series that I re-read in 2017. The Mistborn series takes new original fantasy concepts, blends it with dystopia and science fiction, adds a badass heroine and makes for an amazing read. Absolutely fantastic series, would highly recommend. Book 1 of the Mistborn Trilogy 5/5
  22. The Well of Ascension, Brandon Sanderson. Book 2 of the Mistborn Trilogy.
  23. The Hero of Ages, Brandon Sanderson. Book 3 of the Mistborn Trilogy.
  24. American Gods, Neil Gaiman. There’s a quote on the back of this cover that describes Gaiman’s writing as being like chocolate, and I find that an incredibly apt description. Gaiman is unparalleled in his story telling ability and American Gods is a sublime piece of fiction. Loved every minute of it, even as a re-read. 5/5
  25. The Girl with All the Gifts, M.R. Carey. A science fiction dystopia set in England, this book was quite intriguing even if the plot was relatively small. A really interesting look at humanity and how we survive. I particularly enjoyed the mention of several places local to the village where I grew up. 4/5
  26. Fellside, M.R. Carey. This is another science fiction-esque novel from Carey, but I didn’t enjoy this one nearly as much. The ending is quite weird and there’s a lot of violence and self-harm that feels a little gratuitous. 3/5.
  27. Runemarks, Joanne Harris. This was my only Did Not Finish of 2017. This book wasn’t bad, it was even relatively well written. But I found it very boring and very slow going. I couldn’t remember what happened between putting it down and picking it up. I didn’t find the Norse mythology particularly original or interesting and the main character didn’t really fit anywhere. 1/5.
  28. Two Brothers, Ben Elton. The only historic fiction novel on here, although I do enjoy them a lot. A fascinating insight into early 20th Century Germany and how two boys deal with growing up in this turbulent era of history. Excellent writing and highly historically accurate (thanks History A Level knowledge!). 5/5
  29. The Diamond Throne, David Eddings. This was the very first book that introduced me to more ‘adult’ fantasy level reading when I was 12 or 13, and it’s still one of my favourites to this day. A really fantastic piece of fantasy writing with a great cast of characters. Book 1 of the Elenium Trilogy. 5/5
  30. The Ruby Knight, David Eddings. Book 2 of the Elenium Trilogy.
  31. The Sapphire Rose, David Eddings. Book 3 of the Elenium Trilogy (although my cover is missing one corner thanks to a monkey who stole and bit it off while I was in Malaysia during the summer!)
  32. Neverwhere, Neil Gaiman. Gaiman’s debut novel was every bit as good as I was hoping. Also really nice to read something set in the 1990s! 4/5
  33. A Crown for Cold Silver, Alex Marshall. This book really failed to deliver despite a strong opening and an interesting concept. Very little happened – so much of this book is talking, smoking and making sex references. I did enjoy the desert characters and the idea of bound demons but this one was a struggle. 2/5
  34. Domes of Fire, David Eddings. The sequel trilogy to the Elenium, The Tamuli Trilogy is another fantastic adventure fantasy trilogy with Sparhawk and the originaly cast of characters, plus some exciting new ones. 4/5, only because there isn’t enough weird dark magic.
  35. The Shining Ones, David Eddings. Book 2 of the Tamuli Trilogy.
  36. The Hidden City, David Eddings. Book 3 of the Tamuli Trilogy.
  37. The Wrath and the Dawn, Renee Ahdieh. A really interesting retelling of the 1001 Arabian Nights tale, given a darker, more violent setting. I’ll admit this one took me a while to get into but it was well worth it by the end. I did struggle with some of the motivations for the romantic storyline but the writing bought me round. 3.5/5
  38. World War Z, Max Brooks. When you blend journalistic writing, human stories and a slightly-too-believable and well-thought-out zombie apocalypse backdrop, you get the awesome novel that is World War Z. This was at least my 4th reading of this book, and still enjoyed it as much as ever. 5/5.
  39. Tower of Dawn, Sarah J Maas. I was so sceptical of this book, but I was proved so completely wrong, I was very pleased and surprised! Sarah J Maas takes her writing to the next level with Tower of Dawn, with some incredible character and plot development that made some fantastic additions to the overarching Throne of Glass series. One of my absolute favourites of 2017, definitely 5/5.
  40. Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Laini Taylor. First book in the trilogy, I actually felt the first book was a little weak, focusing too much on romance that felt quite rushed and unbelievable. I adored the chimaera and the Pan’s Labyrinth influences though. 3/5.
  41. The Assassin’s Blade, Sarah J Maas. Considering this is a collection of some of her earliest work, The Assassin’s Blade was still wonderfully written and highly enjoyable as any of her later novels. I was very impressed with her story planning and how some of the earliest short stories linked back into the later novels. 4/5.
  42. Nevernight, Jay Kristoff. This was another absolutely standout of my reading list for the year. I admit, I struggled at first with some of the slightly archaic writing style, but the action more than made up for it and I absolutely loved the blend of violence, sex, dark magic, and character struggles that follow throughout the novel. 5/5
  43. Days of Blood and Starlight, Laini Taylor. The sequel to Daughter of Smoke and Bone, and book two in the trilogy. I vastly enjoyed this sequel more. It was grittier, it felt like there was more purpose, we met more chimaera and there was less romance. Learning more about the chimaera world and the resurrection magic was an excellent addition too. 4/5
  44. A Darker Shade of Magic, V.E. Schwab. I’d seen this book recommended time and time again but it took me quite a while to get round to picking it up. Why did I wait – it’s fantastic! An alternative universe London, a lady street thug and a mysterious magician fighting a wave of dark magic. Schwab has a great writing style that feels quite dark to me, but still very very enjoyable. 5/5
  45. Dreams of Gods and Monsters, Laini Taylor. The third part to the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy, sadly this was a bit of a let down. It really dragged on in places and there simply was too big a cast of characters with not enough to do. I also really disliked the ending – too twee and ‘happy ever after’ for my liking. 3/5
  46. A Promise of Fire, Amanda Bouchet. By far the WORST novel I read in 2017 – including no. 27 Runemarks. What was sold as a magical soothsayer in hiding with Greek gods and magic as the backdrop…turned out to be one huge smut fest. After a relatively interesting opening, the book descends into 300 pages of over-written and awkward sex scenes that go on for way too long and reinforce every negative trope and stereotype of heterosexual relationships. I did finish it in hope Poseidon would swoop in and save the day but nope, it was just more awkward sex scenes. 0/5
  47. The House Rules, Francesca Leung. This was definitely a bit of a silly one, but I did still read it from cover to cover and I filled out the activities! A joke gift from friends about moving in together, it made some pretty amusing observations and had some really fun exercise to fill out. 3.5/5
  48. This Savage Song, V.E. Schwab. I rounded off 2017 with another cracking novel by Schwab. An interesting monster dystopia that had hints of the Hunger Games, Maze Runner and things that go bump in the night, this was a great novel to finish the year on and Schwab’s writing didn’t disappoint.

Overall 2017 was a very good year for my reading list and I read a lot of new books as well as visiting some old favourites. My top 5 were:

  1. Tower of Dawn, Sarah J Maas
  2. Nevernight, Jay Kristoff
  3. The Ninth Rain, Jen Williams
  4. A Darker Shade of Magic, V.E. Schwab
  5. The Silver Tide, Jen Williams

Favourite series: The Broken Trilogy, L.A. Weatherly

Favourite reread: American Gods, Neil Gaiman

Worst reads:

  1. A Promise of Fire, Amanda Bouchet
  2. Runemarks, Joanne Harris
  3. A Crown for Cold Silver, Alex Marshall