94. The Mime Order by Samantha Shannon
- The Bone Season; Book Two
- Adult
- Science Fiction/Fantasy
- Female main character–Paige
- Paige Mahoney has escaped the brutal prison camp of Sheol I, but her problems have only just begun: many of the survivors are missing and she is the most wanted person in London…As Scion turns its all-seeing eye on the dreamwalker, the mime-lords and mime-queens of the city’s gangs are invited to a rare meeting of the Unnatural Assembly. Jaxon Hall and his Seven Seals prepare to take centre stage, but there are bitter fault lines running through the clairvoyant community and dark secrets around every corner. Then the Rephaim begin crawling out from the shadows. But where is Warden? Paige must keep moving, from Seven Dials to Grub Street to the secret catacombs of Camden, until the fate of the underworld can be decided.
This took me a much longer time to read than book one–it’s pretty slow for the first half. But lord, that ending.
Verdict: Book three…give to me?
95. Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between by Jennifer E Smith
- Standalone
- Young Adult
- Contemporary
- Female main character–Clare
- Male main character–Aidan
- On the night before they leave for college, Clare and Aidan only have one thing left to do: figure out whether they should stay together or break up. Over the course of twelve hours, they’ll retrace the steps of their relationship, trying to find something in their past that might help them decide what their future should be. The night will lead them to friends and family, familiar landmarks and unexpected places, hard truths and surprising revelations. But as the clock winds down and morning approaches, so does their inevitable goodbye. The question is, will it be goodbye for now or goodbye forever?This new must-read novel from Jennifer E. Smith, author of The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, explores the difficult choices that must be made when life and love lead in different directions.
Good. Not my favorite of hers–honestly, it’s probably my least favorite. But that by no means makes it a bad book.
Verdict: This is What Happy Looks Like still has my heart
96. Lois Lane: Fallout by Gwenda Bond
- Lois Lane; Book One
- Young Adult
- Mystery/Urban Fantasy
- Female main character–…Lois Lane
- Lois Lane is starting a new life in Metropolis. An Army brat, Lois has lived all over—and seen all kinds of things. (Some of them defy explanation, like the near-disaster she witnessed in Kansas in the middle of one night.) But now her family is putting down roots in the big city, and Lois is determined to fit in. Stay quiet. Fly straight. As soon as she steps into her new high school, though, she can see it won’t be that easy. A group known as the Warheads is making life miserable for another girl at school. They’re messing with her mind, somehow, via the high-tech immersive videogame they all play. Not cool. Armed with her wit and her new snazzy job as a reporter, Lois has her sights set on solving this mystery. But sometimes it’s all a bit much. Thank goodness for her maybe-more-than-a friend, a guy she knows only by his screenname, SmallvilleGuy.
Sooo. This doesn’t feel like a book based on Superman stuff. Sure, the main character is Lois Lane, and there are obvious hints through the guy she’s chatting with–but it reads more like a mystery than anything else.
Verdict: Don’t read it for Superman. Read it for mystery.
97. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
- Standalone
- Adult
- Science Fiction
- Male main character–Wade
- In the year 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he’s jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade’s devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world’s digital confines, puzzles that are based on their creator’s obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them. When Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade’s going to survive, he’ll have to win—and confront the real world he’s always been so desperate to escape.
I did not expect the level of emotional attachment I ended up having. This was one where, had it not ended the way I wanted I would have thrown it across the room.
Verdict: Fantastic
98. A School for Unusual Girls by Kathleen Baldwin
- Stranje House; Book One
- Young Adult
- Historical Fantasy
- Female main character–Georgie
- It’s 1814. Napoleon is exiled on Elba. Europe is in shambles. Britain is at war on four fronts. And Stranje House, a School for Unusual Girls, has become one of Regency England’s dark little secrets. The daughters of the beau monde who don’t fit high society’s constrictive mold are banished to Stranje House to be reformed into marriageable young ladies. Or so their parents think. In truth, Headmistress Emma Stranje, the original unusual girl, has plans for the young ladies—plans that entangle the girls in the dangerous world of spies, diplomacy, and war.After accidentally setting her father’s stables on fire while performing a scientific experiment, Miss Georgiana Fitzwilliam is sent to Stranje House. But Georgie has no intention of being turned into a simpering, pudding-headed, marriageable miss. She plans to escape as soon as possible—until she meets Lord Sebastian Wyatt. Thrust together in a desperate mission to invent a new invisible ink for the English war effort, Georgie and Sebastian must find a way to work together without losing their heads—or their hearts…
Gosh I will never tire of Historical Fantasy novels. So goooooood.
Verdict: Much swoon.
99. Written in the Stars by Aisha Saeed
- Standalone
- Young Adult
- Contemporary
- Female main character–Naila
- This heart-wrenching novel explores what it is like to be thrust into an unwanted marriage. Has Naila’s fate been written in the stars? Or can she still make her own destiny?Naila’s conservative immigrant parents have always said the same thing: She may choose what to study, how to wear her hair, and what to be when she grows up—but they will choose her husband. Following their cultural tradition, they will plan an arranged marriage for her. And until then, dating—even friendship with a boy—is forbidden. When Naila breaks their rule by falling in love with Saif, her parents are livid. Convinced she has forgotten who she truly is, they travel to Pakistan to visit relatives and explore their roots. But Naila’s vacation turns into a nightmare when she learns that plans have changed—her parents have found her a husband and they want her to marry him, now! Despite her greatest efforts, Naila is aghast to find herself cut off from everything and everyone she once knew. Her only hope of escape is Saif . . . if he can find her before it’s too late.
This book made me so sympathetically angry that I wanted to scream.
Verdict: Important
100. Daughter of Deep Silence by Carrie Ryan
- Standalone
- Young Adult
- Mystery/Thriller
- Female main character–Frances
- I’m the daughter of murdered parents.
I’m the friend of a dead girl.
I’m the lover of my enemy.
And I will have my revenge.In the wake of the devastating destruction of the luxury yacht Persephone, just three souls remain to tell its story—and two of them are lying. Only Frances Mace knows the terrifying truth, and she’ll stop at nothing to avenge the murders of everyone she held dear. Even if it means taking down the boy she loves and possibly losing herself in the process.
Sharp and incisive, Daughter of Deep Silence by bestselling author Carrie Ryan is a deliciously smart revenge thriller that examines perceptions of identity, love, and the lengths to which one girl is willing to go when she thinks she has nothing to lose.
This…focused way too much on the romance.
Verdict: Could have been better
101. Soundless by Richelle Mead
- Standalone
- Young Adult
- High Fantasy
- Female main character–Fei
- From Richelle Mead, the #1 internationally bestselling author of Vampire Academy and Bloodlines, comes a breathtaking new fantasy steeped in Chinese folklore.For as long as Fei can remember, there has been no sound in her village, where rocky terrain and frequent avalanches prevent residents from self-sustaining. Fei and her people are at the mercy of a zipline that carries food up the treacherous cliffs from Beiguo, a mysterious faraway kingdom.When villagers begin to lose their sight, deliveries from the zipline shrink and many go hungry. Fei’s home, the people she loves, and her entire existence is plunged into crisis, under threat of darkness and starvation.But soon Fei is awoken in the night by a searing noise, and sound becomes her weapon.
Richelle Mead takes readers on a triumphant journey from the peak of Fei’s jagged mountain village to the valley of Beiugo, where a startling truth and an unlikely romance will change her life forever…
It doesn’t feel like a Richelle Mead novel. Admittedly, this could be because it’s high fantasy and not urban fantasy; could be because it’s her first non-vampire YA; could be because it’s just very different. It’s not bad by any means, it’s just not what I wanted it to be.
Verdict: Middling.
102. The Treachery of Beautiful Things by Ruth Frances Long
- Standalone
- Young Adult
- Urban Fantasy/Retelling
- Female main character–Jenny
- The trees swallowed her brother whole, and Jenny was there to see it. Now seventeen, she revisits the woods where Tom was taken, resolving to say good-bye at last. Instead, she’s lured into the trees, where she finds strange and dangerous creatures who seem to consider her the threat. Among them is Jack, mercurial and magnetic, with secrets of his own. Determined to find her brother, with or without Jack’s help, Jenny struggles to navigate a faerie world where stunning beauty masks some of the most treacherous evils, and she’s faced with a choice between salvation or sacrifice–and not just her own.
I mean, I’m partial to anything that has Puck in it. But it was an eh otherwise.
Verdict: Yay for Puck. Eh for the rest.
103. Lady of the Forest by Jennifer Roberson
- Lady of the Forest, Book One
- Adult
- Historical Fantasy/Retelling
- Female main character–Marian
- As the gates of Ravenskeep swing open and a young woman flees into the primeval depths of Sherwood Forest and into the arms of the man she loves, a saga of exceptional power and remarkable passion begins…He is Sir Robery Locksley–the heroic nobleman who has turned his back on all he knows to embark on a dangerous quest for justice in an England torn apart by treachery, betrayal and war.She is Lady Marian of Ravenskeep–the proud, defiant knight’s daughter who leaves her sheltered life behind to join a shadowy band of outlaws who follow no law but their own.Robin Hood and Maid Marian–Their love has belonged to legend for centuries, and now it belongs to us all, stunningly brought to life by the masterful pen of a truly gifted storyteller. Against a medieval tapestry of color and pageantry, Jennifer Roberson has woven a rich, sweeping tale of a woman whose courage and passion could forever alter the destiny of that mist-shrouded land of lore we know in our hearts and see in our dreams…
Ohmylanta this is so good. The pace is a bit odd.
Verdict: Pacing aside, it’s great.
104. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
- Six of Crows; Book One
- Young Adult
- High Fantasy
- Lots of Main Characters
- Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone…A convict with a thirst for revenge.A sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager.A runaway with a privileged past.
A spy known as the Wraith.
A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums.
A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.
Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don’t kill each other first.
I like it better than the Grisha trilogy. It just has a totally different feel.
Verdict: Wowzaaaaaaa
Book of the Week: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Honorable Mentions: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo; Written in the Stars by Aisha Saeed
❤ Rae
basically bookworms 