Hello! This weeks TTT prompt was a freebie so I’ve decided to highlight my top ten reads of the year so far. Having read 47 books so far this year, it was incredibly hard to narrow down to only 10 but I managed it! Making this list was weird because it made me realise how long 2021 has felt. It almost felt like a year since i’d read some of these when in reality it was only a few months. Most of these are 2021 fantasy releases with a few sci-fi thrown in for good measure, but there are 1 or 2 older titles that had been on my TBR for a while. Do you have any favourite reads from the year so far? Have you read any of the below? What did you think of them? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Top Ten Tuesday is run by Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl and you should definitely go give her blog some love.

The House in the Cerulean Sea

If you’re looking for a wholesome read that literally makes you feel like the book is hugging you, then look no further. The House in the Cerulean Sea took me through every emotion in the book, it ripped my heart open and put it back together again and I fell hard for all the residents of Marsyas Island Orphanage.

The Mask of Mirrors

The Mask of Mirrors is fantasy at it’s best. It has everything I love, a unique, diverse and well developed cast of characters, regency romance, swashbuckling sword fights, rogues and dresses… lots and lots of dresses. And with this being such a chunky read the author’s don’t skip on the worldbuilding or character development.

We Free the Stars

This has to be one of the best endings to a duology I’ve ever read. Filled with angst, steamy romance and one of my all time favourite literary gangs I couldn’t put it down. Faizal has a writing style that I just loose myself in, lush and beautifully descriptive, I don’t think I could ever get bored of reading it, and I can’t wait to get my hands on whatever she writes next.

Jade War

If Jade City was brutal then Jade War was murder in book form. Lee took everything I loved about book one and made it bigger and better, the scope of the story is phenomenal, she has a knack for writing incredibly complicated characters that you know aren’t good guys but can’t help but love anyway… I’m looking at you Hilo!

The Beautiful Ones

The third book and the third genre I have read from Moreno-Garcia and she hasn’t let me down yet. A story of manners and romance, of first love and first heartbreak. The atmosphere of this novel blew me away, I was completely swept away by the story and absolutely fell in love with Nina. Now an insta buy author I can’t wait to read more of her works.

The Ones We’re Meant to Find

I didn’t expect this book to pack as much of an emotional punch as it did, but boy did it hit me in the feels. Twisty and turny in the best way and set in a dystopian style world that doesn’t seem too far from our future. I got waaay to emotionally invested, and He’s writing style kept me hooked till the very last page!

A Master of Djinn

Some of the best worldbuilding I have ever read, a sharp and witty writing style that drags you into the story and three unique and overwhelmingly different female leads. I had the highest expectations going into this and it met them and more. Perfect for readers who like a little mythology and humour in the stories.

Blackheart Knights

I just finished this last week and boy did it take me on a wild ride! Think the Arthurian Legend we all know and love but, instead of horses, the Knights rides on Motorbikes and settle the differences of the land with televised fights. The story spans 19 years and focuses on two main timelines, the bastard boy raised to be King & the Orphan girl out for revenge. It’s definitely a slow burner, but after reading the ending I’m desperate to get my hands on the next book.

Judgement Day

A sequel that absolutely lived up to its predecessor! I’m not afraid to admit I’m a little in love with Jack and the gang, and could read books about them off investigating Silver’s forever. It’s darker, funier and a lot smuttier than the first book and I absolutely blitzed through it in one sitting. For fans of the more realistically written Vampires who can blend in with us lesser mortals, like a bit of snark and don’t mind a well written love triangle… well then look no further.

Hail Mary

Fans of Weir’s The Martian are sure to love this slightly more ‘out there’ sci-fi novel. Written with his usual wit and interspersed with Science that goes over everyone’s, other than astrophysicists, heads, Hail Mary packs an emotional punch, as well as asking the reader the question would they make the same decision in that situation. I can’t really mention them without giving away spoilers but Rocky deserves all the love!