Hello! I hope those of you who celebrated had a wonderful Christmas. I’m back from my sisters now and looking forward to some chill out/reading time. Since I don’t plan on reading any more series openers, middles or finales this year I think I can safely show you all my ‘top series of 2021.’ I really, really did try to get this to a top 10 but it was just impossible, so instead I went through and picked out my absolute faves and managed to narrow it down to 12. I’ll highlight the series title and which book/books I read of of it this year, as well as linking to my reviews, but it’s safe to say that the below books absolutely blew me away. What series/books from series did you read and love this year? Let me know in the comments.

The Green Bone Saga

Jade War – “Hoo boy was this book intense. While the first book, Jade City, sets a slightly more leisurely pace, letting you get accustomed to everything from the world to the characters, with Jade War Fonda Lee seems to say fuck it, you know everything you need to know so now I’m going to mess with your emotions, make you swear far too much, out loud, whilst at work, and keep you white knuckled, glued to the pages until I’m done. “

Jade Lagacy – “One of the main things that makes this series stand out from so many others is the scope, not only in time but characters, pov’s and settings. As a reader, being able to follow the same set of characters over a 30 year period was certainly something special, especially for someone like me who can’t help but get invested in the lives of the characters. Lee ensures you have no choice but to become an honorary member of No Peak, their successes are your successes, their failures your failures, their enemies your enemies”

Rook & Rose

The Mask of Mirrors – “It has been an age since I’ve read a high-fantasy book with as much depth and brilliantly written characters as this, and I forgot just how much I loved them. The Mask of Mirrors has everything I love from a unique, diverse and well developed cast of characters, regency romance, swashbuckling sword fights, rogues and dresses… lots and lots of dresses. “

The Liars Knot – “Filled with tension, flirtation, banter, intrigue and some of the most beautifully described outfits I have ever read, it’s hard not to get swept away by the story. The regency style setting, and brilliantly rendered magic system make this a unique read, and I love how the authors let us learn as we go, there are no major info dumps, but each little tit bit we learn about the magic system and world come naturally through the telling of the story, ensuring a seamless reading experience. “

Sands of Arawiya

We Free the Stars – “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. We Free the Stars was one of those books that I desperately wanted to finish and at the same time never wanted to end. The plot wasn’t rushed, we got the perfect balance between the everyday kind of scenes as well as the battles (and let me tell you they were epic.) It’s a special author that get’s that balance right, but if I’m being honest I could read a whole book of the Zumra just going about their everyday lives and never get bored.”

Seekers

Judgement Day – “I can’t tell you how much I love this series, truly genre bending it’s part urban fantasy, part mystery, part romance and Jaffrey blends it all together to make one hell of a story. I love that each book has it’s own crime to solve, but weaving through it all is another mystery, one that we get little clues too throughout both books. We know it’s building to something, something big, we just aren’t sure what it is yet. I, for one, could read an unlimited amount of books with Jack and crew solving murders, but i’m also incredibly excited to see where the author is going to take the underlying plot.”

Dead Djinn Universe

A Master of Djinn – “Clark has a kind of sharp and witty writing style that pulls you into the story, it makes all the parts of the book that could be info dumpy gloriously entertaining, and he writes his characters in a similar style. Going from the Novellas to a full length book, I wondered if the story would drag slightly, however I just never wanted it to end. The way he weaves in Egyptian culture absolutely transports you to his steampunk style Cairo with all it’s modern conveniences, while at the same time he stays true to the religion, beliefs and culture that would have been prevalent at the time.”

Burning Kingdoms

The Jasmine Throne – “With Jasmine Throne Suri creates a masterclass in worldbuilding. She effortlessly brings Parijatdvipa, Ahiranya and all their neighbouring cultures to life and establishes a continent that you feel you can traverse with ease. Through the multitude of POV’s we get little insights into the different cultures, their beliefs and their religions and while some have a larger part to play in the story Suri leaves no stone unturned in ensuring you have a wealth of knowledge about the world you are travelling in.”

Our Violent Ends

Our Violent Ends – “I adored everything about this book. The pacing, the plot twists ( and boy were there some fucking big plot twists), the descriptions of the characters and places all written in Gong’s lush and engrossing writing style come together to make one hell of an unforgettable read. Shakespeare fans will notice the little nods to the bard that Gong throws in, she does a fantastic job with sticking fairly close to the events of Romeo and Juliette but making sure Roma and Juliette’s story is wholly it’s own, and one that will certainly stick with me long after I’ve finished. “

Fractured Fables

A Spindle Splintered – “This isn’t the sleeping beauty tale we all know, it’s feminist, it’s queer and it’s about how far you will go to escape your fate. In true Harrow fashion it shows the strength of women when we work together to defy the social constructs that are constantly used to define and hold us down. It shows us that the ‘baddy’ isn’t always quite what they seem, and that you can fight your destiny if it’s not what you want. It’s whimsical, magic filled, a little witty and sarcastic at times, but it’s also incredibly heartfelt and there were plenty of moments when I found myself tearing up.”

Little Thieves

Little Thieves – “I adored how this book turned the traditional ‘beautiful princess gets cursed by her evil maid’ trope on the head, and giving us the story from the POV of the maid ensured that is remained fresh and gripping. Each new ‘story’ of the book gives us an insight into Vanja’s past, how she came to be under the protection of Death and Fortune, what exactly Gisele did to deserve having her lifestyle taken away, and the more I read the angrier I got, at not only how people were treating Vanja, but of her inner belief that maybe she deserved it.”

The Shadow Histories

A Radical Act of Free Magic – “You know that feeling when you think all hope is lost, and then something happens, something small or big, but it changes the playing field and the hairs on your arm stand on end? Well that how I felt reading this book, which considering I knew how it would end just shows Parry’s talent in writing. You are glued to the pages until the very last line and her mixture of action/fighting scenes, banter and historical moments ensures that the story flows without any lags.”

The Drowning Empire

Bone Shard Emperor – “Stewart really took her world building to a new level with this book. With Lin becoming Emperor, but living an extremely sheltered life, she decides she must show herself to her Kingdom, make herself seem more real, and thanks to this we get to visit a multitude of Islands within her Empire, some we have never visited before. Stewart uses these not only to build on her world, but also show the political frailty of the Kingdom that Lin has inherited, people followed her father out of fear, but they do not fear, nor trust, nor respect Lin, things she is determined to earn. “

All of us Villains

All of us Villains – “There was a pull to this story that just made it impossible to put down, I found myself picking it up in every spare minute I had, I was enamoured with the characters, and thanks to the pacing and well placed plot twists, the one at the end killed me, I found it a struggle to stop reading.“