Favourite Reads of 2019

2019 was quite the year. I finished my 2^nd of University (with an average of 80% ayyyyyyyyy) and I started my Industrial Placement at one of the biggest companies in the UK. For those unaware, an Industrial Placement is when a student does a year in industry between their 2^nd and 3^rd year at Uni. I’m currently just over 6 months in and it has been a crazy experience thus far. Full time, 9-5 work is no joke. It’s such a great learning experience, and I’m having so much fun, but it’s also intense and highly stressful. As a result, in terms of numbers, 2019 has been my worst reading year probably since I first properly got into reading about 6/7 years ago! I read 39 books in 2019, which isn’t bad by any means, but I did set my Goodreads goal at 45 ☹

However, saying that, for the first time in years, I actually found it easy to pick my favourite reads of the year (I have become increasingly picky with handing out 5 stars) and I really truly did love all the following books;

✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯

The Wicked King - Holly Black

First up we have my first actual read of 2019. When I read The Cruel Prince back in 2018, I enjoyed it, but a part of me was left a little underwhelmed and so The Wicked King could have gone either way for me. And I’m so happy it went the positive way and I absolutely LOVED it! It was fast paced and thrilling, and I fell in love with Jude and Cardan. I also read The Queen of Nothing in 2019, and while I loved that too and rated it 4.5 stars, TWK is for sure my favourite of the trilogy and is therefore wholly deserving of a spot on this list!

A Curse So Dark & Lonely - Review

Book Review:
Title: A Curse so Dark and Lonely
Author: Brigid Kemmerer
Publisher: Bloomsbury
I received an early copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

“I am always surprised to discover that when the world seems darkest, there exists the greatest opportunity for light.”

Fall in love, break the curse. 
It once seemed so easy to Prince Rhen, the heir to Emberfall. Cursed by a powerful enchantress to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year over and over, he knew he could be saved if a girl fell for him. But that was before he learned that at the end of each autumn, he would turn into a vicious beast hell-bent on destruction. That was before he destroyed his castle, his family, and every last shred of hope.
  Nothing has ever been easy for Harper Lacy. With her father long gone, her mother dying, and her brother barely holding their family together while constantly underestimating her because of her cerebral palsy, she learned to be tough enough to survive. But when she tries to save someone else on the streets of Washington, DC, she’s instead somehow sucked into Rhen’s cursed world. 
Break the curse, save the kingdom. 
  A prince? A monster? A curse? Harper doesn’t know where she is or what to believe. But as she spends time with Rhen in this enchanted land, she begins to understand what’s at stake. And as Rhen realizes Harper is not just another girl to charm, his hope comes flooding back. But powerful forces are standing against Emberfall...and it will take more than a broken curse to save Harper, Rhen, and his people from utter ruin.