Welcome, and My 2017 Best and Worst Books List

Welcome to my internet thing! I’ve been a major reader pretty much my entire life, but I’ve never written reviews for what I read (although I do religiously rate my read books on Goodreads). This is my attempt to change that, so thanks for joining me! 

A little info: I try to read widely, but the majority of my reading is YA and adult fiction, and I mostly read books by female authors, authors of color, and LGBTQ+ authors. However, I will always consider a recommendation if the person recommending a book is passionate about it. To give you a taste of my tastes, below is a list of my favorite and least favorite books I read in 2017 (note that this is not exclusively books that came out in 2017, just book I read over the year). I read 75 books last year, and this year my goal is to read and review 48. I have no set plan as to when I’m going to be posting quite yet, but I will try to review every book I read, although I usually won’t review a book I didn’t finish. Thanks for joining me!

My Favorite Books of 2017

One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus - Chapter one of this book felt like a modern reboot of The Breakfast Club… and then someone dies. I could not put down this book, and it started a YA murder mystery trend in my reading that lasted for about two months. Definitely would recommend to any YA fans and anyone who (like me) likes murder mysteries but also is afraid of everything.

The Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed (note this is based on an advanced reader copy I received at BookExpo)- This book is important and everyone should read it so I can talk to you about it! Any book about an underground feminist revolution in a conservative town to bring rapists to justice should be read by every high schooler, and the fact that two of the main characters are women who are typically not represented in mainstream (white) feminism is wonderful! While this book has issues (specifically an unaddressed transphobic comment that I really hope was fixed before the trade publication date), this is a great start to what I hope will be many more books coming out inspiring teenage girls to not take the patriarchal bullshit too many high schools in America still allow. *Note: I read Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu shortly after reading this, and while it’s not on this list it was also very good for a lot of the same reasons, and had a few of the same pitfalls. I 100% want to discuss both with anyone who has read them! I’d also be interested to hear from anyone who preferred Moxie to The Nowhere Girls and why!

Small Admissions by Amy Poeppel - I was surprised by how much I liked this book. It was engaging with just the right amount of drama, and I really related to the main character. Being an adult is hard.

The Animators by Kayla Rae Whitaker - I could not put this book down. Whitaker created such realistic settings and characters and despite the messes they found themselves in I wanted to live in their world. I’m also a sucker for books about female artists/content creators and strong female friendships, so this book will be on the top of my recommendations list for the foreseeable future.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas - There was major buzz about this book when it came out, and it was the Goodreads Choice Awards Young Adult Fiction Book of the Year, all for good reason. All I can say is read this book!

Honorable Mentions

• Commonwealth by Ann Patchett
• Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
• Eligible by Curtis Sittenfield
• The Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee
• Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

My Least Favorite Books of 2017

My Absolute Darling by Gabriel Tallent - Full disclosure, I did not finish this book. I usually would not write anything about a book that I didn’t finish, but I honestly cannot keep inside me how uncomfortable and gross this book made me feel. I understand the importance of reading things that make us a little uncomfortable and that focus on difficult topics, but this book seems to enjoy the disgusting abuse the main character is put through too much. The author describes the 14-year old protagonist physically from the get go, and the way he writes about the abuse and aftermath is just too much. It almost feels like we’re supposed to view the relationship as romantic instead of the incredibly fucked up situation it is. Seriously, would not recommend.

The Last of August by Brittany Cavallaro - This is the second book in the Charlotte Holmes series, and I really enjoyed the first (and will read the third, The Case for Jamie, when it comes out in March 2018). The first book was fun and fast-paced, and it was always clear how Holmes and (sometimes) Watson got from point A to point B. This book however was very confusing, with lackluster explanations, a lot of convenient situations, and a somewhat rushed ending that did not make total sense. Also, Watson was incredibly annoying and fairly insensitive about his romantic feeling towards Holmes. One positive was the addition of chapters written from Charlotte's point of view, which I hope the third book includes more of (in addition to some clarity). 

Mrs. Fletcher by Tom Perrotta - The main thing I didn’t like about this book was the main character’s son. He was a spoiled douche bag who had a hard time for the first time ever and then gave up and faced very minimal consequences for his awful choices. I could have done completely without his plot line, although I understand that knowing him was a way to deepen understanding of Mrs. Fletcher’s character and motivations. Still didn’t like him.

We Are Okay by Nina LaCour - This book is on a lot of people’s best book lists, and I understand why. This book features a strong female friendship and a little LGBTQ romance that I look for in my YA reads. I just didn’t feel any feelings about the main character or what she was going through, or really understand why there was much of an issue at all (although this probably says more about me than about the book honestly). I did really love the final 50 or so pages, but my lack of connection with the characters made it end up on my least favorites list of 2017. 

All Grown Up by Jami Attenberg - I found the narrator of this novel exceedingly annoying, and was uninterested in her story. I honestly don’t remember much else about it, but when I scrolled past it on my 2017 books list I felt negatively, and a negative feeling plus unmemorable plot make it a no from me.