Hey guys! This is going to be a shorter list than usual since I’ve only read 9 books this year but I’m still going to have an honorable mention section as well. Like last year, my favorite books are usually rated 4.5-5 and my honorable mentions will be 4-4.5.
My past previous favorite books [2018] [2017] [2016] .
Honorable Mentions
Carmilla by Kim Turrisi
Rating: 4.5/5
The Deal (Off-Campus #1) by Elle Kennedy
Rating: 4/5
Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America by Ibi Zoboi, et al
Rating: 4.26/5
Favorite Books of 2019
5. What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera
Rating: 4.5/5
My Original Thoughts:
Wow this book really blew me away and made me feel a lot of emotions that I haven’t felt in a contemporary in a while. I was blown away by the writing and the characters (the main and the side characters are some that are my absolute favorites).
This was my first introduction to Adam Silvera and I’ve been obsessed with Becky Albertalli writing and now I have the urge to read every book written by Adam. Even though, I didn’t know Adam’s voice, I know Becky’s voice so I knew where her input was so that’s how I became obsessed with Adam’s.
I loved the setting, the relationship, it was such an amazing meet-cute and I was able to imagine every second of this book and I could totally see this as a cute rom-com movie. I also loved every Sims and Hamilton reference in this book! (they’re 2 of my favorite things)
I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a cute lgbt love story set in the big city!
4. Roomies by Christina Lauren
Rating: 5/5
My Original Thoughts:
This was a book that I’ve been wanting to read for years and now that I finally have, it’s literally worth the wait. I’ve completely fell in love with the characters, their stories, the city, and everything in between. I felt as if everything was real and my heart was just left filled with emotion.
This book really brought back my motivation for reading and I could not be more thankful.
I’ve always loved the trope of “fake relationship” or in this case, “fake marriage” that ends up becoming real. This was beautifully done and it has just become one of my favorite books of the year.
I could not have asked for anything else from this book and it’s definitely a book that I would recommend to anyone who’s looking for a good romance book. This book is a little steamy but it’s honestly less descriptive than other books I’ve read and it definitely focuses more on the love story aspect of it which is one of my favorite things in new adult novels.
3. Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi
Rating: 5/5
My Original Thoughts:
I know when to give a book a 5/5 when I read the last sentence and my heart feels like someone’s clutching onto it. This is definitely how this book left me. I was so invested in this story and in these characters and now all I’m thinking about is how they’re doing after the ending, like I feel like they were my friends, that’s how real this story felt to me.
I loved the text relationship between Sam and Penny. Their conversations could be so weird and silly and then turn so deep that I literally would hold my breath at how fast the mood would change. It was done so beautifully, honestly.
I loved all of the side characters and I also even enjoyed the scenes where Penny was in class, learning about fictional writing because it felt like I was sitting in the classroom. I also loved all the relationships Penny built with Jude and Mallory.
This book was just so real, following 2 very broken characters who were each other’s emergency contact and there’s nothing wrong with that. I’m absolutely in love with this book and it will become one of those books where I will always recommend!
2. The Chaos of Standing Still by Jessica Brody
Rating: 4.85/5
This wasn’t a complete 5/5 but it’s still a book that has a special place in my heart and that made me think about so much in my life. I think this is the perfect book to start off the year of 2019, not only cause it’s set on New Years but because it was so powerful and heartbreaking but also sweet and heartwarming. It was everything that I love to feel while reading a contemporary novel.
The characters were amazing and the setting of being trapped in an airport has definitely become one of my favorite tropes. Jessica Brody’s writing was absolutely beautiful and she definitely made me feel a lot.
I adored Ryn as a character and I always felt that she put more into the friendship she had with Lottie but that could just be me. I understood her coping mechanisms and her pain and I know how it feels like to feel alone and not knowing how to “properly” cope with loss.
This was just a beautiful book and it’s definitely one that I recommend to everyone!
1 The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
Rating: 5/5
My Original Thoughts:
Wow. This book was phenomenal and not what I was expecting at all. The main character Xiomara’s words literally touched my heart and in this moment in my life, I definitely needed to hear all of it. I’m also a Dominican-American girl, who loved seeing her culture represented so beautifully and accurately in a story, whose mother is very religious and I just don’t know where I stand.
It was nice to see a character who deals with some of the same things that I do and to see a happy ending because of it. This book really gave me hope and it’s why it’s already one of my favorite books of the year.
Everyone needs to read this. There’s so much truth and a type of rawness that I haven’t seen in a book in a while.
I also loved how this story was told in poems. It made me connect with the character more and made me feel like I was reading her journal of poems.
If you don’t want to pick up the physical book, I definitely recommend the audiobook! It’s read by the author, Elizabeth Acevedo, and she literally made me feel like I was listening to Slam poetry which peaked my enjoyment so much more.
This book was amazing and I think it deserves way more hype than it’s been getting!
What’s your favorite books of 2019? Let me know in the comments!
-Ang
angiesbookblog 