Top 10 Books I Read in 2021!

It’s time for my Top 10 books of 2021! These are in no particular order but I will let you know which is my #1 book of 2021 when I get to it! Let’s just jump straight in!

This Vicious Cure by Emily Suvada

Firstly we have the last book in the A Mortal Coil series! This series is a YA Dystopian but sometimes bordering on NA/Adult as it can be pretty gruesome & brutal.

I won’t talk about This Vicious Cure too much as it is a sequel and its nearly impossible to talk about any aspect without giving away hints about the previous books. The series follows Cat who is the daughter of a legendary geneticist and is a competent gene hacker herself. This is paramount in a world where everyone is implanted with technology that can alter their very DNA. Humanity is on the brink of extinction thanks to a plague that is running rampant and Cat has had to try and survive the last 2 years on her own after her father was kidnapped by an elusive organisation. One of their soliders arrives one day to tell Cat that her father is dead but she doesn’t believe them. It’s not until a message from her father is revealed claiming that he created a vaccine made of code that she realises she might be humanities only hope.

This series is absolutely incredible. The world is so vivid & detailed. The characters are amazingly written. It’s absolutely full of twists & turns and kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time! Highly recommend checking it out!

The Hawthorne Legacy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Next we have book 2 in the The Inheritance Games series. I am very keen for book 3 to release later this year! This one is a YA Mystery and to some degree gives my Truly Devious vibes! Well specifically Tobias Hawthorne gives me Albert Ellingham vibes.

The Inheritance Games follows Avery who is just going about life as usual and one day a bloke turns up at her school to tell her that she has inherited from Tobias Hawthorne, a billionaire, and she has to come with him in order for the will to be read. The only issue is Avery has no idea who Tobias even is or why he would leave a stranger billions.

I absolutely love this series! It’s got a kind of puzzle/game vibe to the mystery which I love. The characters are also amazing & it’s a wild ride!

The Nature of Witches by Rachel Griffin

First standalone for this list! This one is a YA Fantasy and it was an extremely powerful book. I was laughing, I was crying and I loved every minute of it!

In this world witches control the weather and have an affinity to a certain season and the types of weather that occurs in that particular season. Clara however is an Everwitch and she can control all the seasons. However she sees her power as dangerous and wants nothing to do with it. As the weather starts turning dangerous and unpredictable she is pushed to harness her power to save everyone.

Absolutely stunning and features such a vivid and beautiful world. With amazing characters and incredible friendships there is not much you can’t love about this book!

Treasure in the Lake by Jason Pamment

This one is such a cute but thrilling fantasy middle grade graphic novel.

This one follows Sam & Iris who stumble upon a suspiciously empty lake. They decide to follow it and happen upon a usually hidden city. It might not be all that it seems though!

This was such a fun but also thrilling read. I loved the addition of the stories in the back about real life hidden cities as well. The illustrations are really cute and it was a quick & easy read! Highly recommend!

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The Box in the Woods by Maureen Johnson

We are finally up to the big one! So The Box in the Woods is the best book I read in 2021! Funnily enough Book 3 of the series was my number 1 in 2020 too.

So The Box in the Woods is Book 4 in the Truly Devious series. However this one doesn’t have the same setting as the others. We still follow Stevie as she goes off to solve another cold case with her 2 best friends.

Incase you didn’t know. Truly Devious follows Stevie who loves true crime & investigating. She is accepted to a prestigious & mysterious school called Ellingham Academy. Her interests are not only academic. She is determined to solve a cold case that happened at the school and has mystified detectives for years. Then the unexpected happens when a class mate turns up dead seemingly due to an accident but Stevie isn’t convinced.

I absolutely adore this series. The writing is impeccable & I love the characters so much. I really hope Maureen Johnson decides to keep this series going but at the moment it looks like this will be the last book which it very sad!

The Mask Falling by Samantha Shannon

This one was a long time coming but was definitely worth the wait! The next one better be too because it’s not releasing until 2024!!!!! The Mask Falling is Book 4 in The Bone Season series which is a NA/Adult Fantasy Dystopian.

The Bone Season follows Paige who is a powerful clairvoyant. In this world the clairvoyants are hunted down and killed. Paige is trying to survive but also fight the system. Then one day she is kidnapped & dumped in a concentration camp where she discovers that there may be another race of people who are behind the way Scion London is run.

This series is incredible and the world building is insane! This world is so intricate and in depth. I love everything about this series and I can’t wait for the next books to release!

Mrs. Perivale and the Blue Fire Crystal by Dash Hoffman

Everyone needs this wholesome book about a Grandma being the chosen one in their life!

This one follows Mrs. Perivale who is a 73 year old grandmother who goes on a quest to find the Blue Fire Crystal in order to save a magical land she didn’t even know existed. Armed with her cane & knitting needles and accompanied by her 6 cats & devoted butler we follow this badass sassy grandma on an adventure!

This series is incredible! I don’t know why more books don’t follow sassy grandmas. I recently read another book with a 77 year old lady solving her neighbours murder & it was also amazing! We need more Grandmas!! I really hope a book 3 comes out sometime in the future.

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

This series was a wild ride. While Book 3 was not my favourite I absolutely loved book 1. This one is a YA Mystery/Thriller that is mixed media type format. Highly recommend the audiobook for this one as the narration was amazing and the podcast/interview was superb on audiobook.

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder follows Pippa and in her town 5 years ago a girl called Andie was killed. Everyone believes that Sal Singh was the murder without a doubt. Even the police. So the case is closed. Pippa isn’t so sure though. When she starts uncovering information it’s clear that someone in town desperately wants to keep those facts hidden. Is it the killer? How far will they go to keep Pip quiet?

I absolutely loved this book! The characters were amazing. The format/audiobook was so well done! It was gripping, thrilling and mysterious! I am also a sucker for a book featuring mysterious from the past. Truly Devious is the perfect example of that trope & so is A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder!

I Killed Zoe Spanos by Kit Frick

This book stuck with me and I still find myself thinking about it. It’s a YA Thriller bordering on the psychological side of the Thrillers.

In this one we follow Anna who moves to a small town for a fresh start. She soon discovers that she has a striking resemblance to a girl called Zoe who has recently gone missing. Cut to two months later when Zoe’s body is found at a nearby lake & Anna is charged with manslaughter. Anna confesses however her story is full of plot holes & there are questions she cant answer. Martha a local girl who hosts a podcast about Zoe is not convinced. Can Martha uncover the truth? Did Anna really kill Zoe Spanos?

This one is full of twists and turns. It kept me on the edge of my seat and stuck with me well after finishing it. I will admit I was a little confused at the very beginning with the time lines. We follow Anna both when she moves to the town & when she is arrested but the book had no indication that you were swapping time lines so that was a little difficult to follow right at the beginning.

All the Tides of Fate by Adalyn Grace

This one was an unexpected addition to this list as I enjoyed Book 1 but it wasn’t an absolute fave. Then I read this one & it was incredible!

All the Stars and Teeth follows Amora who is the princess and in order to take the thrown she must demonstrate to her people the control that she possesses for her dangerous soul magic. However during the demonstration sounds goes very wrong & she is sentence to death. To save herself she flees the island with a pirate and in exchange for helping her she has to help him get his magic back which has been stolen. They soon discover a dark magic slowly spreading across the other islands of her kingdom and she is determined to save the kingdom & take the thrown.

This book left me in tears at the end. It was incredibly written and the ending was brutal! This is book 2 in a duology, so it was nice to tick off a series finished but I wish there was more books set in this world with these characters as I love them so much.

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That was a long one but there are my top 10 books I read in 2021! What was your favourite read of 2021? Let me know in the comments!