I am so glad that we are leaving 2020 behind, but despite it being a rough year I read more books than I have read in a LONG time.
My Goodreads goal in 2020 was to read 50 books and I finished the year having read 83! I also got back into reading fantasy books which I hadn’t done since I was in high school. I am so glad I ventured back to fantasy because several fantasy books made it into my “best books of 2020” list!
I decided to reflect back and write this post to document it for myself and also give recommendations for other readers looking for great books.
Here are the 11 books that made the list this year…
From Blood and ash + Kingdom of flesh and fire
These books are a part of a fantasy romance series that tells the story of Poppy, a “maiden”, who is foretold to live a solitary life never to be spoken to or experience pleasure. A guard named Hawke enters her life and makes her question whether or not her destined life is the life she actually has to live.
This series is riddled with action and romance that hooks you in from the beginning. The third book in the series, The Crown of Gilded Bones, is set to release April 2021.
The Wife Who KNew Too Much
I love psychological thrillers and this one was my favorite of the ones I read this year. I won’t give too much away since it is a thriller and I wouldn’t want to spoil the ending, but it will 100% keep you reading until late into the night!
Here is the Amazon synopsis for The Wife Who Knew Too Much:
Meet the first Mrs. Ford
Beautiful. Accomplished.
Wealthy beyond imagination.
Married to a much younger man.
And now, she’s dead.Meet the second Mrs. Ford.
Waitress. Small-town girl.
Married to a man she never forgot,
From a summer romance ten years before.
And now, she’s wealthy beyond imagination.Who is Connor Ford?
Two women loved him. And knew him as only wives can know.
Set amongst the glittering mansions of the Hamptons,
The Wife Who Knew Too Much is a decadent summer thriller about the lives of those who will do anything for love and money. Who is the victim? Who is the villain? And who will be next to die?
FLOCK + EXODUS
The Ravenhood series is a dark romantic suspense that kept me guessing until the end. I devoured these books. I read them both in a day. The content in this series is definitely not appropriate for everyone. The main character is young and gets caught up with a group of men and doesn’t always make the best choices, but that is part of her growth in the series. In the synopsis she describes it as “my own twisted fairy tale” and that is exactly how I would describe the series.
With that disclaimer out of the way, the books will really keep you on the edge of your seat. I LOVED them and have 3 or 4 friends who have read them now and have loved them just as much.
The third and final Ravenhood book, The Evolution of a King, will be released January 26th, 2021.
The Light We Lost
The Light We Lost was published a few years ago and I just now have picked it up. I loved this book so much. The book follows Lucy and Gabe through their complicated thirteen year long love story. It shows you the real side of love where life and passions can sometimes get in the way of a lasting relationship.
This book is heartbreakingly good.
A COurt of throns and roses series
This is the series that got me back into fantasy books this year. I kept hearing about this series on Instagram and TikTok and it lived up to all the hype.
This series is about Feyre, a normal girl that is kidnapped by a ruthless immortal faerie. Here she learns that the Fae might not be the enemies she always believed them to be. This series is action packed and Feyre is the strong female lead that I always love in books.
The second book in the series, A Court of Mist and Fury, is by far the best book of the series. The fourth book in the series is set to release February 16th, 2021.
House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City)
This is a new fantasy series from the same author as A Court of Thorns and Roses. It is GOOD. Bryce is half human and half fae. She is living a great life until all of her friends are murdered. The book follows her and fallen angel, Hunt, on their quest to find out who did it and to avenge their deaths.
This is going to be a full series. The second book is set to release in November 2021!
The nightingale
I bought this book in January of 2019 and it took me over a year to finally read it and I am so glad I finally did. This book is about two resilient sisters who live in France in the midst of World War II. The story follows these two very different sisters and their dangerous path to freedom.
If you read any of these books please let me know! I’d love to know what others think of them…
Hello Brittany! I too love reading. It is an interesting hobby that adds learning something new with joy and helps to explore the inner you. It was great to know you completed reading 83 books this year. Thanks for sharing the list of an amazing collection. Keep writing!