Guest Post, Newbie Blogger Spotlight

Most Surprising Books of 2018 | Newbie Blogger Spotlight

Newbie Blogger Spotlight No.4

Hello friends! Today I bring you the next instalment of the Newbie Blogger Spotlight! A while ago I announced that I was doing this Newbie Blogger Spotlight. This is going to be a feature I will have on my blog weekly (as much as possible) where I will share a guest post from a lovely newbie blogger. They will be talking about why they got into blogging, what they enjoy about it and whatever else they’d like to share. I hope you’re all lovely to these bloggers and go and check them out, let’s spread the blogging love! Remember how you felt when you were first starting out.

Today’s post is by @imagineamalee who blogs at www.imagineamalee.wordpress.com. She’s put together a great post on her most surprising books of 2018, I hope you enjoy!

Most Surprising Books of 2018

Junk by Melvin Burgess
Published by Andersen on April 3rd 2014
Pages: 352
Goodreads

Tar loves Gemma, but Gemma doesn't want to be tied down - not to anyone or anything. Gemma wants to fly. But no one can fly forever. One day, somehow, finally you have to come down. Commissioned and produced by Oxford Stage Company, Junk premiered at The Castle, Wellingborough, in January 1998 and went on to tour throughout the UK in 1998 and 1999.

"John Retallack's excellent adaptation of Melvin Burgess's controversial Carnegie Medal winning novel is splendidly unpatronising...a truly cautionary tale" (Independent)

Thoughts; I loved this book so much! At the time I had not really delved into the UKYA genre as it is a reasonably niche genre and hard to find. I had not expected to love this book as much as I did, I completely devoured it in one sitting. It was so entertaining and the way it was told through many different P.O.V’s had my completely, undivided attention. As one of the first books I read in 2018, it set quite high reading standards for the rest of the year and only a handful of books have lived up to my ridiculously high expectations. I completely recommend this book, the representations are spot on and really portray how bad drugs are.

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
Published by St. Martin's Griffin on October 6th 2015
Pages: 522
Goodreads

Simon Snow is the worst chosen one who’s ever been chosen.

That’s what his roommate, Baz, says. And Baz might be evil and a vampire and a complete git, but he’s probably right.

Half the time, Simon can’t even make his wand work, and the other half, he sets something on fire. His mentor’s avoiding him, his girlfriend broke up with him, and there’s a magic-eating monster running around wearing Simon’s face. Baz would be having a field day with all this, if he were here—it’s their last year at the Watford School of Magicks, and Simon’s infuriating nemesis didn’t even bother to show up.

Carry On is a ghost story, a love story, a mystery and a melodrama. It has just as much kissing and talking as you’d expect from a Rainbow Rowell story—but far, far more monsters.

Thoughts; I have had a bit of a hit and miss relationship with Rainbow Rowell, I loved Eleanor & Park however I had to DNF Fangirl. So, I was slightly skeptical going into this book as I was completely unsure what to expect. Also the concept seemed a bit confusing and I had seen it listed as an LGBTQ+ book and from the summary I was struggling to see how that would come into play. This is one of the first books, or is the first book this year that I read in one sitting, up until some ungodly hour in the morning, oblivious to the world. I did not realize how late it was, but I absolutely loved it. I cannot recommend this book enough.

How to Hang a Witch (How to Hang a Witch, #1) by Adriana Mather
Published by Knopf Books for Young Readers on July 26th 2016
Pages: 358
Goodreads

It's the Salem Witch Trials meets Mean Girls in a debut novel from one of the descendants of Cotton Mather, where the trials of high school start to feel like a modern day witch hunt for a teen with all the wrong connections to Salem’s past.

Salem, Massachusetts is the site of the infamous witch trials and the new home of Samantha Mather. Recently transplanted from New York City, Sam and her stepmother are not exactly welcomed with open arms. Sam is the descendant of Cotton Mather, one of the men responsible for those trials and almost immediately, she becomes the enemy of a group of girls who call themselves The Descendants. And guess who their ancestors were?

If dealing with that weren't enough, Sam also comes face to face with a real live (well technically dead) ghost. A handsome, angry ghost who wants Sam to stop touching his stuff. But soon Sam discovers she is at the center of a centuries old curse affecting anyone with ties to the trials. Sam must come to terms with the ghost and find a way to work with The Descendants to stop a deadly cycle that has been going on since the first accused witch was hanged. If any town should have learned its lesson, it's Salem. But history may be about to repeat itself.

Thoughts; To be honest, I almost returned this book to the library without even reading it. I kind of fell out of love with the plot which I didn’t even know much about. Thank god, I gave it a chance, this book was so good I was absolutely gob smacked. Again, I was reading until some ungodly hour intrigued. When I finished the book, I didn’t realize how much I’d read and thought I had much more left of the book, only to be met with the back cover. I highly recommend this book; it is so gripping I could not of asked for a better book to keep me up at night.

Shatter Me (Shatter Me, #1) by Tahereh Mafi
Published by Harper on November 15th 2011
Pages: 338
Goodreads

~~I have a curse~~I have a gift

~~I am a monster~~I'm more than human

~~My touch is lethal~~My touch is power

~~I am their weapon~~I will fight back

Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war – and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

Thoughts; As an active member on bookstagram and other bookish platforms, I had seen this book hyped up all year. The blurb didn’t necessarily entice me, but I thought this book had to be hyped up for a reason. I saw the book in my library and saw it wasn’t a huge book or anything so I thought I’d give it a go. Where I had such high expectations for this book, I was not expecting to enjoy it massively. Although, boy, was I wrong. I sat down in my library and read the first chapter and before I knew it I had finished the whole book. I read it all in one sitting, in the library in under 2 hours. I completely devoured that book and thankfully my library had the second book which I am now super eager to read.

The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle, #1) by Maggie Stiefvater
Published by Scholastic on September 19th 2012
Pages: 419
Goodreads

Even if Blue hadn't been told her true love would die if she kissed him, she would stay away from boys. Especially the ones from the local private school. Known as Raven Boys, they only mean trouble.

But this is the year that everything will change for Blue.

This is the year that she will be drawn into the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys. And the year Blue will discover that magic does exist.

This is the year she will fall in love.

Thoughts; I only heard of this series due to booktuber, readbyzoe, and I thought they must be interesting if she was able to read all four books in under 24 hours. I was not looking for this book, however when I came across it, I was eager to get it. Around 100 pages in, I was starting to dislike the book, briefly thought about DNFing it, although I had a long journey ahead of me so I thought I’d persevere. Thank the heavens I did, I read the last 250 pages in one sitting and quickly moved on to the second book and then the third and I have finally found the fourth and I am so eager to read it, although sad that one of my favourite series is coming to an end.

Thank you for having me as a guest blogger; if you’re interested in keeping up with my posts check out my

blog; www.imagineamalee.wordpress.com

bookstagram; @imagine.amalee

twitter;@imagineamalee

Thank you so much Amalee!

What books have you read this year that surprised you?

As always, if you would like to be featured in the Newbie Blogger Spotlight, send me a message!