2016 Releases I Meant To Read But Didn’t Get To

I just realised I haven’t done a Top Ten Tuesday since June. I think towards the end of the year, I went really downhill on my posting but I’m hoping to get my site get active this year. And TTT are such a fun and easy way to do it! And I think this topic was made for me. I’m a very slow reader, contrary to others around me who think I’m very fast because I read a lot of books, but I’m slow when it comes round to reading new releases. I’ve even dedicated the first two months of the year clearing my TBR so it’s less daunting and more manageable. But let’s get on with this week’s top ten 2016 releases I meant to read but didn’t. (In my case, it’s every book of 2016 lmao)

1) Girl Against the Universe

Maguire is bad luck.

No matter how many charms she buys off the internet or good luck rituals she performs each morning, horrible things happen when Maguire is around. Like that time the rollercoaster jumped off its tracks. Or the time the house next door caught on fire. Or that time her brother, father, and uncle were all killed in a car crash—and Maguire walked away with barely a scratch.

It’s safest for Maguire to hide out in her room, where she can cause less damage and avoid meeting new people who she could hurt. But then she meets Jordy, an aspiring tennis star. Jordy is confident, talented, and lucky, and he’s convinced he can help Maguire break her unlucky streak. Maguire knows that the best thing she can do for Jordy is to stay away. But it turns out staying away is harder than she thought.

MY THOUGHTS: I have literally heard nothing by goods things about this book from everyone I follow so this one has slowly been edging its way up my TBR.

2) The Girl From Everywhere

Nix has spent her entire life aboard her father’s ship, sailing across the centuries, across the world, across myth and imagination. As long as her father has a map for it, he can sail to any time, any place, real or imagined: nineteenth-century China, the land from One Thousand and One Nights, a mythic version of Africa. Along the way they have found crewmates and friends, and even a disarming thief who could come to mean much more to Nix.But the end to it all looms closer every day.

Her father is obsessed with obtaining the one map, 1868 Honolulu, that could take him back to his lost love, Nix’s mother. Even though getting it—and going there—could erase Nix’s very existence. For the first time, Nix is entering unknown waters.She could find herself, find her family, find her own fantastical ability, her own epic love.

Or she could disappear.

MY THOUGHTS: I follow Heidi on twitter and she’s honestly an amazing person. I’m always learning from her twitter which it why her novel is something I need to read!

3) These Vicious Masks

England, 1882. Evelyn is bored with society and its expectations. So when her beloved sister, Rose, mysteriously vanishes, she ignores her parents and travels to London to find her, accompanied by the dashing Mr. Kent. But they’re not the only ones looking for Rose. The reclusive, young gentleman Sebastian Braddock is also searching for her, claiming that both sisters have special healing powers. Evelyn is convinced that Sebastian must be mad, until she discovers that his strange tales of extraordinary people are true—and that her sister is in graver danger than she feared.

MY THOUGHTS: I actually had not idea what this book was about until I searched the synposis to put on this post. But that cover lured me in.

4) The Long Games

For Tess Kendrick, a junior at the elite Hardwicke School in Washington, D.C., fixing runs in the family. But Tess has another legacy, too, one that involves power and the making of political dynasties. When Tess is asked to run a classmate’s campaign for student council, she agrees. But when the candidates are children of politicians, even a high school election can involve life-shattering secrets.

Meanwhile, Tess’s guardian has also taken on an impossible case, as a terrorist attack calls into doubt who can—and cannot—be trusted on Capitol Hill. Tess knows better than most that power is currency in D.C., but she’s about to discover firsthand that power always comes with a price.

 

MY THOUGHTS: I read The Fixer back in 2015 and I didn’t even realise The Long Game, its sequel was out until last month so I definitely need to get my hands on a copy!

5) Empire of Storms

The long path to the throne has only just begun for Aelin Galathynius. Loyalties have been broken and bought, friends have been lost and gained, and those who possess magic find themselves at odds with those don’t.

As the kingdoms of Erilea fracture around her, enemies must become allies if Aelin is to keep those she loves from falling to the dark forces poised to claim her world. With war looming on all horizons, the only chance for salvation lies in a desperate quest that may mark the end of everything Aelin holds dear.

Aelin’s journey from assassin to queen has entranced millions across the globe, and this fifth installment will leave fans breathless. Will Aelin succeed in keeping her world from splintering, or will it all come crashing down?

MY THOUGHTS: I’m not 100% convinced with this book — I’m always teetering between 2.5/3 stars on this series, overall, and I feel like I have to read this book because it’s a paperback and it’s a signed copy. Don’t ask me why, I bought Empire of Storms before I had even read Throne of Glass – I literally saw it and thought ‘cool, I’ll buy it since it’s signed’ which literally why I need supervision in bookstores or I’ll just buy anything for the sake of it. TBH, I’m actually not keen on Sarah J. Maas anymore and depending on how it goes this, I think I’ll just give my copy away because I don’t even care for it right now.

6) A Torch Against the Night

Elias and Laia are running for their lives. After the events of the Fourth Trial, Martial soldiers hunt the two fugitives as they flee the city of Serra and undertake a perilous journey through the heart of the Empire.

Laia is determined to break into Kauf—the Empire’s most secure and dangerous prison—to save her brother, who is the key to the Scholars’ survival. And Elias is determined to help Laia succeed, even if it means giving up his last chance at freedom.

MY THOUGHTS: As I make this list, I’ve slowly realised how many 2016 releases I’ve literally ignored. But I was sort of in the middle with Embers but I’ve heard A Torch is much better.

7) P.S I Like You

While spacing out in chemistry class, Lily scribbles some of her favorite song lyrics onto her desk. The next day, she finds that someone has continued the lyrics on the desk and added a message to her. Intrigue!

Soon, Lily and her anonymous pen pal are exchanging full-on letters—sharing secrets, recommending bands, and opening up to each other. Lily realizes she’s kind of falling for this letter writer. Only, who is he? As Lily attempts to unravel the mystery and juggle school, friends, crushes, and her crazy family, she discovers that matters of the heart can’t always be spelled out…

MY THOUGHTS: This has been on my Fire shelf for months now. I don’t know why I haven’t read this yet. 

8) Kill the Boyband

Just know from the start that it wasn’t supposed to go like this. All we wanted was to get near them. That’s why we got a room in the hotel where they were staying.

We were not planning to kidnap one of them. Especially not the most useless one. But we had him—his room key, his cell phone, and his secrets.

We were not planning on what happened next.

We swear.

MY THOUGHTS: This sounds ridiculous which makes me want to read it even more.

9) The Sun is Also A Star

Natasha: I’m a girl who believes in science and facts. Not fate. Not destiny. Or dreams that will never come true. I’m definitely not the kind of girl who meets a cute boy on a crowded New York City street and falls in love with him. Not when my family is twelve hours away from being deported to Jamaica. Falling in love with him won’t be my story.

Daniel: I’ve always been the good son, the good student, living up to my parents’ high expectations. Never the poet. Or the dreamer. But when I see her, I forget about all that. Something about Natasha makes me think that fate has something much more extraordinary in store—for both of us.

The Universe: Every moment in our lives has brought us to this single moment. A million futures lie before us. Which one will come true?

MY THOUGHTS: TBH, I’m disappointed with myself that I haven’t read Nicola Yoon’s newest book. SOON, GUYS, SOON.

10) The Reader 

Sefia lives her life on the run. After her father is viciously murdered, she flees to the forest with her aunt Nin, the only person left she can trust. They survive in the wilderness together, hunting and stealing what they need, forever looking over their shoulders for new threats. But when Nin is kidnapped, Sefia is suddenly on her own, with no way to know who’s taken Nin or where she is. Her only clue is a strange rectangular object that once belonged to her father left behind, something she comes to realize is a book.

Though reading is unheard of in Sefia’s world, she slowly learns, unearthing the book’s closely guarded secrets, which may be the key to Nin’s disappearance and discovering what really happened the day her father was killed. With no time to lose, and the unexpected help of swashbuckling pirates and an enigmatic stranger, Sefia sets out on a dangerous journey to rescue her aunt, using the book as her guide. In the end, she discovers what the book had been trying to tell her all along: Nothing is as it seems, and the end of her story is only the beginning.

THOUGHTS: That cover and plot summary had me hooked. SOON.

What’s on your TTT this week? Or are you more well organised that me? :’) Leave me a link or let me know in the comments!