This is a list of the books I’ve enjoyed so far this year. This list will gradually grow as I read more. Feel free to leave you favourite book you’ve read so far this year in the comments!

1. Force of Nature by Jane Harper

The first lines of the books description are ‘Five women go on a hike. Only four return’ so of course I had to buy this book. Harper puts a really nice, dark twist in this adventure thriller that’s unlike any of her other novels. Readers engage in the escapades of Federal Police Agent Aaron Falk once again as he tries to unmask what really happened during the girls hike in the Giralang Ranges and how it connects to the ongoing corporate fraud case that the company has recently been plagued with. With multiple point of views, clashing stories and office drama, this novel was hard to put down. If you love a crime novel that has you guessing yourself every page, Force of Nature is one for you.

2. Projekt 1065 by Alan Gratz

Projekt 1065 touches the life of young Michael O’Shaunessey, son of the Irish ambassador to Germany and official spy for the British Secret Service. He joins the Hitler Youth, taking part in their horrific games and book-burning, despising everything they stand for. When Michael is tasked to find out more about Projekt 1065, a secret  mission, things get even more complicated. He must prove his loyalty to the Hitler Youth at all costs -even if it means risking the lives of his family… and himself. Although this story is unbelievable in every way, the James Bond action sequences and epic climaxes left me on the edge of my seat.

Prisoner B-3087 (Also by Alan Gratz) is a more realistic portrayal of the events that occurred during the Holocaust. Survive. At any cost. 10 concentration camps. 10 different places where you are starved, tortured, and worked mercilessly. It’s something no one could imagine surviving. But it is what Yanek Gruener has to face. As a Jewish boy in 1930s Poland, Yanek is at the mercy of the villians who have taken over. Everything he has, and everyone he loves, have been snatched brutally from him. And then Yanek himself is taken prisoner — his arm tattooed with the words PRISONER B-3087. He is forced from one nightmarish concentration camp to another, as World War II rages all around him. He encounters evil he could have never imagined, but also sees surprising glimpses of hope amid the horror. He just barely escapes death, only to confront it again seconds later. Can Yanek make it through the terror without losing his hope, his will — and, most of all, his sense of who he really is inside? 

For a more light-hearted read, I would suggest Project 1065, but I highly recommend Prisoner B-3087 for those up for it.

3. Blood Oath (the Darkest Drae series) by Raye Wagner

I love, love, LOVE (!!!) the Darkest Drae series with all my heart. My favourite OTP was created through the magnificent minds of Raye Wagner and Kelly St.Clair in this dark thriller. Considering the humble life of the main character, I wasn’t expecting such an intense dark and gritty atmosphere, nor torture as subject material. I honestly cannot put it into words, but some other godly people can. Here’s what they said:

“It is a must read for fantasy lovers who are looking for intricate characters, a bit of romance, and plot twists of the most delicious kind.”

“The horror elements mixed with the potential for romantic entanglements, and the surprising twist at the end, makes Blood Oath an edge-of-your-seat read.”

I don’t think the blurb gives the series any justice. For those of you who aren’t super interested in the whole medieval torture aspect, fear not, the sequel focuses on the relationship between our two characters (and it gives you all the feels). Character development is very present as the plot moves forward which helped me fall further in love with the characters. My only negative is that I have to wait for the third book to come out and I’m dying.

4. The Enhanced series by T.C. Edge

The Enhanced series is a 10-book series. 1O BOOKS! Normally, the plot would get boring after a trilogy, by Edge takes this dystopian world to a whole new level. A short excerpt from the summary: The world has changed. Wars and terrible weapons have decimated the global population. Originally designed for war, genetically modified super-beings have risen to the top, living in relative safety in the city of Haven.  Divided into two parts, the city is home to the genetically superior Enhanced, and the inferior Unenhanced: normal humans now subjugated and controlled. It’s a brutal world of divides. An unyielding system of class. The strong rise and the weak fall. That is the new world. Brie Melrose is our main protagonist in this series and she’s one kickass chick. She’s one of the few female characters I know in the sci-fi genre to make her own decisions and not be led around by a male sub-character. I fell in love with the city as Edge goes into a lot of detail to describe the everyday happenings as well as the attitudes represented by the two opposing sides that really give that extra edge to the plot (yes, I made that pun and I’m proud).

The spin-off series about Kira (a hybrid captured by unknown outsiders) called The Warrior Race is another favourite of mine that sadly didn’t make this list, but if you’re looking for a shorter, but still well-written series that includes just as much information, I would recommend The Warrior Race. I’m not entirely certain it will be easy to understand for readers without the background knowledge from the Enhanced series, but I find that Edge relies on in-depth descriptions to paint a clear portrayal of what the characters see so I’m sure it’ll be fine.

5. Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Last, but not least, we have the Red Queen. I put up a post on Readalongs and Buddy Reads asking for feedback on what everyone thought of the first book in this series, but I couldn’t wait and bought it 5 minutes later. Although I was disappointed about the confusing OTP’s, I found that Aveyard took a well-known plot and added a new dimension to it. The Red Queen is about Mare, a lowly ‘Red’ who gets thrust into a world of ‘Silvers’ once it’s discovered she has a power like them. It’s a typical ‘underdog in a dystopian world gets pushed into a world unknown to her’ story, but the plot twists and rabbit holes left me astounded. I haven’t read the rest of the series yet, but I’d like to continue it to see where the story goes.

So those were my favourites of January to April. I’ll be updating probably every one or two months so…