New-to-me Authors and Authors I’m giving up on in 2019!

I usually dedicate so much time talking about books, characters, plots, book covers, that the authors, whose valuable time and effort went into all those wonderful books, are left on the side benches waiting for their turn.

This is changing today!

As a way to review my reading in 2018, I compiled 2018 in a Glance page that is already up on my blog. Basically, the idea was the same as last year – to have a graphic representation of a few main information, for example, the total books read, best books of the year, most read genres and so on.

While preparing the end-of-the-year-page, I noticed that I haven’t read that many great books in 2018. However, there were certain authors that were either new to me and I would love to continue reading more from, or authors that were no longer for me, as my reading tastes keep changing every year.

That is essentially what we are going to talk today. The two categories of authors (1) New-to-me Authors I’d like to read more from and (2) Authors that I will probably never read again, and a sneaky third category of Authors I’m giving the last chance to in 2019!

NEW-TO-ME AUTHORS

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1. Chloe Benjamin

Chloe Benjamin‘s new book, «The Immortalists», was an instant New York Times bestseller, and kept winning more and more awards throughout the year, from #1 Indie Next Pick for January to Amazon Spotlight Pick. The hype around it still hasn’t completely settled.

The first thing I did after finishing «The Immortalists» was searching for another book from the same author. I was sad to only find one – Chloe Benjamin’s debut novel «The Anatomy of Dreams» that came out in 2014. The fact that it is a debut novel scares me a little bit, but the idea of lucid dreaming and experiments attracts me a lot. This book is definitely on my To-Be-Read pile for 2019. And hopefully, by the end of 2019, we will hear some more news on what Chloe Benjamin is working on next.

Also, it was a delight to watch her interview at Late Night with Seth Meyers!

Follow Chloe Benjamin

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2. Tahereh Mafi

It might be difficult to believe, but prior to this year, I’ve never read anything from Tahereh Mafi. I heard a lot about her books, and I even own the copy of Shatter Me, but it never attracted me enough to begin the series.

The number of negative reviews that I keep hearing about the Shatter Me series is actually overwhelming. Should I give it a try? Let me know!

The book that I absolutely adored from Tahereh Mafi was «Furthermore»! So magical and whimsical! «Whichwood» is next on my reading list, and I can only hope that it will be just as good as the first book in this series.

Follow Tahereh Mafi

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3. Stuart Turton

I’m starting to see a pattern where I fall in love with the debut books of the new authors. This happened in 2017, and now again in 2018. The author, whose debut novel «The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle» was on everyone’s TBR shelves this year, was Stuart Turton.

The experience of reading his clever crafted plots and unforeseen twists reminded me of the very first time when I read Da Vinci’s Code by Dan Brown. It was an absolutely ingenious thriller, that even the master of her craft, Agatha Christie, would have fallen in love with.

Am I comparing Stuart Turton’s writing to that of Dan Brown and Agatha Christie? Not exactly. But the mind-boggling ideas can definitely compare to those of the masters of mystery genres. I’m very much looking forward to seeing more surprising books from this new author.

Follow Stuart Turton

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4. Gail Honeyman 

Gail Honeyman’s debut novel «Eleanor Oliphan is Completely Fine» was definitely my most favorite book of 2018! It is one of those books that I just want to constantly re-read, each time slower and slower, to savor the company of Eleanor Oliphant.

Gail Honeyman on Eleanor Oliphant and What’s Next by Blue Willow Bookshop!

As it happens this is the only book by Gail Honeyman as of right now. I found out though that next Gail Honeyman’s novel will be set in the 1940s and the present days, and has completely different characters from Eleanor. As much as I would like to try something different from this author, I’m still not completely over Eleanor’s character and would absolutely love to read something similar.

If you have any recommendations, leave them in the comments down below!

AUTHORS I’M GIVING UP ON

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Sarah J. Maas

Yes, I finally dedicated a lot of time this year to read through all the books of the Throne of Glass series and decided that Sarah J. Maas stories are just not for me.

Last year I read «Throne of Glass» and actually enjoyed it a lot. The story of the strong, witty assassin hooked me from the very beginning. However, instead of continuing with this series, I picked Court of Thorns and Roses and subsequent books by the same author and just wasn’t a fan of elaborate sex scenes, all the tension between the characters and overall Fae story.

This year, I decided to give her books another try, especially because the «Throne of Glass» was very good, in my opinion. And that is how the journey through the Throne of Glass series started.

I will be writing a more detailed review in a separate post, but let me just say that even though some books were better than others, and some of them even received a 5-star rating, there were still a lot of cringy moments that are not for me. And the fact that all main characters had to find a correspondent pair (because of course who end up with is even more important than saving the people of Terrasen) didn’t work for me at all.

After two series and a total of ten books, I know what I will find in Sarah J. Maas’s books, and it is not something I’m interested in.

AUTHORS I’M GIVING LAST CHANCE TO

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All three of these authors previously surprised me, and also disappointed me. Therefore in 2019, I will be giving their books one last chance and most likely not picking up their books in the future.

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1. Cassandra Clare

Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments series was the very first series I read after a very long break. And I loved it! It was everything I needed at that time. The story was continuously gripping and interesting. The characters kept surprising and I couldn’t stay indifferent to their fates.

Afterwards I picked up the Infernal Devices series and disliked it. The love triangle tropes are not for me, and I didn’t like how all three characters were constantly connected throughtout the whole series.

Finally, the first book in the The Dark Artifices came out in 2016 that I read it in one evening. Adoring every minute of it, as if I returned to my Mortal Instruments times. The second book I hated and forced myself to finish, giving it the lowest rating, I’ve ever given to any of Cassandra Clare books. The last books in this series, «Queen of Air and Darkness» came out at the end of this year, and this will probably be the last book I read from Cassandra Clare.

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2. Victoria Aveyard

Maybe I’m just growing tired of the same YA fantasy tropes in all books. Sarah J. Maas, Casandra Clare, and Victoria Aveyard, they all have written that similar story spun in different ways.

«Red Queen» was once again a surprisingly interesting book (back in March 2016 when I had the chance to read it). Probably I would have enjoyed the following books much more if I read them all together in 2016. Although that wasn’t possible, especially because the King’s Cage (third book) only came out in 2017 when my love for YA fantasy has died a little bit.

To say that I struggled a lot with the second book, won’t be enough to explain how hard it was for me to pick it up.

I started reading it 5 times over the 6 months. After finally finishing the second book and only giving it 2 stars, I made myself read the King’s Cage, as the story was still fresh in my mind. Even though it read easier and faster, I still didn’t enjoy it as much as the first book, giving it once again a 2-star rating.

Now that the final book in this quartet was released, I want to finish the series for the sake of finishing it and stay away from similar YA fantasy stories.

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3. Alexandra Bracken

It might be too early to call quits on this one. I was so excited about The Darkest Minds series. The idea was amazing! A virus that only affected children, the superpowers divided into four categories, the concentration camps, and absolute dystopia! Besides, the first movie came out this year. Therefore, I was very hyped to finally immerse myself in a new dystopian world.

And I was so disappointed by the execution.

The beginning was great! (Why all novel couldn’t carry the same momentum?) But then Ruby grew up into an annoying love-struck teenager, and the story for me ended there.

We were told many things about Ruby. She was beautiful. She was strong. And she hated her powers. Why would I be interested in the main character with the strongest deadliest powers that are scared to use them?

The second book was as painful to read as the first one, maybe with a slight improvement in Ruby’s character. Hopefully the last book will be slightly better, even though I don’t have high hopes for it.

I’m however interested in reading the Passanger and Wayferer, so I will definitely give them a try in 2019.

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What authors will you be giving the last chance in 2019?
Let me know in the comments down below.

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