All The Book Series I Want To Start/Finish In 2020!
Hi guys! Today I wanted to discuss about all the book series I plan on starting/finishing once and for all this year! I have ten books in this list, five of which I want to start and five that I plan on finishing. I've been recommended the five to-start series for the longest time, and so I thought I'd be a bit more ambitious with my reading game this year by finally picking up/finishing these series!
So without further ado, let's just dive right into the list!
Series I Plan On Finishing
1. Daughter of Smoke and Bone Trilogy by Laini Taylor
Book #1 Synopsis:
Around the world, black hand prints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.
In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grows dangerously low.
And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherworldly war.
Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real, she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands", she speaks many languages - not all of them human - and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out.
When beautiful, haunted Akiva fixes fiery eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?
Thoughts:
I re-read Days of Blood and Starlight this year in preparation for the final book in the series and I've forgotten how much I loved this world and the characters! There's so much political intrigue involved, and the writing is just amazing! Laini Taylor is such a queen, and the first two books are absolutely incredible. I also heard that the final book is the best out of the three, so I'm VERY excited!
2. The Cemetery of Forgotten Books by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Book #1 Synopsis:
Barcelona, 1945. Just after the war, a great world city lies in shadow, nursing its wounds, and a boy named Daniel awakes on his eleventh birthday to find that he can no longer remember his mother’s face.
To console his only child, Daniel’s widowed father, an antiquarian book dealer, initiates him into the secret of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a library tended by Barcelona’s guild of rare-book dealers as a repository for books forgotten by the world, waiting for someone who will care about them again. Daniel’s father coaxes him to choose a volume from the spiraling labyrinth of shelves, one that, it is said, will have a special meaning for him. And Daniel so loves the novel he selects, 'The Shadow of the Wind', by one Julian Carax, that he sets out to find the rest of Carax’s work.
To his shock, he discovers that someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book this author has written. In fact, he may have the last one in existence. Before Daniel knows it his seemingly innocent quest has opened a door into one of Barcelona’s darkest secrets, an epic story of murder, magic, madness and doomed love. And before long he realizes that if he doesn’t find out the truth about Julian Carax, he and those closest to him will suffer horribly.
Thoughts:
The Shadow of The Wind was one of my favorite books of 2019. I also read The Angel's Game last year and really liked it, though not as much as The Shadow of The Wind. I know the first book is seemingly more popular than the other books in the series, but people were telling me that the whole series is amazing in general! Honestly, all I ever want is to read Zafón's atmospheric writing forever, so this series is definitely a priority for me!
3. VIP series by Kristen Callihan
Book #1 Synopsis:
Libby
I found Killian drunk and sprawled out on my lawn like some lost prince. With the face of a god and the arrogance to match, the pest won’t leave. Sexy, charming, and just a little bit dirty, he’s slowly wearing me down, making me crave more.
He could be mine if I dare to claim him. Problem is, the world thinks he’s theirs. How do you keep an idol when everyone is intent on taking him away?
Killian
As lead singer for the biggest rock band in the world, I lived a life of dreams. It all fell apart with one fateful decision. Now everything is in shambles.
Until Liberty. She’s grouchy, a recluse—and kind of cute. Scratch that. When I get my hands on her, she is scorching hot and more addictive than all the fans who’ve screamed my name.
The world is clamoring for me to get back on stage, but I’m not willing to leave her. I’ve got to find a way to coax the hermit from her shell and keep her with me. Because, with Libby, everything has changed. Everything.
Thoughts:
I read Idol last year and absolutely LOVED it! You walk away with so many quotes and unforgettable phrases. I love new adult books that leave a major impact on their readers <3 On top of that, Idol is super funny and steamy! It's the full package, you guys. I cannot wait to read the other books in the series! I also read a bit of the second book (Managed) and it seems that both books have a little bit of an enemies-to-lovers element at the beginning, which in my book is ALWAYS an added bonus!
4. The Wrath and The Dawn duology by Renée Ahdieh
Book #1 Synopsis:
One Life to One Dawn.
In a land ruled by a murderous boy-king, each dawn brings heartache to a new family. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, is a monster. Each night he takes a new bride only to have a silk cord wrapped around her throat come morning. When sixteen-year-old Shahrzad's dearest friend falls victim to Khalid, Shahrzad vows vengeance and volunteers to be his next bride. Shahrzad is determined not only to stay alive, but to end the caliph's reign of terror once and for all.
Night after night, Shahrzad beguiles Khalid, weaving stories that enchant, ensuring her survival, though she knows each dawn could be her last. But something she never expected begins to happen: Khalid is nothing like what she'd imagined him to be. This monster is a boy with a tormented heart. Incredibly, Shahrzad finds herself falling in love. How is this possible? It's an unforgivable betrayal. Still, Shahrzad has come to understand all is not as it seems in this palace of marble and stone. She resolves to uncover whatever secrets lurk and, despite her love, be ready to take Khalid's life as retribution for the many lives he's stolen. Can their love survive this world of stories and secrets?
Thoughts:
I adore The Wrath and The Dawn the first time I read it and LOVED it even more the second time round! It's a wonder how I have not gotten around to reading the sequel yet :') But that will change this year! I've also heard nothing but great things about The Rose and The Dagger! The romance in the first book kills me every time! I need MOREEEE!
5. Sinners of Saints series by L. J. Shen
Book #1 Synopsis:
Emilia
They say love and hate are the same feelings experienced under different circumstances, and it’s true. The man who comes to me in my dreams also haunts me in my nightmares. He is a brilliant lawyer. A skilled criminal. A beautiful liar. A bully and a savior, a monster and a lover.
Ten years ago, he made me run away from the small town where we lived. Now, he came for me in New York, and he isn’t leaving until he takes me with him.
Vicious
She is a starving artist. Pretty and evasive like cherry blossom. Ten years ago, she barged into my life unannounced and turned everything upside down. She paid the price.
Emilia LeBlanc is completely off-limits, my best friend’s ex-girlfriend. The woman who knows my darkest secret, and the daughter of the cheap Help we hired to take care of our estate. That should deter me from chasing her, but it doesn’t. So she hates me. Big fucking deal. She better get used to me.
Thoughts:
I love my enemies-to-lovers books okay?! xD The first book was really good! A little cheesy, but SO addicting! We get to learn a lot about each character, and knowing that the series follows a similar formula makes me excited to pick up the rest of the books! This is also another new adult series that deals with characters fighting their own demons, dealing with tragedy, and most importantly, growing as human beings!
Series I Plan On Starting
1. Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden
Book #1 Synopsis:
At the edge of the Russian wilderness, winter lasts most of the year and the snowdrifts grow taller than houses. But Vasilisa doesn't mind—she spends the winter nights huddled around the embers of a fire with her beloved siblings, listening to her nurse's fairy tales. Above all, she loves the chilling story of Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon, who appears in the frigid night to claim unwary souls. Wise Russians fear him, her nurse says, and honor the spirits of house and yard and forest that protect their homes from evil.
After Vasilisa's mother dies, her father goes to Moscow and brings home a new wife. Fiercely devout, city-bred, Vasilisa's new stepmother forbids her family from honoring the household spirits. The family acquiesces, but Vasilisa is frightened, sensing that more hinges upon their rituals than anyone knows.
And indeed, crops begin to fail, evil creatures of the forest creep nearer, and misfortune stalks the village. All the while, Vasilisa's stepmother grows ever harsher in her determination to groom her rebellious stepdaughter for either marriage or confinement in a convent.
As danger circles, Vasilisa must defy even the people she loves and call on dangerous gifts she has long concealed—this, in order to protect her family from a threat that seems to have stepped from her nurse's most frightening tales.
Thoughts:
I love my atmospheric books, combine that with Russian folklore and it sounds like the most epic tale! I have been seeing this series everywhere and am finally making myself pick it up because everyone just simply RAVES about it! I also have no excuses to keep delaying this series since it's now complete. I cannot wait to make all the annotations when I get my hands on these books! <3
2. The Folk of Air series by Holly Black
Book #1 Synopsis:
Of course I want to be like them. They’re beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever.
And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.
Jude was seven when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.
To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences.
As Jude becomes more deeply embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, she discovers her own capacity for trickery and bloodshed. But as betrayal threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.
Thoughts:
You can tell a series is great when you save a fan art based on the series on Instagram despite knowing anything about it. I have TONS of Jude fan arts saved even though I have not read the first book in the series. It's just madness! xD I hear the series is angsty and dark, which is THE recipe made for me. A publisher also sent me Queen of Nothing, and if these aren't enough reasons for me to pick up The Cruel Prince ASAP, I don't know what are.
3. Strange The Dreamer duology by Laini Taylor
Book #1 Synopsis:
The dream chooses the dreamer, not the other way around—and Lazlo Strange, war orphan and junior librarian, has always feared that his dream chose poorly. Since he was five years old he’s been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, but it would take someone bolder than he to cross half the world in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself, in the person of a hero called the Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors, and he has to seize his chance or lose his dream forever.
What happened in Weep two hundred years ago to cut it off from the rest of the world? What exactly did the Godslayer slay that went by the name of god? And what is the mysterious problem he now seeks help in solving?
The answers await in Weep, but so do more mysteries—including the blue-skinned goddess who appears in Lazlo’s dreams. How did he dream her before he knew she existed? And if all the gods are dead, why does she seem so real?
Welcome to Weep
Thoughts:
One does not just simply read one series by Laini Taylor and not read her other one. Apparently this series is magical, lyrical, and pretty darn beautiful. I've seen plenty of quotes online, and that alone has me hooked on this series. Honestly, I don't really need much more encouragement to go pick up this series. Laini is queen, and that is all the reasoning I need. I just NEED to find the time to pick it up at a bookstore ASAP!
4. Arc of A Scythe trilogy by Neil Shusterman
Book #1 Synopsis:
Thou shalt kill.
A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery. Humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now scythes are the only ones who can end life—and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control.
Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe—a role that neither wants. These teens must master the “art” of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own.
Thoughts:
I don't tend to pick up Sci-fi/Dystopian novels, but this series has been getting nothing but high praises all throughout last year! Some of my favorite booktubers/bloggers absolute adore this series. The synopsis also has me sold, and I'm super interested to see how the system works in the novel! The final book is also out, so I plan on binge-reading this series STAT!
5. Stalking Jack The Ripper series by Kerri Maniscalco
Book #1 Synopsis:
Seventeen-year-old Audrey Rose Wadsworth was born a lord's daughter, with a life of wealth and privilege stretched out before her. But between the social teas and silk dress fittings, she leads a forbidden secret life.
Against her stern father's wishes and society's expectations, Audrey often slips away to her uncle's laboratory to study the gruesome practice of forensic medicine. When her work on a string of savagely killed corpses drags Audrey into the investigation of a serial murderer, her search for answers brings her close to her own sheltered world.
The story's shocking twists and turns, augmented with real, sinister period photos, will make this dazzling, #1 New York Times bestselling debut from author Kerri Maniscalco impossible to forget.
Thoughts:
One of my close friends have been raving about this series non-stop. The synopsis sounds so cool too! I hear that this book is the kind that makes you grow attached to the characters. Although I've heard mixed reviews for the first book, I hear the series gets so much better! Those titles also sound very intriguing :') I'm excited to pick them up!
What did you guys think of the list? Are there any books that you've been meaning to read/finish as well? Let me know! :)
Until next time,
xx Cath
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