In 2020, I read a lot of fiction and a lot of non-fiction. I came out with 10 fiction books that stood out and several honorable mentions. To prevent the post from getting too long, I will divide this into two posts: one for non-fiction/biographies and one for fiction. 2020 could be summarized as Armentrout supremacy and the year I discovered what I call “African fantasy.”
Breaking with tradition, I’m going to actually rank these in order of favorites. Though some are very close calls in the ordering here. Ironically, once again, there were ten that stood out. I gave the first six, five stars; the last four, four stars. But all very good. Note: some of these are new adult books, not young adult, and would not be suitable for all readers.
(1) From Blood and Ash by Jennifer Armentrout (New Adult/Adult equivalent to later Maas novels). Basically, this means that this novel is for I’d say 18+. And maybe older. This is not erotica, but there are some adult sexualized scenes. But again far from erotica or true adult adult romance. You’ll get a feel within the first few chapters for the adult-meter. However, there are few scenes like that in the book. And there’s always the option to skip the pages if one would prefer.
This is Armentrout’s first real dive into this sort of not quite epic fantasy, but close to it. Think Sarah Maas, and you’re on the right vein. And she DELIVERED! Armentrout is one of the few authors I will buy her book without knowing anything other than the fact that she wrote it.
And this may be my favorite by her bar none. What a world she has built! I was hooked. This is a truly great book (and none in the series) have disappointed so far.
Therefore, it will come as no shock that my second favorite book this year was the sequel (2) A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire. I came in with super high expectations. Armentrout novel, fantasy novel, sequel to one of my favorite books ever, with some of my favorite books ever, so yep, it had a lot to live up to. To say the least, this didn’t face the sequel bridge problem that many books have. It was just as good, and so so close to being better than the first. Brilliantly written. Loved the character development. Pretty close to pure perfection. Same warning for adult content. Cas and Poppy are some of my favorite characters. (As a spoiler, the rest of the series is also so so good, and so is the spin-off series.)
(3) The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
First, a rant: There is absolutely no reason this book should be banned whatsoever! My content warnings included violence, drug references, some instances of profanity (one of strong profanity), and police brutality. But there is nothing that would make this unsuitable for 14/15+ in my book (dependent on individual teens of course).
So departing from fantasy more new-adult books to solidly realistic YA, we arrive at The Hate U Give. I LOVED this one. (Subsequently, I have read her other two novels in this same genre and love them too.) This book was extremely well written. It had great characters, a great plot, enough introspection without being heavy-handed, and a strong voice. This is realistic contemporary fiction at its best. (Note: I haven’t seen the movie.)
I think this could be a great one for parents to read with and discuss with their kids. Read first and decide when it would be suitable for your kids, but yeah no reason to ban this one.
(4) A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown
A magnificent retelling of Aladdin (kind of), but also very different. This is like what if Aladdin and Jasmine were supposed to kill each other retelling. As my choices this year show, I read a lot of what I’m going to call African fantasy, books that are fantasy but not set in the European, traditional style, but set with African traditions and characters in mind.
It is so fresh and so welcome! For fear of being redundant, it is so refreshing too! I haven’t read the sequel yet, but I’m eager to do so.
This is YA fantasy at its best. This one is suitable for all readers. It’s such a fun read.
(5) Rage and Ruin (Harbinger, #2) by Jennifer Armentrout
Unlike the first two, I believe this one is a solidly young adult, but like a 16+. It’s also a spin-off of another series and this is the sequel. Paranormal genre. I read a lot of poorly written books in that genre, so good writing within that genre is always welcome.
This is one of my favorite YA series of Armentrout’s and considering she is one of my favorite authors, that is saying something. I already expressed my Armentrout love above. (I adore her!) I also loved the first in the series, so I went in with super high expectations.
These are some of my favorite characters Armentrout has crafted. Though I’d take Cass/Poppy above these two. But as far as YA characters, yep these two! The world-building is great. You could read this series without having read the spin-off series, but you’d definitely need to read the first one before this one and mind the cliff.
(6) A River of Royal Blood by Amanda Joy.
This is a continuation of what I wrote in (4). The year I discovered awesome African-based fantasy. Where the heroines are kick-a, the world-building is super original, and the writing is great.
I have not read this sequel yet either, but I’m excited to do so. While I liked Roseanne’s novel slighty better, this one is also great, and I’m just happy to see that there are so many awesome books in this genre.
If you haven’t checked out African fantasy novels, do so!
(Note: I couldn’t find a cover that didn’t import massively for some reason.)
Note: Below I ranked these four stars, but they are still very good. I read a lot of YA fiction, and I have for a long time. So I’m a hard rater when it comes to this genre. So four stars is still quite good.
(7) Legacy of Orisha Series by Tomi Adeymi.
This whole series so far (one more to come) is a solid 4 stars, which as I mention above is a pretty good rating.
This is another “African fantasy” novel. It is so original and very intriguing.
This one was getting hyped right in the middle of law school, so I was slow to the punch here. I’m glad I finally made my way to the series, and I”m eager to see how it concludes. Suitably YA.
(8) One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus
This is another one that came out during law school that I wanted to read for forever, but I kept having to push off that I finally got to in 2020 when I had more time to read.
And it’s a return to realistic YA fiction. And it’s a true YA, with no warnings on my part. Is it “Breakfast Club” meets murder mystery? Absolutely. And thats’ what caught my interest. I was so intrigued by this from the second I saw the cover and read the blurb. I was thoroughly entertained and hooked from page one until the end. (I didn’t enjoy the sequel as much. I did just discover there’s a third one coming out this year (2023), and I’m really intrigued now.
(9) A Deal with the Elf King (Married to Magic, #1) by Elise Kova
A rare self-published novel and series that I really like. (Not a fan of her other series, but this one I love.) This is a tame new adult, suitable for 18+. It’s tamer than the first I mentioned but more explicit than straight YA. Tame new adult, solidly PG-13.
I’m not going to lie I found this one because of a Facebook ad! I adored the cover and a Beauty & the Beast/Persephone & Hades retelling is something I won’t say no to. For once, Facebook was spot on. I really enjoyed the world-building and characters here. The writing style was also good, as was the character development. You have to weed through a lot of bad self-published works to find good ones, but they are definitely there.
(10) Crown of One Hundred Kings by Rachel Higginson
A indie-published novel. I have really enjoyed Rachel Higginson’s books, and this one was no exception. I still need to read the sequel. This is a trilogy, and I am eager to see how the author develops this one.
Photo by Emmanuel Phaeton via Unsplash license
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