favorite books in 2022 pt 1

I know we're a few months into the year, and even though I was inactive for the past month, I still wanted to share with you some of my favorite books in 2022. I decided to divide this into parts, because I read about 85 books last year, and I had 30 favorites! In the end, I decided to condense the list by bunching up the series together. Even though I'm going to rate 5 total books/series, this post is going to be a long one. Grab a cup of coffee/tea and let's chat books!

The One by John Marrs

Genre: Science Fiction, Thriller, Dystopian Fiction

My Rating: ★★★★

“Maybe when you took it back to basics, that’s what love really was: just being there for someone when the sun rises and sets.”

- John Marrs, The One

This was my first favorite read of 2022! I was trying to branch out from fantasy, romance, and contemporary fiction overall, so when I stumbled upon this book, it piqued my interest. It was marketed as a dystopian science fiction. The idea is that with a quick mouth swab you can find out who your soulmate is supposed to be. It's been almost 10 years since Match Your DNA started matching people up, and since then millions of people around the world have been matched.

The story specifically follows 5 people who have just been matched. They're about to meet their soulmate. Their one true love. And even though they have just been matched with their person, it doesn't guarantee that they're going to have a "happily ever after". Obviously some people have secrets, but some are more shocking and dangerous than others.

I really loved the concept, it reminded me of a black mirror episode. It was sad to see some traditional couples break up because they would get together and then be temped to find out if they're "matched" officially. I feel like this story had so many twists and turns, and I couldn't read it fast enough to find out what happens next. The only problem with the book was the fact that there were some perspectives you cared about much more than others. The pacing was also really slow at times. Once it picked up though, the book was amazing. Highly recommend, especially if you're into thriller, and are trying to dip your toes into the sci-fi realm.

Full by Julia Spiro

Genre: Coming of Age, Thriller, Contemporary Romance

My Rating: ★★★★

“What a wild idea, I realize, that it might have been possible for me to go through life simply appreciating what my body could do, not just how it looked.”

-Julia Spiro, Full

I don't know where I found this book. It may have been a monthly free book by Amazon. I started reading it, not really expecting it to affect me much. I thought was going to be average at best. Nothing special. And to this day, I don't know why it affected me as much as it did.

The story follows Ava who's a wellness influencer. Her success comes from being fully transparent about her day to day life, living a healthy balanced life. But the truth? Her platform is built on a lie, and it's finally taking a toll on her. She decides to escape L.A. to a luxury wellness retreat at Martha's Vineyard. She thinks she can get her life back on track if she's able to take this lil' break.

With the help of the other guests and staff, she starts to get her body and life back on track. What she doesn't expect is for someone to expose her secret. Publicly. Even though she's not ready to reconcile with who's she's been pretending to be, the fallout might force her to truly discover the meaning of living a true full and balanced life.

I think I always love when someone tackles the idea of living with social media, and what it can do to your self-esteem. The idea that we have to document so much, and show people the best sides of ourselves and our lives. Even though I'm much more private about what I post to Instagram nowadays, I remember what it was like to feel like I had to share the most mundane things (and no shame to you if you still do this), but even if I was having a bad day, I would feel the need to share something.

The Folk of the Air Trilogy by Holly Black

Genre: Fantasy, Romance, YA

My Rating: ★★★★★

“Come home and shout at me. Come home and fight with me. Come home and break my heart, if you must.”

-Holly Black, The Queen of Nothing

While I first read this book series in the Spring of 2022, I started rereading it in the Winter of 2022, and finished it in 2023. I don't think I ever reread a book so soon? I fell in love with the series in 2022, but after joining Bookstagram, I kept seeing all these quotes, that I wanted to reread it!

It was honesty better the second time around.

The story follows a human named Jude. When she was younger her parents were murdered in front of her by her mom's ex-husband (technically still her husband, since they never officially divorced). Madoc, her mother's first huband, takes the girls and brings them to Elfhame, the world of Faerie, and raises them as his own. As morals, her and twin her sister, are mocked and tormented. As Jude gets older, she realizes that she will get them to accept her, or at least respect her. She'll do some dangerous scheming and deception in order to get what she wants. And looming over throughout the entire thing is the infuriating, arrogant and charismatic Prince Cardan.

The other two stories obviously continue from the plot of the first, so I can't talk about it too much. But I love it so much. There's underlying romance, that you can't help but ship. The world is so fascinating, and you end up loving so many characters throughout the trilogy. I really love how most of these characters were very morally gray. They were good people, who did bad things, or did things for their own gain. But you still understood why they did what they did. I love morally gray characters. Characters where you hate some of their actions and decisions, but you still don't hate them for it.

Even if there are a lot of morally gray characters you love, you also end up hating some characters (for me, I specifically hated one person...Taryn). There are so many ups and downs, but you will love every second of it. They're really quick short reads, so you will finish them easily.

If you want heavy Romance, this book isn't for you, but if you want a Fantasy, with the perfect blend of Romance, I 100% recommend this series.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Genre: Historical Fiction

My Rating: ★★★★★

“People think that intimacy is about sex. But intimacy is about truth. When you realize you can tell someone your truth, when you can show yourself to them, when you stand in front of them bare and their response is 'you're safe with me'- that's intimacy.”

-Taylor Jenkins Reid, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

I want to say that this might have been my favorite singular book of 2022. I originally had it as a kindle book, but I immediately bought it as a paperback. I am yet to reread it, but I've been thinking about this book often. It's a book that just sits with you, and stays on your mind long after you finish it.

Evelyn Hugo, the aging famous Hollywood movie icon, is ready to tell the truth about her glamourous and scandalous life. Everyone is surprised when she chooses an unknown magazine reporter to write her Biography.

Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career, especially when everything else in in life seems to go wrong. So when Evelyn invites Monique to her luxurious apartment, Monique listens in fascination as the actress tells her story. From starting her career in the 1950's, her decision to leave the business in the 80s, and her seven husbands along the way. She talks about her friendships, her ruthless ambition, and the unexpected and forbidden love she found along the way. As Monique listens on, she finds herself to relate to Evelyn in a lot of ways. What she doesn't realize is that her life intersects with Evelyn in a really tragic way.

This was the first book I read by Taylor Jenkins Reid, and I was shocked. She is an incredible writer. She brought her characters to life in a way that felt like they were actual real life people. She sucked me in with her words, and I loved every second of it. Generally, I had never enjoyed historical fiction, but this book changed my mind completely on the genre. This book is amazing, I honestly have no other words. Highly highly recommend.

Serpent & Dove Trilogy by Shelby Mahurin

Genre: Fantasy, Romance, YA

My Rating: ★★★★

“What you are now is not what you’ve always been, nor is it what you always will be. You are a snake. Shed your skin if it no longer serves you. Transform into something different. Something better.”

-Shelby Mahurin, Blood & Honey (Serpent & Dove #2)

I technically am reading the third book, Gods & Monsters, now in 2023. But since I read the first two books, and the third one is amazing, I thought I would lump them together.

The story follows Louise le Blanc. Two years prior, she had fled from her coven and took shelter in Cesarine. Since coming to the city, she had forsaken any use of magic and lived off of anything she could steal. Because in Cesarine witches like her are feared and killed. Mostly burned.

The story also follows Reid, a Chasseur (think of them like Templars), who is sworn to the church. Reid has always lived by one principle: "thou shall not suffer a witch to live". While he was never supposed to cross paths with Lou, after an odd turn of events they end up married to one another.

This is where things get tricky, because the Church has always been at war with the witches. And when Lou's enemies bring a fate more dangerous than fire, she has to make a choice. A reckless decision really, because even though she can't change who she is, she also can't change who Reid is.

This series is amazing. The world building is fascination. I still don't truly understand the world. It takes place in this old medieval French-centered fantasy world. The main characters are all so fun. The first book is amazing. The storytelling, the characters, the pace of the story are perfect. When we get to the second book, there's a lot of slow plot. I understand they did it to build up to the third book, but it felt like the author lost her steam a bit in this book. But when we get to the third book...wow! She comes back, full force, with another amazing book. The story primarily follows Reid and Lou, but occasionally has other POV chapters. I really love Coco, Beau, and Ansel. They 5 of them together are a well rounded group. Very different, well balanced, and really well developed. Highly recommend this series!

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So these are 5 (more like my top 9, since I put two trilogies on this list) of my favorite books in 2022. Keep reading, to find out what the other books on my list are! What books did you read within the last year that you loved? I'm always looking to add other books to my never-ending TBR list. Chat soon xxx