Best Books of 2014!

I would say that this year has been a rather successful one when it comes to reading. Unfortunately, I opened a Goodreads account mid 2014, so I am not completely sure how many books I have read or which books I have read for that matter. I am just not that organized. Still, I do have a rough sense of the books and it will be more than enough for my Best Books of 2014.

(If I did a full review for the book, there will be a link to it, so you can check it out.)

14. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

A great classic, really enjoyed it, it became one of my favorite books ever.

13.  Landline by Rainbow Rowell
I was hesitant to read it but I ended up loving it. It was so emotional and breathtaking. Adore it.

12. It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini

I really like reading about mental illness. It's something that intrigues me and I am studying it, so it's always interesting to me. This was really good, loved the characters and the story.

11. Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson
A really fun and beautiful roadtrip story, with good music, which is always nice.

10. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
Really late to the party, but I loved it, and finally a dystopian book that didn't disappoint.

9. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
This took me by surprise, because I didn't expect to like it as much as I did. But it was just amazing with superb writing.

8. Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Such a unique and special writing style, amazing point of view, amazing setting. Just really, really great.

7. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Again, such a unique writing style. Really beautiful and sort of poetic.

6. Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare
I have never cried so much. I couldn't sleep. The ending was just so perfect. I am actually still recovering even though I read it more than 6 months ago.

5. Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan
Yes it had some problems, but in my eyes Rick Riordan can do no wrong and I loved this book, especially Nico's point of view, it was amazing and I am so sad that it's over.

4. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz
The best title that ever was. Read it in one sitting, it was beautiful and remarkable and important and I adore it forever.

3. City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare
I was so excited for this book, and it lived up to my expectations. It was brilliant. Cassandra Clare can do finales justice. I am in love with the Mortal Instruments series, and this was a proper ending to the amazing series.

2. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
This is such a page turner, a gripping story that just sucks you in. The characters are so diverse and morally gray, and the story is so twisted. It's basically amazing.

And finally...

1. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
I couldn't resist putting this to the top. Because honestly, I have never connected more to a character than I connected with Cath. She spoke to me. I loved the love story. I loved the writing. I loved the characters. I love Rainbow Rowell, she is pure genius.

The Mortal Instruments Series VS The Infernal Devices Series

VS

I've been thinking about doing some different styled posts, rather than just writing reviews, so I came up with the idea of kind of comparing these two series, The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices.

These books were written by Cassandra Clare and they are both set in the same universe, the world of the Shadowhunters. 

The Mortal Instruments has six books in total: City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass, City of Fallen Angels, City of Lost Souls and City of Heavenly Fire.  

This is a urban fantasy young adult series and this is basically a series that everyone has read and/or heard about so I don't think that I have to go into the plot. It is based around Shadowhunters, who are basically half human-half angel warriors who protect the world from demons. I love this series. I think the world is really amazing and intriguing and I love the way it was built. Every book adds on to the main premise of it, and you are always discovering new things, but they are nicely interwoven into the already existing story. I adore the characters in this book, everyone of them. I usually don't get along with main characters that are youngish girls, they tend to annoy me at one point or the other, but I really like Clary. She is a strong character. Maybe not so much at first, but she has great character development and really develops more and more with each book, and kind of ends up being really great. I love every single character in this book. I really do. Jace, Izzy, Alec... I feel like her characters are complex in a way and I just enjoy them so much. They change so much through the series and grow with it, which is great. And Magnus Bane is one of the greatest characters ever, obviously. I love the plot here. It has twists, and it's gripping and these books were definite page turners for me. I read them so quickly and I couldn't get enough. Especially City of Glass and City of Heavenly Fire, which were my favorite. This turned into one of my favorite series ever and I can't wait for the next installments. 

With that being said, I picked up the prequel series, which is set in the Victorian era and deal with the lives of the ancestors of the characters from The Mortal Instruments series. 

The Infernal Devices series consists of three books: Clockwork Angel, Clockwork Prince and Clockwork Princess. I was hesitant to pick this up, because I am not a big fan of books taking place in that era, but still everyone was saying how they actually prefer The Infernal Devices so I had to see for myself. Now, when I read the first two books, I was not impressed at all. It wasn't bad by any means, it could never be, but to me it could never have been compared to The Mortal Instruments. The thing is I don't like Tessa very much. I don't hate her, but I am not the biggest fan. But I love all the other characters so so much. I may even dare to say that I prefer them to the MI characters. Maybe. I don't know. But, I do love them. Will and Jem are amazing and have an amazing relationship which is so beautiful that it's painful. I adore them honestly, both in their own way. But for me, the plot in these books was underwhelming for me. I don't think it's very thought through, and I don't know, it seemed stretched somehow, and I just didn't find it exciting. I was not really into it that much. But, after reading Clockwork Princess and bawling my eyes out for three hours and not sleeping throughout the night, I was inclined to say that I loved the books. I think the ending of Clockwork Princess was one of the saddest and most beautifully written endings that I have ever read. Honestly, that was the best part of the whole series. It was heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. I just loved it a lot.

With all that being said, I would give The Mortal Instruments series kind of an edge, because I just didn't enjoy the plot in The Infernal Devices. But I do love the characters in both series and the world and the writing really sits well with me.