Oy! So today I’m going to be doing a Cliffnotes version of my 2020 reading aka the Best and Worst Reads of 2020. But before we hop into that, I wanted to give Character Chat a go.
Character Chat is a weekly tag created by the lovely Rachel @ A Bookworm’s Paradise. Each week, character related question is asked. This week the prompt is *drumroll* a non-human (this can be an animal or a thing) character with a unique attitude?
I’m going to go with Silas from Sorcery of Thorns. Silas is a demon that sometimes moonlights as a cat. He likes to pretend that he wants to kill everyone 24/7, but he really does care about people on some level.

#1 A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder by Holly Jackson

Hi, yes. I will in fact be screaming about this book again. Twisty and totally captivating, this was hands down my favorite read of the year and possibly my favorite mystery ever. This one also holds a special place in my heart because it was the first review that I ever posted on the blog.
Review here!
#2 Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

I read this one a grand total of three times this year. Full of peak humor and amazing characters, I loved everything about this book. I am counting down the days until McQuiston’s new release, One Last Stop.
#3 Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

Elisabeth is a bookworm badass that I aspire to be like. She has a super cool sword and talks to books. Sign me up. One of my first fantasy reads of the year, it reminded me of how much I love the genre.
Review here!
#4 Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco

After a somewhat underwhelming first book (in comparison to the hype at least), Hunting Prince Dracula blew me away. The suspense, the spooky setting, and the charming characters made for an all around fantastic read.
#5 Fable by Adrienne Young

The writing was completely and totally transportive. Adrienne Young is officially on my auto-buy author list. Plus there were pirates, and everything is better with pirates.
#6 Tweet Cute by Emma Lord

The title does not lie, this one is super cute. From likable characters and piles of baked goods, Tweet Cute did not disappoint.
Review here!
#7 You Should See Me In A Crown by Leah Johnson

This book surprised me in every way possible and ended up being one of my favorite reads of the year. The characters and growth in this book were next level (plus Mack and Liz were adorable ahhh)
Review here!
#8 War and Speech by Don Zolidis

When I found out there was a book about speech I knew I had to read it asap. And this did not disappoint. My inner speech kid was thriving. Every time my event was mention I just pointed at the page and was like meeee! I do HI! Look! The people on the actual page are doing it tooooo!
Review here!


Fair warning, all of these opinions are totally subjective. Just because the book didn’t work for me doesn’t mean it won’t work for you. Some of these were good books, but the hype surrounding them left me disappointed. This list isn’t necessarily all of my one star reads from the year, rather the comparison of my expectations of the book compared to what it turned out to be.
Escaping From Houdini by Kerri Maniscalco

*internal screaming* Yes, I know the Stalking Jack the Ripper series has made an appearance on both my best and worst list but I am conflicted about the series as a whole. I wanted greatness. But what did I get? A half baked love triangle and the urge to hurl things across the room.
Time of Our Lives by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka

Big fan of authors other works, but this was just painfully average.I had super high hopes and my expectations just destroyed me.
All Your Twisted Secrets by Diana Urban

The first 3/4 of this book was amazing. The ending on the other hand, was very disappointing. The potential was brimming at the edges, but it did not live up to it.
Well, that’s it for 2020 then. I might have missed a couple, but these were what came to mind first. Overall, I’m proud all of the reading I’ve done this year and can’t wait to see what new stories I can immerse myself in next year.

What were your favorite reads of 2020? Least favorite?

Very cool list! A lot of your faves are on my TBR! My favorite this year was probably Ari & Dante Discover The Secrets Of The Universe.
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Thank you! I hope you’ll enjoy them if you read them!!
Ooh Ari and Dante is on hold at the library for me as we speak! I’m super pumped to read it!!
Thank you for reading 💙
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ahhh hopefully you’ll love it just as much as I did! (Gurl the worst is when you try and finish all your library books in time. ahhhaha)
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ahh the struggle is real!! the clock is just ticking and so many books and not enough time ahhhhhh
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Oh, Silas sounds a lot like Fen (a MagnifiCat, which is like a giant talking cat) from Nevermoor series!! Anyway, loved your post!!
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hmm sounds about right 😂 thank you for reading 💙
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a good girls guide to murder is definitely on my favourites list too! i really need to get to red white & royal blue though, because everyone’s been saying such amazing things about it!! lovely post ❤
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glad to hear you loved it too! yes! i as long as you go into it not expecting political genius, rwrb is pure perfection (at least in my eyes lol). anyway hope you’ll like it and happy reading 💙
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Yes, I love Tweet Cute!! And I was also very disappointed by All Your Twisted Secrets!
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tweet cute was such a fun read! i’m looking forward to lord’s next book releasing soon ahhh!
glad to see someone agrees! i felt like the book built up to this point and then chose an ending based on shock factor instead of making sense. ugh it was frustrating.
thank you for reading 💙
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I need to read all of these lol 😂.
Nice post!!
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yesss they are def worth the read! thank you for reading 💙
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I just read your A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder review and I totally agree! I don’t read too many mysteries (so if you have any recs thx) but it was perfect in my eyes. Also yes the subtle hints of romance between Pip and Ravi were so well done. I also hate it when romance is shoved in your face.
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yes yes yes i like the subtle romance waaay more than went it is a main plot line. it has a time and place where it makes sense.
recs, eh. well i’ll go with some of my favorite mysteries haha
if you want a bit of romance, family secrets, and an unreliable narrator then try Two Can Keep a Secret
If your looking for a series (and bonus a Sherlock Holmes retelling) then you might like A Study in Charlotte
and if the high school detective, wit and sarcasm, and lots of drama are your thing then you might like dare you to lie!
if you end up reading any of them, i’d love to hear your thoughts!
happy reading 💙
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Thanks so much for the recs April!!!
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so glad you liked hunting prince Dracula ❤️ personally I wasn’t a huge fan of escaping from Houdini too but capturing the devil makes up for it (:
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ooh i’m excited! i’m reading capturing the devil right now!! yess houdini was super disappointing to me so i’m crossing my fingers but keeping my expectations low!
thank you for reading 💙
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I loved Fable! So much fun 😊
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ahh me too! i’m trash for anything pirate 😂
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Noooo I still haven’t read Escaping From Houdini 😱😱😱
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Escaping Houdini as a whole was super disappointing to me 😦 The mystery itself was great and the reveal was even more dramatic than in Hunting Dracula. It was mostly the love triangle and Audrey Rose that angered me.
I hope you’ll like it if you read it *fingers crossed*
Happy reading!!
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A love triangle!? No, Audrey Rose, how could you??? I am intrigued now, I will try to read it soon!!
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Oh, yes a love triangle. Ugh. Can’t to hear your thoughts once you finish!
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YES SILAS IS BESTEST.
Oh my gosh, I’ve only read one book in this entire post!!! Wow, I really need to catch up on my reading ha ha. We’ll see what I can fit into 2021! And I approve of Sorcery of Thorns being on that list.
Great post!
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YES WE LOVE SILAS. Cat demons are the best. Always.
Haha glad you approve 🙂
Thank you and happy reading!
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Yes, I very much agree.
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Loved Sorcery of Thorns!! That ending seriously need more Silas! Also, You should see me in a crown was so cute and wonderful. Loved reading your list!
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Yes yes yes! The ending most certainly did need more Silas. ahh I’m glad you liked You Should See Me In a Crown!!
Thank you and happy reading!
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why have i not read anything on this list haha?? but i am so happy for the many additions to my tbr! i’m really excited to pick up sorcery of thorns and fable especially! lovely list and happy new year! 💖
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i hope you’ll enjoy them! thank you so much for reading and happy new year 💙
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OMG!!!!! I LITERALLY FINISHED RED WHITE & ROYAL BLUE LIKE TEN MINS AGO!!!!!!!!!! AND I LOOOOOVVVEEDDD IT!!!!❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Okay. I am calm now😂😅 I really loved this book. I so f-ing happy 😁😁 (that’s my goofy grin😜) I am off to a good start. Yaya😁😁
I was thinking of reading time of ur lives …but I trust ur opinion…so now..I am not reading it anymore 😅
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AHHH IM SO GLAD YOU LIKED IT!!! YAYAYAYA!!!!!!!
yea the other books by the authors were 5 and 4 star reads (for me at least) so I’d highly recommend them… just not time of our lives
thank you for reading and i’m SO GLAD you loved rwrb 💙💙
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Yes!!! Okay! Thanks for the heads up. I will check them out. 😁❤️
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I also really liked Tweet Cute!
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yessss!! I am so glad to hear that!
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Tweet Cute and Red, White and Royal Blue were so good!! Can definitely see myself rereading them in the future – RW&RB especially.
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ahh yess I could reread both of them and they would never get old!! I’m so glad you enjoyed them 🙂
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