TTT - Top Ten New-To-Me Authors I Read in 2014

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted over at The Broke and the Bookish.

It's also a lot harder than I anticipated to stay on top of in light of the holidays/stuff.  I have drafts for the past three sitting in my blogger, but none of them completed in time to post!  What I've come to realize through writing this post is that I had a serious Trilogy thing going in 2014... Maybe I'll start a Trilogy Thursday thing and bring you all up to speed on my thoughts :)

Top Ten New-to-me Authors I Found in 2014

     

    

1) Marie Lu - Legend, Prodigy & Champion
         I know, everyone's been shouting the praises of this series for years, my mother and brother (who doesn't read willingly) included.  Blame it on college, but I never really bothered to pick the books up until my post-graduation binge-read.  On the plus side that meant I was able to binge read all three books in one weekend without having to wait years and years between them.  Might make me seem like less of a fan and more of a bandwagon jumper but with this series that's exactly what I was.  I haven't read her newest book yet, but I'm on the library waiting list!

    

2) Leigh Bardugo - The Grisha Trilogy
          Another series that I've heard about for years but only got around to picking up this summer.  I loved it. Bardugo has some serious, serious talent with creating dynamic settings and full-circle plots. I highly recommend this series and will likely read anything she goes on to write.

  

3) Anna Banks - The Syrena Legacy Trilogy
          Okay so of the three books in this trilogy I really only liked the first one.  In fact, I'd recommend the first one to anyone looking for a beach read.  I'd even nod away the second one and tell you that, after finishing the first book, you might feel a need to read the sequel.  Just don't pick up the third one.  Call me crazy, but I was so disappointed by Of Neptune that it flat out ruined the other two books for me.  It felt like Banks had signed on for a trilogy and then finished the main story in two books, leaving her desperate to write anything to get the publishers to leave her alone.

4) A.G. Howard - Splintered & Unhinged
          I feel like Wonderland is a very... precarious story to tell.  Especially if you're trying to embrace its inherent darkness and take the characters to a place quite unlike the Disney movies. The Splintered books are super dark and sort of wacky, but all in a way that feels true to the version of Wonderland that Howard has created.  It's the old story but on some serious drugs (and when you consider how many drugs the original was on...)

5) Maria V. Snyder - The Study Series
          I wrote a review to Poison Study and then inhaled the next two in a single night.  The first is definitely my favorite thus far, but I really like the characters and the relationships.  I'll definitely be continuing the series when the next book comes out!

6) Amie Kaufman - These Broken Stars
          I reviewed These Broken Stars a little while ago and I fell hard for this.  The book was purchased 100% because of it's cover and I regret nothing.  Kaufman just has a way with words and characters.  It's not for everyone (my mother for instance, hated it and can't understand why I like it so much), but if you're willing to shelve your inner cynic...

7) Sherry Thomas -  The Burning Sky & The Perilous Sea
           My Perilous Sea review was actually just a bit over a week ago if you're curious.  I really like Thomas's whimsical style.  I don't know how she manages to make me not care about the plot-holes and issues, but she does.  It's not the type of series where I'm dying for the next book, but I definitely won't be complaining when it's in my hands.

8) Rosamund Hodge - Cruel Beauty & Gilded Ashes
          I love Bluebeard stories.  Does that make me a creep? Maybe.  I also just generally love fairy-tale retellings, especially when they recast the female leads as strong, believable protagonists.  Hodge's characters have just the right amount of malice and the right amount of trauma.  There are no perfect princesses in her books.

9) Kendare Blake - Antigoddess
          Now I still have not read Anna Dressed in Blood, though I promise that it is coming!  But I picked up Antigoddess back in January and was sucked right in.  Blake's style struck me as a little abrasive at times, but I kind of liked that.

10) Marie Rutkoski - The Winner's Curse
         I'm reading it now!  But I needed a tenth author... this top ten list was way harder than I anticipated!!