Thursday, December 18, 2014

Class of 2014: YA Superlatives Blogfest BEST IN SHOW


The YA Superlatives Blogfest is hosted by Jessica LoveTracey NeithercottAlison Miller, and Katy Upperman.

Best in Show, Thursday, December 18th

Favorite Cover
I’LL GIVE YOU THE SUN, THE WINNER’S CURSE, CRESS

Cutest Couple
 Percy and Annabeth from THE BLOOD OF OLYMPUS by Rick Riordan (They weren’t the main focus of the book, but some of their moments had me squealing out loud, holy Percabeth cuteness! It was refreshing how steady their relationship is, they don’t create any unnecessary drama for themselves. They just save the world together!) 

Most Likely to Succeed (Pick a Printz Winner) 
THE IMPOSSIBLE KNIFE OF MEMORY by Laurie Halse Anderson (made the longlist for the National Book Award)

Most Likely to Make You Miss Your Bedtime
 THE BLOOD OF OLYMPUS by Rick Riordan and THE WINNER’S CURSE by Marie Rutkoski

Best Repeat Performance (Favorite Sequel or Follow-Up)
CRESS by Marissa Meyer

Favorite Finale or End of Series Novel
CITY OF HEAVENLY FIRE by Cassandra Clare and BLOOD OF OLYMPUS by Rick Riordan

Romance Most Worthy of an Ice Bath
 IGNITE ME by Tahereh Mafi and CITY OF HEAVENLY FIRE by Cassandra Clare

Best Breakout Novel (Favorite Book by a Debut Author)
 ALTHEA AND OLIVER by Cristina Moracho

Best Old-Timer (Favorite Book Published BEFORE 2014)
 THE MARK OF ATHENA by Rick Riordan (2012), THE DARKEST MINDS by Alexandra Bracken (2012), CROWN OF MIDNIGHT by Sarah J. Maas (2013)

Most Likely to Make a Grown Man Cry
THE IMPOSSIBLE KNIFE OF MEMORY by Laurie Halse Anderson 

Most Pleasant Surprise (Didn’t Think I’d Like It But Totally Did)
 THE WINNER’S CURSE by Marie Rutkoski and THE ONE by Kierra Cass (the Selection trilogy as a whole was a surprise. I had the lowest of expectations and while it wasn’t perfect, I had much more fun reading it than I expected to). I’m usually skeptical of any book with a girl in a ball gown on the cover. 

Most Creative Use of a Love Triangle
It’s more of an unrequited love than a triangle, and the bombshell got dropped in HOUSE OF HADES, but a character is still working out their feelings for another character who’s in a relationship in BLOOD OF OLYMPUS. The character’s struggle is written so honestly (yet delicately), and I wanted to stand up and clap for Rick Riordan. No spoilers here, though!  

Sleeper Hit (Novel So Awesome I Wish It’d Been Hyped More)
 ALTHEA AND OLIVER by Cristina Moracho

Favorite Outlier (Best 2014 Picture Book, MG, NA, or Adult Novel)
Actually a short story collection, EVERY KISS A WAR by Leesa Cross-Smith

Create Your Own Superlative: Best series I “marathoned” in 2014


 Tie between Rick Riordan’s Heroes of Olympus series and Marissa Meyer’s Lunar Chronicles (even though series is not yet complete)

And there you have it, folks! Some of the best books I read this year. Here's to a great 2014 and all the great books to come in 2015!

8 comments:

  1. Honestly, I think I could have put THE WINNER'S CURSE under just about all the categories lol. Loved that book! And I'm happy to hear you loved its cover as well. (And all the visual goodies inside too!) I love when cover designers do something different but not distracting.

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  2. I forgot about I'll give you the sun when I was thinking about the best cover. It is so simply and so pretty! I read all three Lunar Chronicles this year too. So good!

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  3. I have Althea & Oliver on my ereader...I really need to get to it!

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  4. I want to read Althea & Oliver. I can't remember where I heard about it but glad it's getting some love. I planned to get through the current Lunar Chronicles books but only made it through Cinder - looking forward to catching up in 2015!

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  5. You're really making me want to read THE IMPOSSIBLE KNIFE OF MEMORY. I love her other novels, so there's a good chance I'll love this one, too!

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  6. The Darkest Minds is one of my favorite YA series. I'm on hold at the library for Althea & Oliver. It sounds really good.

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  7. THE WINNER'S CURSE *totally* kept me up later than my bedtime -- so worth it, though. And I just put ALTHEA & OLIVER on my book wish list. I'm seeing all kinds of love for it this week! Thanks so much for joining us for the blogfest, Kaitlin. I've had a blast reading about your favorites and picking up recs from your posts. :-)

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  8. I love Percy and Annabeth. And I love your superlative! I don't know if I marathoned any series or not, but I did read some pretty awesome pre-2014 books!

    Thanks so much for joining us! SO fun!

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