For the past six years, Goodreads, the most popular social media site dedicated to reading, holds a virtual awards show called the Goodreads Choice Awards. This year, over three million votes were cast to select the best books of the year.
The nominees are separated into 20 categories, but I am only going to talk about the four categories that relate to young adult.
The winner of best young adult fiction:
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
I have not read this one yet. For some reason, all of the hype kind of make me want to skip it. (No, I am not turning into a book hipster) There were a lot of mixed reactions to this book, so I have mixed feelings about reading it. Though, considering how popular it was, I am not surprised that it won.
The winner of best young adult fantasy:
City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare
This is the last book in The Mortal Instruments series.
The only thought I could process after getting this book was "FINALLY!" I read the first book in 2010, so I have been waiting FOUR years for this conclusion. I have a love/hate relationship with this book. Honestly, I think that this series could have ended with City of Glass. I love the Infernal Devices series, but I think this one was a bit drawn out. But do not me wrong, I still liked the series. I just think that Clare was trying to please the readers too much and did not stay true to the story.
Other than that, this series was amazing. It beat all of the odds and remained popular for five years! That is certainly hard to do. So, I agree with this winner.
The winner of best Goodreads debut author
Red Rising by Pierce Brown
I personally have not heard of this book before, and I am very disappointed. The other YA nominations were Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge, Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige, and Half Bad by Sally Green.
I do not even know what this one is about.
The winner of best middle grade and children's:
The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan
YES! I am so glad that The Blood of Olympus won!
For those deprived souls who do not know, this is the last book in The Heroes of Olympus series. It is the spin-off of Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Percy Jackson is basically the Harry Potter of Greek mythology. He is funny, brave, and one of my favorite characters ever.
I am, and always will be, a Percy Jackson fan at heart. No matter how many cliffhangers Riordan made us suffer through, he has a permanent spot on my list of favorite authors.
Who did you vote for during the Goodreads Choice Awards? Do you like the winners? Which winner is your favorite?
Most of the books that were in the Goodreads Choice Awards I've never read before. The only book I could read vote on that I read AND was a nominee ended up being These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner. Sadly, These Broken Stars didn't won. :(
ReplyDelete(I've yet to catch up on The Heroes of Olympus - I haven't read book 4 yet).
~Sophia @ Bookwyrming Thoughts
I feel the same way. I have not even heard of Red Rising! I think there were so many other, more popular debut books!
DeleteYou should catch up with The Heroes of Olympus! I loved House of Hades, and The Blood of Olympus was even better!
I think it was high time the City of Heavenly Fire won something. I voted for it as well, which makes me happy to see it up there, and makes me think my own vote counted :3 I still need to read We Were Liars and Red Rising. Knowing that they won an award makes me all the more eager.
ReplyDeleteCheck out my review: http://olivia-savannah.blogspot.nl/2014/12/cinder-ella-review.html
I agree. Whenever I see a book as won the Goodreads Choice Award, I immediately put it on my TBR list. It says a lot about a book if thousands of book lovers voted for it.
DeleteI feel the same way about hyped books. Not that I'm purposely averse to read popular ones (for example, I did read the Jenna Fox series, the Anna Dressed in Blood duet and More Than This by P. Ness), but there must be a solid reason behind my choice, something stronger than "everyone likes it, so maybe I'm missing something here".
ReplyDeleteI still have to read a ton of 2014 books that I really meant to :(. Anyway, none of them was in the GR Choice Awards list...
I have a constant struggle with hyped books. On one hand, if everyone else liked it, I would probably like it. But, sometimes my taste for books greatly differs from the "popular crowd." For example, I never jumped on the Twilight bandwagon, and I never plan to.
DeleteAlso, I think that there should be more categories for the Goodreads Choice Awards. Then, maybe more books that people like can be represented. There should be something like Indie Authors and probably more subcategories for YA.
Quote:
Delete"I never jumped on the Twilight bandwagon, and I never plan to.
Also, I think that there should be more categories for the Goodreads Choice Awards [...] and probably more subcategories for YA."
Same here! :)
I haven't read and of the books here except CoHF! I want to read BOO SO BADLY!! I NEED IT! I have a love/hate relationship with CoHF as well, I actually voted for Ignite Me by Taherah Mafi. *shrugs*
ReplyDeleteI'll try to read all of these books, considering so many people love them! (Watch me hate one of them or something *shakes head*)
Great post!
~Fari
A Recent Blog Post:
It's not THAT Great... @ My Little Corner For Books (Warning: We express our dislikes for everyone else's favourite books! XD)
I was okay with We Were Liars being a winner. I read it, and I liked it. I don't know if I'll ever read it again, but it was enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a Clare fan at all, but I wasn't surprised when she came out on top in the fantasy category, but I do think there was another book that deserved that crown.
Like you, I haven't heard of Red Rising.
And finally... I was not surprised about the Riordan win. I haven't read anything by him, but I might one day. Who knows. lol
I think that my opinion on Clare's writing is changing. I loved her earlier stuff, like the first three books in The Mortal Instruments series, but now I just feel like I am going through the motions when I read her books. In my opinion, she does too much to please the readers instead of staying true to the story.
DeleteAlso, you should definitely read The Percy Jackson series by Riordan. You will never be able to tell that it is middle grade!
Thanks for commenting!
I wish Open Road Summer won the debut author one and that Heir of Fire won fantasy. I can always count on Cassie Clare to give an awesome book to fans, but I feel like some other authors give it a bit more if that makes sense. Awesome post <33
ReplyDeleteRachel @ A Perfection Called Books
I agree that other YA authors deserve recognition! I still like Cassandra Clare, but I think someone else should have their turn in the spotlight.
DeleteThanks for stopping by!
I haven't read We Were Liars yet either - I agree that the reviews have been sort of mixed, which makes me hesitant to read it. And, like you, I hadn't heard of Red Rising - but this made me curious enough to go check it out, and it got some amazing reviews from a few bloggers I trust. I'm way behind on Clare's books (I've only read the first one!) and Riordan's (I've read the whole Percy Jackson series, but only the first book of the spin-off series). Need to get to those!
ReplyDeleteNicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction
I recently got Red Rising on my Kindle because it is on sale for $1.99. I just could not pass it up. Also, I am behind on Clare's books too. I finished her main series, but I am so beyond on the spin-off novellas. I barely finish her newest book before she publishes another!
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