*drum roll*...WELCOME TO THE 2015 BOOK AWARDS!
Well, not really. This is a tag created by Bookadoodles over on YouTube and basically I'm going to be talking about some of my favourite books from last year in award show form. I wanted to do this instead of a 'top books of 2015' post because I think I'd just have such a hard time choosing books and this way I can talk about the reasons why I loved different books! There are a lot of categories, so grab a cup of tea and settle in for the show!
Favourite female main character: Celaena Sardothien, Throne of Glass - Sarah J. Maas.
This was such a hard one to choose! Special mentions also go to: Nimona, Nimona - Noelle Stevenson and Anne Elliot, Persuasion - Jane Austen. But in the end I just had to go with Celaena, because I'm pretty sure I've never encountered such an awesomely badass but almost completely relatable female main character before. Celaena is strong, both physically and emotionally, she's confident and funny, she's no damsel in distress but she's not an emotionally-barren ice queen either. I love her love of books and food and working hard and doing the right thing. She's inhumanly skilled and dangerous but she's just so human at the same time, and I love her. I only read Throne of Glass and Crown of Midnight last year but I'm really excited to carry on with the series and see how my feelings for Celaena fair in 2016.
Favourite male main character: Baz, Carry On - Rainbow Rowell.
There was absolutely no contest with this one. Carry On was one of my favourite books of 2015 and Baz was one of the main reasons for this. He's just everything I want in a male main character, he's all snark and sharp wit and arrogance and beautiful crippling emotions and I just can't handle it! I don't want to say too much because I don't want to spoil you if you haven't read it, but pick up Carry On asap and fall in love with Baz like I did.
Best plot twist: Throne of Glass series - Sarah J. Maas.
Again, I'm not gonna say much because of spoilers but this series man. It just takes you on a rollercoaster and puts your heart in a blender and then throws it around a lot. It's just a lot okay?
Best book cover: This is Where it Ends - Marieke Nijkamp.
I know this is technically a 2016 release but I read it in 2015 so it counts okay?
I mean, come on. Just look at it.
There were a lot of great covers in 2015 but this one just snuck in right at the end of the year and stole the show with it's simplicity and it's violence and it's sad beauty.
And that's all I'm gonna say about that.
Best female sidekick: Jennifer, Attachments - Rainbow Rowell.
I know this seems like an odd choice but Attachments was such a pleasantly surprising read for me and ended up being one of my favourites of last year, and when I thought about why I released it's because there was such a brilliant and honest portrayal of female friendship behind the main love story. Jennifer and Beth's friendship was hilarious and lovely and just so real and I haven't been able to get that out of my head. Yes, they discussed men but it wasn't the main focus of all their conversations. They talked about their lives and random things and I loved reading their conversations so much. There aren't enough strong and positive female friendships in literature so this is a shout out to Jennifer, and best friends everywhere, what you do is important, keep it up.
Best male sidekick: Kenji, Shatter Me series - Tahereh Mafi.
I kind of had a hard time thinking of this one but then I remembered Kenji. Of course! He was such excellent comic relief from all the angst of the Shatter Me series but he also had his own story with a deep background and he was just a wonderful friend throughout. I love great portrayals of friendships!
Best plot/world: Carry On - Rainbow Rowell.
I so nearly chose the Throne of Glass series for this but Carry On just pipped it to the post. I think Rainbow Rowell's world-building in this was excellent, especially for a standalone novel. Although I love the traditional fantasy worlds of sword and sorcery I couldn't help but fall in love with Rowell's modern day world with an undercurrent of magic. There were spells and mint Aeros, dragons and Google, and I just love how the two worlds intermingled. I also really really loved the magic system in this book, it was just so different from anything I've yet come across. In Carry On spells are called 'magick words' and are usually phrases with cultural or historical roots and their strength is based on the significance of the words or phrases in current society. So there were a lot of catchphrases, proverbs and song lyrics which not only added humour but as a former linguistics student I found really interesting.
Best book to movie adaptation: The Martian.
Okay so this is kind of cheating as I haven't actually read the book yet, but it's still a book-adaptation and the film was incredible! It was probably my favourite film of 2015 and I can't wait to see it again on DVD.
A writer you discovered in 2015: Sarah J. Maas.
I've already gone on about the Throne of Glass series enough in this post so I'll just say that I'm really glad I discovered Sarah J. Maas last year.
Book that would work in animated form: Nimona - Noelle Stevenson.
Nimona is a graphic novel so it's pretty easy to imagine it in animated form but I'm basically using this category to let you know that I absolutely adored Nimona and it was my favourite graphic novel of last year.
Best action: Monsters of Men - Patrick Ness.
How could I write a 2015 awards post without mentioning the Chaos Walking trilogy?! I finished up this series last year and the final book, Monsters of Men had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. I just couldn't put it down and it was so shocking I was constantly audibly gasping, screaming and yelling - I'm pretty sure I freaked out my boyfriend whilst he was trying to play video games. If you haven't read this series yet, then what are you doing? Sort it out!
Favourite novella: The Tales of Beedle the Bard - J.K. Rowling.
This was kind of a tricky one as I didn't read many novellas in 2015 apart from The Tales of Beedle the Bard and the Penguin Little Black Classics, and I guess J.K.Rowling won out as always!
Best historical fiction: Burial Rites - Hannah Kent.
Despite this being the only historical fiction I read (I think), it was definitely the best. Burial Rites floored me. It was so unexpectedly brilliant and atmospheric and beautiful, the characters were so finely drawn and the setting was so breathtaking - it just drew me in completely and I wasn't ready to leave at the end of the book. Check out my December wrap up post for a more detailed review.
Best standalone: Carry On - Rainbow Rowell.
I think by now it's pretty obvious that this was going to be my answer. This book is just awesome okay and you need to right it immediately if not sooner. If you like books with magic and feelings and monsters and kissing then you need to read this. If you don't like any of those things, well, then, you should probably still read this. Get to it!
*send off music starts playing* and that's all folks! Well done if you made it through that and you're still with me. I think it's going to be really fun to look at this post this time next year and see how my answers and feelings have changed. Also, I hope that you managed to get a few book recommendations out of this, all of the books mentioned are definite favourites of mine and I'd honestly recommend every single one of them.
But for now, thank you and goodnight!
Which book wins your 2015 ultimate book award?
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