I had to do a follow up. I thought I would have loads of books for this category this year but only 3 books really surprised me this year.

Plot: Even through the roar and effervescence of the 1920s, everyone in New York has heard of Benjamin and Helen Rask. He is a legendary Wall Street tycoon; she is the daughter of eccentric aristocrats. Together, they have risen to the very top of a world of seemingly endless wealth—all as a decade of excess and speculation draws to an end. But at what cost have they acquired their immense fortune? This is the mystery at the center of Bonds, a successful 1937 novel that all of New York seems to have read. Yet there are other versions of this tale of privilege and deceit.

This book is a literary fiction book. The complete opposite of what I normally read so I didn’t think I would enjoy it as much as I did. It’s currently sitting on my Top 10 list!

Plot: Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone. . . .

• A convict with a thirst for revenge
• A sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager
• A runaway with a privileged past
• A spy known as the Wraith
• A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums
• A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes

Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don’t kill each other first.

Some of you may know that I hated Shadow and Bone. I really did not enjoy it. So, when it came round to reading this book I thought I would feel the same. This book shows such an improvement in Bardugo’s writing and her character development!

Plot: Rumors begin to spread of a species of hyperintelligent, dangerous octopus that may have developed its own language and culture. Marine biologist Dr. Ha Nguyen, who has spent her life researching cephalopod intelligence, will do anything for the chance to study them. The transnational tech corporation DIANIMA has sealed the remote Con Dao Archipelago, where the octopuses were discovered, off from the world. Dr. Nguyen joins DIANIMA’s team on the islands: a battle-scarred security agent and the world’s first android. The octopuses hold the key to unprecedented breakthroughs in extrahuman intelligence. The stakes are high: there are vast fortunes to be made by whoever can take advantage of the octopuses’ advancements, and as Dr. Nguyen struggles to communicate with the newly discovered species, forces larger than DIANIMA close in to seize the octopuses for themselves. But no one has yet asked the octopuses what they think. And what they might do about it.

Now this book I thought I would enjoy but not love as much as I did. I was worried I would find some of the concepts a bit too complicated and over-whelming but I just really enjoyed the story!