2018 in Books: My Top Books of the Year

We all have those books that we read at some point during the year and we go "yup, this is it, this is the book that I will be telling everyone to read and is my favourite." I personally had that with two books this year, both of which have a similar sort of theme between them. Now, don't get me wrong, I can probably state that I read stuff that would be considered objectively 'better' by wider circles but y'know what? The measure of a book comes from your own personal enjoyment and these are the two that I have wanted to re-read a lot. These are the two that I bought the Kindle version for and enjoyed so much that I immediately ordered physical copies.

Those books? The Wendy by Erin Michelle Sky and Steven Brown and Olivia Twist by Lorie Langdon.

When I had first discovered The Wendy, it was free on Kindle. Between that and the intriguing summary - Peter Pan in the 18th Century with magic, faeries, and pirates - I was very much interested in it and... Well, it was free. There was going to be no harm in picking it up. That I am a big fan of the Peter Pan story anyway, and was interested in a retelling of it probably helped a lot too. I am so glad that I did get it and decide to start reading it that night, because I did not put it down until I was finished.

As my review of it showed, I was just so taken with the way that the authors had taken this retelling, and the way in which even the narrative felt like one of the characters, taking the journey of the story right alongside you. The main sell of the story, for me, still remains to be that Wendy is shown as a hero and incredibly strong in her own right. Wendy Darling is arguably the true main character of the original tale, being that she is the character we spend the most time with and whose journey is the one that has the personal stakes of the book, and yet time and time again she is downplayed in favour of the titular character.

Don't get me wrong, Peter himself is fascinating and one of those characters that you can play with in multiple ways, but I had always wanted to see a little more of Wendy herself, to let her have some more time in the spotlight that she always seemed to be robbed of in a lot of adaptations. (The amazing live action film by Universal in 2003 is an exception to this but that remains my personal favourite in terms of adaptations.)

The Wendy took the character and ran with her strengths, playing them up as the assets they were and making it clear that while this particular incarnation of Wendy could sword fight with the best of them, it was those traits shared with the original that she often found herself using the most, and that often proved the most useful in her line of work. After all, swords only get you so far, but words, cleverly spun? They can get you so much further, especially when dealing with creatures of magic. 

If you like your fantasy with a dash of good self humour, and the promise of more, please go pick up The Wendy. I think you'll really enjoy it.

Olivia Twist was a more recent read, and one that took me completely by surprise. People had the same love of Oliver Twist that I did? People thought about new takes of Oliver Twist like I did? I was taken aback, in the best way. Plus the idea of making Oliver into a girl was one that had never actually occurred to me but with all due respect, I can't help but ask myself why not. In hindsight, it's one of those ideas that feels so blindingly obvious that I missed it completely. 

Now, as my review shows, I do have some issues with this story, most of which lie in the pacing of events happening. But honestly, is saying things felt too rushed and you wished it had been a bit longer so you could spend more time with the characters actually a complaint? It should be a compliment, all things considered. Olivia still stands out to me as a delightfully entertaining lead, and she's really the type of person who I would love to know as a friend, if that was at all possible. She's frank, kind, and not the type of person to deliberately mislead you unless she had extremely good reason to do so - and even then she will feel awful when she finally tells you why.  

I have re-read Oliva Twist since writing that review and my thoughts are a lot more positive towards it, even with my issues with the pacing. However, I don't think it entirely wise to change my review as they were my initial thoughts from the first reading, and those do tend to be a bit more truthful than when you are aware you are very much a fan of a book and trying to rave about it without giving away too many spoilers. 

I do think this book would be fun for anyone who likes stories set in the Victorian Era. It's a semi light mystery romp with romance and two people just trying so hard to fit into a set that isn't really them but they need it to be. (Seriously, Olivia and Jack just pull at my heartstrings so hard.)

And for both of these books? I would ideally love to see their leads meet. I think Wendy and Olivia would have a lot to say to each other, and would probably drag their companions along on an adventure to be remembered for years to come. 

I'm really glad I found both of these books. They are my top books of 2018. 

Wonder what'll take that spot next year?