Reviewing… two of my best books this year!

So, obviously from the title I’m going to be reviewing two of my favourite books that I’ve read this year. One of these books is not going to surprise you, let’s be honest I don’t shut up about the Joona Linna series by the author duo Lars Kepler. The second, however, may be a little surprising to you all. I have stumbled into the world of fantasy and I’m loving it! I finished listening to Nevernight on Sunday and I’m in awe.

Ready?

It begins with a nursery rhyme. Nineteen minutes later you die…
There’s a face at the window.
A stranger wearing a mask stands in the shadow of a garden. He’s watching his first victim through the window. He will kill him slowly, make it last – play him a nursery rhyme – make him pay.
A killer in your house.
There’s only one person the police can turn to – ex-Detective Joona Linna – but he’s serving time in a high-security prison. So they offer him a chance to secure his freedom: help superintendent Saga Bauer track down the vicious killer known as The Rabbit Hunter, before he strikes again. Only one man can stop him.
Soon another three victims have been murdered and Stockholm is in the grip of terror. Joona Linna must catch a disturbed predator, whose trail of destruction leads back to one horrific night of violence – with consequences more terrifying than anyone could have imagined…

This is the 6th instalment in the Joona Linna series and they just keep getting better! After Stalker (click here for my review) I thought that they had reached the top, surely they wouldn’t be able to compete with their last book… could they? Oh boy, honestly I could bow at their feet, This is my number 1 series!

One of the main characters Saga Bauer is just a complete bad ass! She doesn’t care about rules, if she believes something is important then she will do whatever it takes no matter what! (Even trespassing on hospital grounds late at night to speak to a witness).

There was one character who seemed out of place, I believe she was an FBI agent but I may be wrong (let’s be honest with my memory she could be in the CIA for all I know) and she does something really, really stupid at a truck stop and I just didn’t see how she added to the story, unless she’s continuing into the next book? Which is called Lazarus, I’m patiently waiting for it to be translated and published in the UK!

The day this series ends my heart will break! They create such unique murders that it worries me a little! How do they come up with a killer having a band of rabbit ears around his head? I’ve read so many crime and thrillers that sometimes books feel a little repetitive, however this series is just so original and full of surprises!
It’s no shock that I’m giving The Rabbit Hunter 5 massive cups of coffee out of 5!

Destined to destroy empires, Mia Covere is only ten years old when she is given her first lesson in death.
Six years later, the child raised in shadows takes her first steps towards keeping the promise she made on the day that she lost everything.
But the chance to strike against such powerful enemies will be fleeting, so if she is to have her revenge, Mia must become a weapon without equal. She must prove herself against the deadliest of friends and enemies, and survive the tutelage of murderers, liars and demons at the heart of a murder cult.
The Red Church is no Hogwarts, but Mia is no ordinary student.
The shadows love her. And they drink her fear. – Goodreads –

Now, as you can tell from the name of this blog, I primarily read crime fiction and thrillers. However, since submerging myself in book tube and the blogging community I have added whole new genres to my tbr, especially fantasy and YA fantasy (more to come on this). I found this book as audio on my library app and I just had to give it a go.

Oh my!
This was everything that I didn’t know I needed and more!
I’m in love! I wish I had read the physical copy of this as I’m not the best at remembering from audio than reading. Although I think that may be an excuse to reread a book for the first time! Yes folks you read that right, I have never read a book more than once! Unfortunately Godsgrave (book number 2) is not at my library so I may have to head over to amazon for this!

I was fully invested in our protagonist Mia, it was so good to see that she wasn’t just suddenly amazing at everything needed to become a ‘blade’. You know those movies where the main character is rubbish, but suddenly during one song they become amazing and even better than the tutor! (I’m looking at your Mulan! You will still always be my fave though don’t worry!)
I don’t feel like I’ve given a full review of this book but I’m extremely new to this genre, so slowing coming to terms with areas such as world-building and the magical system. The most important thing though is that Nevernight gets a whopping 5 cups of coffee out of 5!