Best Books Of 2020

Hello! I am Max and I will be manufacturing the last article which is called “Best Books Of 2020” in this end of the year series today! If you have not read the previous two articles in this series, I will link them down below:

• Worst Books Of 2020
• Most Anticipated Books Of 2021

There are seven books on this list that I would love to discuss today and this list is in the order of the most beloved to the least beloved but still beloved books. So, without further ado, let us head straight into the list!

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Everything I Never Told You By Celeste Ng

Everything I Never Told You is probably my favourite book in 2020 because… How does one judge perfection?

I have a review for this novel on my blog and if you want to read my in-depth review for it, click here. If you do not want to, that’s fine, I will summarize it here.

The writing style in this novel is elegant with sentences interlacing together effortlessly. The story is more character-driven than plot-driven and it focuses on the everyday life of the Lee family and how the very core or essence of the family crumbles as they face the death of a loved one and how the family recovers from this tragic event when all hope of recovery seems lost amid grief. The book also consolidates racism, sexism, challenges of interracial marriages without any of them being the primary focus of the novel although, those elements are tied deeply into the story. The book has its primary focus on loneliness, resentment and jealousy. The characters are deeply relatable as they have realistic flaws and with that being said, I will absolutely read whatever Celeste Ng writes from this day onwards.

I foresee myself re-reading this novel in the future and therefore, my final verdict for this novel is 100% (A+).

The Book Of Longings By Sue Monk Kidd

Just thinking about this novel makes me want to reread it at this instant but I have to restrain myself because I still need to read all of the unread books that have been sitting on my bookshelves for an aeon.

This historical fiction follows the perspective of the wife of Jesus, Ana, and the story follows her life from the 16th CE to the 60th CE. Ana is a girl who loves writing and reading and her mom disapproves of her passions. Her parents then tries to marry her off to some farmer, hoping to gain a piece of land even though they are rich as hell. Her resistance to the marriage to safeguard her passions shows how strong of a person she is. Everything occurs from then on.

The writing style for this novel is lyrical, poetic and daring. It is unquestionably well-paced. It includes important topics on sexism and how Ana goes against all these stereotypes and slowly changes the views on both men and women.

My final verdict for this novel is 95% (A+). I am definitely going to reread this book in the near future because of how much I loved it! 10/10 would recommend this to all of you.

I have a review for this novel on my blog as well. So, if you would like to read a more in-depth review for this book, I will link it here.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo By Taylor Jenkins Reid

This book crushed my soul. The story is so well-constructed and the novel is astonishingly well-written. I did not think that I would pick this book up to read because the synopsis did not tantalize me in any way but I found this book at one my favourite bookstores of all time – Bookxcess – and it was sold at a cheap price and I thought “why not give it a shot?” and boy oh boy, did I not expect it to do the things it did to me. 

In this book, the narrative follows an unknown reporter, Monique, who is called upon by a famous actress – Evelyn Hugo – to write her biography as she is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. However, Monique does not know why she is being picked by the famous Evelyn Hugo to write her biography and with that, you will find out the reason throughout the novel.

The way the book unfolds and reveals each of the husbands is perfectly executed. It breathes life into the characters and it makes all of them incredibly complex instead of being one-dimensional. The novel also includes a few important topics, representation and there are references to the stonewall riot in 1969 and civil rights movements as well. The ending of the novel or rather, fifty pages towards the end of the novel, I began to sob incessantly because it was so astonishingly sad but I will not spoil it to any of you because I want you all to suffer through the tearjerking scenes with me. So, please read it.

Final Verdict: 95% (A+)

The Darkest Part Of The Forest By Holly Black

Honestly, I did not expect this to be on the list but I loved this more than The Cruel Prince. I am incredibly displeased with myself for not reading it sooner or not reading it before The Cruel Prince because some of the characters in here cameoed in The Cruel Prince. Well, what’s done is done.

Anyways, this is an urban fantasy novel that follows these two siblings – Hazel and Ben – who live in a strange town where both humans and fae coexist. There is a glass coffin in the woods where a boy with horns sleeps in and he has slept in it for generations that it gradually becomes a tourist hotspot… up until he wakes up and the story unfurls.

The characters are fantastic. The writing is superb; Holly Black never fails to dazzle me with her exquisite writing style. The gay romance between a boy and a fae got my heart-skipping. The plot thickens in every turn of events. The pacing is absolutely miraculous as it kept me flipping the pages right until the very end of the novel. I was never once bored. However, the beginning of the novel is a little lack-lustered in terms of the introduction to the characters and if the author were to polish it up a bit, it would be perfect.

Final Verdict: 93% (A+)

How We Disappeared By Jing-Jing Lee

I thought the writing style was prosaic at the beginning of the novel. However, as the book advances, the writing style changes gradually in terms of prose and eloquence and slowly but surely, it made me love the way this novel is written.

This novel is inordinately heart-rending, especially the middle section of the novel where it expatiates on comfort women in Singapore in 1942. Those scenes in the book are extremely graphic and eminently saddening to read about. You can also tell the novel is very well-researched through the passages the author has written in the novel. Moreover, the characters are complex and realistically flawed in every way conceivable that it makes the story come to life. The pacing for this novel is almost perfect except for the beginning of the novel; if the author were to speed it up just a tiny bit, it would be excellent.

I implore you to pick this book up to read as it is historically accurate and inordinately heart-wrenching. Thus, my final verdict for this novel is 92% (A+).

Thank you Oneworld Publishing for sending a copy of this novel to me.

The Garden Of Evening Mist By Tan Twan Eng

“I have become a collapsing star, pulling everything around it, even the light, into an ever-expanding void. Once I lose all ability to communicate with the world outside myself, nothing will be left but what I remember. My memories will be like a sandbar, cut off from the shore by the incoming tide. In time they will become submerged, inaccessible to me. The prospect terrified me. For what is a person without memories? A ghost, trapped between worlds, without an identity, with no future, no past.” – Tan Twan Eng, The Garden of Evening Mists.

I am just going to leave this quote here and beg all of you to read the book because the writing style for this book is extremely sumptuous and the characters are eminently complex. The focus of this novel is on the struggle of a courageous woman who had lost her sister to the war, who had been through the war, who held on to the hatred for so long that the flame was eating her up and a woman who finally let go of the flame in the end.

I have a review for this novel on my blog as well. So, if you would like to read a more in-depth review for this book, I will link it here.

Final Verdict: 90% (A+)

Behind The Red Door By Megan Collins

This psychological thriller is very well-paced, it has an ample of twists and turns that I did not see coming, the writing style is splendid, it comprises of an estranged family which I love to read about, the execution is flawless and it is just an all-in-all compelling read and I do not think I will ever forget about those few twists in the novel because I literally gasped out loud at those. However, I kind of wish some of the characters have more page-time to flesh out their characterizations. Other than that, I have no complaints.

I would like to thank Simon & Schuster for approving my request for this novel through Edelweiss. I will eternally be grateful for it.

Final Verdict: 90% (A+)

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And that concludes my ‘Best Books Of 2020!’ Be sure to let me know what your worst books of 2020 are in the comment section below! I hope you all enjoyed this article and follow me with your email/WordPress account to get notifications when I post a new article! Bye!