2021 Wrap Up

 Hey guys, this is Abi here, 

And once more, the year has come to a close. There have been ups and down, but the end is near, and now's the time to look back on all the stuff we managed to accomplish in 2021! 

Without further ado, enjoy! 

~Books Read in December~

1. Double Cross (Noughts and Crosses #4), by Malorie Blackman 

2. Nought Forever (Noughts and Crosses 4.5), by Malorie Blackman 

3. Crossfire (Noughts and Crosses #5), by Malorie Blackman 

4. Endgame (Noughts and Crosses #6), by Malorie Blackman

It was bitersweet going into the last book knowing it was the last one ever, but at the same time, I almost feel relief that it's over. I won't lie, I don't think that this series needed any more books after Double Cross, I thought it wrapped up nicely there, but there is no way I'm going to say no to more Malorie Blackman books, especially from this series. 

As always, Endgame came with so many twists and turns, I could barely keep up with what was going on at any given moment. My eyes were glued to the page throughout the book, always wanting to know what was happening in the next sentence, page, chapter. 

Malorie Blackman has outdone herself with this series. I have had years of heartache, joy and happiness reading this series and although I am relieved it's over, this series will remain in my heart for evermore. Thankyou Malorie Blackman. 

5. Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating, by Adiba Jaigirdar

After the heavy subject matters of the Noughts and Crosses series, I needed something light-hearted and fun, which was exactly what this was. A romance between two bengali girls, with all the tropes and humour you could hope for, with an exploration of biphobia and racism thrown in as well. Having read both this and The Henna Wars I think I can now say that I will read anything that Adiba Jaigirdar releases. She writes wonderfully humourous and lovable stories with a number of serious themes in them as well, so go and read her books if you're looking for something like that. 

6. Life is Strange: Dust (Life is Strange Comics #1-4), by Emma Vieceli, Claudia Leonardi & Andrea Izzo 

I received this for Christmas from Jordan and I was absolutely elated. I had no idea this existed, I'm a huge fan of the Life is Strange games so of course I had to read this as soon as I could. Unfortunately, you do have to have played the game for this to make sense, but for fans of LiS, this feels exactly like the characters from the game, it's not too different to feel like it's a completely different story, it feels exactly like a continuation from the game. Highly recommend if you're a fan of LiS. 

~Series Completed in 2021~

1. The "Throne of Glass" series, by Sarah J Maas

I'm not sure why it took me as long as it did to finally pick up this series, but I'm so glad I've finally read these. A long, exciting and complex fantasy series full of magic, action and incredibly well-written characters that will stay with you long after you've read the final page. I read the Throne of Glass series at the start of the year, and even now, every so often, a certain chapter or character will just pop into my head. 

I don't know when I'll be reading them again, or even if it'll be soon. But I do know that I will, and they'll sit proudly on my bookshelf until then. 

2. The "Percy Jackson" series, by Rick Riordan 

The first of many Rick Riordan series' I've attempted this year. Without this one, we couldn't have had any of the others. This was the series that, for many, started their interest in Greek mythology, mine included. These books are like a lesson and an adventure rolled into one. I love these books, because they're short, snappy and unpredictable, just full of chaos and seemingly impossible tasks that children actually end up completing. These books were, very entertaining to say the least. 

3. The "Heroes of Olympus" series, by Rick Riordan 

Oh, jesus. These books. I should have enjoyed these more than I did, let's just say that. These are like the YA version of the Percy Jackson books. Same characters, (but some are added), with a different prophecy, looking to stop another force of evil. In this instance it's Gaia, the mother of all the Gods. For some reason I wasn't into them as much as in the Percy Jackson books, maybe because they just felt like they went on forever and I never seemed to be able to focus on them for more than 20 minutes at a time? I don't know. But one thing's for sure, if I didn't own all of Rick Riordan's other series, I would seriously be considering donating these. 

4. The "Kane Chronicles" trilogy, by Rick Riordan 

A series I was considering skipping. Ended up being my favourite of the lot. Might it have something to do with the fact that I finished them all in 24 hours (mostly). Maybe. But if that means that I was able to swallow the whole story in one gulp, then that's perfectly fine with me. 

I loved the whole sibling thing that went on with Sadie and Carter, who started off as complete strangers (after being raised by different people) but ended up trusting eachother as equals as they went on this crazy adventure to stop a whacking great snack. Wonderful characters, high stakes and a time limit. Just what you want for a trilogy about Norse mythology. 

5. The "Magnus Chase" trilogy, by Rick Riordan 

Not as much as The Heroes of Olympus, but again, was relieved to finish this. It was nice to see Annabeth pop up every so often though. 

Basically, I enjoyed this enough to finish this, but for most of the time, I was in conflict with myself- do I skip to the 2nd Trials of Apollo book, do I give up on the series altogether? But I soldiered on, and actually found myself invested in the story. You know, for some of the time. 

Decent trilogy, but I'm relieved I'm finished. 

6. The "Paper Girls" series, by Brian K. Vaughan, Cliff Chiang, Matt Wilson & Jared K. Fletcher

 

I started this off as a bit of a relief from the Magnus Chase trilogy, and it just took on a life of it's own. As soon as I finished that series, I jumped straight into this one and kept reading until I'd finished this too. I've had my eye on these for a while and I'm so happy that I've finally got to pick them up. Frankly, I've been wanting to read these since I caught up on the Saga graphic novel last november, and it's bad that I'm only now getting to them now. But no matter, I'm on the train. 

Paper Girls is about first girls that witness something they shouldn't, the morning after Halloween of 1988. Then everyone else seems to just vanish out of thin air and creatures from another world are stalking the streets. What comes next is a futuristic journey about different dimensions, new species and four girls just trying to find their way home. 

This was a slow burner for me, I wasn't sure where it was going to go after the first novel, but I'm so glad I stuck with it, because I really enjoyed them. 

7. The "Noughts and Crosses" series, by Malorie Blackman 

I've already talked about this series at the top of the post but I genuinely can't believe that this series is over. I've cried, I've laughed and I've grinned over these books, the characters are faultless, the plot is dynamic and unexpected and it doesn't matter how many times I've read these books, I know I'll continue to read these until the end of my days. 

~Series I Started & Caught Up on~ 

1. The "Skulduggery Pleasant" series~ Finished Dead or Alive, the penultimate book in the series. 

2. The "Heartstopper" series- Finished Volume Four. 

3. The "Thursday Murder Club" duology- Started the series, waiting for the paperback of The Man Who Died Twice to be released. 

4. The "Supernatural Investigators" trilogy, by B.B. Alston- Finished Amari and the Night Brothers, book 1. 

5. The "Circle trilogy" by Teri Terry- Finished Red Sky Burning, book 2. 

6. The "The Trials of Apollo" series, by Rick Riordan- Was meant to finish this series in 2021, but will be waiting until 2022 to re-read book 1 and complete the series. 

7. The "Life is Strange Comics" series, by Emma Vieceli, Claudia Leonardi & Andrea Izzo- Started this series this month. 

~What I Achieved in 2021~ 

I'm so happy with everything that I managed to achieve this year! I ticked off a couple on my list of things to do in the next five years (I demised that list going into 2020 so you can check that out here). 
But the main achievements this year are as follows: 

1. I passed my driving test (and thank God I did, or else I would have had to re-take my theory because of lack of test dates- something else to thank Covid for). 

2. I ran a marathon! Horrible conditions, absolutely scorching day- plus the distance was over measured meaning we had to run 26.70 miles instead of 26.25, but who cares? I'm now a marathoner! 

3. I got a Parkrun PB! I wasn't actually planning this one, but I'm including it anyway. This was on the tail end of the year, and honestly, it was the cherry on top of the cake. 

~What I'm Looking Forward to in 2022~

1. Finishing saving for a house (and maybe moving out)? 

2. Reaching new PB's in running! 

3. Reading new and exciting books, writing on here and talking to you guys!

Okay! That's my 2021 Wrap Up- done! 

I hope you enjoyed reading about what I've been up to this past year, and if you want to, you're always free to comment anything about what you've been up to down below! (Whether it's what you've read, visited, accomplished- anything at all!)

I hope you have a wonderful new year's and I'll see you in 2022! 

Another year- signing out! 

Byeeee guys!

-Abi xxxxx