blogmas day 6: best new to me authors of 2018

I was originally going to combine best new to me authors that have other books out and best debuts, but then I realized that would be a long post and I have enough for two separate posts, so for today I’ll just be sharing my favorite new-to-me authors who I read in 2018 who are not debut authors.

1. Dhonielle Clayton – I had mixed feelings about THE BELLES initially, but one thing I was not mixed about was that I really liked her writing. Dhonielle Clayton’s writing could definitely be described as “purple prose” because it’s so pretty and flowery, which may not appeal to some readers, but I thought it worked really well for the story, which is about beauty and comments on beauty standards in society. I had to ask my mom to send me this book after I moved because I literally had a dream about it, which made me realize I probably actually liked this book a lot despite my initial misgivings.
2. Amy Spalding – THE SUMMER OF JORDI PEREZ was such a charming book. It had fashion and also a queer plus sized MC, so it was basically about me. I enjoyed the romance in this book and just liked the whole darn thing. Amy’s other books don’t interest me as much, but if she writes other queer stuff in the future I will definitely be reading it.
3. Leigh Bardugo – I know, I know, it’s like a cardinal book blogger sin not to have read Leigh Bardugo, but when SHADOW & BONE first came out, I was just starting to get really into YA contemporary. However, I’m so happy I went back to read the first two books in the trilogy, because I LOVED it. SHADOW & BONE for sure deserves all the hype it gets, and I really need to reread SEIGE & STORM/continue reading RUIN & RISING so I find out what happens to Nikolai!! Plus then I can finally read SIX OF CROWS, too.
4. Morgan Matson – I have been meaning to read a Matson book since FOREVER and finally did it! SAVE THE DATE was so charming and made me feel so warm and fuzzy and delightful, which is not often a feeling I get from books. It was cute and fun and just hit the spot.
5. Jen Wilde – I’m going to be talking about THE BRIGHTSIDERS and Jen Wilde a lot this month for Blogmas because it was one of my favorite books this year. I really need to read her first book, QUEENS OF GEEK, and I can’t wait for her third one, which is coming out next year.