lost between the pages of a book.

It's only fitting that my first list is posted on my favourite holiday. If you've seen anything else I've posted you'll know I pretty much only read sci fi and fantasy, so for this post I'll be sharing SFF recommendations with a heavy romance element!

Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

The Wrath and The Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

Runebinder by Alex R. Kahler hardcover, 400 pages, goodreads ★★★★★

     In that case you should read Renegades by Marissa Meyer. It’s got a diverse cast like Six of Crows (not to mention the main character is also fairly morally ambiguous like a certain lieutenant) plus it’s got the superpower element like Vicious!! It’s also just an overall good time and very entertaining read.

     I recently reached a follower milestone, and I’ve been wanting to interact more with my followers on this blog so I thought doing recommendations would be a great way!!

TASKS

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     This is extremely late, but I thought I should get it up anyway. Last month I read 11 books although I didn’t finish my TBR opting to read Illuminae instead of A Game of Thrones which I can’t bring myself to regret. This month I’ve once again included 6 books on my TBR and I’m fairly certain I will actually get through them all this time!! 

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black — goodreads      I got this book in my first ever Fairyloot (and my OwlCrate but that’s beside the point) and I’m super excited to pick it up!! I’ve been on a huge faerie kick lately and Black is famous for her faerie books so this couldn’t be more perfect. 

Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff — goodreads      I read Illuminae last month and it’s already a favourite, so I’m crazy excited to pick this one up. The plan is to catch up so I can buy a copy of Obsidio when it comes out in March, and I can’t see any reason I won’t be able to achieve that. 

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas — goodreads      Another sequel to a book I read in January, I’m really excited to dive into Prythian again. As I said, I’m really into the fair folk lately and this series is an iconic faerie series in YA circles. 

Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller — goodreads      I love pirates probably more than is socially acceptable, which means any form of pirate media is snatched into my greedy clutches as quickly as possible. This came out almost a year ago, which is a little late, but I’m still super pumped to read it. 

Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi — goodreads      I read Shatter Me awhile ago and whole I didn’t initially like, I did eventually, and many people have promised me that the second one is better so I’m hoping they’re right. 

     This is a tad bit late I know but I’m finally getting around to posting my January TBR. Last month saw me read a total of 7 books, but seeing as I don’t have a week off this month like I did last, I’ve only included 6 books on this list!!

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin — goodreads

    I originally started this book in ebook form (which isn’t something I usually do seeing as I’m not a fan of ebooks) and I loved it so much that I bought a physical copy so I could make the most of the experience. I’ve watched part of the show so I’ve got a general feel of the world, and I’m very excited to jump into it again.

Truthwitch by Susan Dennard — goodreads

    I’ve had so many people recommend this to me that when I saw it in the bookstore I simply had to pick it up. I love fantasy with complex magic systems, and everything I’ve read about Truthwitch suggests that that is exactly what it is, so I’m looking forward to picking it up.

This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada — goodreads

    When I first heard about this book through book twitter I was very intrigued. Gene hacking isn’t often a focus in sci fi, and when you combine that with a strong protagonist and dystopia, you’ve got me hooked. I’ve already finished it, and I can say it more than lives up to my expectations. 

The Sandcastle Empire by Kayla Olson — goodreads

    Yet another dystopia on my TBR, I’ve owned a copy of The Sandcastle Empire for a few months now and I’m finally going to actually read it. Im super pumped to dive into a dystopia, especially one as unique as this.

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas — goodreads

    I got the boxset of this series for Christmas, and I picked the first one up almost as soon as I could (aka literally January 1st). Like most people on Tumblr I’ve heard a lot about this book, both good and bad, but I really enjoyed it and I’m looking forward to continuing the series.

Light by Michael Grant — goodreads

     Hello, pals! A quick update about this blog is coming to your screens in 3... 2... 1..

     Previously I was writing reviews for every book I read, but seeing as I read a lot this quickly became an insurmountable task and thus I simply stopped writing reviews. So in an effort to get back into reviewing I’ve decided that from now on I will only be posting reviews for books I finish within three months of their release date. That will include books I’ve read between the last review I posted and now so the current list of reviews in the works is:

Runebinder by Alex R. Kahler The Glass Spare by Lauren Destefano Renegades by Marissa Meyer This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada

2017 is finally over, and while, like a lot of people, I’d like to give it a swift kick in the ass on it’s way out, it was still a good reading year for me. I read approximately 80 books this year and while I can’t say I didn’t like any of them I definitely have my favourites so this list is comprised of my top 10 books I read in 2017. They’re not all new releases so ones that are will be marked with an asterisks.

1) THE YOUNG ELITES by MARIE LU

The Young Elites is, as a series, one of my absolute favourites, but the first book is the best overall in my opinion. I love Adelina so much, and I think seeing her as she is before meeting the rest of the Young Elites is an important part of her journey.

2) RENEGADES by MARISSA MEYER*

This is the second to last book I read last year, and it really ended 2017 with a bang. I adored everything about Renegades from the characters to the plot to the dynamics to the writing, and I recommend it to everyone that likes superheroes or just good books.

3) RUNEBINDER by ALEX R. KAHLER*

I knew i was going to love this book. Fantasy + dystopia + an LGBT main character is a recipe for success in my mind, but Runebinder blew all my expectations out of the water. It was fun but still serious and the characters were all fantastic.

4) THREE DARK CROWNS by KENDARE BLAKE

I’ve read both books that are out as of now and while I loved both, I did prefer the first one for a multitude of reasons. The whole series is interesting, however. I love that the books are fairly politics heavy, a lot of YA fantasy isn’t, and it’s one of the things I miss the most when I read YA.

5) A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC by V.E. SCHWAB

This is one of two Schwab books on this list because i love her books, but A Darker Shade of Magic is definitely my favourite so far. I haven’t read the rest of the books in the series, but I’m super excited to pick them up because I adored everything about this book.

6) KING’S CAGE by VICTORIA AVEYARD*

I fell out of reading for a while, and Red Queen was one of the books that brought me back, so this whole series means a lot to me, and King’s Cage is no exception. I loved all the emotionally charged scenes in this book, even if my heart got broken a few times, and I really enjoyed getting Evangeline’s point of veiw.

7) LORD OF SHADOWS by CASSANDRA CLARE*

This book broke my heart in sixteen different places and I still haven’t figured out how to put it back together. I’ve grown so attached to the characters in this series that I’m absolutely positive that the next book will make my 2018 list.

8) LINGER by MAGGIE STIEFVATER

I read the entirety of this series this year (aside from the last 20 pages of book three but shh) but Linger was by far my favourite. The introduction of Cole, who has made my list of favourite characters ever, really made this book special to me and I loved the atmosphere of the whole series so much.

9) FOREST OF A THOUSAND LANTERNS by JULIE C. DAO*

I! Loved! This! Book! I was so extremely excited to read it and I was not at all let down. Everything about this book was fantastic, from the characters to the plot to the writing itself, I don’t have one single complaint to lodge and I think I may die before book two comes out.

10) THIS SAVAGE SONG by VICTORIA SCHWAB

Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao hardcover, 363 pages, goodreads ★★★★★

spoilers under the cut!

7 DAYS OF TOP 7 — day four: creative worlds

I read a lot of fantasy so today’s category was basically made for me. I’m super excited to dive into my favourite worlds, even if some of them are probably fairly obvious. As with the previous lists this is in no particular order.

The Four Londons (Shades of Magic by V.E. Schwab)

All of Schwab’s worlds are fantastic, but there’s something extra special about the four Londons. Perhaps it’s simply because it’s such a vivid world, but either way it’s one of my all time favourites for world building.

The Maze (The Maze Runner by James Dashner)

So many things about The Maze Runner books surprised me, but how well built the world was takes the cake, It’s supposed to just be Earth in the future, and I can absolutely see what Dashner describes happening.

Grishaverse (The Grisha Trilogy & Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo)

It’s no secret that I love both the Grisha Trilogy and Six of Crows, but I love the world they’re set in even more than I can express. It’s so unique and well thought out, I just can’t get enough of it.

Middle Earth (Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien)

I absolutely could not write this list without including one of the most iconic fantasy worlds in literature. Tolkien put an incredible amount of work into developing Middle Earth and it shows in every word he wrote. It’s hard not to find that dedication infectious. 

Wizarding World (Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling)

So many people, including myself, say that opening a Harry Potter book feels like going home, and a large part of that is the world Rowling wrote. It’s rich with details and it’s so vast and easy to get lost in that I have no choice but to love it with my whole heart.

The Night World (Night World by L.J. Smith)

This is a series that is pretty much unknown in the YA community but it’s one I love a lot. The Night World is just like our world, except with vampires, werewolves, witches, and shapeshifters, and it was one of the first YA series I ever read. The world itself is fairly politics heavy and I really enjoy that in a novel.

Feng Lu (Rise of the Empress by Julie C. Dao)

7 DAYS OF TOP 7 — day three: characters I relate to

This was the category I was most excited for. Despite not being one for character driven stories, I often find myself liking characters more than the actual plot of books, so any chance to talk about the ones I love is a welcome opportunity. Obviously with this list I focused on characters that I personally relate to. As with the previous lists this is in no particular order.

Kevin Day (All For The Game by Nora Sakavic)

     This list without Kevin is like me without my right arm. I have never related to a character as I do to Kevin, someone who’s been through hell and is still learning to cope the best he can. A lot of people misread him as an asshole, which also happens to me quite often, but I see that he’s ambitious and ruthless.

Draco Malfoy (Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling)

     To anyone who knows me this really isn’t a surprise, Draco was one of the first characters I ever really connected with, even if he’s got some not-so savoury personality traits. I see myself in his self-imposed isolation and oversized ego, and it helps that we’re both Slytherins.

Bella Swan (Twilight by Stephenie Meyer)

     Bella is honestly the first character I can remember really relating to. She’s on the outside of pretty much everything and she knows it. She’s also way too mature for 17, and as someone that was always the mature one growing up it’s really nice to see it represented in a realistic way.

Nico Di Angelo (Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan)

     Nico is a character I’d always thought I’d relate to once I got to books where he was actually an influential character and boy was I right. As someone that’s lost family members I can feel his grief and anger as if it were my own. 

Wylan Van Eck (Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo)

     When I was coming up with this list this was the inclusion that surprised me the most. On the surface me Wylan and I are nothing alike. He’s the only son of a rich merchant and I grew up below the poverty line, but I realized that he’s just trying to find his place in the world, same as I am.

Ronan Lynch (The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater)

     Ronan was another one that surprised me, albeit not as much. Ronan and I have more obviously similar traits, like our tendency towards self destruction and rejection of authority. However, like with Wylan Ronan and I also share some deeper similarities, namely we both have an underlying anger that’s prevalent in a lot of our actions.

Kate Harker (Monsters of Verity by Victoria Schwab)

7 DAYS OF TOP 7 — day two: thought provoking

This was the category I struggled with the most. In fact I finished deciding what to include for this one several days after I’d completed all the other ones because I was really struggling. I don’t really read books that would generally be considered thought provoking but I managed to cobble together enough to write this. As with the last list this is in no particular order.

Lord of the Flies by William Goulding

     I don’t think I could write this list without including Lord of the Flies. It’s my favourite book that I read in high school and I think it’s pretty obvious why it makes the thought provoking list. It’s one I still think about years after finishing it.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

     This seems like another fairly obvious one. The whole point of The Hunger Games was to make us think about unfairness of wealth distribution and the part the media can play in our lives and how it can twist the truth. 

Divergent by Veronica Roth

     I think this one is one that also definitely belongs on this list. For me this book brings up a lot of questions about human nature, and whether or not we can be defined by the traits we value. 

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

     I’m not sure this would have made the list had I not just finished this series, but I’ve included it nonetheless. While I don’t think Dashner intended for this to be though provoking, it did make me think about how much we as people are willing to do to ensure the survival of the human race.

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

     It doesn’t really surprise me that I found another list to include Red Queen on, especially not for this one. This book is a very obvious commentary on inequality, especially on class dynamics, and it’s left me awake pondering the specifics of the world on many occasions.

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

     For me this book, and by extension the rest of the series, makes me wonder about what history can’t tell us. There are a multitude of historical figures with little information and one of the main plot points in this book is discovering the truth about Glendower.

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

7 DAYS OF TOP 7 — day one: books that should be movies

     This is technically a day late but time is fake anyway so we’re going to pretend it’s not. For yesterday today’s theme I focused on books that I think would translate well onto the screen, whether that be actual movies or tv shows. These are in no particular order because I’d have a terrible time trying to pick a number, so without further ado, the list!

The Young Elites by Marie Lu

     This is one I think would work best as a movie, it’s got a plot that would be hard to split into episodes and I think it would requiring a larger budget than most shows get. However, I would absolutely love to see this on the big screen. Watching Adelina’s descent into true villainy in a dark theatre would be the kind of movie-going experience you don’t get often.

Gone by Michael Grant

     Out of all the books on this list, the Gone series is by far the one that I think would be the most popular if made into a tv show. The books already have an episodic feel to them, helped by the revolving door of characters and plot lines, so it wouldn’t be a stretch to transform that into a show. 

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

     Heist movies are always a big hit, and because of that I feel like this would be the type of adaption that would rake in fans and non-fans alike. The Grishaverse is a sprawling universe that, when used correctly, could catapult any movie to infamy, and of all the characters Leigh has written, I would be most interested to see Kaz Brekker come to life.

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

     Last I heard the rights for this series had in fact been optioned, but I included it on this list because I cannot get over how amazing this would (will?) be on the big screen. The books already have a larger than life feel to them, with plenty of dynamic characters that would be so interesting to see portrayed by real people.

This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab

     I’ve put this on the list because the effects need to pull it off would be phenomenal. I think this would work as either movies or a show, and honestly I’m not sure which I would prefer. I just know that either way I’d be glued to my seat.

Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake

     Fantasy on tv has become more popular and this series is one I would love to see adapted for the small screen. The mix of political intrigue and super powers would be so interesting to see developed into a show, and I can imagine all the characters being someone’s favourite.

Warcross by Marie Lu

Plague by Michael Grant paperback, 492 pages, goodreads ★★★★

spoilers under the cut!