#Claire Legrand

[rhysknees]

What to read next

[bigdreamsandwildthings]

It’s the simple things in life: books, iced coffee, and walks in the forest 🌲📖🖤

[darklinaforever]

Looking for the perfect equivalent to the Grisha trilogy ? What Darklina and Malina could have been if written well ? All with an equally bittersweet ending ?

In this case, you must absolutely read The Empirium Trilogy with the relations of Corien & Rielle (Corielle), and Rielle & Audric :

Darklina VS Corielle (by the way, if you know the names of the artists for the Darklina and Corielle fanarts, please tell me ? That I name them and above all that I go see their other creations) :

@aleksanderscult

[diaryoftruequotes]

We all have darkness inside us, that is what it means to be human. Claire Legrand, Furyborn

[throuple-tournament]

Image of Rielle/Audric/Ludivine found by @locksleyofrobin.

Characters Nathan/Vlad/Ursula created by @thebibliosphere.

Description provided by @powerpolyculeshowdown 's submissions.

Description provided by Anon.

[haveyoureadthisfantasybook]

vote yes if you have finished the entire book.

vote no if you have not finished the entire book.

(faq · submit a book)

[nanstgeorge]

Some say the Queen was frightened in her last moments. But I like to think that she was angry.

[bones-clouds]

books i read in 2024:

"extasia"

claire legrand

rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️, 5

genre: horror, fantasy, wlw

synopsis:

Her name is unimportant.

All you must know is that today she will become one of the four saints of Haven. The elders will mark her and place the red hood on her head. With her sisters, she will stand against the evil power that lives beneath the black mountain--an evil which has already killed nine of her village's men.

She will tell no one of the white-eyed beasts that follow her. Or the faceless gray women tall as houses. Or the girls she saw kissing in the elm grove.

Today she will be a saint of Haven. She will rid her family of her mother's shame at last and save her people from destruction. She is not afraid. Are you?

[thestrangerthings]

Fall Special Edition Reading Challenge

Whoops! I've got a big TBR problem and a chunk of that is thanks to my love for special editions. The issue? I haven't read more than half of the SE's I own, and I can't keep allowing myself to purchase more when I don't even know if I like what I have. Plus I'm beyond out of space on my shelves and I think it's about time I start unhauling what I don't like instead of excusing their existence "because they're pretty."

So for this fall/autumn season, from September through November, I'm challenging myself to finish all 19 of my currently unread SE's and decide if they stay or if they go. Technically more books I preordered have arrived since taking these photos, and there are more to be delivered this fall, but I will not be forcing myself to include them.

Have you read any of these? If so, did you enjoy them? Are there some in here you want to read, but haven't had the chance yet?

Feel free to comment or tag the SE you like best just based on looks!

[kazz-brekker]

i knowwwww that art is subjective and people can have whatever opinions on it they want but it makes me so annoyed that a lot of the negative reviews of a crown of ivy and glass by claire legrand are like "i just found the main character really unlikeable, she was so self-centered and frivolous" as if the book does not make it really clear that gemma throws herself into stuff like planning parties and having dramatic love affairs to distract herself from a chronic illness that causes her a lot of pain as well as her untreated anxiety and depression. yeah, the main character is often self-centered, she's having a physical and mental health crisis! a major part of the story is her finally accepting that she needs to seriously talk to other people about her problems and find better coping mechanisms for herself!

[shxpeshifterr]

[thebookdragonshoard]

Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag (mild spoilers for Kingdom of Ash)

thanks to @cavecarrots for putting this on my feed

1. Best book you’ve read in 2024 so far?

Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas and Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

2. Best sequel you’ve read in 2024 so far?

The Wicked King by Holly Black

3. New release you haven’t read yet, but want to?

Vertigo Peaks by Dion Anja

4. Most anticipated release for the second half of 2024?

Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros (Though I still need to read Iron Flame) (not 2024 but shhhh)

5. Biggest disappointment?

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson (maybe because I read the US version)

6. Biggest surprise?

Extasia by Claire Legrand

7. New favorite author?

Holly Black, Iain Reid, Leigh Bardugo

8. New fictional crush?

LYSANDRA ENNAR ASHRYVER AND MANON BLACKBEACK 🗣️

9. Newest favorite character?

Wylan Van Eck, Nina Zenik and Tairn (yes, the dragon from Fourth Wing, he’s so sassy and I love that for him)

10. Book that made you cry?

Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas made me cry at LEAST five times.

11. Book that made you happy?

I’m Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid (my fourth read through)

12. Favorite book-to-movie adaptation you’ve seen so far this year?

Honestly don’t have an answer to this one, I forget everything I watch within 3 days

13. What book do you really need to read by the end of this year?

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros and Fractal Noise by Christopher Paolini

[darklinaforever]

The Empirium trilogy is what Grisha trilogy should have been...

[melanielocke]

Book recommendations: horror

Horror & fantasy romance ended up in a tie in my poll. I chose to do horror first mainly because the book I'm reading right now will be on the fantasy romance first and I need to finish it first.

I have been reading some horror lately. It's not my most read genre, but I have a big enough pile that I could pick out the ones I think are really good. Most of these aren't necessarily so scary it keeps you up at night, but they can be eerie, very atmospheric, dark and occasionally very messed up. I'll mention the type of horror and what kind of scary elements are in there. All of these are YA, I don't have many adult horror books on my shelf.

I'll start with House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland

Iris is the youngest of the three Hollow sisters. When they were young, the three sisters disappeared from a busy street. It should have been impossible, but there was no trace of them. A month later they reappeared, changed, and with no memory of what happened to them. Iris has tried to forget what happened, and stay away from the weirdness that followed. But when her oldest sister Grey goes missing, Iris and middle sister Viv go looking for her. If they want to find Grey, they will have to uncover the mystery of the past.

This book is creepy and has a rather horrifying twist near the end when you learn what really happened in the past. I think this is one of the scarier books on this list, but it's done really well, with monsters chasing Iris and her sister around and an eerie parallel world

Rep: bi main character, lesbian side character; Korean side character

Other books from this author: The Invocations (horror, coming early 2024); Our Chemical Hearts (contemporary), a semi-definitive of worst nightmares (fabulism)

The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw

Two hundred years ago in small Oregon town Sparrow, three sisters were accused of witchcraft. Stones bound to their feet, they were thrown into the harbor and drowned. Ever since then, the sisters have returned once a year as ghosts. They each possess one young girl in town and kill one boy.

The town has long accepted their fate and Penny is no different. But then Bo Carter enters the town, unaware of the danger he's just stepped into. Penny can't trust him, but she wants to save him from the danger just the same.

This book has one big twist. It's not super scary perse, nor is there any gore, but very atmospheric and that's where this author excels. Would recommend it for people who aren't used to reading horror.

Winterwood is the next book by Shea Ernshaw

Once again set in a small, isolated town in Oregon, this book follows Nora Walker, a girl descended of a line of witches. She is connected to the Wickerwoods, dangerous haunted woods that only she can enter during full moon to collect lost things.

In the middle of winter, with the power out and all connection to the outside world lost, Nora finds a boy in the Wickerwoods. Oliver went missing from the Camp for Wayward Boys weeks ago. By all accounts, he should be dead and yet she found him. Oliver has no memory of what happened the past weeks.

Nora quickly bonds with him, but realizes she has to uncover the mystery of what happened to him and how he could survive so long in the woods. And it soon turns out Oliver was not the only boy who went missing.

Much like the Wicked Deep, this book excels in its atmosphere and the way it portrays a very creepy forest. It has an interesting plot twist, though not as strong as the one in the Wicked Deep. It's not keep you up at night scary, and also has a lot of focus on the romance.

Other books from this author: Long Live the Pumpkin Queen (Nightmare before Christmas book); A History of Wild Places; A Wildnerness of Stars

Next: Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand

This book is set on the isolated island of Sawkill rock, where girls have been going missing for decades, stolen away by evil no one has dared fight... until now.

Marion is new to Sawkill rock, trying to escape the tragedy that befell her family

Zoey's best friend was the last girl to disappear, and she is determined to find out what happened, and if Val has anything to do with it

Val is the queen bee, the daughter of the richest woman on the island. But she has a dark secret.

This book was not entirely what I expected when I bought it, but I loved it. This one is rather creepy, I think, though not what would keep me up at night (to be fair, movies are more likely to keep me up than books due to being scary). It creates an isolated atmosphere, but another strong point in this book is the relationships between the three girls and the development there. Marion and Zoey become friends and team up to uncover the mystery when Marion's sister disappears. Zoey hates Val. But Marion might have feelings for Val.

Rep: Sapphic relationship, Zoey is Black and asexual

Also by this author: Furyborn trilogy (epic fantasy); Extasia (horror); Winterspell (Nutcracker retelling)

House of Salt and Sorrow by Erin A. Craig

This is a retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses

Annaleigh is one of twelve sister. Or, she used to be. Four of them are dead due to strange accidents, and people are saying her family is cursed. Annaleigh becomes more and more suspicious that her sister's death were no accidents.

Then, her sisters start sneaking out, going to glittering balls and dancing the night away. Annaleigh does not know if she can come with them or stop them, because where are they really going and who are they dancing with?

If Annaleigh does not find out what happened to her sisters soon, she might be the next one to die.

It's been long enough that I do not remember exactly what happened in this book, but I do remember that it was eerie and there was an interesting plot twist when Annaleigh finds out where they really go dancing.

The book stands on its own, but there will be a companion coming out this year, House of Roots and Ruin, which follows one of Annaleigh's sisters

Also by this author is Small Favors

I read this solely because someone told me it would make a good comp title for the book I'm querying, and this is a retelling of Rumplestiltskin.

Ellerie is the daughter of a beekeeper in Amity Falls, a small town surrounded by mountains. They're very isolated and have to go on supply runs to a bigger city to make sure they have what they need. But during a supply run, all people on it die. More and more strange things start happening, slowly building up. Monsters in the woods, people acting strange.

Ellerie finds herself in a race against time to save herself and the people she loves before her town goes up in flames.

This book has a kind of strange pacing. The last part has a lot happening, but before then it's all a very slow build up. Most of the incidents with monsters, Ellerie does not witness, she hears about it second hand. She befriends a strange boy who has come to town as a trapper, catching animals in the forest to sell their hides. He won't give her his name, making me instantly suspicious, but their relationship builds up for such a long time that I was constantly questioning if he could be trusted or not.

My biggest criticism of this book is that I could not tell you when it was set. It took me a while to figure out it was America, though the religious small town feels very American to me, but I couldn't tell you the time period. Likely historical. But when? Who knows, certainly not me.

The Honeys by Ryan La Sala

Mars and his twin sister Caroline have always been inseperable. But that summer, Caroline went to Aspen summer school alone. Mars no longer felt welcome there due to his gender fluidity. But when Caroline dies unexpectedly, Mars decides to take her place at the camp to feel more connected to her. It does not go as expected, and Mars quickly remembers why he stopped going. But he befriends Caroline's old friends, a group of girls called the Honeys because of the bees they tend to. But he soon finds something is seriously wrong in the camp, and it might very well have caused his sister's death.

This is a book about grief for a large part, and I think inspired by the author's own grief for his sister. I especially loved the way the Honeys were characterized in this book, and their friendship with Mars, and the story is also about a very femme queer person being accepted within a group of feminine girls.

Rep: gender fluid MC; queer side characters

Also by this author: Reverie (contemporary fantasy); Be Dazzled (contemporary); Beholder (horror, coming in October)

The Dead and the Dark by Courtney Gould

The Dead and the Dark is a paranormal/horror mystery set in a small town in Oregon. Because apparently Oregon is where all the spooky paranormal mystery things happen? I don't know, it seems to be a popular location

Logan's two dads host a ghost hunting show together, and have traveled to this town, which is also their hometown, for the new season. But teenagers are disappearing and there might be something really spooky going on here, and Logan has the feeling her dads are keeping secrets from her.

Ashley is a girl who has lived in this town her entire life, and her boyfriend was the first to go missing. Now, Logan is her only hope to find him.

This is a sapphic story as well as a paranormal mystery, but the emphasis is more on the mystery, I think. There are ghosts in here and a pretty sinister and quite creative explanation for what is happening in this town and why.

Rep: sapphic relationship, main character has gay dads

Last on this list is Hell Followed with Us by Andrew Joseph White

Trans boy Benji is on the run from a cult. A fundementalist sect that unleashed Armageddon, killing most of the population. They believe that one chosen one will end the world for them and they made the ultimate bioweapon to do this.

Benji is rescued by the teens from the ALC, a queer youth center, and their leader Nick. Benji is immediately drawn to Nick, he's slowly changing into a monster capable of destroying the world and Nick knows.

Still, Nick allows him to stay with them as long as he can control the monster and use it to fight on their behalf.

This is I think the goriest book on this list, with lots of details on the ways Benji is slowly transforming into a monster. It's written by an autistic trans man. Benji is trans, while Nick is autistic. There is a lot of creepy fundamentalist religion in this book, as Benji was raised in the cult and their whole idea is that they should kill everyone not part of their world with their bioweapons.

Also from this author: The Spirit Bares its Teeth (coming September)

@alastaircarstairsdefenselawyer @life-through-the-eyes-of @astriefer @justanormaldemon @ipromiseiwillwrite @a-dream-dirty-and-bruised @amchara @all-for-the-fanfiction @imsoftforthomastair @ddepressedbookworm @queenlilith43 @wagner-fell @cant-think-of-anything @laylax13s @tessherongraystairs @boredfangirl16 @artist-in-soul @beyondlifebeyonddeath @ikissedsmithparker

[starchilddante]

"How wonderful a thing that is, to understand someone else without even trying to."

Claire Legrand, Some Kind of Happiness

[vavuska]

Books similar to The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood:

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett and Extasia by Claire Legrand are both distopyas dense of religious fanatism and women's segregation, in which sexism and sexual prejudice are associated with various aspects of religion (e.g. belief, faith, and fundamentalism). This novel shows also how higher religious fundamentalism is associated with internalized misogyny and passive acceptance of traditional gender roles, and both hostile and benevolent sexism.

In The Grace Year the stereotype of women as source of sin was laid down by the dominant religious authorities before the inception of widespread violence led by women against women, but after all the violence and blood, women learn the importance of sorority, female friendship and start to support and help each others.

The main source of conflicts are ribbons, which, in The Grace Year, are the sign of women's lifestage and the bride's ribbon is a valued price among most of the girls of the age of Tierney, the protagonist. The bride ribbons create a competition between girls to get bachelor’s attention, self-objectification, and humiliation toward each others. Although the competition eventually destroys most of them, this characteristic offers pleasure to those who survived their Grace Year. Tierney learns to survive on her own, learns that the religious values she was thought were wrong and learns also to appreciate her peer's friendship.

Extasia adds witchcraft and supernatural elements, but the main character (Amity) believes deeply in social conservatism—Amity has a preference for stability, conformity and the status quo— which is often a key trait of the religious experience, but also betrays deep feeling of self-hate.

In Extasia, the very patriarchal structures that decry witchcraft – the Puritan church in which the characters lives in and escapes from, the male headship to which the community so desperately cling, the insistence, in the face of repeated violence, on the sin of her mother – are the same structures that inevitably foreclose the options of the lead character, Amity.

To this two, I will mention also The Year Of The Witching by Alexis Henderson. In this novel, Immanuelle, a young woman living in a rigid, puritanical society, discovers dark powers within herself. This book is very similar to Extasia, but not such as good: Amity character is way more believable than Immanuelle and shows way more comprehension of the injustices committed in the name of the religion. The cult in Extasia contains more original elements and believing than the one in The Year Of The Witching, which seems more a copy-paste of mormon radical close-communities, including the elements of racial prejudice. Both Immanuelle and Amity live in the disdain of their own community because of the sins committed by their mother, which were both punished for their love affairs, but when Amity is a girl-of-action and actively search for mercy and witchcraft, Immanuelle is cursed - literally - by passivity and events occurs without her active consents, including the defection of the evil antagonist. Also, female friendship doesn't take place among the main themes and the book suffer a lot of the male love-interest help.

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett

No one speaks of the grace year. It’s forbidden.

In Garner County, girls are told they have the power to lure grown men from their beds, to drive women mad with jealousy. They believe their very skin emits a powerful aphrodisiac, the potent essence of youth, of a girl on the edge of womanhood. That’s why they’re banished for their sixteenth year, to release their magic into the wild so they can return purified and ready for marriage. But not all of them will make it home alive.

Sixteen-year-old Tierney James dreams of a better life—a society that doesn’t pit friend against friend or woman against woman, but as her own grace year draws near, she quickly realizes that it’s not just the brutal elements they must fear. It’s not even the poachers in the woods, men who are waiting for a chance to grab one of the girls in order to make a fortune on the black market. Their greatest threat may very well be each other.

With sharp prose and gritty realism, The Grace Year examines the complex and sometimes twisted relationships between girls, the women they eventually become, and the difficult decisions they make in-between.

Extasia by Claire Legrand

Her name is unimportant.

All you must know is that today she will become one of the four saints of Haven. The elders will mark her and place the red hood on her head. With her sisters, she will stand against the evil power that lives beneath the black mountain--an evil which has already killed nine of her village's men.

She will tell no one of the white-eyed beasts that follow her. Or the faceless gray women tall as houses. Or the girls she saw kissing in the elm grove.

Today she will be a saint of Haven. She will rid her family of her mother's shame at last and save her people from destruction. She is not afraid. Are you?

The Year Of The Witching by Alexis Henderson

In the lands of Bethel, where the Prophet’s word is law, Immanuelle Moore’s very existence is blasphemy. Her mother’s union with an outsider of a different race cast her once-proud family into disgrace, so Immanuelle does her best to worship the Father, follow Holy Protocol, and lead a life of submission, devotion, and absolute conformity, like all the other women in the settlement. But a mishap lures her into the forbidden Darkwood surrounding Bethel, where the first prophet once chased and killed four powerful witches. Their spirits are still lurking there, and they bestow a gift on Immanuelle: the journal of her dead mother, who Immanuelle is shocked to learn once sought sanctuary in the wood. Fascinated by the secrets in the diary, Immanuelle finds herself struggling to understand how her mother could have consorted with the witches. But when she begins to learn grim truths about the Church and its history, she realizes the true threat to Bethel is its own darkness. And she starts to understand that if Bethel is to change, it must begin with her.