#or holly black's 'various girls with swords' series

[cheeseanonioncrisps]

Every teenage girl has:

a) a society telling her constantly that the only thing she should be interested in is love and BOYSSSS!

b) a frustrated lust for violence

And the societal role of YA fantasy/sci-fi fiction is to act like it's just conforming to the former, while in reality appealing pretty transparently to the latter.

[thedrunkenreadersreviews]

A brief tantrum on the portrayal of faeries.

Well, we gotta go with the green fairy for this one. Pour a very demure and mindful amount into a glass (I am so sorry).

*Sip*

Well, it has been a hot minute. And I am slowly climbing out of a reading slump brought upon me by the great letdown that was Masters of Death (more on that later). But as I was staring at my shelf (which became known as the Void for the time being) I found myself utterly enthralled by my various versions of The Folk of the Air series by Holly Black. The Juniper edition just ties that whole section, dedicated solely to all the books set in the world of Black's Faerieland, together nicely. And while I sat and stared and admired how finely I decorated the area with little mushrooms and fairy lights, I found my smile slowly fading as I thought to myself "Is this it?"

*Sip, sip*

There is a YouTuber by the name of "WithCindy" who is funny as can be, reviews books, talks about other major issues, and is just overall entertaining. Now while I don't always agree with Cindy, there is something they said when reviewing ACOTAR (which, I cannot recommend enough, their videos on that whole series are just perfect!) that I think about a lot.

Cindy, when first starting ACOTAR, asked their reading buddy,

""What makes them fairies?'"

To which the agreed-upon consensus became:

"'Basically, they're magical and have big dicks.'"

*Sip, sip*

How disappointing. Maas is not the only one to write faeries in this way, she is just one of the most popular. But many authors using faeries do this and I have become rather melancholy when thinking about faerie portrayal in literature. Which is why I think I cling to The Folk of the Air so tightly.

FIRST, let me say if you enjoy books like ACOTAR and favor that portrayal of faeries, that is wonderful! And I'm truly happy that you found something you enjoy as that is what reading should be for and I have no beef with anyone who enjoys this type of depiction of faeries.

With that out of the way: It is what I have been yearning for when it comes to faeries for so long. I crave the scary, tricky, terrifying creatures from Irish and Nordic Folklore. I want to see them be cruel and cunning, I want them to look grotesque and imbued with nature.

*Sip, sip*

Cardan, for context, IS a faerie. Like, in every way. He has powers, he cannot lie, there are wards to be used against him, he has a freaking tail! And he is not some thousand-year-old militaristic war leader with a six-pack who knows how to swing a sword. My boy is a noodle. A seventeen-year-old, moody, grumpy, noodle. And I love it! (I don't care for how so many fanarts depict him as a buff dude with a six-pack, like no, he's a skinny boy, but damn these artists are talented as Hell so I can't complain too much lol) I love how he doesn't use his powers to their full extent until book 3. I love how he is so into makeup and dressing up and caring about how he looks before he gets sloppy drunk and then smears his eyeliner all over his face. I love how he is beautiful and dangerous and sometimes downright haunting when he tries to be. I love how he doesn't always know best and how he has to find out that he can be a fantastic ruler/good person if only he tries. I love how he feels excluded from things and longs to be included in them. I love how since he doesn't have the ability to lie, he does so by telling the truth. I love that when he had a crush on the weird girl he got so angry and disgusted with himself and yet just let her tie him up.

I love how in this world, you don't know what the faeries will do next. You don't know what trick they'll play or what riddle they'll provide.

I want these faeries. I miss these faeries. They are magical and horrifying and I love them.

*Sip, sip*

The Replacement, The Call, Emily Wilde's trilogy, and Holly Black's Faerie world. I'm on the hunt for more. I hope to find more. And I hope---my goodness, do I hope---that more are created.

Because faeries are awesome.

Cheers.

*Sip, sip*

[sunflower-brittany]

In case anyone's wondering whats on my book wishlist these days (any first books missing from series i already own):

[ ] Lore (Alexandra Bracken)

[ ✅️] To Kill A Kingdom (Alexandra Christo)

[ ✅️] A House of Salt and Sorrows (Erin A. Craig)

[ ] This Poison Heart (Kalynn Bayron)

Immortals Series (Alyson Noel):

[ ] Dark Flame

[ ] Night Star

[ ] Everlasting

Beautiful Darkness Series (Kami Garacia):

[ ✅️] Beautiful Darkness

[ ] Dangerous Creatures

[ ] Dangerous Deception

[ ] All The Light We Cannot See (Anthony Doerr)

[ ] Wilder Girls (Rory Power)

A Court of Thorns and Roses (Sarah J Maas)

[ ✅️ ] A Court of Thorns and Roses

[ ] A Court of Mist and Fury

[ ] A Court of Wings and Ruins

[ ] A Court of Frost and Starlight

[ ✅️] A Court of Silver Flames

[ ✅️] The Queens Resistance (Rebecca Ross)

The Handmaids Tale Series (Margaret Atwood):

[ ✅️] The Handmaids Tale

[✅️ ] The Testaments

Red Queen Series (Victoria Aveyard):

[ ] Red Queen

[ ] Glass Sword

[ ] Kings Cage

[ ] War Storm

From Blood and Ash Series (Jennifer L Armentrout):

[ ] A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire

[ ] The Crown of Gilded Bones

[ ] The War of Two Queens

Fallen Series (Lauren Kate):

[ ] Fallen

[ ] Torment

[ ] Passion

[ ] Rapture

[ ] Unforgiven

[ ] Fallen in Love

The After Collection (Anna Todd):

[ ] After

[ ] After We Collided

[ ] After We Fell

[ ] After Ever After

[ ] Before

Ash Princess Series (Laura Sebastian):

[ ] Ash Princess

[ ] Ember Queen

[ ] Lady Smoke

Shiver Series (Maggie Stiefvater):

[ ] Shiver

[ ] Linger

[ ] Forever

[ ] Sinner

Fable Series (Adrienne Young):

[ ✅️] Fable

[ ✅️] Namesake

Throne Of Glass Series (Sarah J Maas):

[ ] Assassins Blade

[ ✅️ ] Throne of Glass

[ ] Crown of Midnight

[ ] Heir of Fire

[ ] Queen of Shadows

[ ] Empire of Storms

[ ] Tower of Dawn

[ ] Kingdom of Ash

Dark Secrets Series (Elizabeth Chandler):

[ ] Dark Secrets 1

[ ] Dark Secrets 2

Ready Player One Series (Ernest Cline):

[ ] Ready Player One

[ ] Ready Player Two

Crescent City Series (Sarah J Maas)

[ ] House of Earth and Blood

[ ] House of Sky and Breath

A Touch of Darkness Series (Scarlett St Clair):

[✅️ ] A Touch of Darkness

[ ] Where The Crawdads Sing (Delia Owens)

[ ] Shadow and Vines (C.D Britt)

[ ] Lovely War (Julie Berry)

[ ] The Henna Artist (Alka Joshi)

[ ] The Nature of Witches (Rachel Griffin)

Supernatural Series (Various Authors):

[ ] Rite of Passage

[ ] One Year Gone

[ ] Witch's Canyon

[ ] Nevermore

[ ] War of Sons

[ ] Bone Key

[ ] Night Terror

[ ] The Usual Sacrifices

[ ] Coyotes Kiss

A Curse so Dark and Lonely Series (Brigid Kemmerer):

[ ] A Curse so Dark and Lonely

[ ] A Heart so Fierce and Broken

[ ] A Vow so Bold amd Deadly

These Violent Delights Series (Chloe Gong):

[ ✅️ ] These Violent Delights

[ ] Our Violent Ends

Disney Twisted Tales Series (Various Authors):

[ ] Part of Your World

[ ] Unbirthday

[ ] Straight on Till Morning

[ ] Go the Distance

[ ] Mirror Mirror

Shadow and Bone Series (Leigh Bardugo):

[ ] Siege and Storm

[ ] Ruin and Rising

A Discovery of Witches Series (Deborah Harkness):

[ ✅️ ] A Discovery of Witches

[✅️ ] Shadow of Night

[ ✅️] The Book of Life

[ ] Time's Convert

Alice in Zombieland Series (Gena Showalter)

[ ] Alice in Zombieland

[ ] Through the Zombie Glass

[ ] A Mad Zombie Party

[ ] The Queen of Zombie Hearts

And I Darken Series (Kiersten White):

[ ] And I Darken

[ ] Now I Rise

[ ] Bright We Burn

Crave Series (Tracy Wolff):

[✅️ ] Crave

[ ✅️ ] Crush

[ ] Covet

[ ] Court

The War of Lost Hearts Series (Carissa Broadbent):

[ ] Daughter of No Worlds

[ ] Children of Fallen Gods

[ ] Mother of Death and Dawn

[ ] The Cursed Crown (May Sage Alexi Blake)

The Cruel Prince Series (Holly Black):

[ ✅️] The Cruel Prince

[ ] The Lost Sisters

[ ] The Wicked King

[ ] The Queen of Nothing

[ ] How The King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories

The Selection Series (Kiera Cass)

[ ] The Selection

[ ] The Elite

[ ] The One

[ ] The Heir

[ ] The Crown

[✅️ ] We Were Liars (E. Lockhart)

The Witcher Series:

[ ] Sword of Destiny

[ ] Blood Elves

[ ] Time of Contempt

[ ] Baptism of Fire

[ ] The Tower of the Shallow

[ ] The Lady of the Lake

[ ] Seasons of Storms

Stephen King Novels:

[ ] The Institute

[ ] Different Seasons

[ ] Sorcery of Thorns (Margaret Rogerson)

Shadow and Frost Series (Coco Ma):

[ ] Shadow and Frost

[ ] God Storm

Three Dark Crowns Series (Kendare Blake):

[ ] Three Dark Crowns

[ ] One Dark Throne

[ ] The Oracle Queen

[ ] Two Dark Reigns

[ ] Five Dark Fates

[ ] The Secret Keeper of Jaipur (Alka Joshi)

The Poppy War Series (R.F. Kuang):

[ ] The Poppy War

[ ] The Dragon Republic

[ ] The Burning God

[ ] Once Upon a Broken Heart (Stephanie Garber)

Caraval Series (Stephanie Garber):

[ ] Legendary

[ ] Finale

Serpent and Dove Series (Shelby Mahurin):

[ ] Blood and Honey

[ ] Gods and Monsters

Legendborn Series (Tracy Deonn)

[ ] Legendborn

[ ] Bloodmarked

Souls Series (Harley Laroux):

[ ] Her Soul to Take

[ ] Her Soul for Revenge

A Dark and Hollow Star Series (Ashley Shuttleworth):

[ ] A Dark and Hollow Star

[ ] A Cruel and Fated Light

[ ] Den of Vipers (K.A. Knight)

[ ] Spellbook of the Lost and Found (Moira Doyle)

[ ] The Accident Season (Moira Doyle)

[ ] All The Bad Apples (Moira Doyle

[ ] Long Live the Pumpkin Queen (Tim Burton)

Six of Crows Series (Leigh Bardugo):

[ ] Crooked Kingdom

Legacy of the Nine Realms Series (Amelia Hutchins):

[ ] Flames of Chaos

[ ] Ashes of Chaos

[ ] Ruins of Chaos

[ ] Crown of Chaos

Shatter Me Series (Tahereh Mafi)

[ ] Shatter Me

[ ] Destroy Me [(1.5) - Unite Me]

[ ] Unravel Me

[ ] Fracture Me [(2.5) - Unite Me]

[ ] Ignite Me

[ ] Restore Me

[ ] Shadow Me [(4.5) - Find Me]

[ ] Defy Me

[ ] Reveal Me [(5.5) - Find Me]

[ ] Imagine Me

[ ] Believe Me

An Ember in the Ashes Series (Sabaa Tahir):

[ ] A Torch Against the Night

[ ] A Reaper at the Gates

[ ] A Sky Beyond the Storm

[ ] The Shadows Between Us (Tricia Levenseller)

A Ruin of Roses Series (K.F Breene)

[ ✅️] A Ruin of Roses

[✅️ ] A Throne of Ruin

[ ] A Kingdom of Ruin

[ ] A Queen of Ruin

Flame in the Mist Series (Renée Ahdieh):

[ ] Flame in the Mist

[ ] Smoke in the Sun

Sherrilyn Kenyon Books:

[ ] Styxx

[ ] Stygian

[ ] The Girl Who Belonged to the Sea (Katherine Quinn)

Shadows and Crowns Series (S.M Gaither):

[ ] The Song of the Marked

Gild Series (Raven Kennedy):

[ ] Gild

[ ] A Kingdom od Iron and Wine (Candace Osmond)

[ ] The Savage and the Swan (Ella Fields)

[cover2covermom]

Happy Sunday bookworms!

To those that celebrate, I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa this coming week!

*Bookish Weekly Wrap-Up is a weekly post where I feature what books I’ve been reading, which books are on my upcoming TBR, what posts were published on the blog for the past week, any bookish news I came across, and noteworthy posts from around the bookish community.

We celebrate Christmas in my family.  I had a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit this year, but now that I am off work for a few days and as out-of-town family starts arriving, it is starting to feel more like Christmas.  I am looking forward to spending the upcoming days with family & celebrating Christmas.

During my time off over the next two weeks, I hope to play some catch up on the blog.  I have lots of posts to complete and a backlog of 30+ mini book reviews.  I also want to blog hop and catch up with all the book bloggers I follow.  I’m excited to have the time to blog again 🙂

Recently Finished Reading:

» Emily of New Moon (Emily #1), Emily Climbs (Emily #2), &

Emily’s Quest (Emily #3) by L.M. Montgomery

After reading Anne of Green Gables for the first time back in 2017, I knew I wanted to read more of L.M. Montgomery’s work.  If you enjoyed AoGG, you will also adore this series.  Unlike the Anne series, each of the Emily books was a 5 star read.

» Illuminae by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

*3.75 Stars*

Because of the format, this book read like a screenplay in my mind.  It would definitely translate well to screen.  If you are hesitant to try sci-fi, I think this book is a great introductory book to dip your toes into the sci-fi genre.  I also think this would be a great book for reluctant teen readers.  There were things I really enjoyed about this book (unique format, humorous dialogue, fast paced plot, etc) and a few things I did not care for.  Overall a enjoyable read.  I probably would have given it 3 stars if it wasn’t for the plot twist that caught me off guard.

» The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

I LOVED the concept for this story.  Morgenstern has a way of building such unique and enchanting worlds that I lose myself in.  While I think Morgenstern’s writing is absolutely stunning, the pacing of this book was slightly off.

» Educated by Tara Westover

This memoir was absolutely heartbreaking & horrifying.  Educated makes for a perfect book club selection.

» The Queen of Nothing (The Folk of the Air #3) by Holly Black

*3.75 Stars*

I enjoyed The Queen of Nothing much better than the second installment.  This would have been a solid 4 – 4.5 star read, but the climax of the story felt very rushed.

» I Shall Wear Midnight (Tiffany Aching #4) by Terry Pratchett

I think Tiffany Aching is one of my favorite fictional characters ever.  After I finish this series, I am looking forward to reading more in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld.

» The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes

This was a lovely historical fiction set in 1930s Kentucky.  I would have liked more of the story to center around the library & packhorse librarians and less on the various romances, but still a very enjoyable story.

Currently Reading:

» All-American Muslim Girl by Nadine Jolie Courtney

Status: 62%

» How to Raise a Reader by Pamela Paul & Maria Russo

Status: Just starting

What Am I Reading Next?:

» Palaces for the People by Eric Klinenberg

An eminent sociologist and bestselling author offers an inspiring blueprint for rebuilding our fractured society.

We are living in a time of deep divisions. Americans are sorting themselves along racial, religious, and cultural lines, leading to a level of polarization that the country hasn’t seen since the Civil War. Pundits and politicians are calling for us to come together, to find common purpose. But how, exactly, can this be done?

In Palaces for the People, Eric Klinenberg suggests a way forward. He believes that the future of democratic societies rests not simply on shared values but on shared spaces: the libraries, childcare centers, bookstores, churches, synagogues, and parks where crucial, sometimes life-saving connections, are formed. These are places where people gather and linger, making friends across group lines and strengthening the entire community. Klinenberg calls this the “social infrastructure” When it is strong, neighborhoods flourish; when it is neglected, as it has been in recent years, families and individuals must fend for themselves.

Klinenberg takes us around the globe–from a floating school in Bangladesh to an arts incubator in Chicago, from a soccer pitch in Queens to an evangelical church in Houston–to show how social infrastructure is helping to solve some of our most pressing challenges: isolation, crime, education, addiction, political polarization, and even climate change.

Richly reported, elegantly written, and ultimately uplifting, Palaces for the People urges us to acknowledge the crucial role these spaces play in civic life. Our social infrastructure could be the key to bridging our seemingly unbridgeable divides–and safeguarding democracy. 

» The Guinevere Deception (Camelot Rising #1) by Kiersten White

From New York Times bestselling author Kiersten White comes a new fantasy series reimagining the Arthurian legend, set in the magical world of Camelot.

There was nothing in the world as magical and terrifying as a girl.

Princess Guinevere has come to Camelot to wed a stranger: the charismatic King Arthur. With magic clawing at the kingdom’s borders, the great wizard Merlin conjured a solution–send in Guinevere to be Arthur’s wife . . . and his protector from those who want to see the young king’s idyllic city fail. The catch? Guinevere’s real name–and her true identity–is a secret. She is a changeling, a girl who has given up everything to protect Camelot.

To keep Arthur safe, Guinevere must navigate a court in which the old–including Arthur’s own family–demand things continue as they have been, and the new–those drawn by the dream of Camelot–fight for a better way to live. And always, in the green hearts of forests and the black depths of lakes, magic lies in wait to reclaim the land. Arthur’s knights believe they are strong enough to face any threat, but Guinevere knows it will take more than swords to keep Camelot free.

Deadly jousts, duplicitous knights, and forbidden romances are nothing compared to the greatest threat of all: the girl with the long black hair, riding on horseback through the dark woods toward Arthur. Because when your whole existence is a lie, how can you trust even yourself?

*THE FIRST BOOK IN THE CAMELOT RISING TRILOGY*

» Dav Pilkey Is PW’s Person of the Year for 2019

» BookScan Reports ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ Is Bestselling Book of the Decade

*Eyeroll*

Have you read any of the books included in this post?  If so, what did you think?

What are you currently reading?

What will you read next?

Have a wonderful week & happy reading

Bookish Weekly Wrap-Up: 12/1 – 12/22/19 Happy Sunday bookworms! To those that celebrate, I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa this coming week!