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anonniemousefics · 4 years ago

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All Kinds Of New Friends

Fandom: Six of Crows | Kaz + Inej (ft. all the other Crows)

Word Count: 4,700

Rating: Teen and Up

TW: contains mentions of sexual assault

Cross-posted to AO3

Synopsis: The gang has a run in with a couple of unscrupulous characters from Inej's past, and Kaz says a few things in the middle of a rage he wasn't supposed to say yet.

Author’s Note: This fic is dedicated to AO3 user puppy cat, who was such a supportive, lovely fan from the very first chapter of "My Dearest Inej" all the way to the end. They requested a fic based around a particular idea involving the gang at a restaurant and someone harassing Inej and Kaz losing his shit in a very specific way (being intentionally vague here to avoid too many spoilers lol). If you like this au, there's more of it in my recent fic "Samples". :)

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Nothing brought Kaz Brekker life quite like being paid to argue. And he was good at it, which was why he could charge these student athletes afraid of losing their scholarships two hundred bucks an essay without even flinching. If a more delightful way to make money existed, he had not found it yet.

He was spending his Saturday the way he usually spent Saturdays: rounding out a conclusion to a paper arguing for the death penalty, for a pre-law class he’d never take and a trust-fund upperclassman he’d hopefully never meet. In a few hours, he could drop the doc in a secure server and wait for the Venmo alert that he’d been paid. Nothing was sweeter.

Well. One thing was sweeter.

Inej was in the beat-up old recliner beside him in his and Jesper’s little living room of their third-floor off-campus apartment. This was the best way to spend a Saturday. She was sitting cross-legged and practically drowning in oversized sweats, her raven-black hair piled on top of her head while she hunched over her MacBook. And she was wearing those thick-rimmed, blue-blocker glasses Matthias Helvar had convinced her she needed (which, of course, had nothing to do with the fact that he was being paid to promote them on his stupid Instagram, that douchebag). Kaz had cringed both internally and externally when she’d told him she’d bought a pair, but now he was seeing the merit, because, dear God, was she adorable in glasses. They were awakening strange and powerful urges every time he glanced over at her. If she held them in between her teeth while undoing her hair, he was going to have to leave the room.

Because the terrible reality was that Inej had had a rough go of it her freshman year at Ketterdam University. And even though they were sort of together now (Kaz was pretty sure they were?), the last thing Inej needed right now was to be over-sexualized – for anything. Including those really fucking cute glasses.

“I’m starving,” Jesper declared from his prone position on the floor. He had been propped up on a bunch of faded pillows between them, engrossed in shooting undead things on their Xbox. His boyfriend Wylan had spent most of the afternoon napping against his shoulder, but was now blinking awake like a blue-eyed baby owl at Jesper’s sudden announcement.

“I could eat,” Wylan yawned with a lazy stretch.

“Inej? You?” Jesper reached up to tug on Inej’s sock.

“Hm?” Inej looked up from her laptop like she was emerging from a cave while she gnawed on one of the strings of her sweatshirt. It had been like this since The Incident – Jesper and Nina often took turns making sure she would eat. (Kaz had it covered, but that was all right. The back-up couldn’t hurt.)

“Food? Are you hungry?” Jesper repeated, the unspoken question floating in the air: Have you eaten today?

Inej blinked a few times as she thought, her dark eyes flitting back and forth between Jesper and her laptop screen. Kaz knew this internal war well – the age-old taking care of one’s needs versus the siren-song of wreaking endless revenge.

Inej had come to Ketterdam University on a gymnastics scholarship, but that had fallen by the wayside – ever since The Incident. The night everything changed.

Kaz didn’t know Inej Ghafa all that well before it happened – had taken a few classes with her, studied for an exam with her once. She’d been eternally sunshiney, the kind of girl he knew wouldn’t waste her time on dark things like him.

But then she’d started missing classes.

And then showing up to class visibly drowning beneath the weight of sleeplessness and oversized clothes.

And he didn’t really know her but it had bothered him all the same. It was like watching a star collapsing in on itself.

And that’s when the story of The Incident hit the news cycle. From the moment he read the first headline, Kaz couldn’t stop scrolling, growing sicker and sicker in the pit of his stomach.

She’d gone to a party at a frat house with a new friend. (Kaz had even been there before, maybe even the night it happened. Frat parties were veritable breeding grounds for potential clients – full of rich, connected kids too drunk or stoned to be bothered by classwork and crooked enough to pay someone else to do it.) It was suspected that someone had slipped something in her drink, and it was known that the friend who’d brought her there had been entirely useless. Inej had woken up the next morning, half-naked on the lawn, crude drawings in Sharpie all over her, and no knowledge of what had transpired that had left her there.

It should have ended there – that was bad enough. But then the frat boys had started posting the videos of what had happened that night. How she had been used. How she had been touched.

If Inej’s parents were going to have their way, someone was going to jail. If Kaz was going to have his way, someone was going to suffer all the way there.

After he’d learned the news, he’d found her the next day before class started, where she was at the back of the room, hunched over her desk with her hood up. She’d shot daggers at him with her eyes when he approached. He’d liked that.

“I’d like to help you ruin them,” he’d told her. Inej’s glare didn’t relent as she sized up him – his black attire, the leather gloves that clenched his gleaming cane. He usually made a point of looking like the sort of person who ruined things. Nobody bullied a boy with a cane if it looked like that same boy could take your head off with said cane.

Inej seemed to agree that he looked like he could fit the bill. And they began to plot – how to expose her abusers, how to alert every girl they ever came into contact with, how to ruin every single party they would ever throw.

And somewhere along the way, it had turned into…something. Kaz wasn’t sure what to call it. But he couldn’t call it nothing – not when Inej regularly stayed the night in their apartment and did soft things like run her hand over his chest if she liked the jacket he was wearing or blush and smile if she caught him looking at her. He’d even really gone out on a limb one night and told her he liked her, and she’d said it back. He wasn’t sure where that left them at this point. Somewhere, he guessed, with something.

“I’ll eat,” Inej was agreeing, albeit with a bit of reluctance to leave her laptop. She was elbows-deep in a catfishing scheme Kaz had concocted for their latest victim.

“Nina wants us to meet up with her and Matthias at The Sweet Shop,” Wylan said, who was catching up on the texts he’d missed while napping on Jesper.

“I swear, Nina could lure a polar bear into the jungle,” Jesper sighed next to him, because it was a little miraculous to think Matthias Helvar, fitspo Instagram model and purveyor of all things organic and natural, had somehow been corralled into a bakery cafe. Kaz was surprised that Matthias even looked at carbs, let alone consumed them.

And, even though he was pressed for time on the illicit essay he was writing, Kaz needed food, too. He and Inej both could use the time away from their questionable dealings online.

The Sweet Shop was within walking distance, but it had begun to rain, cold and foggy, over Ketterdam. So, the four of them piled into Kaz’s beat up black Chevy and rolled into town behind the rhythmic beating of the windshield wipers.

“Over here!” Nina waved to them, beaded bracelets rattling in a stack on her wrist, from the far corner as the bakery’s front door swung closed behind them, tripping a jingling brass bell pinned to the doorframe.

The Sweet Shop was a popular spot for the more bookish crowds to crash on the weekends, load up on starchy foods and coffee while rattling out papers on their laptops or flirting under the guise of study groups. Kaz wouldn’t go so far as to call them his type of people, but he was certainly more at home here than the drunken soirees where he spent his evenings fleecing the debauched children of alumni. Here, there were people crowded over old tables with their books, and well-worn leather sofas and faded overstuffed chairs in the corner lined with secondhand books and used board games that were almost always missing pieces. The air smelled like espresso and cupcakes and old pages, and if Matthias Helvar was going to sulk about the lack of kale on the menu, Kaz might have to punch him in the face.

Matthias was already nursing a colorful smoothie while Nina sat next to him on the old leather sofa, her long, shapely legs draped over his and a stack of sugared waffles on the coffee table in front of her.

“Took you long enough!” Nina was scolding as the four of them weaved through tables to the corner of sofas and chairs. “Do none of you check your phones on weekends?”

“A technology fast is very cleansing for our auras,” Matthias countered, with a sage look – Matthias, the self-proclaimed Instagram influencer. Kaz rolled his eyes.

“That almost sounded like real words, Matthias – good job,” Jesper smirked, as he perched on the arm of the chair where Wylan had flopped down. Matthias opened his mouth to retort something, but --

“I was just distracted, sorry,” Inej intervened with an apology to Nina and a sheepish look. (She thankfully was no longer wearing her blue-blockers or it might have been too sweet even for a place called The Sweet Shop.)

“And I was just ignoring you,” Kaz said with a shrug. Inej gave him an exasperated whack in the arm as he sat next to her on an old loveseat, resting his cane against one side, and Nina let out a put-out huff.

“Wylan’s the only considerate one among you,” she complained.

“Yes, that is true,” Jesper agreed, and Wylan grinned widely with his chin propped up on his fist.

“We wanted you here because,” And Nina drew out the because like she had something grand to follow it, “Matthias landed a sweet sponsorship yesterday, and he wants to buy us all lunch!”

Kaz and Jesper groaned in unison, loud enough it couldn’t quite be drowned out by Inej and Wylan’s congratulations. Matthias got particularly insufferable after new sponsorships – there would be strings attached to this.

“That’s very nice of you, Matthias,” Inej said, pointedly, glaring at Kaz.

“It is very nice of you, Matthias, to offer to buy us all strawberry ice cream smoothies like yours,” Kaz said, with an evil glint in his eye as he nodded to the large pink cup in Matthias’ hand.

Matthias gave an uneasy laugh.

“There’s no ice cream in this,” he said, then paused when he noticed Nina’s tight-lipped, icy stare boring into Kaz’s skull. Then his brow cinched up and looked down at his cup. “There isn’t ice cream in this, right, babe?”

“It’s not going to kill you,” Nina replied with an eye roll.

“Babe! You know I can’t do dairy right now! Tomorrow’s Six-Pack Sunday!”

There was no point in trying to stop it: a laugh in the form of a long snort rolled out of Kaz while Jesper and Wylan dissolved into a fit of giggles. Now Kaz remembered -- this is why they kept Matthias around.

“You don’t understand,” Matthias was trying to say. “It can take a whole week to detox and lose the bloat.”

“I’ll finish it for you, you big baby,” said Nina, and snatched the smoothie away from a panicked Matthias.

“I should start running laps now,” he was fretting.

“Make some food runs for us – that’s a start,” Jesper supplied, looking helpful.

“Good call,” Matthias nodded, and hopped to his feet, nearly dumping Nina onto the floor in the process. “Orders? Orders?” He looked to each of them, ready to leap into action and start fighting off the bloat.

He’d gathered up their orders and made a beeline for the counter when Nina turned to Inej.

“You had me worried, you know.” Nina leaned out a little over her knees toward her roommate. “You were just distracted?”

Kaz glanced in Inej’s direction in time to see how she swallowed hard. She’d stuffed her hands deep in her hoodie pockets. Kaz knew the reaction all too well -- what it was like to withdraw and fight to make yourself untouchable, even to those who loved you.

“Just a lot of work lately,” Inej said. And Nina slid a suspicious glance toward Kaz, as if waiting for him to explain himself and what he was getting the two of them into now.

But it had always been Inej’s decision, how she wanted to handle her own revenge. Kaz was only providing tools. He hadn’t answered for her yet, and he wasn’t about to start now.

Nina sighed.

“I just don’t want to see anyone hurt anymore,” she said. The brass bell over the front door jingled again.

“That’s not--”

But Inej stopped short when she glanced toward the sound of the bell. She barely moved, but Kaz could sense her growing rigid next to him. And something about it made the hair on the back of his neck prickle.

He followed her gaze to two boys who were now slouching toward the front counter. Kaz had seen them both before; he was pretty sure he’d written a biology research paper for the one with the pug-nose. They were both tall and conventionally good-looking – the sort you probably didn’t think twice about. Well-muscled, expensive haircuts, brand name sneakers.

Beside him, Inej had started breathing weird.

“Fuck.” Nina had noticed her staring, too, and suddenly all pairs of eyes in the corner were watching the newcomers at the front of The Sweet Shop with murder in their hearts.

Because these two bastards had been there the night of The Incident.

Kaz found himself wondering which one he could make cry first. Probably the bulkier one -- he looked soft and dumb around the edges. His mom probably still did his laundry on the weekends and called his professors when he didn’t get good grades. Kaz wanted to see him cry until snot dribbled down his sweaty face and –

“We should go,” Inej said, abruptly. She was looking pale and shaky, and her eyes darted around as if she needed to gather belongings, even though she’d brought none. Kaz had started to grip the head of his cane, tighter, tighter, tighter.

“Fuck no.” Nina was adamant and fiery, bless her. “We got here first – they can leave.” And then a little louder. “They should be in jail, frankly!”

“Nina!” Inej hissed, and her hand flew to curl against the side of her face when the boys looked their direction. Her eyes were wide and terrified when she looked over to Kaz.

“I want to go,” she told him, and that was all she needed to say. He pushed his weight onto his cane, hoisting himself to his feet.

“Don’t worry, girl – we got you,” Jesper was confirming, and, without even needing to consult each other, he and Wylan and Nina had Inej surrounded from sight on their walk to the door, Kaz at the front.

And it almost worked, too.

“Brekker!” Until one of the boys recognized him and gave him with a jovial grin. Shit. “Hey, it’s Brekker!” The stupid kid with the pug nose gave Kaz a hearty slap on his shoulder, and it took every ounce of restraint in him to not break the dude’s wrist.

“This kid got me an B+ on my bio term paper,” the kid was telling his bulky friend, and then with a shady-ass side smirk, he added: “Wasn’t totally the A I’d paid for, but that was still awesome, bro.”

“With your GPA, an A would have been too suspicious.” Why was Kaz even defending himself to this turd? He made to shove past, to head for the door.

But that kid was still gripping his shoulder. Like he wanted Kaz to remove it from its socket. Like maybe he was just asking for it. Kaz ground his teeth, trying to maintain his resolve. He wasn’t going to do this in front of Inej. He was going to be better than this for her.

“Bro,” the human pile of excrement still touching him was saying, “I’ve been meaning to text you. I have this world religions class this semester that is just killer, and I--”

“Your next words had better be how you’re doing your own damn work from now on.”

A simple “No” would have sufficed, Kaz realized, but his girl was in some kind of state because of this waste of carbon and his patience had never been plentiful to begin with.

Besides, the kid didn’t strike him as the type who understood simple “No”s. He was going to have to make it really fucking clear for this idiot.

Sure enough, the kid blinked hard, like he’d been slapped.

“I paid you, bro,” he said, dumbly.

“Oh, he did not just--” Nina started from the back of their bunch.

“Call me ‘bro’ one more time,” Kaz dared him, his eyes narrowing.

“What the hell, man?” said the thoroughly confused bulky friend.

“Kaz, just leave it,” Inej said, softly, and she slipped her fingers into the crook of Kaz’s elbow. “Let’s just go.”

A wave of recognition spread over the pug-nosed douchebag’s face at the sight of her. It was sickening, the surprised rise of his eyebrows, the smug, amused smirk on his lips. Kaz wanted to rip them right off his face.

“Oh, I see how it is,” the dick was saying. “You’re with this bitch--”

That’s when Kaz felt something snap. Oh, he was dead now.

“Kaz!” Inej shouted a warning, but it was already too late. With the cane between his two gloved hands, Kaz rammed his weight into this dead man walking. He threw the kid against the front door, the brass bell jingling as the shades on the window rattled in the scuffle.

“That’s my girlfriend, dipshit,” Kaz snarled.

Kaz was vaguely aware that there was a rising commotion around him, a crescendo of clashing panic and rage. His hand had found its way to the dude’s collar, throttling him; Nina was shouting something at Matthias somewhere behind him; chairs were scuffling about against the floor. But Kaz’s sole focus now was on making this heinous little fucker wet his pants.

“Kaz. The door.” Jesper’s clear-headed voice cut through the blinding wrath, and Kaz was somehow thinking clearly enough to gather his meaning and wrenched the kid away from the front door just long enough for Jesper to shove an arm through and open it.

And Kaz threw the pug-nose brat out into the rain ahead of them. The kid hit the pavement, hard, and scrambled back.

“Dude, you’ve got it all wrong if you think she’s the victim here,” the useless piece of flesh was sniveling. His nose was bleeding – pathetic, Kaz had barely hit him.

“I really think I don’t,” Kaz disagreed, thoughtfully.

“We could have you arrested!” the bulky child was screeching. Kaz turned just in time to see Matthias literally chuck the kid out after them, red-face and snarling. And Kaz had to hand it to him – even with his dairy intolerance, Matthias Helvar could toss frat kids with the best of them.

“Oh, please file a police report about this,” Kaz sneered at them. The wind and the rain were beating back his dark hair and flapping the collar of his black jacket, but he didn’t care. “I would absolutely love to know how you plan on explaining why you called my girlfriend a bitch.”

“Man, it is not my fault your girl can’t handle her liquor.”

CRACK. Kaz barely had time to blink, and Matthias had straight up decked the kid right in his jaw. Nina was rolling up her sleeves, ready to destroy the other one in the pelting rain.

“Hey!” The teenager in a green apron who’d been running the cash register was running out after them, holding a phone over her head. “I’m gonna call the cops if you don’t clear out!”

And when Kaz looked back at Inej, there were tears welling in her eyes even though her jaw was set firm. From the looks on the faces of the rest of his friends, they’d all noticed, too.

So, it fizzled out before it even really began.

The frat boys had slunk off in the rain, and the six of them regrouped and sauntered back to Kaz’s car in silence. Jesper, Nina, and Matthias piled into the back seat, while Inej and Wylan squeezed into the front. And then an uncomfortable stillness descended.

Inej had pulled her hood up again when Kaz turned the key in the ignition, her arms tight in her sleeves. Every once and awhile, she’d sniffle as quietly as she could as the car ride seemed to drag on – but Kaz knew. Everyone knew. That had been awful. And it still felt awful. Kaz’s head was starting to swirl, his wracked nerves still buzzing. He shouldn’t have done it. He hadn’t wanted to do it, not really. And she’d told him she wanted to leave – she’d said it clear as day. And he’d said…oh God, what had he said? What had he done?

Kaz’s stomach was starting to lurch. He’d said a lot of things. Way too many fucking things. Things they hadn’t discussed yet. Things he’d clearly just assumed. What had he done?

“We really should cleanse this negative energy.” Goddamn Matthias was the first one to break the pervasive silence, and he was choosing to break it with this nonsense. Kaz’s glare drifted to the rear view mirror. “I have some sound healing bowls back at my place that are--”

“I swear to God, Helvar,” Kaz snapped, “if you break out even one sound healing bowl, I will make you wear it like a helmet and then drop kick you into the sun.”

In the rear view mirror, Kaz could see Matthias’ nostrils flaring.

“You are such an unbalanced piece of shit sometimes, you know that--?” But Matthias stopped short because Inej had let out a surprising chuckle. Kaz slowly let himself glance her direction – so did everyone else.

She was smirking up at Kaz.

“I just think it’s thoughtful of you to make sure his head is protected before you launch him into space,” she shrugged. Wylan barked out a laugh.

“I just think they should kiss already,” Nina added, waggling an eyebrow at a brooding Matthias, and then Jesper started to laugh, too, which really was the most infectious of laughs. Even Kaz was smiling after a moment – just a little.

Though that faded entirely when they pulled up to Kaz and Jesper’s apartment and Inej asked to speak with him alone in the car first.

Shit, he thought. Shit. Here it is. He’d royally fucked it up now.

They waited in silence with the rain pouring over the car while the rest of their friends darted into the old Victorian home where Kaz and Jesper lived on the third floor. With each passing second, his stomach sunk lower into his guts. He wasn’t even sure he could form words in his brain, let alone with his mouth. He had no rational explanation for what had come over him back at The Sweet Shop, other than Here it is, Inej, I’m kind of a fucking disaster.

“So, that was…” Inej started, slowly. She was staring out the front window. Kaz felt like crumpling, and he hated it, hated how weak he felt. He pinched the bridge of his nose.

“I know, I know…” he muttered. He didn’t really, but he just wanted this to be over. If she never wanted to see him again, he needed her to rip the bandaid off quick.

“So, I’m your girlfriend now?”

Kaz couldn’t decipher her tone, and he couldn’t even look at her. He was just going to stare at the steering wheel until this was over.

But then Inej said: “I just would like to have known before the guys my parents are having investigated, that’s all.”

Kaz looked to her then, lifting his dark eyebrows slightly. She’d let her hair down from its knot before they’d left for the café – she’d braided it loose over her shoulder like he liked. She was twirling the ends now, a tired smile on her pink lips.

“If you want,” he said with a soft shrug. It wasn’t at all like the heroic way he thought she deserved to be swept off her feet. But she was still smiling all the same. It made him feel braver.

Funny – how throwing his weight around against perverts was as easy as breathing, but looking at her like this tore him apart.

“If you’ll have me,” he offered, even softer now.

And Inej reached across the distance between them. Laced her fingers over his, atop his knee.

“I will have you, Kaz Brekker,” she said, tenderly. It took him aback a bit. Made his breath catch. Made his throat sting.

“If I shouldn’t have--” he started to say of the row back at The Sweet Shop. But Inej cut him off instantly, shaking her head. Squeezing his fingers.

“You absolutely should have,” she said, firmly. “And you should show me how, too.”

Kaz really raised his eyebrows at that. Inej smiled a little wider. His heart was lifting, lifting up and out of the certain doom he was sure it was about to face.

“Come on.” Inej tugged at his hand. “We’d better head up before Matthias starts culture appropriating all over your apartment.”

“You have to admit – he threw one hell of a punch, though,” Kaz pointed out, as he opened his door, and then wanted to punch himself for it. What the hell – was he defending Matthias Helvar now? This whole day was upside down.

Thankfully, there was a different kind of embarrassing going down in apartment number three when they finally made their way up. Kaz could hear it before he even made it to the top of the stairs – the loud, thumping bass, the voices shouting at the tops of their lungs.

Oh, their neighbors were going to love this. They were just making all kinds of new friends today.

When Inej opened the door, all four of their friends were dancing to Cardi B’s I Like It, blasting through Jesper’s bluetooth speaker. It took everything in Kaz to not physically recoil at the assault on his senses.

“Emergency dance party!” Jesper explained, yelling from behind Wylan.

“We’re clearing out the negative energy!” Nina shouted over the noise, her hands in the air. Matthias was jumping around behind her like an absolute madman. “But like in an acceptable way!”

“I think it’s working!” Wylan shouted at her in agreement, with Jesper’s hands on his hips.

They were all smiling.

And beside him, Inej burst out laughing – a wild, fluttery sound he’d heard only a few times before. It caught him right in the heart each time he had, and he knew he’d do anything to hear it as often as he could. He looked down at her and wondered, not for the first time, how she did it. How she managed to wring joy out of even the most dismal of circumstances.

It was something he needed more of – as long as she’d allow him to have it.

“Come on!” she was shouting to him as she took him by the hand. “You heard the man! Emergency dance party!”

And Kaz followed her in, shutting the door behind him.

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Tagging: @annejulianneh111, @loveyatopluto, @ireallyshouldsleeprn, @whosanxiety, @raging-bisexual-alert,

#kanej #kanej fanfic #kanej fluff #six of crows #modern au #crooked kingdom #grishaverse #kaz brekker #inej ghafa #wylan van eck #jesper fahey #matthias helvar #nina zenik #college au #reader requested

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thisisasideblogforbooks · 5 years ago

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bi books for twenty-biteen!

so in honor of pride month in our blessed year of twenty-biteen, i wanted to recommend some books that feature prominent bisexual characters! most of these are already very well-known books and series, but i thought it’d be fun to honor my fellow bisexuals out there with a list! also, there is a shocking lack of bi females included on this list, and i am currently on the hunt for more if anyone wants to rec me some!

with that aside, lets get into the list!

i’m gonna start with series:

1. the six of crows duology by leigh bardugo: this action-packed duology contains two bi main characters, one of which is female and one who is male. they both own my heart, as well as the rest of the characters in this series. highly recommend!

2. the raven cycle by maggie stiefvater: this series revolves around a tight-knit group of friends (that you’ll wish you were a part of) searching for a dead welsh king. one of the main characters is bi, but what i like about this series is that its not a big deal. as important as stories of self-discovery are, it’s refreshing to see a character who is just bi, and no one cares at all.

3. shades of magic trilogy by v.e. schwab: this trilogy contains two bisexual guys, as well as some awesome world-building and a super cool take on magic! this is the most recently read series on my list, and i really enjoyed it!

4. openly straight and honestly ben by bill konigsberg: these books def have their flaws, but i’m putting them on this list because they were really important to me when i was figuring out my sexuality. the way the bi character in this series talks about his sexuality really spoke to me at a very important time in my life. warning for slight biphobia that i don’t think was handled amazingly, but still fun books! (NOTE: someone has added to this post that ben does not identify as bi. it’s been several years since i read the books, and i forgot that this is the case. i will leave this here, but just be aware that while he is in relationships with girls and a boy, he does not identify as bi and chooses not to use labels!!!)

5. i also want to mention the trials of apollo by rick riordan! it is far from my favorite series by rick, but the main character makes several references to his past relationships with both men and women, which i feel is super important to see in a middle grade series! (if you want a laugh, look at the one-star reviews on amazon. 99% are mad homophobic/biphobic parents)

and now onto stand-alones:

1. the gentleman’s guide to vice and virtue by mackenzi lee: the physical embodiment of disaster bi. the protagonist is a mess and i love him for it. this is also historical fiction with some magic! honestly what more could you ask for? (there’s also a sequel that i am planning to read as soon as i get my hands on it that centers around his ace younger sister!)

2. grasshopper jungle by andrew smith: next on the list is another disaster bi! let me tell you, this book is a TRIP. i couldn’t stop thinking about it for weeks after i read it. the main character is bi and also in love with both his girlfriend and best friend (see what i mean by disaster?). is he an asshole? absolutely. but an undeniably entertaining one.

3. little and lion by brandy colbert: this book is so underrated, i swear. the main character is a black jewish bisexual girl and i related to her on SO many levels. this book focuses on her coming to terms with her sexuality, but also on the importance of family and it’s so good please pick it up!

4. autoboyography by christina lauren: this book centers around a bi teenage boy living in a very conservative mormon community. i’m not gonna lie, it’s definitely got its flaws, but i’m a sucker for romance what can i say? it’s no doubt a fun summer read.

5. running with lions by julian winters: like autoboyography, there were some things that irked me with the plot (one of these being the treatment of the only prominent female character). that being said, the book centers around a super accepting soccer team with kids of all sorts of sexualities, including our bisexual protagonist! there’s a refreshing lack of toxic masculinity that i am so here for. it’s a cute read!

6. leah on the offbeat by becky albertalli: the sequel to simon vs. the homo sapiens agenda, this book centers on the relationship between simon’s two bi female friends. although leah is not the most likable protagonist in my opinion, there were definitely moments i found myself relating to her. becky really said bi rights with this book.

7. carry on by rainbow rowell: this follows the story of the “chosen one” who has no idea wtf he’s doing. it’s got enemies to friends to lovers and magic, which are two of my favorite things. although he never states that he is bi in the book, i included carry on here because he has a relationship with both a girl and a boy and he appears to be attracted to both of them. (p.s. this won’t be a stand-alone for long as a sequel will be released later this year!)

8. radio silence by alice oseman: this novel features a bisexual, half-ethiopian female protagonist and focuses on the pressure of school and the importance of friendship. also, there’s a podcast. the friendship between the two main characters was the sweetest thing and i loved this novel. (also want to give a shout-out to alice oseman’s webcomic heartstopper, which focuses on the relationship between nick and charlie, who are bi and gay respectively. these characters can also be found in her novel solitaire.)

9. ramona blue by julie murphy: this book centers around a girl who is convinced she only likes girls until she starts to fall for a boy. it is a sort of self-discovery that is not often found in literature, but i know several of my friends that went through a very similar path and this book means a lot to them. i loved seeing ramona’s journey, and enjoyed this book a lot!

10. red, white, and royal blue by casey mcquiston: this is the newest book on this list, and let me just tell you, the rep in this book is phenomenal. the main character is the bisexual, half-mexican first son of the first female president of the united states, and it tells this story of his relationship with the prince of england. honestly need i say more? cause i will. his best friend is also bi and i’m in love with her. this book has literally so many of my favorite things: royalty, enemies to friends to lovers, fake relationship (kind of), strong female characters, and so much more. definitely a quick, fun summer read to get in the spirit of pride month!

please add to this list with more books with bisexual rep that i missed! i would love to get more book recs :)

happy pride everyone!

#booklr #book recs #lgbt #specifically the b #twentybiteen #soc #trc #adsom #carry on

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immortalcockroach · 5 years ago

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21 + 15 + 8!

asdfghjkl rose thank you for asking ♥️ this ended up coming out incredibly long, so i apologize in advance!

8) where do you take your inspiration from?

surprising! mostly from visual media, actually. graphics, art, moodboards, films, tv series, that kind of stuff. occasionally, music, and even more rarely, written media (fics, books, poems, similar). that’s for when i’m starting to get ideas. when i already have something written or ideas developed a bit more, then i have a moodboard on pinterest and a playlist on spotify, or i watch something that has the same mood/theme as the thing i’m writing.

15) if you write oc’s, how do you decide on their names?

i don’t usually write oc’s for fics, but i do them for my original stuff. the names depend on the characters’ background and location, but they all have a name that either sounds specific to their character or who they’re supposed to be, or the meaning is very connected.

in other cases, most of the time, i just go ‘woah this sounds cool’ or sometimes i build a whole character because of their name and subsequently the whole story.

21 tell me about another writer(s) who you admire? what is it about them that you admire?

i love this question!! let me give my favourite fic writers a shoutout, even though i’m probably missing some too!! it’s really long but honestly these people worked hard and they really deserve it

@grumpybell‘s ideas are absolutely brilliant. i’m a huge fan. the stories themselves, the plots would be enough for me to have a whole paragraph about, but for me, the characters are where it’s at. well-developed, very true to the canon but also to the universe the fic is set in, but also very well-rounded and overall realistic. the fics just flow really nice, honestly, and i could read them for eternity.

fic shoutout: oh darling, here’s hoping god i remember reading this red riding hood au and just... falling in love. i did. i fell in love with bellamy as the wolf and clarke’s desperation to save him, and the new take on the fairy tale, it was just absolute perfection. i keep coming to it every once in a while, honestly. it’s just magic.

@asroarke is one of those people who are just integrated into a fandom’s fanfiction. imagining t100 fanfiction with asroarke is like... imagining the sky without the stars. i think those fics were the first ones i read when i joined the fandom, and i remember one of the things i thought was how easy it was to read. everything flowed as if there was no effort needed, as if the words have always been there, just plucked and placed on a blank document. and the consistency, honestly, damn. these fics are better than probably more than half of published stuff i’ve read.

fic shoutout: drag me down. look there’s a pattern here and it’s the mythical/legends/fairy tale aus. i present you with a retelling of little mermaid in the most beautiful, soul-wrenching way. i waited every single chapter for when i came out. i read it as soon as i saw it came out, even if i was in the middle of grabbing coffee with a friend. honestly everything by asroarke is absolutely fantastic.

@blvke-bellamy okay look. when i saw may is just 15 i nearly fell off my chair. i’d kill to have that talent at 15. i would. look, i keep saying look, because i’m shook. but honestly, may’s characterization is brilliant. she took my faves from the 100 and managed to insert them into a different universe, and they feel so much like the original characters and not at all. the dynamics between them are so raw and so pure and so believable i cried at one particular scene in her fic. or it might be two scenes. and look, this is impressive on its own, and then knowing she’s just 15...god.

fic shoutout: step into the sun is a bellarke tangled au and honestly. i’m a slut for tangled. it’s so damn good. and this fic?? inspired by tangled?? absolutely brilliant. marvelous. 11/10. brought my fish to life. and honestly murphy is my favourite in the fic, literally one of my favourite portrayals of him in every fic i’ve ever read. i binged this. i lost sleep over this. no ragrets.

@pawprinterfanfic (i’m biased but. in top 3 fic writers ever. and i’ve been in a lot of popular fandoms.) paw manages to take a universe and make it hers. paw manages to create a universe out of nothing and make it feel more realistic than my own life. and honestly, i am reading her hunger games au right now and it’s amazing, but the best part is that i’m also reading the harry potter au which is even better and although both are masterpieces, i can see the improvement. the development of the characters, the amount of effort in planning and mapping things out, it’s marvellous. her fics just speak to me on a different level, it feels as if i’m experiencing them myself rather than reading them, and what i’m mostly in awe of is how immersed i am in those fics, especially the newer ones. i feel like it’s a rare skill to have.

fic shoutout: starry eyes and galaxy minds (we’ll be dancing on the clouds at night) which is a spider-man au, and honestly, i cried. it’s beautiful. it’s a masterpiece. but so is literally every single one of paw’s stories, so it was a really difficult choice. the harry potter one? j k rowling wishes she wrote it.

skai_heda (i don’t know their tumblr please someone help me find it). where do i begin. honestly. when i started reading the fic i put below, i was mesmerised by the writing style. it was partly in second pov which i’d usually refuse to read, but this writing style is something that belongs to gods. the characterization is amazing, it manages to fix some of the stuff in canon without actually changing it. everything just comes together naturally, and i always feel so satisfied when reading their fics. plus, the writing style again, especially in the fic below, is flawless. some people can create magic with their words, and i’m convinced i’ve just found one.

fic shoutout: everything that comes after deserves so much!! more!! attention!!! i remember reading the first two chapters and just being like...wooow. i was starstruck. i left a long ass comment. it’s so unique and so beautiful. it’s the only fic on this list written in the canon universe, and it’s one of my favourites i’ve ever read about the canon universe. it hurts. it makes you cry, and ache, and understand, and smack your head because you just want people to be happy. if i could pocket the way this fic made me feel, i would always keep it with me. (a little frustration, but a whole lotta love.)

give me a number and i’ll answer questions about writing fanfiction

just in case you’d like to see the same questions answered for non-fanfiction/non-fanfiction influence, see below!

15) if you write oc’s, how do you decide on their names?

specific example of mentioned above - a wip about teenagers who come from a rich side of town and a poor side. there’s posh names, like cedric, declan, byron and gregory, for people who are supposed to represent the posh, stuck-up class; hadley, tessa, abigail, kate for privileged people who are the ‘good guys’; and luca, oliver, han, freddie, who are from the poor side. it’s very classist so it was very important that the names represent the characters. usually, i go for the “vibe” of the name over the meaning, to be honest.

21 tell me about another writer(s) who you admire? what is it about them that you admire?

i love this question!!

fiction: maggie stiefvater, because her raven cycle series genuinely feels like magic when i read it. the characters are brilliant. erin morgenstern, who wrote the night circus, because that novel also feels like magic. donna tart’s the secret history feels as if you’re reading a secret and the storytelling sort of reminds me of f. scott fitzgerald’s the great gatsby in a way i can’t really describe. she creates a beautiful, magnificent atmosphere and you know what the characters are doing is wrong, but you completely understand them and it makes me, as a reader, question my own moral standards. madeline miller’s the song of achilles is a beautifully written masterpiece that made me fall in love with mythology, legends and history all over again. the way she develops the characters and retells the story i’ve heard a million times is so poetic and beautiful it just resonates with me on a different level. and finally, leigh bardugo with her six of crows series that again, makes me question my morals, but shows the friendship and loyalty between people in a beautiful way. it also shows a romance that i think is one of best written i’ve read, up there for me romances from the novels/series i’ve already mentioned.

there’s a pattern - storytelling and character-building that feels almost otherworldly, very focused on emotions and character development. basically, stories that you feel like as if they were made into films without proper, detailed development, wouldn’t translate well enough to bring the world to the screen. and romances incredibly well-developed over time, that go beyond just being romances and actually show a beautiful connection.

special mention of these directors, as they have a huge influence on my writing: christopher nolan, john krasinski, quentin tarantino, m night shyamalan, steven knight, guillermo del toro, alfred hitchcock, for their storytelling and character building. also, some of these are for the suspense that seems to come naturally. i know most of these are very popular directors, but they’re popular for a reason. i could literally write an essay on each of these people, honestly. my writing is very inspired by motion pictures, i most often look up to how these directors approached some things that i have in my writing, especially themes. (this could literally be a whole essay on its own)

#zoyanasyalenzky #god this took me ages #fic rec #the 100 #bellarke #these are all bellarke fics #i should probably say this #also #fic talk #rose #i had so much fun though #and there's so many people i haven't put in here #mostly because i'm exhausted #i just really love reading these people's fics #ask me questions if you want horribly long answers #i'll always deliver #also i might do a fic rec soon #probably should ah

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lettercollectors · 6 years ago

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Another year, another Valentine’s Day! Last year, we made a post celebrating some of our favorite literary couples. Because what is better than celebrating love? As another Valentine’s Day is upon us we now bring you the sequel to that post. This gives us the opportunity to celebrate the couples we woefully forgot about the last time, as well as point out all the wonderful love stories we encountered over the last twelve months. So as last year, we’ve made a list of our favorite love stories from various genres. We have contemporary novels, fantasy series, historical fiction, all as different as they can be, yet they have one thing in common: they made us swoon, made our hearts full, showed us the many twists and turns love can take and just all around took us on a rollercoaster of emotions. Creating this list sent us on that rollercoaster again. It might or might not have resulted in a few rereads... Do you agree with our picks?

Katy & Daemon, Lux series by Jennifer L. Armentrout

“I want a years-worth of seconds and minutes with you. I want a decade's worth of hours, so many that I can't add them up.”

Simon & Baz, Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

“What you are is a fucking tragedy, Simon Snow. You literally couldn't be a bigger mess.” He tries to kiss me, but I pull back- “And you like that?” “I love it.” He says “Why?” “Because we match.”

Josh & Hazel, Josh & Hazel‘s Guide To Not Dating by Christina Lauren

“I know I’m like Pig-Pen in Charlie Brown, and I have chaos around me, but it’s like he doesn’t even care. He doesn’t need me to change or pretend to be someone else. He’s my person. He’s my best friend.”

Aelin & Rowan, Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

“To whatever end?” she breathed. Rowan followed her, as he had his entire life, long before they had ever met, before their souls had sparked into existence. “To whatever end, Fireheart.”

Laia & Elias, An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

“You are my temple”, I murmur as I knee beside her. “You are my priest. You are my prayer. You are my release.”

Evelyn & Celia, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

People think that intimacy is about sex. But intimacy is about truth. When you realize you can tell someone your truth, when you can show yourself to them, when you stand in front of them bare and their response is ‘you're safe with me’– that's intimacy.

Magnus & Alec, The Shadowhunter Chronicles by Cassandra Clare

“And when one day people look back on me and what my life meant, I don’t want them to say, ‘Alec Lightwood fought in the Dark War’ or even ‘Alec Lightwood was Consul once.’ I want them to think, ‘Alec Lightwood loved one man so much he changed the world for him.’ ”

Percy & Annabeth, Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan

He didn't think much of fates and prophecies, but he did believe in one thing: Annabeth and he were supposed to be together.

Cress and Thorne, The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

“Captain?” “Cress.” She couldn't not say it, although she realized he was right. It was sort of scary. Much scarier than it had been the first time she'd told him, out in the desert. It was different now. It was real. “I'm in love with you.” He chuckled. “I should hope so, after all that.” He leaned forward and pressed a kiss against her temple. “And I love you too.”

Ron and Hermione, Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

“Just because you have the emotional range of a teaspoon doesn't mean we all have.”

Claudia and Gideon, Foolish Hearts by Emma Mills

“Sometimes ... around some people, I feel like I have to, like ... try, you know? Like really hard.” His hands tighten a bit on my waist. “But with you–when I’m with you, I can just ... exist. You know what i mean?”

Kaz and Inej, Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

“I would have come for you. And if I couldn't walk, I'd crawl to you, and no matter how broken we were, we'd fight our way out together-knives drawn, pistols blazing. Because that's what we do. We never stop fighting.”

Lila and Kell, A Darker Shade of Magic by Victoria Schwab

They crashed into each other as if propelled by gravity, and he didn't know which one of them was the object and which the earth, only that they were colliding. The kiss was Lila pressed into a single gesture. Her brazen pride and her stubborn resolve, her recklessness and her daring and her hunger for freedom. It was all those things, and it took Kell's breath away.

Blue & Gansey, The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater

It was this: Gansey saying, “I like you an awful lot, Blue Sargent.” It was this: Blue's smile – crooked, wry, ridiculous, flustered. There was a lot of happiness tucked in the corner of that smile, and even though her face was several inches from Gansey, some of it still spilled out and got on him.

Katy & Ezra, The Illuminae Files by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

“You have me. Until the last star in the galaxy dies, you have me.”

So how did we do? Did we miss your favorites? Let us know and we might include them next year. We’re always on the look out for awesome love stories.

#lux series #carry on #throne of glass #rowaelin #an ember in the ashes #the seven husbands of evelyn hugo #tmi #malec #pjo #percabeth #josh and hazel's guide to not dating #the lunar chronicles #hp #foolish hearts #six of crows #shades of magic #the raven cycle #the illuminae files #our post

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ellanainthetardis · 6 years ago

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Summer Books Reviews

I’ve said I’d do a book review for the Grisha verse and then I remembered I also said I’d try to do more book reviews because of reasons (like the fact I had a book blog once upon a time, you know) so I thought I’d do a pot pourri of my summer readings.

I’m actually happy because I read a lot this summer. I think I managed a book a week give or take, without taking into account the various comics (I’ve read all the Buffy comics I could find, sue me, I am in a PHASE). So without further ado, here are my summer reads with a short review that may or may not be spoilerish.

The Night Circus – Erin Morgensten: I think I talked about this one already actually. I gave it a 5/5 on goodreads even though it took me a while to really get into it. It’s very very slow paced and although I liked the characters, I think it’s one of those books you either love or hate. The atmosphere is everything, it’s really awesome because the circus itself is like a character of sort. I loved the two main characters – I loved all the characters actually and I loved how the ending tied back to the beginning as well as the whole meta-reflection about storytelling and stories in general. I think it’s definitely not for everyone but it’s really worth a go.

The Stolen Throne (Dragon Age #1) – David Gaider: I gave it 4/5 on Goodreads. Well it’s no secret by now that I love fantasy and video games and that Dragon Age might be my most favorite franchise. Hell, how many times did I play the whole series by now? I think I’m at three Wardens, Two Hawkes, and at least 4 or 5 inquisitors. This first novel takes place decades before Origins and it was nice to have some more context than just the codex you find on the games. I think the story works very well without further knowledge of the games and everything and it was a nice little fantasy story. I adore Loghain, you have to understand and what I loved about the love triangle (and you won’t hear me say I love a love triangle often so enjoy) is that… They all could be together. I mean, I’m not really into OT3 but for the three of them I’d do an exception.

The Mercy Thompson Series – Patricia Briggs: I re-read the whole series which took me I think more or less the whole July month since there are ten books. I can tell you I give this serie a definite 5/5. It had been so long since I read it and I hadn’t finished it so I thought why not? If you love urban fantasy (modern world with vampires, werewolves, witches and the likes) this series is for you. I just love Mercy. I love the way the author handles sexual trauma as well as trauma in general. I mean, often it’s trashy and written for shock value ( I’m looking at you Career of Evil) and here it’s just… very well handled. It doesn’t fade in the background after a book, it’s something Mercy has to deal with recurrently, it’s just a master lesson in how to write trauma. BUT those books are also full of fun, love and family. I love all the characters in there and I plan on reading the spin off series very soon.

Opal (The Raven Cycle 4.5) – Maggie Stiefvater: Ok it’s a novella but it still counts. I gave it 2/5 and nobody is more disappointed than me by this rating given how much I loved the Raven Cycle (go read if you haven’t seriously). It just… Didn’t click for me. The point of view was very limited, it was hard to relate and it left too many stuff unexplored. But I guess it’s just a way to link TRC with the next series and I’m still very much hyped for what comes next whenever it comes.

Ready Player One – Ernest Cline: ah, that one. I slaved through it. I gave it a 1/5 but really I think it would be more of a 0.5/5. To me, it’s one of those rare rare times when you can say the movie was better than the book. What was even this book? I hated it. This book is an enabler. I say this being an introvert who has problems with social situation and who love video games, considers herself a geek and proud to be and had grown up in the 90s. This book is an enabler. It gives far too much excuses and never quite set out a clear morale. And it was boring. Really, I was surprised by the movie. I liked it a lot more than I expected it too – probably because it was very little like the book.

Fairest Of Them All: A Tale of The Wicked Queen – Serena Valentino: Another one I was disappointed it. I had a strike unfortunately. I gave it 1/5. It was all very… shallow. I wished for more depth and characterization but it was all very confused and confusing. I have little more to say about this one because I honestly don’t even remember. It was that unremarkable. I know I’ve read better fanfictions.

The Infinite Sea/The Last Star (The 5th Wave #2 and #3) – Rick Yancey: I’ve read those two back to back because I knew after The Infinite Sea I would never read the last one if I waited. I gave 2/5 to The Infinite Sea and 3/5 to The Last Star. I was so pumped by the 5th Wave. I remember reading it what… Two years ago? And I loved it. It was fresh and interesting, lots of plot twists… First thing I didn’t like about both books were the shifting povs. Some pov are first person (like Cassie’s, the main character) and some are third person. And that’s just plain weird. I know I have a problem with pov, I usually don’t like first person pov much but re-reading Mercy Thompson helped me get back on that horse. But if you constantly shift from I to he/she, it gets annoying really fast. The second book is mostly full of length and doesn’t have much happening except for Ringer (but I will come back to Ringer) and the third one was… confusing. Ok maybe I’m very dumb but I didn’t get it. Were they really aliens, was it all a plot, who were the real villains… I didn’t get it. The only positive point of both books was: RINGER. She’s the best character ever and she’s the only reason I slaved through those two books. She’s an ass kicking bad ass with a tactical mind to rival all and although the love story with Ben and the spoilerish thing I won’t talk about but let me say REALLY could have been maybe introduced a little better and would have deserved some more depth, I really really loved her arc. I saw a people say the ending was cliché and I might have thought so too but I think if the writing had been consistent and a little better, it might have been emotional despite the cliché.

The Secret Wife – Gill Paul: I gave it 1/5 I’m not even going to talk about it because I skimmed through the last of the book because it was SO bad I couldn’t keep reading. The premise looked soooo good, I usually love the dual present/past story and the Romanov aspect made me very interested but it was badly written and boring and simply meh.

Shadow & Bones / Siege & Storm / Ruin & Rising (The Grisha #1, #2, #3) – Leigh Bardugo: We’re here at last. OMG. Did I love this trilogy (with it’s many linking novellas?) YOU BET. I gave them all 5/5. Let me tell you something, this is MY JAM. I loved Alina Starkov. I LOVED her. She’s so relatable. All the cast of characters is amazing. The writing is just as amazing and I think it’s safe to say I will read anything by this author because I trust her completely. If you love fantasy, young adult and a good villain, this is the story for you. I didn’t like the main ship I won’t lie. I would have loved a good redemption final twist and the love interest was a little too bland compared to the villain and the King but… It didn’t spoil my enjoyment at all. I’m so HYPED on this verse right now.

The Obsession – Nora Roberts: I’m a big fan of Nora, I’ve read a lot of her books and I was a bit disappointed in this one. I gave it a 2/5. The story is okay and it’s nice to read. I mean, it reads easily, it doesn’t as for a lot of reflection. It’s a good story all in all and I would have put it a 3 or a 4 if not for something that has been jumping at me for the last couple of her books I read. I’m not one to jump up and down and scream misogyny at every turn but there’s a certain idea of a woman in her books that is starting to make me a bit… meh. Let me be clear. The male lead is cliché as can be, full of testosterone, riding a bike, a mechanic, a dog lover with a sensitive side because of course he loves books and while the female promised to be extremely strong and independent career woman, it’s not long before we fall into the a happy woman = a husband, a dog and a kid cliché. And that bothered me.

Six Of Crows (Six of Crows #1) – Leigh Bardugo: Ok there was such a hype around this one I was a little disappointed when I read it. I’m not much into incredible heist stories and to be fair, I read it right after I saw Ocean’s 8 (which was awesome) and it suffered from the (unfair and unconscious) comparison. I gave it a 2/5 BUT this being said I just loved the characters. I was already one hundred percent on board the Kaz/Inej train (didn’t you hear me shout as I passed by?) and the Jesper/Wylan one. Matthias and Nina both left me a little indifferent I will admit and I had troubles with so many povs crammed in one book. It was lot of information everywhere and from every angle. I’m still happy I read it, do you know why? I will tell you. First I love the Grisha universe and it takes place in the same world a few years after and then: CROOKED KINGDOM BABY.

The Lies They Tell – French Gillian : I gave this one a 3/5. It’s a little detective story that reads very easily. It’s nothing exceptional but it will give you a good time.

Kindred Spirits – Rainbow Rowell: I have a problem with short stories/novellas. Always had. it always leaves me wanting more and that was my problem with my book. The moment I got into it, it ended so I gave it a 2/5 but it was really cool nonetheless. Would have liked to read more.

Crooked Kingdom (Six Of Crows #2) – Leigh Bardugo: OMG OMG OMG OMG. Ok, needless to say I gave this one a 5/5. I finished it yesterday so I’m still very much having FEELS. Maybe I wasn’t that much in Six of Crows but this book makes the read worth it, I promise. THIS IS JUST AMAZING. THE FEELS. FEELS EVERYWHERE. Kaz and Inej and their perfect love. Matthias… Nina and her addiction… Jesper and Wylan being cutiepies. I cried at the end. Do you know how often I cry reading books? very much not often. What I mean is: READ IT. READ THE WHOLE GRISHA VERSE. DO IT. DO IT. YOU NEED TO MEET DIRTHANDS AND HIS WRAITH. YOU NEED TO. THIS BOOKS IS PERFECT. IT WILL GIVE YOU FEELS. IT WILL GIVE YOU LIFE.

#book review #books reviews #book reviews #books #I tried #personal stuff no one cares about

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leah-jeffries · 7 years ago

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There are very few things that I plan far in advance and look forward to all year long (besides Christmas and Chinese New Year, that is) and one of them is Book Expo/BookCon. A convention completely dedicated to the love and appreciation of books? Surrounded by publishers, authors, and books? I love it. It’s pretty much the place I would want to be 365 days a year. I believe that earlier last year, ReedPop and Book Expo made an announcement that their selection process for bloggers would be narrowed down so that publishers could better concentrate on forging relationships with industry professionals like booksellers and librarians. I know that this announcement put a lot of potential attendees off (that and a huge sum of $300 to attend) which is understandable. I was concerned that because BookCon was being hyped up and beefed up with lots of high-profile guests that BookExpo would be lackluster.

Neither of us decided to attend Wednesday because there was a lot to do before we would go on Thursday. And to be honest, I think we needed to prepare ourselves for what was about to go down go down during Book Expo. For the most part, we wanted to spend our time on the show floor since that’s where a lot of the fun is for the both of us. So in the early morn of June 1st, we got up at 4:30 and were on a train by 5:30AM to make it over so we could pick up our badges since we didn’t do it the night before. It was also our aim to score tickets to Cora Carmack, Leigh Bardugo, and Maggie Stiefvater. While we were waiting in line, we made a few friends and saw some old ones, which I think is what is so great about being in the book world – you can easily align your interests and create friendships around books. It’s something we all have in common. Unfortunately, it seemed that with the Avid Reader Pass Program and others who seemed to be there since 3/4AM, Leigh Bardugo tickets were long gone. I’d been disappointed because I was dying to get my hands on THE LANGUAGE OF THORNS sampler which, yes I know – why am I so fussy over a sampler? Well, even as a sampler, it’s beautiful. Plus, I’d read that she might be giving our her SIX OF CROWS playing cards which is probably one of my biggest searches for.

We obviously navigated our way through the show floor since the layout was different than other years and grabbed all the totes (my one goal was to score the SHE PERSISTED tote from Penguin Random House in support of Chelsea Clinton that weekend) before going over to Maggie’s signing area. I have to say that I haven’t read any of her previous books. I’ve heard a lot of mixed reviews about both her SHIVER and RAVEN CYCLE series and I just don’t like delving into books that are really volatile. But ALL THE CROOKED SAINTS seemed so interesting and we had a ticket for it, so why not? After that, we just roamed the show floor to see what all the booths had to offer and we both had the consensus that Book Expo was very low key and relaxing for the most part. I know that so many were discouraged from coming, but it made the experience for those that did more pleasurable. Yeah, there were a lot of people, but we had no major mishaps.

By the end of the day, the pair of us got most of the books we wanted (with Kristen’s wonderful schedule and timing skills) and we were pretty exhausted by the time we got back home. I was determined to be selective about the books I brought home because when we first attended the convention, I made the mistake of grabbing anything and having no room for most of the things I didn’t care for – so I wasn’t as tired as Kristen was (whom had gotten a lot of books she wanted).

The highlights of Thursday were meeting Cora Carmack and Leigh Bardugo (I know! I got to meet her!). I was delighted to see a finished copy of Cora Carmack’s ROAR which I had the opportunity to read as an ARC. It is a beautiful, beautiful book in my opinion and definitely has a unique and fresh take on fantasy stories. I will be posting my review soon for it so be on the lookout! Plus, she was such a delightful person to talk to and just overall lovely (pretty much all the authors we met were lovely).

So by happenstance, I got to meet Leigh in the Autographing Area and my goodness, her hair color was gorgeous. I’ve met very few people who could pull off the dark gray/silver look and my gosh, can that woman pull it off. She was surrounded by her Macmillan team and they were all rather kind. I was not there to get THE LANGUAGE OF THORNS because Fiercereads was promoting Grishaverse in the Crystal Palace for most of the convention so they had copies there for the taking! I had read that her book had won the Teen Choice Book Award and had wanted to congratulate her on that. Leigh Barduo never ceases to impress me with her humility and surprise over these sorts of achievements. I did bring my French SIX OF CROWS in the hopes that she would sign it (which she obviously did because she’s just so dang kind).

Day one of Book Expo was a success to say in the least. We had decided to approach Friday with less of a plan, but we definitely had our list of things we wanted, but didn’t necessarily NEED if we couldn’t get them. Fortunately, the ones we wanted (WARCROSS and BEASTS MADE OF NIGHT), we received previously. In terms of ticketed authors, we wanted to aim for Colleen Hoover and Marissa Meyer. I knew that if we didn’t get Marissa Meyer, it wasn’t a huge ordeal since it was a sampler and RENEGADES will be out within a few months. Nevertheless, I would have loved to say hello to Marissa once more. We managed to snag Colleen Hoover and Neil Patrick Harris (which we later gave away because it was later in the day and we just couldn’t fathom staying much longer after little sleep and 12K steps) so it was another day to the show floor for us! What I really loved was watching the interaction between attendees and the exhibitors – particularly the contrast between the smaller and big five publishers. It’s obviously a stark difference, but at the same time – it’s nice to think about how the big five were small once and look where they are now.

As every book dragon does, we snagged the books that we’d been hoping to get on our list (though, not the end of the world if we didn’t) and the biggest (and most competitive) event of the day was Leigh Bardugo’s WARBRINGER from Random House. We were rather guilty of hovering around the pillars near Penguin Random House, but the one good thing about Book Expo was that the attendees seemed to get along much better and there was very little hostility, if any at all. Somehow, against all odds, those who wanted WARBRINGER banded together to create a pretty calm and collective line. There were people in line, wonderful people, who understood the fairness of who had been there the longest and wanted to keep order. In this line, I saw some really great compassion and organization spring out from nearly everyone. Once the signing started, it went by quickly and everyone seemed relatively happy. We were rather happy to be part of such a collective group that showed that type of maturity. I imagine that if Book Expo hadn’t decided to screen its attendees this year, it would have been a different story.

When Friday and Book Expo came to a close, I was sad, but excited because BookCon would be starting the next day. Out of my bounty from Book Expo, I think I was really looking forward to:

Reign the Earth by A.C. Gaughen (Bloomsbury)

Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo (Random House)

Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust (Harlequin)

Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemore (Macmillan)

Cruel Prince by Holly Black (Hachette)

The Hearts We Sold by Emily Lloyd-Jones (Hachette)

All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater (Scholastic)

This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada (Simon & Schuster)

Zero Repeat Forever by G.S. Prendergast (Simon & Schuster)

And had we not gotten them before the convention:

Warcross by Marie Lu (Penguin)

Beast Made of Night by Tochi Onyebuchi (Penguin)

To be honest, there were a lot of books and that meant a lot of blurs, but nevertheless, everyone seemed to find something they really wanted at Book Expo.

One regret I do have is being unable to start relationships with publishers. I love going to these things because it means meeting the writers who have built such wonderful words, but in hindsight, I lose the opportunity to meet with the professional book pushers themselves. I really admire them for all that they do for their authors (include surviving BookCon) and know that I should really set some time aside to talk with them and just stay in touch. I, myself, am somewhat socially awkward at times and never want to bother professionals when they’re actually working, but it’s always nice to see that they’re open to chatting with people if they wish to do so.

Book Expo…to say in the least, was just so…chill? Sure, there were times where anxieties were heightened and patience was on edge, but overall, there’s nothing stopping me from wanting to attend next year. It seemed like there was a lot of more space and walking space which was nice. I do feel like the shift in where the booths usually were threw me off and therefore, I seemed to visit them less than I would have liked (this was more so about HarperCollins…they just seemed so far away from everyone else!). My experience with ReedPop events have always been good and I love that they host them at the Jacob Javits Center (which is a BEAUTIFUL location).

So I’d have to say that Book Expo 2017…you were a success. Let’s make 2018 a good one, too!

#book expo #book expo 2017 #events #book event #book events

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its-btrz-blog · 7 years ago

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YA Book Series in Review (or where I stand at the moment in my reading list)

This is a post that kind of makes a point of situation on things I started planning to read a while ago, based mostly on online recommendations (and on me wanting to know new fantasy/fiction titles out there on YA), and how it turned out for me. I don't read exclusively YA, nor do I want to, but I feel that as this new genre, there's a lot of potential in it that is yet unfulfilled, and most of the more marketed titles are still full of clichés, overused tropes and don't make a realistic and open use of the diversity that here, in our non-fictional universe, surrounds us everyday. So, I try to see what's out there that to me feels worth reading.

Finished:

The Raven Cycle, by Maggie Stiefvater

Heavily recommended by some people I follow and I wasn't disappointed. After some months of not reading much, and not YA either, it was reading this series that made me want to continue this genre and go ahead and read all those other hyped up series. Didn't have many expectations and, as always, there's things I didn't like and felt it was lacking in some aspects, and I wouldn't say it's the best thing ever written out there, but the writing style, the characters and the story really got to me.

The Half-Bad Trilogy, by Sally Green

Kept seeing it recommended by someone I followed on tumblr, and eventually decided to come read it. I don't know exactly how, but despite its simplicity in writing (or because of it) I really loved it. There are characters and things I don't like, but as a whole, I really liked it.

The Grisha Trilogy/Shadow and Bone, by Leigh Bardugo

My most recent read in this list. Overall liked it, really enjoyed the world building and could immerse myself on it. However, couldn't get too attached to the characters (or like them) in general, meaning I also wasn't fond of the romance, and the resolution of the story was something I disliked and felt that it affected my opinion on the whole series.

Captive Prince, by C. S. Pacat

What an amazing trilogy. I didn't know much about what it was about but it was a series I genuinely adored. The Classic Greco-Roman elements in the world building added something extra to my experience.

Shades of Magic, by V. E. Schwab

Very exalted series, with the most gorgeous covers ever and a wonderful and exciting premise! In the end, it was just OK, and I couldn't like the two main characters (even despised one) or enjoy this potentially amazing fantasy world as much as I wanted to.

The Mortal Instruments, by Cassandra Clare

My first contact was with the movie (which I see now, wasn't a very good adaptation) and I started the first book at the time but didn't finish it. When the TV show was announced, I went and read the books. Although I didn't like them that much (the main storyline and romance and the writing) and they aren't that good, to me, the premise of that fantasy world sort of fascinates me and I like some secondary characters, so I read all of it.

The Infernal Devices, by Cassandra Clare

The main characters, when introduced in the main series, attracted me enough to come read this one. Also, steampunk in Victorian London is totally something I felt I would love, and I kept getting the recomendation on GoodReads (even though I didn't notice at first who wrote it and didn't know initially that it belonged to the Shadowhunter universe). In the end, I was very disappointed with it, not the favorite I thought it would be.

Caught-up (or in the process of):

Throne of Glass, by Sarah J. Maas

I had hope for this series, seeing how much it is talked about and promoted, and every book has a great rating on GoodReads, and the premise of the first book seduced me. It has since become one of my great disappointments (and the best warning to me that good ratings, wonderful reviews, and a large fanbase and exposition are not synonyms with quality).

The Dark Artifices, by Cassandra Clare

The habit of not being able to leave things unfinished led me to come read this. And the hope of seeing my favorite characters from TMI here. For now I'll try to keep up, but I think the new stories in this universe are overdone already and I'm sick of all the romantic entanglements.

Red Queen, by Victoria Aveyard

A friend of mine bought the first book and liked it, so I've been following and I'm somewhat interested in the story. However, I'm getting tired of these dystopian settings (I loved The Hunger Games; and started liking Divergent but ended up not liking its continuation, and all these new series, although appealing in premise end up falling short of the expectations) and all this flowery and highly quotable writing (which is also present in ToG and in a different fashion, in TMI, TID and TDA) makes my reading experience very boring and difficult. However, I have two favorite characters here (one dead, but who cares) and will read to the end.

Possibly to-read:

Six of Crows, by Leigh Bardugo

Seen lots of praise for it and only read The Grisha trilogy as a preparation for this one. My expectations are not as high as they were before reading the trilogy, but they're still good and I'm somewhat hopeful. Looking forward to it.

A Court of Thorns and Roses, by Sarah J. Maas

After reading ToG, I'm feeling hesitant towards this one, but many people who didn't like the first series really enjoyed this one, and since it is, at the time, small, I think I'll give it a try.

Red Rising, by Pierce Brown

As with all of the series in this list, very popular and recommended by its fans, and suggested as an alternative to and as a much better read than other series of the same genre I didn't like. Looking forward to it!

The Foxhole Court, by Nora Sakavic (the name of the series is All for the Game)

Often recommended along The Raven Cycle, and that's why I'm considering it, but I'm not sure because of the sports thing. We'll see.

On the series I've already read, I have individual reviews for the whole series or, in some cases, just for some of the books. I'm planning a general review post on some of the finished ones, and I'll maybe link to my original and individual reviews. In these, what I liked or didn't like is more specified, sometimes with spoilers. As for the ones in progress, or that I'll read in the future, I'll see if after reading it I feel like they're worth a review, and maybe post the reviews for the previous books here.

#btrz #books #YA

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lrfya · 7 years ago

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Little Rock River Market MysterYAy Hike!

Hi, I’m Macy from The Truth about Forever. Today, I’ll be your guide on a Mystery Hike in downtown Little Rock, in what we call The River Market! I’m not a paid tour guide – I am doing this for extra credit – so tips will be greatly appreciated! We have started here at the Main Library for the Central Arkansas Library System because I work here at the information desk, so please feel free to stop by and see me any time. I also work a second job in the River Market, so I’m sort of an expert.

I’ve positioned a bunch of my YA friends in locations around the River Market. You’ll recognize them from some of your favorite books. Find a YA character you know, and they’ll tell you about the location they’re in! Let’s go!

(Psst - throughout this hike, my commentary will be in bold.)

SIMON SPIER and BEX PORTER

Hey! I’m Simon from Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda, and this is Bex from The Royal We. We’re hanging out at the Ron Robinson Theater for Terror Tuesdays, when they show vintage horror movies for $2 admission. This week’s showing is Rocky Horror Picture Show!

CELAENA SARDOTHIEN

Hi friends, I’m Celaena from the Throne of Glass books. Next door to the Ron Robinson Theater is one of my favorite clothing boutiques, Fringe.

Now that you’ve met a couple of my friends, you’re off to a great start! Let’s take a lunch break at one of my favorite music venues – Sticky’z Rock’n’Roll Chicken Shack. Come back tomorrow to catch Brilliant or Catastrophic’s show - you probably heard about them in Saint Anything. Let’s head across the street - I see a couple of familiar faces.

CRICKET BELL AND NATASHA KINGSLEY

You made it! This building is the Museum of Discovery, and it’s filled with lots of really cool science exhibits. We’re always tinkering around in here. Cricket from Lola and the Boy Next Door loves to see Kevin Delaney do experiments (you might’ve seen him on Jimmy Fallon!) while I, Natasha from The Sun is Also a Star, loves the human body exhibits.

Let’s grab a cup of coffee before we go to the next spot. I love Zeteo Coffee next door – looks like Gansey & Co. from The Raven Cycle are here. They hang out here a lot, but it’s odd that they always order five drinks even though there’s only four of them. On to the next stop!

JAM from BELZHAR and PRISCILLA from BONE GAP

Welcome to the Heifer International World Headquarters! Heifer International is a charity organization working to end hunger and poverty around the world by providing livestock and training to struggling communities in third world countries. I’m Jam, and I help out with the goats here, and Priscilla takes care of the bees.

Here we are at the William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum. This is where I work my second part-time job, helping cater events for Wish Catering. The current exhibit at the library is “Xtreme Bugs.”

WAVERLY CAMDENMAR

Hey guys! I’m Waverly, and I’m currently getting my prom photos taken on the Clinton Pedestrian Bridge, where lots of people come to take photos. This bridge connects the trails known as the Arkansas River Trail. I run this all the time with my friend Jessica Darling, and sometimes Macy joins us. It’s 17 miles and connects Little Rock and North Little Rock (which are two different cities separated by the Arkansas River, rather than two parts of the same city).

WILLOW from COUNTING BY 7S

If you follow the Arkansas River Trail along the river, it leads you to the Arkansas Nature Center. It focuses on all of the outdoor recreational things that Arkansas’s fish and wildlife resources provide. I’m Willow, and I’m obsessed with nature, so I intern here part time.

ARIEL from ROSES AND ROT

This is the First Security Amphitheater. It’s the main stage of Riverfest, a music festival held here, and is used for various other events and performances, like my vocal performance tonight!

Here’s La Petite Roche Plaza. This rock outcropping is one of the most important landmarks in Arkansas. Early travelers on their way up the river noticed that this rock marked the transition from the alluvial lands of the East to the rugged hills of the Ozarks and Ouachitas. The rock afforded a natural landing for boats. This is how Little Rock got it’s name!

ANNA OLIPHANT

Right behind La Petite Roche is the Junction Bridge. This is for pedestrian and bicycle use and it links both sides of the Arkansas River Trail. It is an integral part of our skyline. Me and my boyfriend Etienne put a padlock on this bridge to remember our days in Paris.

JACK from THE ANATOMICAL SHAPE OF A HEART

Nearby is the Medical Mile – an artistic expression of health. It includes a 1,300 foot three-dimensional mural wall, a wellness promenade with artful displays, as well as a Body-Mind-Spirit entry plaza. I helped paint the mural.

Next up is my favorite part – the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden. This is home to dozens of sculptures in the River Market district. New sculptures are voted on annually to add to the collection, and my boyfriend Wes makes amazing angels out of scrap metal and has a sculpture entered into the competition. Let’s head down to the Old State House Museum next.

BEATRIX from THE ANATOMICAL SHAPE OF A HEART

Right now, the Old House State Museum is hosting a “Cabinet of Curiosities” exhibit – kind of a greatest hits collection of weird Arkansas artifacts. It is very diverse – there’s everything from dinosaur toes to Ming Dynasty pottery. I’ve been coming every day to sketch some oddball anatomy pieces.

FAIR FINLEY from WILFAIR

Howdy! I’m Fair, and I grew up managing my parents’ hotels. They have hotels all over the world so I’m a bit of an expert, and The Capital Hotel in Little Rock is one of my favorites. It’s really old and grand - the balcony that overlooks the road here is called the “Front Porch of Little Rock.” Rumor has it, the elevators are humongous because they were built to accommodate Robert E. Lee...and his horse.

CATH from FANGIRL and JOSH WASSERSTEIN from ISLA AND THE HAPPILY EVER AFTER

The Statehouse Convention Center hosts all of our biggest events, including the Little Rock Comic Con – as you can guess, we are always in attendance. I love to dress up in Simon Snow cosplay. Josh is a little too cool for that and mostly just comes to get his comics autographed.

Let’s head back towards the library, there’s many things on President Clinton Avenue to point out.

LARA JEAN SONG

Here’s the H.U. Lee International Gate and Garden, a tribute to the founder of the American Taewondo Association which also educates people about Korean culture and salutes the martial arts.

WYLAN from SIX OF CROWS

Across from the farmer’s market are many bars, restaurants, and shops. You’ll find many people you know working or shopping here. There’s the piano bar Ernie Biggs – it has dueling pianos, and the best night to go is when I duel against Seraphina. Here’s Revolution Room, a club music venue – next week The Mortal Instruments from City of Heavenly Fire plays, you should definitely try to make that show.

DILL from THE SERPENT KING

Here’s a downtown Little Rock favorite bar – the Flying Saucer. They have all kinds of beer on tap and have acoustic shows on the weekend. Lately I’ve been bringing my guitar and playing to get used to a crowd. Also, Lia from The Kiss of Deception picks up shifts here from time to time, to stay grounded.

BLUE SARGENT

This is a tiny little spot on President Clinton Avenue where my mom and various aunts and cousins do palm and tarot card readings. Come in if you feel like learning some things about yourself!

Here’s the Little Rock Farmer’s Market. This is where my boyfriend Wes was discovered selling his angel sculptures, so it will always have a magical quality to me. It has two outdoor open-air pavilions overlooking Riverfront Park and the Arkansas River. It has Arkansas crops as well as vendors selling their homemade arts and crafts.

And now we’re back at the library and your mystery hike is complete! Hope you had fun exploring downtown Little Rock and meeting all my YA friends!

#mysterYAy hike #lrfya #lrfyabc #fya #forever young adult #2017 artifact hunt #2017 yasummershowdown

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useyourrwords · 6 years ago

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2019 Ahead // It’s Twentybiteen, You Ready?

I’m back! Again!

Your fave chaotic disaster queer took time off once again to get her shit together! Did I???? Kinda???

I’m glad I took the time off, I needed that time and space to sort out and find balance in my life and did I???? Kinda???

So now I’m back! There are going to be a few changes! But I’ll go through that a little later in this post.

2018 was fucking hard man. It was maybe the worst year of my life so far which is not an easy feat, let me tell you!

I’m glad it’s over, I’m thankful for the lessons it gave me but more than anything I’m grateful for the foundation in providing for the next chapter of my life.

2019 so far has been just getting through the delayed effects of the last part of 2018 honestly. But I’m hopeful it’ll only get better from here.

TBR

So what are the books I plan to read this year?? Honestly too many but here are the books I definitely want to get to in 2019.

I was going to talk about my anticipated releases BUT literally, everyone has done that so it’s not like I’d be sharing new information with anyone. No shade! Y’all those lists are amazing and I love them because I am always behind on what is coming out. Those posts just aren’t for me personally to write. But mostly it’s because this year I am focusing on books I actually own and neglected all of last year while I was busy having a love affair with my library.

│The Raven Cycle│Maggie Stiefvater│

│

I read the first book in 2017 and then my mum bought me the whole series for my birthday in 2018 and do you think I’ve read them yet??? Of course not! So I want to this year for sure!

│Shadow and Bone Series│Leigh Bardugo│

│

I loved the Six of Crows duology and now that the Grishaverse is getting a Netflix series I have to read the first series! Undoubtedly I will probably reread the Six of Crows duology after.

│The Conqueror’s Saga│Kiersten White│

│

I loved the first book in this series and I’ve bought the other two books as soon as they came out but did I read them??? No.

│Montague Siblings│Mackenzi Lee│

│

I really enjoyed the first book in this series even though I was in a major reading slump and it heavily dampened my experience but I still enjoyed it so I’m looking to rereading it and then following it with the last book!

│Villains│VE Schwab│

│

I loved the first book and I can’t wait for the second one to come out. I ordered it in December but I entered my address wrong so I ended up going to my neighbour’s house to ask if they had it and they did!!!! Thank god for that!

I think I’ll wait to read them until I can get the paperbacks though since I like to annotate but not in my special editions.

│The Dark Artifices│Cassandra Clare│

│

I loved the first book so much and I meant to read Lord of Shadows asap but then didn’t??? Now I’m just waiting for the last book to come out in the small paperback so I can read the series start to finish.

│Harry Potter Series│JK Rowling│

│

│ I’m not putting LGBT rep because it’s not actually in the book and JK’s intentions don’t seem genuine to me.

The first time I read this series was 2011. And I didn’t finish it. So I’m gonna try again and watch the movies as I go to compare as well! And every time JK does some dumbass shit I am thankful I bought my copies secondhand.

│Sharp Objects│Gillian Flynn│

│

I fucking loved the TV series, it was so intense! I’m looking forward to reading the book!

│Sadie│Courtney Summers│

│

I’ve heard such good things and I need to read it but there’s a huge wait at the library and they do not have enough copies across the state library network so I might just end up buying it??

│Sawkill Girls│Claire Legrand│

│

I’m planning on reading this one this month if I can get a hold of it from the library!

│The Hate U Give│Angie Thomas│

│

I neeeeeed to read this one pronto!!!!

│Rejected Princesses│Jason Porath│

│

│Bygone badass Broads│Mackenzi Lee│

│

So I decided on my new Structured TBR each month (More info in my Month Ahead post!) I’m going to read a certain amount of entries in these each month over the year.

│Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda│Creekwood Series│Becky Albertelli│

│

I need to read the book for my fave romcom guys, I just have to.

│Children of Blood & Bone│Legacy of Orïsha #1│Tomi Adeyemi│

│

I literally bought this the day it came out and so, of course, I haven’t read it yet.

│City of Ghosts│Cassidy Blake #1│Victoria Schwab│

│

I have to read it, it’s a Schwab book. But I am pumped for it!!!

│Percy Jackson and the Olympians│Rick Riordan│

│

A childhood classic I never fucking read as a child. Also, I now own almost all or Riordan’s books because they were super cheap secondhand and so I have to read them.

Past Grey Reads

Book Review // Girl Made of Stars – I Am Broken

Book Review // Everything Leads To You – A Quite Love Story

Book Review // The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo – What Do You Mean She’s Not a Real Person???

TBW

Basically here’s a bunch of movies and seasons released this year that I want to watch!

│The Hate U Give│

│Jan 31│

George Tillman Jr.│

Amandla Stenberg, Regina Hall, Russell Hornsby│

Australia sucks so this only just came out here but I am ready.

│On The Basis of Sex│

│Feb 7│

Mimi Leder│

Felicity Jones, Armie Hammer, Justin Theroux│

Looks like a good feminist film!

│Captain Marvel│

│Mar 7│

Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck│

Brie Larson, Gemma Chan, Samuel L. Jackson│

What is this??? The first solo Marvel film for a female Avenger??? I have been waiting!

│Avengers: Endgame│

│Apr 24│

Anthony Russo, Joe Russo│

Brie Larson, Bradley Cooper, Karen Gillan│

I am not ready. Not even a little bit. I’m just glad it’s confirmed that our lil spidey survives somehow.

│Detective Pikachu│

│May 9│

Rob Letterman│

Suki Waterhouse, Ryan Reynolds, Kathryn Newton│

When I first saw the trailer I legit thought it was a very cleverly put together fan trailer and died when I realised it was real.

│Aladdin│

│May 23│

Guy Ritchie│

Will Smith, Billy Magnussen, Naomi Scott│

I am so excited, it’s gonna be so magical!

│Rocketman│

│May 30│

Dexter Fletcher│

Richard Madden, Bryce Dallas Howard, Taron Egerton│

I never knew I needed it but then I heard of it and then I watched the trailer and now I’m already a fan.

│Men in Black: International│

│Jun 13│

F. Gary Gray│

Rebecca Ferguson, Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson│

This movie is for the bisexuals.

│Spider-Man: Far From Home│

│Jul 4│

Jon Watts│

Zendaya, Jake Gyllenhaal, Cobie Smulders│

Okay blogging secret, when it comes to the directors, creators and stars of this segment I always just copy and paste from IMDB because I’m lazy and can we just appreciate the fact that Tom Holland—the literal star of the movie, the person who plays the main character—isn’t even listed at the top as part of the top stars.

Also, I’m very excited to watch this. Tom and Zendaya are my children and they must be protected at all costs.

│It: Chapter 2│

│Sep 5│

Andy Muschietti│

James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain, Bill Skarsgård│

I’m ready for adult loser club thanks.

│Star Wars: Episode IX│

│Dec 19│

J.J. Abrams│

Keri Russell, Adam Driver, Richard E. Grant│

I’m always happy with a new Star Wars film.

│To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before 2│

│

Susan Johnson│

Lana Condor, Noah Centineo│

YES YES YES YES YES.

│Brooklyn Nine-Nine│Season 6│

│Jan 10│

Daniel J. Goor, Michael Schur│

Andre Braugher, Andy Samberg, Stephanie Beatriz│

I’m so glad NBC saved this!!!!

│One Day At A Time│Season 3│

│Feb 8│

Gloria Calderon Kellett, Mike Royce│

Justina Machado, Todd Grinnell, Isabella Gomez│

This is probably mine and mum’s fave sitcom that makes us piss ourselves laughing but also makes us sob.

│Game of Thrones│Season 8│

│Apr 14│

David Benioff, D.B. Weiss│

Emilia Clarke, Peter Dinklage, Kit Harington│

I won’t make it to the end of 2019, not because of depression

but because I’m going to die while watching this, I know it.

│Stranger Things│Season 3│

│Jul 4│

Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer│

Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Winona Ryder│

I just want the gang together and happy.

│Mindhunter│Season 2│

│

Joe Penhall│

Jonathan Groff, Holt McCallany, Anna Torv│

I gotta watch it and live text my thoughts to my aunt who is hugely into true crime (so much so that she is studying criminology). Because I’m hilarious and also I know she’ll appreciate it and also I no longer have a best friend to do this shit with.

│Big little Lies│Season 2│

│

David E. Kelley│

Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley│

Big Little Lies rocked my world and made me realise I actually like thrillers.

│RuPaul’s Drag Race UK│Season 1│

│

I’m just excited to see what a season would look like that isn’t hosted and judged by RuPaul.

Past Grey Watches

Grey Watches // I Wanna Bone Jude Law and Kate Winslet – The Holiday

Grey Watches // It Has To Be A Shit Show – A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding

Grey Watches // I Hate It So Much I Love It – A Christmas Prince

Yes I know I said I wouldn’t change the appearance of my blog while I was gone but we all know I’m a dirty liar.

Besides, it’s only some small tweaks here and there and I won’t be going back through my past posts to edit everything to match. A year of posts is too many. I promised myself and my mum I wouldn’t do it again.

This year I’m going to be posting less! Like half the amount I did last year.

Last year I eventually got to a schedule of four posts a week and this year I will be doing two.

I’m doing this for a couple of reasons.

I exercise and eat healthy now and it turns out those two things take up so much time.

I wanna start actually dedicating time to working on my new WIP and maybe have a draft by the end of the year????

I’m planning on doing more Grey Watches post this year, and my book review posts will now be called Grey Reads and I might try and do more discussion posts called Grey Speaks and maybe WIP writing updates in Grey Writes??? It’s all about that branding.

But who knows what I’ll do, honestly I don’t even know myself! I’m terrible with follow through but we’ll see!

My Ancient Archive posts will be moved to once every two months as well because those posts take ages and as much as I love them I just don’t have that kind of time. And they’ll also get a rename—Grey Learns

I was also going to start requesting physical ARCs from publishers but ahhhh turns out I don’t actually enjoy writing reviews??? And there’s always the risk that I’m not gonna like it and I’ll feel obligated to finish it and I don’t have time for that either so I’m not doing that, I’ll be requesting far, far less from Netgalley.

I’ll be posting book reviews roughly once or twice a month, instead of once a week. I’ll still be writing reviews for all the books I read but they’ll be a lot shorter and I’ll mostly just post them on my Goodreads.

If you notice I am reading a book you wanna see a review of over on here, let me know and I’ll be sure to post it!

Past Month In Review

Month in Review // Christmas is Over Thank Fuck – December

Month in Review // November – I Already Hate Christmas

Month in Review // July, August, September & October – New Post Series!

Goals

Get to a point where I walk 10000 steps a day.

On the reg, like every day for the most part. At the moment I just have my step goal as 8000 a day because small steps literally.

But I hit my first 10000 steps on the 16th of last month so that was very exciting for me especially since it was on the day I don’t go for a walk and proved why that is my day off because it’s my shopping day so I’m clearly walking plenty, to begin with!

Find a way to be more financially stable somehow.

Whether that be by a full-time job or maybe work out a way to get paid for doing what I love??

I don’t know. I’m trying to be more open to different paths to get to a place I want to be.

Also, it seems like I may be forced into this sooner rather than later thanks to things out of my control so that’s exciting but also terrifying because ANXIETY.

Finish a draft for my WIP.

Have I started writing it yet? Absolutely not but I’m gonna try!

And I’m very excited about the concept. Think queer banshees and witches and strong women and girls supporting each other. That’s the plan.

Read 50 books.

I read 100 last year and 130 the year before that but with focusing on writing and my health I feel that trying to keep reading that many books is just going to stress me out so I’m not doing it!

Also, I’m already struggling to get through a book a week right now and I need to if I have any hope of just reading 50.

Legally change my name FINALLY!

And guess what guys that one is very close to being complete!

I’ve submitted to the paperwork and now it’s just the waiting for it to get approved and then I can pick up my new birth certificate!

I’ve been waiting for this moment for years so I’m very excited!

Continue going to therapy.

I’m in a much better mental space than I was last year but I still need therapy. Especially since last year was basically just me venting about how fucked up my family is and this year is about me so I want to use my therapy to focus on my shit, get official diagnoses and maybe testing out medication???

Also find a better way to deal with my paranoia because guys, it’s been especially rough lately.

Take regular mental health days

This is much needed!!!!!

And by mental health days I mean spend one whole day doing nothing but maybe watching Netflix and reading and crying if I need to.

My mum and I don’t really stop and so we get hit with emotions at really inconvenient times so I’m hoping that if we schedule a day where we can allow ourselves to be emotional then it might help?

I want to aim for once a month but we’ll see.

Play more video games.

Because they’re fun and I like them and I keep telling myself I don’t have time because it’s not important but fuck important, sometimes you just gotta do shit because it’s fun and pointless.

Past Month Ahead

Month Ahead // Happy Birthday To Me + Hiatus Announcement – January

Month Ahead // December – I Already Hate It

Month Ahead // November – New Post Series

2019 is all about growth and glow ups guys, I can feel it.

What are you doing this year? What are you reading? What are your goals?

│Blog│Goodreads│Instagram│Twitter│Tumblr│

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My Very Gay To Read List

Six of Crows (Six of Crows #1) by Leigh Bardugo

Criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker has been offered wealth beyond his wildest dreams. But to claim it, he'll have to pull off a seemingly impossible heist:

Break into the notorious Ice Court (a military stronghold that has never been breached)

Retrieve a hostage (who could unleash magical havoc on the world)

Survive long enough to collect his reward (and spend it)

Kaz needs a crew desperate enough to take on this suicide mission and dangerous enough to get the job done - and he knows exactly who: six of the deadliest outcasts the city has to offer. Together, they just might be unstoppable - if they don't kill each other first.

The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle #1) by Maggie Stiefvater

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

Loved this book so much: Know Not Why (Know Not Why) by Hannah Johnson

Howie gets a job at Artie Kraft's Arts 'N Crafts hoping to score with his lady coworkers. After all, girls love a sensitive guy, and what's more sensitive than dedicating your life to selling yarn and ... stuff? (Okay, so maybe it'd be a good idea to actually learn what one sells at an arts 'n crafts store.) But things don't go exactly according to plan. Coworker #1 is Cora: tiny, much-pierced, and way too fierce to screw with in any sense. Coworker #2 is Kristy: blonde, bubbly, unattainable perfection. And Coworker #3 is, well, Arthur. It goes without saying that he’s not an option. Right?

… Right?

Yeah, Howie’s life just got straight up confusing.

Pun intended.

How They Met, and Other Stories by David Levithan

Just in time for Valentine’s Day comes a confection from David Levithan that is sure to appeal to fans of Boy Meets Boy. Here are 18 stories, all about love, and about all kinds of love. From the aching for the one you pine for, to standing up and speaking up for the one you love, to pure joy and happiness, these love stories run the gamut of that emotion that at some point has turned every one of us inside out and upside down. What is love? With this original story collection David Levithan proves that love is a many splendored thing, a varied, complicated, addictive, wonderful thing.

Strong Signal by Megan Erickson

I was counting down the months until the end of my deployment. My days were spent working on military vehicles, and I spent my nights playing video games that would distract me until I could leave Staff Sergeant Garrett Reid behind.

That was when I met him: Kai Bannon, a fellow gamer with a famous stream channel.

I never expected to become fixated on someone who'd initially been a rival. And I'd never expected someone who oozed charm to notice me—a guy known for his brutal honesty and scowl. I hadn't planned for our online friendship to turn into something that kept me up at night—hours of chatting evolving into filthy webcam sessions.

But it did. And now I can't stop thinking about him. In my mind, our real life meeting is perfect. We kiss, we fall into bed, and it's love at first sight.

Except, like most things in my life, it doesn't go as planned.

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised.

With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated. Now, change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met.

Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan

New York Times bestselling author David Levithan tells the based-on-true-events story of Harry and Craig, two 17-year-olds who are about to take part in a 32-hour marathon of kissing to set a new Guinness World Record—all of which is narrated by a Greek Chorus of the generation of gay men lost to AIDS.

While the two increasingly dehydrated and sleep-deprived boys are locking lips, they become a focal point in the lives of other teen boys dealing with languishing long-term relationships, coming out, navigating gender identity, and falling deeper into the digital rabbit hole of gay hookup sites—all while the kissing former couple tries to figure out their own feelings for each other.

Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan

This is the story of Paul, a sophomore at a high school like no other: The cheerleaders ride Harleys, the homecoming queen used to be a guy named Daryl (she now prefers Infinite Darlene and is also the star quarterback), and the gay-straight alliance was formed to help the straight kids learn how to dance.

When Paul meets Noah, he thinks he’s found the one his heart is made for. Until he blows it. The school bookie says the odds are 12-to-1 against him getting Noah back, but Paul’s not giving up without playing his love really loud. His best friend Joni might be drifting away, his other best friend Tony might be dealing with ultra-religious parents, and his ex-boyfriend Kyle might not be going away anytime soon, but sometimes everything needs to fall apart before it can really fit together right.

Liked this book: Peter Darling by Austin Chant

Ten years ago, Peter Pan left Neverland to grow up, leaving behind his adolescent dreams of boyhood and resigning himself to life as Wendy Darling. Growing up, however, has only made him realize how inescapable his identity as a man is.

But when he returns to Neverland, everything has changed: the Lost Boys have become men, and the war games they once played are now real and deadly. Even more shocking is the attraction Peter never knew he could feel for his old rival, Captain Hook—and the realization that he no longer knows which of them is the real villain.

Lucas e Nicolas by Gabriel Spits

Lucas é um adolescente como qualquer outro: seu corpo cheio de hormônios o enche de desejos e sua cabeça de dúvidas. Na escola, Lucas é considerado um ‘loser’: tímido, péssimo nos esportes e muito inteligente, alvo constante de chacota dos alunos mais ‘populares’ e completamente inábil na arte da conquista amorosa. Mas, no caso de Lucas, algo mais o deixa vulnerável ao assédio dos colegas: ele é gay. E isso faz toda a diferença, principalmente em um ambiente conservador como na pequena cidade do interior paulista onde vive.

A tanto sofrimento, soma-se uma novidade: recém-chegado da capital São Paulo, Nicolas é tudo o que ele não é: bonito, forte e popular. E é, talvez, justamente por isso, ou por algum outro motivo que ele não consegue identificar, que Lucas se apaixona pelo seu oposto – ou pelo seu complemento? Como lidar com isso? Pode-se considerar “Lucas e Nicolas”, lançamento do Fábrica231, um livro necessário. Com habilidade, o autor traça um perfil honesto de Lucas, um menino desprotegido e solitário em suas dúvidas e questionamentos acerca de sua orientação sexual. Sem interlocutores que possam ouvi-lo e orientá-lo, resta-lhe o sentimento de vergonha, deslocamento e medo. Afinal, o mundo parece não perdoar quem é diferente. Por conta disso, sofre toda sorte de agressões, verbais e físicas, numa homofobia que é negada conscientemente por seus perpetradores, mas muito presente na vida diária.

Na impossibilidade de poder expressar seu afeto, Lucas corre para o abrigo da internet, onde faz um amigo, Matheus, gay assumido, mas que nunca viu ao vivo. Matheus é seu confidente e representa aquele jovem homossexual que tem orgulho de ser quem é. Assume seu caráter único e vive com intensidade toda uma cultura gay que se reflete em músicas, filmes e num linguajar muito peculiar. Ao desabafar sobre Nicolas, ele descobre com Matheus uma informação crucial sobre seu objeto de desejo. Nicolas é o típico aluno popular, forte, bonito e atlético. Mas, por trás de tanta fortaleza, esconde-se uma personalidade frágil, um menino com uma família desajustada, que o obriga a amadurecer cedo. Ele vem da capital para o interior, mas tem dificuldade de se adaptar. Sente saudades dos amigos de São Paulo, e de um em especial. Péssimo nos estudos, ele é obrigado a ter aulas particulares com o CDF do colégio: Lucas. E agora?

How to Repair a Mechanical Heart by J.C. Lillis

Eighteen-year-old Castaway Planet fans Brandon and Abel hate bad fan fiction—especially when it pairs their number-one TV crushes of all time, dashing space captain Cadmus and dapper android Sim. As co-runners of the Internet’s third most popular Castaway Planet vlog, they love to spar with the “Cadsim” fangirls who think Cadmus will melt Sim’s mechanical heart by the Season 5 finale. This summer, Brandon and Abel have a mission: hit the road in an RV to follow the traveling Castaway Planet convention, interview the actors and showrunner, and uncover proof that a legit Cadsim romance will NEVER, EVER HAPPEN.

A Brandon and Abel romance: also not happening. Brandon’s sick of his struggle to make “gay and Catholic” compute, so it’s safer to love a TV android. Plus Abel’s got a hot new boyfriend with a phoenix tattoo, and how can Brandon compete with that? But when mysterious messages about them start popping up in the fan community, they make a shocking discovery that slowly forces their real feelings to the surface. Before they get to the last Castaway Planet convention, Brandon’s going to find out the truth: can a mechanical heart be reprogrammed, or will his first shot at love be a full system failure?

The Dark Wife by Sarah Diemer

Three thousand years ago, a god told a lie. Now, only a goddess can tell the truth. Persephone has everything a daughter of Zeus could want--except for freedom. She lives on the green earth with her mother, Demeter, growing up beneath the ever-watchful eyes of the gods and goddesses on Mount Olympus. But when Persephone meets the enigmatic Hades, she experiences something new: choice. Zeus calls Hades "lord" of the dead as a joke. In truth, Hades is the goddess of the underworld, and no friend of Zeus. She offers Persephone sanctuary in her land of the dead, so the young goddess may escape her Olympian destiny. But Persephone finds more than freedom in the underworld. She finds love, and herself.

Keeping You a Secret by Julie Anne Peters

With a steady boyfriend, the position of Student Council President, and a chance to go to an Ivy League college, high school life is just fine for Holland Jaeger. At least it seems to be. But when Cece Goddard comes to school, everything changes. Cece and Holland have undeniable feelings for each other, but how will others react to their developing relationship? This moving love story between two girls is a worthy successor to Nancy Garden's classic young adult coming out novel, Annie on My Mind. With her characteristic humor and breezy style, Peters has captured the compelling emotions of young love.

Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden

This groundbreaking book is the story of two teenage girls whose friendship blossoms into love and who, despite pressures from family and school that threaten their relationship, promise to be true to each other and their feelings. This book is so truthful and honest, it has been banned from many school libraries and even publicly burned in Kansas City.

Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour

Emi is a film buff and a true romantic, but her real-life relationships are a mess. She has desperately gone back to the same girl too many times to mention. But then a mysterious letter from a silver screen legend leads Emi to Ava. Ava is unlike anyone Emi has ever met. She has a tumultuous, not-so-glamorous past, and lives an unconventional life. She’s enigmatic…. She’s beautiful. And she is about to expand Emi’s understanding of family, acceptance, and true romance.

Him (Him #1) by Sarina Bowen

Jamie Canning has never been able to figure out how he lost his closest friend. Four years ago, his tattooed, wise-cracking, rule-breaking roommate cut him off without an explanation. So what if things got a little weird on the last night of hockey camp the summer they were eighteen? It was just a little drunken foolishness. Nobody died.

Ryan Wesley’s biggest regret is coaxing his very straight friend into a bet that pushed the boundaries of their relationship. Now, with their college teams set to face off at the national championship, he’ll finally get a chance to apologize. But all it takes is one look at his longtime crush, and the ache is stronger than ever.

Jamie has waited a long time for answers, but walks away with only more questions—can one night of sex ruin a friendship? If not, how about six more weeks of it? When Wesley turns up to coach alongside Jamie for one more hot summer at camp, Jamie has a few things to discover about his old friend... and a big one to learn about himself.

Truth in the Dark by Amy Lane

"I am not beautiful..."

Knife's entire existence has been as twisted as his flesh and his face. The only thing beautiful in his life is his sister. When Gwennie is obliged to turn a suitor down because she fears to leave her brother to the brutality of their village, Knife is desperate for anything to ensure her happiness.

Her suitor's cousin offers him a way out, but it won't be easy. Aerie-Smith has been cursed to walk upright in the form of a beast, and his beloved village suffers from the same spell. Aerie-Smith offers Gwen a trousseau and some hope, if only Knife will keep him company on his island for the span of a year and perform one "regrettable task" at year's end.

Knife is unprepared for the form the island's curse takes on his own misshapen body. In one moment of magic, he is given the body of his dreams—and he discovers that where flesh meets spirit and appearance meet reality, sometimes the only place to find truth is in the darkness of a lover's arms.

Luck in the Shadows (Nightrunner #1) by Lynn Flewelling

When young Alec of Kerry is taken prisoner for a crime he didn’t commit, he is certain that his life is at an end. But one thing he never expected was his cellmate. Spy, rogue, thief, and noble, Seregil of Rhiminee is many things–none of them predictable. And when he offers to take on Alec as his apprentice, things may never be the same for either of them. Soon Alec is traveling roads he never knew existed, toward a war he never suspected was brewing. Before long he and Seregil are embroiled in a sinister plot that runs deeper than either can imagine, and that may cost them far more than their lives if they fail. But fortune is as unpredictable as Alec’s new mentor, and this time there just might be…Luck in the Shadows.

I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

Jude and her twin brother, Noah, are incredibly close. At thirteen, isolated Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude cliff-dives and wears red-red lipstick and does the talking for both of them. But three years later, Jude and Noah are barely speaking. Something has happened to wreck the twins in different and dramatic ways . . until Jude meets a cocky, broken, beautiful boy, as well as someone else—an even more unpredictable new force in her life. The early years are Noah's story to tell. The later years are Jude's. What the twins don't realize is that they each have only half the story, and if they could just find their way back to one another, they’d have a chance to remake their world.

Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley

In 1959 Virginia, the lives of two girls on opposite sides of the battle for civil rights will be changed forever.

Sarah Dunbar is one of the first black students to attend the previously all-white Jefferson High School. An honors student at her old school, she is put into remedial classes, spit on and tormented daily.

Linda Hairston is the daughter of one of the town's most vocal opponents of school integration. She has been taught all her life that the races should be kept separate but equal.

Forced to work together on a school project, Sarah and Linda must confront harsh truths about race, power and how they really feel about one another.

The Diviners (The Diviners #1) by Libba Bray

Evie O’Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City—and she is pos-i-tute-ly ecstatic. It’s 1926, and New York is filled with speakeasies, Ziegfeld girls, and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is that she has to live with her uncle Will and his unhealthy obsession with the occult.

Evie worries he’ll discover her darkest secret: a supernatural power that has only brought her trouble so far. But when the police find a murdered girl branded with a cryptic symbol and Will is called to the scene, Evie realizes her gift could help catch a serial killer.

As Evie jumps headlong into a dance with a murderer, other stories unfold in the city that never sleeps. A young man named Memphis is caught between two worlds. A chorus girl named Theta is running from her past. A student named Jericho hides a shocking secret. And unknown to all, something dark and evil has awakened.

The Magicians (The Magicians, #1) by Lev Grossman

Like everyone else, precocious high school senior Quentin Coldwater assumes that magic isn't real, until he finds himself admitted to a very secretive and exclusive college of magic in upstate New York. There he indulges in joys of college-friendship, love, sex, and booze- and receives a rigorous education in modern sorcery. But magic doesn't bring the happiness and adventure Quentin thought it would. After graduation, he and his friends stumble upon a secret that sets them on a remarkable journey that may just fulfill Quentin's yearning. But their journey turns out to be darker and more dangerous than they'd imagined.

The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black

Children can have a cruel, absolute sense of justice. Children can kill a monster and feel quite proud of themselves. A girl can look at her brother and believe they’re destined to be a knight and a bard who battle evil. She can believe she’s found the thing she’s been made for.

Hazel lives with her brother, Ben, in the strange town of Fairfold where humans and fae exist side by side. The faeries’ seemingly harmless magic attracts tourists, but Hazel knows how dangerous they can be, and she knows how to stop them. Or she did, once.

At the center of it all, there is a glass coffin in the woods. It rests right on the ground and in it sleeps a boy with horns on his head and ears as pointed as knives. Hazel and Ben were both in love with him as children. The boy has slept there for generations, never waking.

Until one day, he does…

As the world turns upside down, Hazel tries to remember her years pretending to be a knight. But swept up in new love, shifting loyalties, and the fresh sting of betrayal, will it be enough?

Deathless (Leningrad Diptych #1) by Catherynne M. Valente

Koschei the Deathless is to Russian folklore what devils or wicked witches are to European culture: a menacing, evil figure; the villain of countless stories which have been passed on through story and text for generations. But Koschei has never before been seen through the eyes of Catherynne Valente, whose modernized and transformed take on the legend brings the action to modern times, spanning many of the great developments of Russian history in the twentieth century. Deathless, however, is no dry, historical tome: it lights up like fire as the young Marya Morevna transforms from a clever child of the revolution, to Koschei’s beautiful bride, to his eventual undoing. Along the way there are Stalinist house elves, magical quests, secrecy and bureaucracy, and games of lust and power. All told, Deathless is a collision of magical history and actual history, of revolution and mythology, of love and death, which will bring Russian myth back to life in a stunning new incarnation.

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn, David Levithan

So begins the latest whirlwind romance from the bestselling authors of Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist. Lily has left a red notebook full of challenges on a favorite bookstore shelf, waiting for just the right guy to come along and accept its dares. But is Dash that right guy? Or are Dash and Lily only destined to trade dares, dreams, and desires in the notebook they pass back and forth at locations across New York? Could their in-person selves possibly connect as well as their notebook versions? Or will they be a comic mismatch of disastrous proportions?

Rachel Cohn and David Levithan have written a love story that will have readers perusing bookstore shelves, looking and longing for a love (and a red notebook) of their own.

Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn, David Levithan

It all starts when Nick asks Norah to be his girlfriend for five minutes. He only needs five minutes to avoid his ex-girlfriend, whoâ€™s just walked in to his bandâ€™s show. With a new guy. And then, with one kiss, Nick and Norah are off on an adventure set against the backdrop of New York Cityâ€”and smack in the middle of all the joy, anxiety, confusion, and excitement of a first date.

Every Day (Every Day #1) by David Levithan

Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl. There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere.

It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day.

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

A laugh-out-loud, heartfelt YA romantic comedy, told in alternating perspectives, about two Indian-American teens whose parents have arranged for them to be married.

Dimple Shah has it all figured out. With graduation behind her, she’s more than ready for a break from her family, from Mamma’s inexplicable obsession with her finding the “Ideal Indian Husband.” Ugh. Dimple knows they must respect her principles on some level, though. If they truly believed she needed a husband right now, they wouldn’t have paid for her to attend a summer program for aspiring web developers…right?

Rishi Patel is a hopeless romantic. So when his parents tell him that his future wife will be attending the same summer program as him—wherein he’ll have to woo her—he’s totally on board. Because as silly as it sounds to most people in his life, Rishi wants to be arranged, believes in the power of tradition, stability, and being a part of something much bigger than himself.

The Shahs and Patels didn’t mean to start turning the wheels on this “suggested arrangement” so early in their children’s lives, but when they noticed them both gravitate toward the same summer program, they figured, Why not?

Dimple and Rishi may think they have each other figured out. But when opposites clash, love works hard to prove itself in the most unexpected ways.

A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic #1) by V.E. Schwab

Kell is one of the last travelers--magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel universes connected by one magical city.

There's Grey London, dirty and boring, without any magic, and with one mad King--George III. Red London, where life and magic are revered--and where Kell was raised alongside Rhy Maresh, the roguish heir to a flourishing empire. White London--a place where people fight to control magic and the magic fights back, draining the city to its very bones. And once upon a time, there was Black London. But no one speaks of that now.

Officially, Kell is the Red traveler, ambassador of the Maresh empire, carrying the monthly correspondences between the royals of each London. Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they'll never see. It's a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand.

Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She robs him, saves him from a deadly enemy, and finally forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.

Now perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they'll first need to stay alive.

#to read #books

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wordcollector · 8 years ago

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A Year In Books: The 2016 Bookworm Awards

I’d like to blame the lateness of this post on something dramatic, like aliens or politics or a terrible computer virus. But the truth is that I’ve had this written since the turn of the year and haven’t had the motivation to type it up. Despite the tardiness of this post, I’d still like to share with you my final round-up on the books I read last year. There were quite a few, and I have a lot of opinions, so stick with me!

2016 was a pretty good year for me. I participated in my first 10k, I successfully defended my PhD dissertation proposal, and I found out I was going to become an aunt- to twins! Aside from those things, though, my year was pretty uneventful, which was a blessing in disguise as it gave me plenty of time to read.

I keep track of my yearly reading on Goodreads (jbfinch89; let’s be friends!), and based on my number there, I spent a large portion of this year with my nose stuck in a book. I guess I really am a funny girl and all that.

In 2015, I read 132 books. My goal for this past year started at 100, which I surpassed, so I upped it to 150. I passed that goal, too, but I wasn’t sure just how ambitious I wanted to be after that, so that's where my goal stayed.

When all was said and done, I had read 178 books (Goodreads says 174, but that’s because I still haven't managed to find a good way to record rereads on Goodreads). These 178 books came from a number of different genres, ranging from classics to sci-fi to Christian fiction to memoirs for a total of over 63,000 pages.

I should probably be glad I didn't end up with more paper cuts.

Here's a more detailed breakdown of my reading this year:

Books Read: 178

New Series Started: 14

Old Series Finished: 5

Series Binge Read: 4

Fiction vs. Nonfiction: 156 (88%) vs. 22 (12%)

Authors Read: 133

Rereads: 9

So probably no one but me that cares about these stats, but I like the numbers.

It looks like I started a lot of new series that are going to require more space on my bookshelves in the future, but I also made the executive decision to let myself not finish a series. I hate leaving things unfinished, so I normally would have kept up with a series as long as I didn’t completely hate the first book, but this year, I realized that I have neither the time nor the room to keep that up forever. There are too many books out there that I want to read to stick with ones that I don’t like. I even let myself sell the first books in these series, mostly because I needed the space, but also to avoid the temptation to keep reading the series out of guilt. Like I said, too many books to feel bad.

And there really are a tone of books out there to read; just look at my Goodreads ‘To-Read’ shelf. But I put a pretty good dent in my eternal TBR pile last year, and through the good and the bad, I found myself laughing, frowning, crying, and cringing. Some books were okay, some were disappointing, and some definitely knocked my socks off. Or they would have if I didn’t hate wearing socks so much.

But I digress. My reading last year had its ups and downs, but some books had way more ups and others more downs. Which are which? It took some work to decide, but I finally managed to narrow down the best of the best, the cream of the crop, and the ones at the tippy top. And so, I present to you the 2016 Bookworm Awards, brought to you once again by the brains behind the Literary Laboratory.

Favorite New Authors: Carrie Firestone and Sarah Porter

These two ladies couldn’t have written more different stories, but they were alike in that neither of them was like anything I’d read before. Carrie’s book was brutally honest and unexpectedly rude, but it was also heartbreaking and hopeful. Sarah wrote a story full of magic and danger with a plucky heroine who was unafraid of doing what needed to be done. To create such fascinating and unique characters and such strangely wonderful situations takes some writers countless tries, but these ladies managed in some of their earliest novels. Brava to both of them!

Favorite New to Me Authors: Erin Morgenstern and Amie Kaufman/Jay Kristoff

I have no idea why I held off on reading the releases from these three. The Night Circus blew me away; it was whimsical and mysterious and dangerous and romantic, and if I could live in Le Cirque des Reves, I would. The Night Circus has fantastically complex characters, but it’s really the world they create that makes this book so great. It’s easily one of my all-time favorites. And both Illuminae and Gemina kept me glued to the pages long after I should’ve gone to bed, gotten back to work, or headed out to run errands. I couldn’t put either of these books down! The format of these stories is one-of-a-kind, and the stories themselves are heart-stopping and action-packed. There were so many plot twists that I didn’t see coming, and I was rooting so hard for the main characters, who were all flawed but skilled, broken but determined, lost yet relentless. I can’t wait for the next book in this series.

Best Beginning of a Series: Illumine (The Illuminae Files #1) by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

As I just mentioned, The Illuminae Files is one of my favorite series of 2016. Illuminae easily surpassed anything I could’ve expected and had me flying through the pages to see what happened next. The story started off with chaos and never let up, and I loved following Kady, Ezra, and the rest of the survivors of Kerenza as they tried to escape the people who had blown up their home. I really liked Kady in particular. She was smart, skilled, and snarky, and her willingness to put herself in harm’s way to save those she cared about was undeniably admirable. There were so many twists and turns in her quest for safety, and every time I thought I had things pegged, I was proven wrong. Illuminae was an explosive—literally—debut for this award-winning duo, and it quickly earned both authors a place on my TBR pile for their individual books.

Best Ending to a Series: The Raven King (The Raven Cycle #4) by Maggie Stiefvater, Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows #2) by Leigh Bardugo, Ignite Me (Shatter Me #3) by Tahereh Mafi

In every book series, characters change and grow as they face new situations and new challenges. These three series, though, had more character growth than most. The writing in these series allowed the characters to naturally respond to the changes in their lives, both good and bad, and end up somewhere better than I ever could’ve guessed when I began each series. Each story also had plenty of action, danger, and romance to wrap up the adventures, and the endings managed to be foregone yet still surprising, which, to me, is always a sign that the author has really put work into the finale rather than just giving readers what they want. Not everyone got their happy ending, but everyone got a proper ending, with hints of more stories in the future. I can only hope.

Best Short Story Collection: Stars Above (The Lunar Chronicles) by Marissa Meyer

The Lunar Chronicles is one of my all-time favorite series, and this collection of extra stories about the main characters was everything I’d hoped for and more. The stories provided looks at the pasts of some of the characters, helping show how they became the people I came to know and love, while the final story provided a new adventure for the four couples as they started their lives after the war. Something Old, Something New made me smile so much and made my heart swell with happiness for these characters, and I can’t thank Marissa enough for another chance to peek back into the world of The Lunar Chronicles.

Most Disappointing Book: Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco

Ugh, I really wanted to like this book. The cover was beautiful, and the premise of a young woman training to become a forensic pathologist and finding herself on the path of an infamous serial killer sounded great. But this book fell prey to the dangers of insta-love, ridiculous decisions by an intelligent character, and a villain reveal that didn’t make sense. There was very little stalking of Bloody Jack as the title had promised, and to make it worse, the characters were pretty flat, largely predictable, and fairly uninteresting. This is one series I won’t be continuing.

Favorite Classic: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

I wrote a whole review on this book last February because it managed to do what few books have done and catch me truly by surprise. The first part of this book makes you think it’s going to be a typical gothic romance with grand, sweeping settings, beautiful but troubled characters, and a dark secret. And this book is that. But then the dark secret is revealed, and it was something I never would’ve guessed. It had me flipping back to reread scenes in a new light and kept me glued to the book until I’d reached the end. This book is a classic for a reason, and I highly recommend it for anyone who’s a fan of a good mystery.

Favorite Non-fiction Read: Ghost Soldiers by Hampton Sides

This book had my emotions all over the place. The topic—the Bataan death march and the Cabanatuan Camp—is one that isn’t widely discussed, but it really should be, as it’s a true story of the best and worst of mankind. I couldn’t believe the optimism, the hope, and the perseverance of the human spirit in such horrific conditions, and it gave me a new respect for the men who endured such cruelty. Ghost Soldiers is truly a heartbreaking yet inspiring story and certainly one I’ll never forget.

Favorite Reread: The Dream Thieves (The Raven Cycle #2) by Maggie Stiefvater

The Raven Cycle is one of my favorite series anyway, and while I love the other three books, The Dream Thieves just feels like a beast of a different sort. I’d forgotten how much I loved to hate Kravinsky, not to mention how legitimately crazy that dude was, but I loved how he messed with the Raven boys and how he antagonized Ronan in particular. This book focused more on Ronan and his abilities as the Greywaren, and it felt less like a mystical mystery and more like a reckless, headfirst race into danger and bad decisions than the rest of the quartet. I was quite pleased to hear that the Ronan-centered series Maggie is working on will be more like The Dream Thieves, because goodness knows I need more of this lovable thug of a boy in my life.

Favorite Retelling: Vassa in the Night by Sarah Porter

I was only vaguely familiar with the original tale of Vasilisa and her magical doll—thanks, random folklore podcast!—and so I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this book. I ended up being pleasantly surprised! The setting of the story was a mix of the familiar and the absurd, the characters were magical and strange, and the story itself was, well, also strange, but also a bit heartbreaking and a bit inspiring. Vassa was such a strong character, and I loved that she managed to save others by being kind; she didn’t require any special powers, other than what Erg provided, to defeat Baba Yaga, which is unusual for most YA books today. And since I wasn’t really sure how the original tale ended, I couldn’t guess how things were going to turn out for Vassa. This is the way modern retellings should be done.

Favorite Contemporary Read: The Loose Ends List by Carrie Firestone

This book wasn’t anything like I expected, and that was a good thing. I expected an interesting story about a girl whose grandmother was dying. What I got was an open, honest, yet rude, funny, and heartbreaking look at death, letting go, and the love of family. I loved Maddie and her reactions to all the crazy things that happened on the cruise, and I loved getting to see the sweet relationship between her and her grandmother. I also loved getting to meet all the other Wishwellians and their families and seeing how all their views of life and death changed as the cruise went on. The cover of this book, although quite cute, doesn’t really do this book justice as it covers such a heavy topic and really makes you consider what you’re doing that makes life worth living.

Scariest Book: Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

Most people know Gillian Flynn through her novel Gone Girl, but I’ve only read her other novels, and Dark Places is easily my favorite. This book was more suspenseful than scary, but it was frightening to uncover the true events of the fateful night that the family of the main character, Libby, was killed. Libby herself was a rather unlikable character, but she’d suffered so much that I still cared about her story. It was interesting to have the POV jumps and the flashbacks to unfold the story and create tension from a number of different angles, and the truth of the murders was actually much more complex and scary than I’d imagined. This book was rather depressing and dark, but it’s worth it to see how Libby changes as she learns more about her family and their deaths.

Funniest Books: Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick, The Only Pirate at the Party by Lindsey Stirling, and You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) by Felicia Day

My sense of humor is a bit drier and a bit darker than most, but these three ladies all managed to make me laugh numerous times. Not at them, of course, more at the various situations they’ve found themselves in over the years and the ridiculous ways they reacted to them. (They were laughing, too, so I didn’t feel bad.) It was nice to see that even famous people have awkward moments, whether it’s suffering from foot-in-mouth syndrome or acting like a total fangirl in fronts of someone (else) famous. Aside from being funny, these memoirs showed the dedication and determination of these women to their crafts, and I loved that they were open about both the ups and downs in their lives. It makes me admire them all the more for their willingness to share their mistakes and their hard times and to then remind everyone that it’s okay to ask for help, that there are people out there who love you and want to see you happy. And I feel like these three ladies really show that the bad times don’t last forever and that sometimes laughter really is the best medicine.

Most Unexpected Books: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier and Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

I know I’ve already talked about both of these a bit, but I want to reiterate that both of these books threw in a huge twist that I absolutely did not see coming. That happens quite rarely for me, and the fact that it happened twice in one year makes me think I’m either losing my awesome literary foresight or authors are getting better at being surprising. Well, Rebecca is far from new, so maybe I’ve just been reading better books. Regardless, even though I’ve told you there are big twists, you should really read these books to find out what they are. I promise you you won’t be disappointed.

Cover Lust: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, The Raven King (The Raven Cycle #4) by Maggie Stiefvater, and The Love That Split the World by Emily Henry

I will freely admit that I’m guilty of occasionally judging a book by its cover, and these books would’ve definitely piqued my interest even if I’d known nothing about them. The covers of these three books are all very different, but they fit their individuals stories so well, managing to portray all the magic inside with a single picture. A cover picture is worth a thousand words, after all.

These say,

“Aren’t

pretty?”

(The answer is yes, yes you are.)

Most Surprising Villain: Tamlin from A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses #2) by Sarah J. Maas

In A Court of Thorns and Roses, I liked Tamlin. He wasn’t perfect, and his unwillingness to stand up to Amarantha to help Feyre irked me, but overall, I thought he was a good match for Feyre, and I was glad they ended up together. Then I got to A Court of Mist and Fury, and all those happy feelings for Tamlin went right out the window. Part of me initially wanted to forgive his actions—he was finally free after so many years, and he was clearly still recovering—but the moment he locked Feyre in the house was the moment I lost all sympathy for him. It’s one thing to want to protect someone you love, but it’s another thing entirely to force them to do what you want because you think you know what’s best for them. And then that ending! Yeah, Tamlin jumped to the top of my naughty list. I loved that Maas was able to flip the tables on Tamlin’s character and show how people can change for the better or for the worse. I kind of liked Tamlin’s road to villainy, in part because it was so unexpected but also because it made room for Rhysand, which I certainly didn’t mind!

Top Five Couples:

Blue and Gansey from The Raven King (The Raven Cycle #4) by Maggie Stiefvater

Feyre and Rhysand from A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses #2) by Sarah J. Maas

Celia and Marco from The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Kaz and Inej from Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows #2) by Leigh Bardugo

Juliette and Warner from Ignite Me (Shatter Me #3) by Tahereh Mafi

You know how some couples have problems with lying or trusting one another or disapproving families? These couples make those couples look lame by comparison. These five couples were forced to deal with magic, murder, kidnapping, corrupt rulers and governments, major anxiety issues, their own death—you know, simple stuff—and managed to come out even stronger. These guys and gals are all strong and fierce on their own, but together, they prove they can do absolutely anything they set their minds to. Definitely relationship goals, expect maybe with less bloodshed.

And that’s the end!

This was really a whirlwind year for me in terms of reading; I found a number of books that made it onto my all-time favorites list, and I found some others that convinced me to branch out in regards to what genres and topics I’m willing to explore.

So how did those discoveries work out in relation to my reading goals from last year? Well, I met—and surpassed—my initial goal of 100 books. I did manage to read more classics, although I still have plenty to go. And I read at least one non-fiction book each month, and most months, I read more than one. I rediscovered that real life can be just as dramatic and violent and romantic and mysterious as fiction, something that I tend to forget as I’m off exploring all the fictional worlds I can find. Therefore, one of this year’s reading goals is based on my enjoyment of all the nonfiction stories I read last year; yes, once again, I have my reading goals along with my more general resolutions. This year, my goals are to:

1) Read only nonfiction books for an entire month

2) Read at least 160 books

3) Read more classics…again

I’m quite confident that I can successfully meet all these goals—goodness knows I have enough books on my shelves to do so. I’m also quite confident that I’ll once again find some new favorites and some interesting historical events to study up on. There’s a whole year’s worth of reading to explore, and I can’t to see where these stories take me.

I better go get started…

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