Hi, everyone!!! Lately my blogging has been so, SO inconsistently, and, well, so has my reading. I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump these past couple of weeks. That being said, I have read some really, really great books lately, so here it goes.
I’ll start with LADY MIDNIGHT by Cassandra Clare. I think this might be my favorite Cassandra Clare book. It literally had everything I wanted from it—and more. And can I just say that I LOVE the way that Cassandra Clare deals with bisexual/gay characters? So believable, and her inclusion of it is awesome. LADY MIDNIGHT had gorgeous, descriptive writing & a bone-chilling plot. I’m also a HUGE fan of Edgar Allen Poe—his poems/stories are deliciously creepy—and she worked that into her novel SEAMLESSLY. I adored Emma as a main character, too, she was everything I wanted from Clary. Nothing against Clary, but Emma shone so much brighter and worked so well with Julian. We also get a deeper look into the parabati and Fae courts (and guys, I LOVE Fae, seriously, give me ALL your Fae books.) Also adored how we got to see old characters from previous books, which had me grinning more than once. Totally recommend, especially if you’re a lover of the series before.
Continuing down the fantasy route, I’ve binge-read THE SWORD OF SHANNARA and THE ELFSTONES OF SHANNARA lately, which I really, really enjoyed. They’re so much fun. As of now, I have THE WISHSONG OF SHANANRA waiting to be read. Undoubtedly, people are going to compare Brooks to Tolkien (which isn’t fair, if you ask me—Tolkien is Tolkien) but if you’re looking for a somewhat light and fun series to read, these might be your thing. I’m also super looking forward to watching the TV adaptation—anyone here watched/liked it?
Heading into a more science fiction territory, I recently read GLASS SWORD by Victoria Aveyard. First off—ANY author who thanks pizza in their acknowledgments gets a thumbs up, in my opinion. GLASS SWORD felt like a very, very different novel to RED QUEEN (although if you ask me, I think that was necessary for the story to grow and evolve.) There was less of the fantasy court politics, and more of a rough science-fiction edge which might not be to everyone’s tastes, but I loved the new, fresh direction it took.
Aaaaaand, some even more sci-fi: ILLUMINAE by Jay Kristoff & Amie Kaufman hands down BLEW. ME. AWAY. If you haven’t yet read this novel, then I’ll recommend this one a THOUSAND times over. I literally read this book in one sitting (and have you seen the size of this one!?) and is completely deserving of all the praise it’s been getting. And, yes, fine: it’s completely killing me seeing all the ARCs of GEMINA people have been getting. So, so, so, SO excited to have this one in my hands. I finished The Lunar Chronicles (WINTER) by Marissa Meyer, and, while I’m utterly heartbroken that the series is over—I think it ended on the perfect note (and I’m looking forward to seeing what else Marissa Meyer writes. HEARTLESS is her next book, and it looks fabulous.)
One last sci-fi, or, in this case, probably more technically dystopian: LEGEND by Marie Lu. Whhyyyyy has it taken me so long to read these wonderful books!? I’ve been a fan of Marie Lu’s THE YOUNG ELITES series—by the way, have you seen the cover for THE MIDNIGHT STAR; it’s gorgeous!—and I finally picked this one up. Thankfully, it did not disappoint.
This post would NOT, obviously, be complete without a fairytale retelling, and recently read ENTWINED by Heather Dixon, which I’ve actually wanted to read for a lonnnnnnng time. And: it was gorgeous, stunning. A medieval-esque world, with subtle, lovely threads of magic throughout. Finishing off with another fantasy—KINGS RISING by C.S Pacat. Guysssssss, these books. The more I think about them, the more I adore them. They’re largely character-driven novels and they’ll tear out your heart and they’ll stitch it back together again. Laurent and Damen were just so beautifully & realistically written. (just fyi, they are adult books. So there’s sex & violence, if you’re not comfortable with that.)
What have you guys been reading lately?? Let me know in the comments below. Can you believe that it’s literally only FIVE WEEKS until FRAYED hits shelves!?!?
I LOVED LADY MIDNIGHT. Definitely my favourite Cassandra Clare novel :) I haven’t read the others, but I bought Red Queen today :) Love this post! :D
Glad you liked LADY MIDNIGHT!
Ahhh I want to read the Shanara Chronicles! Loved the TV SHOW!!
They’re worth checking out. :)
These are some great reads!!! I just started reading The Mortal Instruments is past month *hangs head in shame* but I’m loving them!!
Glass Sword was amazing I agree ☺️
And loved the Shanara Chronicles show. I haven’t read the books yet so can’t compare the two but the show is awesome!
Yaaaaay!! Happy to hear you’re liking THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS. It’s been so so long since I’ve read them—but I remember loving them at the time.
Only 5 weeks until Frayed?! *screams* SO EXCITED FOR YOU, KARA. (And, well, for me so I can buy it. 😂) And omg I’m so glad you loved Illuminae! AND this reminds me that I only ever read Legend and then wondered off…when I clearly need to finish that trilogy. ALSO I WANT TO SEE THE SHANNARA CHRONICLES! And read them. I’m considering cheating and watching first, shhhh. ;D
I KNOW RIGHT!? And it’ll be ONE MONTH from tomorrow. 😱😱
YOU’RE ALIIIIIIIVE *tackle hugs*
It sounds like you’ve been reading some AMAZING BOOKS LATELY. Lady Midnight was incredible, wasn’t it? And Illuminae, omg. I’m kind of sad that I don’t have it in hardback. Maybe something to think about before Gemina comes out (although I’ll probably have to buy a new bookcase just to house it. That thing is MASSIVE).
OOoooh, I haven’t heard of Entwined but it sounds excellent.
Hahah! Yes, I am alive. ;) Yessss, ILLUMINAE was so, so good and I canNOT wait until GEMINA. (and it’s seriously killing me to see people with ARCs. 😭)
I’ve heard such great things about Lady Midnight…but I have to admit I’m avoiding it.
Any ‘first book in a series’ book that is that big…makes me hesitate.
HOW GOOD IS ILLUMINAE, RIGHT??? I read it in one sitting, too!
I just finished The Raven King…MY EMOTIONS!!
And by just finished, I mean I read it last week.
But still.
Oh, I so know what you mean—such a big commitment, haha. And ooh, I’m really looking forward to THE RAVEN KING.
I still need to read Lady Midnight, but I will definitely get to it soon! I’ll probably ask it for my birthday next month :) AND OH MY GOD ONLY FIVE MORE WEEKS?! That is so exciting! I hope I’ll be able to get it here in The Netherlands! :)
I hope you love it!! And I’m not sure of Sourcebook’s distribution to the Netherlands, but you CAN order it from Amazon/the Book Depository, or I’m sure you could even go into your local store and they’d order it in for you. :)
I’ve found it on bol.com, which is basically the biggest webshop here, so I can get my hands on it :D
Yay Kara, glad to see you back! Reading slumps are never fun, but it seems like you’ve found some great reads to get yourself back into the groove of things! Iluminae was just spectacular wasn’t it?! I loved its unique format, and more books definitely need to think about doing something like that! I’ve had a great reading streak lately too, and currently reading A Court of Mist and Fury. So keen!
Thanks! I just loved ILLUMINAE so, so much! I’m very cautious when there’s insane hype around things—but this one lived up to that.
I didn’t really get into TMI or TID but every time I see people rave about Lady Midnight, I am once again tempted to pick it up! Glad to see that you conquered the reading slump and have been able to read such a bunch of great titles! Glad to have you back. I just finished reading ACOMAF and at the moment I cannot read anything else T_T My last finished book was a audiobook (Tale for the Time Being, which was also excellent and I need to own the book now!)
Honestly, it took me two tries to get into TMI, but once I was invested in the characters and the story, there was NO going back for me haha.
YESSSS i’m so pleased that you ended up LOVING Illuminae as well as Winter finally! I’ve heard so much about the C.S. Pacat books but I’m a bit unsure about them at the moment. I have Glass Sword and Lady Midnight to read but I just need to make time for them!
I SO recommend C.S. Pacat’s books. They’ve not for everyone, but I adored them.
I’ve been trying really hard to get into The Elfstones of Shannara but it’s been a struggle. I watched the first episode of the new show and absolutely loved it so I immediately picked up the book. I might need to try out the audiobook and see if that helps because I really want to get into the series before I continue on with the tv show.
I’m totally the opposite!! LOVED the book—not a fan of the show. :)