A Long Overdue Reading Update

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!?!?