#st: the coldest girl in coldtown

[suzannahnatters]

2023 In Books!

Due to mild fatigue, 2023 was a bad reading year for me - I did not reach my yearly 2-books-a-week goal for the first time since I began logging them, and many of the books I did read did not agree with me. But I still found ten fiction and 7 (!) non-fiction books I had to shout out for the end of the year.

Top 10 Fiction THE RED PALACE by June Hur A historical murder mystery set in Joseon Korea, featuring crystalline prose, a painstakingly evoked historical setting, and an understated romance in a dark atmosphere of terror, secrets, and palace intrigue. Despite being written for a young adult audience, this book impressed me with its complex picture of a deeply flawed real historical context.

TOOTH AND CLAW by Jo Walton A Victorian style comedy of manners in which every single character is a dragon, from the dragon parsons and spirited young lady dragons to the crotchety old dragon dowagers and feckless young dragons-about-town. All of them wear little hats. Sheer cosy perfection.

DRAKE HALL by Christina Baehr My bestie surprised me this year by spontaneously producing four whole novels pitched as "cosy Victorian gothic, with dragons". I haven't read the final edition of DRAKE HALL yet but it's sunshiney, summery, cosy goodness. With dragons.

CRIMSON BOUND by Rosamund Hodge (re-read) A dark and bloody fantasy full of lifegiving female friendship, ride or die siblings, theology, guilt, and stabbings. This one also contains gratuitous St Augustine quotes, a one-page retelling of the VOLUNDARKVIDA, and a love triangle that exists to present the heroine not so much with drama as a proper ethical dilemma.

EMILY WILDE'S ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF FAERIES by Heather Fawcett The story of a mildly autistic lady academic researching faeries with her flamboyant rival professor, who is probably secretly an exiled fae king…but the annoying part is his habit of making his students do all his field work. Cosy, thrilling, hilarious.

THE LAST TALE OF THE FLOWER BRIDE by Roshani Chokshi This gothic-infused psychological thriller was dark, creepy, and sometimes heavy, but it's also a tale that flips the roles of innocent maiden and Bluebeard, engages in valid Susan Pevensie Discourse, and ends on what I found to be a genuine note of hope and healing.

THE COLDEST GIRL IN COLDTOWN by Holly Black This book tackles vampirism as a metaphor for the evil hidden in the human heart, and it's epic, bloody, twisty, and monstrous. I couldn't put it down. Not sure I'd recommend it for the target audience, but it's mature and well-crafted enough to be enjoyed by grown-ups as well.

THE WITCHWOOD KNOT by Olivia Atwater I've read a number of Olivia Atwater books, and this one is head and shoulders above the rest. The best blend of gothic and fae, like a grown-up LABYRINTH, with one of the great fae butlers and so many subtle yet walloping feels. It felt like an old fairytale in the best possible way.

BEHIND THE CURTAIN by WR Gingell The WORLDS BEHIND series is about trauma and healing and repentance, and in this, the fourth book, everything comes decisively to the boil as our favourite twisty knife uncle pits his wits against an enemy who very uncomfortably mirrors himself.

Top 7 Non-Fiction (because I couldn't get it down to just five)

TWO VIEWS ON WOMEN IN MINISTRY by Beck & Gundry (eds.) Four New Testament scholars from a range of complementarian and egalitarian perspectives debate the question of women in ministry, with a lot of detailed scholarship. If nothing else, this book proved that this is something orthodox Christians can honestly disagree about, because there are significant exegetical strengths and difficulties with each position - it's time to stop seeing women holding ministry positions in the church as tantamount to heresy.

REFLECTIONS: ON THE MAGIC OF WRITING by Dianna Wynne Jones This collection was magical - funny and sad tales of her life, many good and passionate thoughts on books and writing, and one absolutely marvellous study of narrative structure in THE LORD OF THE RINGS. Absolutely delightful and highly recommended.

PATERNAL TYRANNY by Arcangela Tarabotti A 17th-century nun takes aim at the misogyny of early modern Europe, wielding razor-sharp logic to argue boldly for the equality of women. But it's Tarabotti's passionate faith, which somehow managed to survive moral injury and spiritual abuse, and even came to see hope and encouragement in scriptures which must so often have been used against her, that will stay with me.

THE GOLDEN RHINOCEROS: HISTORIES OF THE AFRICAN MIDDLE AGES by Francois-Xavier Fauvelle A series of bite-sized essays on the medieval history of Africa from approximately the Islamic conquests of the 7th century to the arrival of Portugese colonists in the fifteenth. Each essay offers the most fleeting glimpse of a long-vanished, half-imaginary world of often breathtaking sophistication and splendour. I loved them.

ONE HOLY LOCAL CHURCH? by Bojidar Marinov This short book, which draws very solidly on past luminaries like Rutherford, Gillespie, Spurgeon, and Hodge, helped me think through some of the questions I've been asking myself about ecclesiology and the role and authority of elders, particularly as I've been rethinking women in ministry. Terrific.

TEN DAYS IN A MAD-HOUSE by Nellie Bly "People on charity should not expect anything and should not complain." In 1887, the American "girl reporter" Nellie Bly got herself locked up in a New York lunatic asylum, and this shocking expose was the result. Sometimes, nineteenth century attitudes towards women and the poor were beyond parody.

A PEOPLE'S TRAGEDY: THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION, 1891-1924 by Orlando Figes Some aspects of this book have aged poorly - the unthinking acceptance of Russian imperial aspirations, for instance - but apart from that, this is a sweeping, epic picture of the Russian Revolution, covering three decades and every level of society, from daily life in the village commune to the political rivalries of Lenin's declining years, without ever becoming dull or bogged down in detail.

[snarktheater]

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown — Bonus (short story)

Someone requested it, so I'm doing it. I ended up liking The Coldest Girl in Coldtown more than expected, so I'm actually glad to be taking a look at the short story that came before the book. We'll see what it's worth.

The story opens with a girl named Matilda, who is drunk, and apparently this is not a rare occurrence for her. A guy tries to pick up on her (and the story immediately tells us that she is in fact underage, so…ew), and she goes along with it because…I don't know, either she has an agenda, or self-destructive urges. Possibly both.

The guy is named…Mark, or Dan, or Dave, Matilda isn't sure, and she settles on Mardave, because the author thought this would be hilarious. He's also with a friend, Ben. Because…it's more fun to sexually abuse a drunk underage girl with a friend, I guess?

It would be easy for her to close her eyes and pretend Mardave was someone else, someone she wanted to be touched by, but she wouldn’t let herself soil her memories of Julian.

So…yeah, self-destruction mixed with unhealthy coping mechanisms. Okay.

As they head for Mardave's place, Matilda sees streams from Coldtown on the televisions in a storefront, and so the book delivers the crucial information about the world. Remember, this came before the book. Also, wherever they are, Matilda and the boys are currently near Coldtown.

“We’ll protect you,” said Ben, smiling back at her. “We should do what other countries do and blow those corpses sky high,” Mardave said. Matilda bit her tongue not to point out that Europe’s vampire hunting led to the highest levels of infection in the world. So many of Belgium’s citizens were vampires that shops barely opened their doors until nightfall. The truce with Coldtown worked. Mostly.

Hey, why the Belgium hate? And yeah, I've complained about this in the book too, but I have a very hard time believing that Europe would devolve into vampire hunting while the United States of fucking America would choose the diplomatic route. It bears repeating.

Anyway, Matilda is sick…and by "sick" I mean she's probably Cold, judging by her symptoms and the surrounding descriptions.

Now she was the one who was counting. Fifty-seven days. Eighty-eight days. Eighty-eight nights.

I'm…honestly no sure what this is supposed to mean. Has it been fifty-seven days for her or did the book just throw the number at random?

Matilda ends up being found by a guy named Dante while she waits for Mardave and Ben to buy more booze. Dante knows her and has been looking for her, because everyone she knows thinks she's dead. She tells him she is indeed Cold, and cue more infodump as she explains to us why she ran away (which is…basically the same reason Tana did).

Dante tells her that Julian (who is Matilda's boyfriend, in case the earlier reference was too subtle for you) and his sister Lydia ran away together, with Lydia at least looking to turn into a vampire. Matilda doesn't really want to bother with other people's problems when she still has to hold out for thirty-seven days without biting people, but Dante ruins her plans for the night by telling the boys that she's infected. Well, dodged that bullet, I guess.

We get a flashback to fifty-seven days ago, when she got bitten by a vampire at a party, and then some infodump about Caspar Morales for good measure. Then it's back to the present, with Matilda coercing Dante into buying her alcohol so she can keep he bloodlust at bay.

“You can’t keep going like this. You can’t just stay drunk to avoid your problems.” […] “Let me spell it out: if you don’t get me some alcohol, I am going to bite you.”

After he gets her a drink, he explains his sister's situation in more detail: she used to be scared of vampires, then decided to become one, and Dante went looking for Matilda hoping she would have turned and that…what, she could turn his sister for him?

Yeah, pretty much. Lydia was already looking for vampires to bite her through online ads, so getting someone they could trust to do it is a better alternative, I guess? As for Julian…

Dante shrugged slim shoulders. “Maybe he was looking for you.”

Right, whatever you say.

We get some infodump about the token system for humans to get out of Coldtown, in order to establish the stakes: if Matilda and Dante can't find Lydia and Julian before they make it to Coldtown, they won't be able to get them out without hiring a vampire hunter, which they or their families can't really afford.

Also, this:

“Why did Julian go with her?” She tried to keep the hurt out of her voice. She didn’t think Dante would understand. He DJed at a club in town and was rumored to see a different boy or girl every day of the week. The only person he actually seemed to care about was his sister.

Is this a thing with Holly Black, that her male characters are bi? Or is it just this particular case, because the short story more or less inspired the book and so some elements are lifted from it?

They hit the bars around Coldtown looking for someone who might have seen Lydia and Julian, and eventually pick up their trail from a girl, from whom they bought blood that they could use for the transformation once they find a vampire to bite them. Um…ew.

“Said she was tired of waiting.” “What about the guy?” Matilda asked. […] “He said his girlfriend was a vampire,” said the girl.

Yeah, well, he obviously didn't do his research well, did he?

Dante checks his sister's blog to find that she made a new entry titled "One-Way Ticket to Coldtown", and…that doesn't really change anything to the stakes, but okay, I guess?

Instead, we go on a tangent about how Matilda should tell more people about her method of resisting the Cold by being constantly drunk. Because sure, that sounds like a good idea. Make the people infected with something that makes them violent lose all their inhibitions. I can't see that go wrong ever.

Dante also points out that Lydia's never going to be turned inside Coldtown, because the vampires need a food supply and not more competition. So Matilda makes a decision to save Lydia and Julian: complete the transformation.

Crawling over, she straddled Dante’s waist before he had a chance to shift positions. His mouth tasted like tobacco. When she pulled back from him, his eyes were wide with surprise, his pupils blown and black even in the dim streetlight. “Matilda,” he said and there was nothing in his voice but longing. “If you really want your sister, I am going to need one more thing from you,” she said. His blood tasted like tears.

I'm…not really sure why I quoted this passage exactly, but I just had to do it. There's something about it that's brilliant and poetic while also being insufferable. You're welcome.

So she goes to Coldtown to turn herself in in exchange for a voucher for a human to leave. They force her to wait until her transformation is complete first, and then, they do indeed let her in with a token. Cue descriptions of the place, and…Coldtown sounds a lot nicer than it did in the books, but then again, this might be a result of Matilda being a vampire and experiencing her new vampire powers. In fact, she's so overwhelmed that she almost stays out as the sun rises, if not for a random girl who spots her and gets her to come inside her place.

Said place is inhabited by a group of humans who trade on the black market and with the Coldtown guards. They immediately demand that Matilda bites them in exchange for shelter from the sun, and Matilda only agrees to do it at night, though mostly because she's starting to need to feed.

“Why would you want me to do that?” The girl’s expression clearly said that Matilda was stupid. “Who doesn’t want to live forever?” I don’t, Matilda wanted to say, but she swallowed the words.

So Matilda gets settled in for the night, gets a message from Dante (which means he is indeed okay), and sends a message to Lydia asking to meet. She goes to sleep for the day, and when she wakes up, Lydia replied and gave her a rendezvous point.

But first, Matilda has to deal with her hosts. By which I mean she bites one of them as promised…and then feeds on her until the girl dies. Oops?

The worst part is: this doesn't even discourage the others.

Another girl grabbed Matilda’s arm. “Wait,” the girl said, eyes wide and imploring. “You have to bite me next. You’re full now so you won’t have to hurt me—” With a cry, Matilda tore herself free and ran up the stairs—if she went fast enough, maybe she could escape from herself.

Which, for some reason, strikes me as pretty realistic. Right? Everyone thinks they would be the one who does it right.

But as the quote says, Matilda manages to run away, and goes to the Festival of Sinners, where Lydia told her to meet. And she does indeed find Julian and Lydia there, and explains what she did.

“I wasn’t in Coldtown,” Matilda said. “I came here so that Lydia could leave. I have a pass.”

Unsurprisingly, Lydia disagrees with that plan, since…you know, she wants to be a vampire. As for Julian, he doesn't look thrilled at the idea of being here with just Matilda, so…yeah, I guess this is an unofficial breakup right there.

Since Matilda won't bite her, Lydia…takes Julian hostage with a knife. Um…okay, that's a little extreme, girl.

So Matilda caves in…well, kind of. We get a scene break right after she bites Lydia, leaving some ambiguity as to what happened as the narration recaps that Julian ran away from Coldtown with the token after giving Matilda his money and credit cards.

As for Lydia, turns out Matilda didn't drain her dry. Instead, she locked her up to stream her going Cold.

You’ve probably seen lots of video feeds from inside Coldtown. […] Here’s what you never see. What I’m going to show you. For eighty-eight days you are going to watch someone sweat out the infection. […] It’s not going to be pretty. […] This is the real Coldtown. I’m the real Coldtown. You still want in?

And…that's it. That's the short story. And for what it is, it's…all right, I guess. It can't really play upon the same strengths as the book because it just doesn't have the time, but it does what it does well.

Honestly…that's about all I have to say on the subject. The short story's available online for free, so I'd say it's worth reading even if you went through this post, if only to check out if you like Black's writing for yourself. It's not quite as good as the book, but it should still give you an indication of what to expect.

And with that, I'm signing off and moving on to…the next book on the snark pile. shudders

[wri0thesley]

So I recently got back into reading books after not doing so for years lol

Do you have any favourite novels or series you would recommend? 📖

of course!!! i want to eventually write for YA so my recommendations tend to skew that way (esp bc i think we need more diversity in YA and because unfortunately my brain allows me to read them much easier then plain old adult books), but my favourite books/novels/authors and ones that inspire me include:

the vampire chronicles (anne rice), terry pratchett’s discworld series, the picture of dorian gray, les miserables, donna tartt, laura purcell, diana wynne jones, francesca lia block, kelly link. i just finished catriona ward’s ‘little eve’ and that was good! last year i really enjoyed robert dinsdale’s ‘the toymakers’ - it gets compared to the night circus which i also love but honestly i think the toymakers is better! i read a lot of short stories too, authors i’d recommend for that: shirley jackson, stephen king (his short stories are ALWAYS better than his full length stuff in my experience, my favourite is ‘you know they’ve got one hell of a band’, karen russell (if you read and enjoy st lucy’s home for girls raised by wolves, do NOT read ‘swamplandia!’, you will not enjoy it and it will make you mad), rosamund hodge. other than that one of my other weird interests is classic girl’s fictions; you know, stuff like a little princess, anne of green gables, little women, the secret garden. i also read a lot of gothic horror! a couple of other recommendations i didn’t get to: let the right one in, the moth diaries, the forest of hands and teeth, the miniaturist, ash (malinda lo), some holly black stuff (i’m not a fan of the cruel prince and the ensuing series but i love the modern faerie tales series, the poison eaters and the coldest girl in coldtown), angela carter. 

sorry i went on a bit there dnkgjngbjkgfn 

[chroma-imp]

Books!!!

I love talking about books so I decided to split the ones I have read recently/have feelings about in different lists. (No particular order, I’m mostly just looking at my bookshelf lol)

Books/ Book series I love and will talk about for a while if you do not stop me

The Invisible Library (Genevieve Cogman)

All for the Game (Nora Sakavic)

Rebel of the Sands (Alwyn Hamilton)

Uprooted & Spinning Silver (Naomi Novik)

The Winternight Trilogy (Kathereen Arden)

Girls made of Snow and Glass (Melissa Bashardoust)

Books I enjoyed (don’t hate) but have some issues with that I will rant about if prompted

Alex Verus (Benedict Jacka)

Neverworld Wake (Marisha Pessel)

His Dark Materials (Philipp Pullman)

Books that are just plain not good and I will complain about if given the chance

The Royal Trials (Tate James) these books are so funny and terrible istg

Cinder (the lunar chronicles)

Serpent & Dove (Shelby Mahurin)

The Selection (Kiera Cass)

Ink (Alice Broadway)

Falling Kingdoms (Morgan Rhodes)

The Gilded Wolves (Roshani Chokshi)

Stalking Jack the Ripper (Kerri Maiscalco)

Books I like a lot but don’t have much to say unless someone wants to like.. talk about it with me

The Falconer (Elizabeth May)

Station Eleven (Emily St. John-Mandel)

Modern Fairy Tales (Holly Black)

Carry On (Rainbow Rowell)

Nevernight (Jay Kristoff)

The Song of Achilles (Madeline Miller)

Perfectly Preventable Deaths (Deirdre Sullivan)

Truthwitch

Black Cat (Holly Black)

The Kiss of Deception (Mary E. Pearson)

Skulduggery Pleasant (Derek Landy)

Deathless (Catherine M. Valente)

House of Salt and Sorrows (Erin A. Craig)

The Hazel Wood (Melissa Albert)

A Kingdom on Fire Trilogy (Jessica Cluess)

The Wicker King (K. Ancrum)

Howl’s Moving Castle (Diana Wynne Jones)

Nght Circus (Erin Morgenstern)

The Thief (Megan Whalen Turner)

The Girl in Red, The Mermaid, Lost Boy & Alice (Christina Henry)

The Darkest Part of the Forest (Holly Black)

The Candle and the Flame (Nafiza Azad)

The Grisha Trilogy (Leigh Bardugo)

The Golem and the Jinni (Helen Wecker)

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle (Stuart Turton)

An Enchantment of Ravens (Margeret Rogerson)

The Folk of the Air Trilogy (Holly Black)

Sorcery of Thorns (Margeret Rogerson)

Six of Crows (Leigh Bardugo)

The Language of Thorns (Leigh Bardugo)

The Raven Boys (Maggie Stiefvater)

The Scorpio Races (Maggie Stiefvater)

Vicious (V. E. Schwab)

Monsters of Verity Duology (V. E. Schwab)

Throne of Glass (Sarah J. Maas)

A Court of Thorns and Roses (Sarah J. Maas)

The Wrath and the Dawn (Renée Adieh)

Everless (Sara Holland)

Every Heart a Doorway Seanan McGuire)

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown (Holly Black)

Books I have no strong feelings about in general 

The Black Hawks (David Wragg)

Wild Magic (Tamora Pierce)

The Winner’s Curse (Marie Rutkoski)

Fly By Night (Francis Hardinge)

To Kill A Kingdom (Alexandra Christo)

Soulles (Gail Carriger)

The Wicked Deep (Shea Ernshaw)

The Bird and the Blade (Megan Bannen)

Spin the Dawn (Elizabeth Lin)

Harley Merlin and the Secret Coven (Bella Forrest)

Caraval (Stephanie Garber)

Stardust (Neil Gaiman)

The Glass Spare (Lauren deStefano)

Chidren of Blood and Bone (Tomi Adeyemi)

Lament (Maggie Stiefvater)

Crooked Saints (Maggie Stiefvater)

A Darker Shade of Magic (V.E. Schwab)

The Shadowhunter Books by Cassandra Clare

Percy Jackson (Rick Riordan)

Elantris & The Final Empire (Brandon Sanderson)

[comeofage1]

A to Z Book Rec Tag

Thank you to the lovely @that-quirky-girl for tagging me, she recognises the book weakness in me. These books are all linked on goodreads, where I have an account, linked HERE.

# - #Junkie and #Rev by Cambria Hebert 

A - Adorkable by Sarra Manning

Adulthood is a Myth by Sarah Andersen 

Adulting 101 by Lisa Henry 

Alan Partridge: Nomad by Alan Partridge (Steve Coogan) 

The Alex Crow by Andrew Smith 

All the Single Ladies by Jane Costello 

And Call me in the Morning by Willa Okati 

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins 

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake 

Austenland by Shannon Hale 

B - The Backup Boyfriend by River Jaymes

Beauty by Robin McKinley 

The Best Corpse for the Job by Charlie Cochrane

Between Ghosts by Garrett Leigh 

Big Mouth, Ugly Girl by Joyce Carol Oates

Blame it on the Mistletoe by Eli Easton 

Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton 

Bone Gap by Laura Ruby 

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak 

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne 

Breakfast at Tiffanys by Truman Capote 

Breathe by Sloane Parker 

Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh 

Bridesmaids by Jane Costello 

Brighton Rock by Graham Green 

C - Carry On by Rainbow Rowell 

Carry the Ocean by Heidi Cullinan 

The Catastrophic History of You and Me by Jessica Rothenburg 

Caught! by JL Merrow 

Chain Reaction by Simone Elkeles 

Chance to be King by Sue Brown 

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens 

The Christmasaurus by Tom Fletcher 

The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis

Cinder by Marissa Meyer 

Clear Water by Amy Lane  

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein 

Cold War by Keira Andrews 

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black 

Collide by Riley Hart 

The Color Purple by Alice Walker 

Corkscrewed by MJ O’Shea 

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo 

Crossroads by Riley Hart 

The Crucible by Arthur Miller 

Crush by Richard Siken 

D - The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black 

Dash & Lily’s book of Dares by Rachel Cohn 

Death of a Naturalist by Seamus Heaney 

Devoted by Sierra Riley 

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness 

Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy 

E - Eclipsed by Dominic Holland 

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine 

Emma - Jane Austen 

Epic Fail - Claire LaZebnik 

The Epic Love Story of Doug and Stephen by Valerie Z Lewis 

Every Move he Makes by Barbara Elsborg 

Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature by Robin Brande 

F - Fairest by Gail Carson Levine 

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell 

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by JK Rowling 

Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy 

The Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkien 

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk 

Filthy Little Secret by Devon McCormack 

Fish Out Of Water by Amy Lane

Fish Stick Fridays by Rhys Ford 

Flash Burnout by LK Madigan

Flawless by Lara Chapman 

Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman 

From What I Remember by Stacy Kramer 

The Future of Us by Jay Asher 

G - Gangsta Rap by Benjamin Zephaniah : 

Girl on the Run by Jane Costello

Glass Tidings by Amy Jo Cousins

Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner

Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian

Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

H - Harry Potter by JK Rowling

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Haunting Violet by Alyxandra Harvey

The Heart of Texas by RJ Scott

Heidi by Johanna Spyri

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Helping Hand by Jay Northcote

A Hero at the End of the World by Erin Claiborne

Him by Sarina Bowen

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien 

Holly Lane by Toni Blake

Hostile Ground by LA Witt

Hot Head by Damon Suede 

Hottie Scotty and Mr Porter by R Cooper

How to Repair a Mechanical Heart by JC Lillis

Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

A Hunted Man by Jaime Reese

Hunting Lila by Sarah Alderson

Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

I - I Love the 80s by Megan Crane

If Only in My Dreams by Keira Andrews

Illegal Contact by Santino Hassell

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde 

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace

Inseparable by Chris Scully

An Inspector Calls by JB Priestley

J - Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

 Just Listen by Sarah Dessen

K - A Kiss in Time by Alex Flinn

Know Not Why by Hannah Johnson

L - Law of Attraction by Jay Northcote

Leaving Paradise by Simone Elkeles

Liam Davis & The Raven by Anyta Sunday

Light from the Dark by Mercy Celeste

Lima Oscar Victor Echo and the Truth about Everything by Suki Fleet

The Little Book of Vegan Poems by Benjamin Zephaniah 

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

M - Mark Cooper versus America by Lisa Henry

Mark of Cain by Kate Sherwood

Me and Mr Darcy by Alexandra Potter

Merry Christmas Mr Miggles by Eli Easton

Midwinter Night’s Dream by Eli Easton

More than This by Patrick Ness

Motel. Pool. by Kim Fielding 

Mrs Warren’s Profession by Bernard George Shaw

My Love Lies Bleeding by Alyxandra Harvey 

My Single Friend by Jane Costello

N - The Nearly-weds by Jane Costello 

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman 

Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn 

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

North of Beautiful by Justina Chen

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

The Nothingness of Ben by Brad Boney

Noticed Me Yet? by Anyta Sunday

Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman

Off Base by Annabeth Albert

Open Tackle by LC Chase

Out of the Blue by Sophie Cameron

P - Passing Through by Jay Northcote

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

Persuasion by Jane Austen

Peter Pan by JM Barrie

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce

Pressure Head by JL Merrow

Pride and Modern Prejudice by AJ Michaels 

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

Private Eye by SE Culpepper

Promised Land by Adam Reynolds

Promises by Marie Sexton

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

Q - The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen

R - Rattlesnake by Kim Fielding

Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella

The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness

Rock Solid by Riley Hart

Roughing the Passer by Alison Hendricks

S - The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Shiny by Amy Lane

Shrinking Violet by Danielle Joseph

Shut your Face, Anthony Pace by Claire Davis

Silent by Sara Alva

Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Skellig by David Almond

Skin Deep by Laura Jarratt

Slam! by JL Merrow

The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman

Sock it to me, Santa! by Madison Parker

Someday by Sierra Riley

Songs of Innocence and of Experience by William Blake

Spencer Cohen by NR Walker

Splintered by SJD Peterson

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Starter for Ten by David Nicholls

Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel

Stay With Me by SE Harmon

Strong Side by Alison Hendricks

Sugar Creek by Toni Blake

Superhero by Eli Easton

T - The Tales of Beedle the Bard by JK Rowling

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte

This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab

The Time of Our Lives by Jane Costello

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Tonight by Karen Stivali

Turkey in the Snow by Amy Lane

The Two Gentlemen of Altona by Lisa Henry

U - Unwrapping Hank by Eli Easton

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

V - The Vintners Luck by Elizabeth Knox

W - Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett

A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks

The Walls of Troy by LA Witt

The Waste Land and Other Poems by TS Eliot

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

We were Feminists Once by Andi Zeisler

A Weekend With Mr Darcy by Victoria Connelly

Where he ends and I Begin by C Cardeno

Where the Lovelight Gleams by Kiera Andrews

Whiskey Business by Avon Gale

The Wish List by Jane Costello

Wonder by RJ Palacio

X - X-It by Jane George

Y - Y: The Last Man by Brian K Vaughan

You Against Me by Jenny Downham

Z - Zero at the Bone by Jane Seville

[astreiants-archive]

do you have any fantasy recs??

so many. so this is gonna get long im sorry

inheritance cycle by christopher paolini

imperial trilogy by mark robson

the looking glass wars by frank beddor

vicious by ve schwab

the queen’s thief by megan whalen turner

shattered sea by joe abercrombie

deathless by catherynne m valente

the coldest girl in coldtown by holly black

midnighters by scott westerfeld

superior by jessica lack

the lumatere chronicles by melina marchetta [tw for attempted rape, not graphic]

flame in the mist by renee ahdieh

greatcoats by sebastien de castell [tw for past rape and murder, semi-graphic]

black wolves by kate elliott [tw for rape]

power of five by anthony horowitz

watch series by sergei lukyanenko

his dark materials by philip pullman

the lynburn legacy by sarah rees brennan

shades of magic by ve schwab

howl’s moving castle by diana wynne jones

the darkest part of the forest by holly black

in other lands by sarah rees brennan

daughter of smoke and bone by laini taylor

spiritwalker trilogy by kate elliott

inheritance trilogy by nk jemisin

a hero at the end of the world by erin claiborne

iron cast by destiny soria [tw for torture]

the wrath and the dawn by renee ahdieh

the young elites by marie lu

wonders of the invisible world by christopher barzak

the princess and the captain by anne laure bondoux

the demon’s lexicon by sarah rees brennan

the winner’s trilogy by marie rutkoski

the star touched queen by roshani chokshi

the cemetery of forgotten books by carlos ruiz zafón

the grisha trilogy by leigh bardugo

timekeeper by tara sim

song of the lioness by tamora pierce

nightrunner by lynn flewelling

peter darling by austin chant

artemis fowl by eoin colfer

falling kingdoms by morgan rhodes

the prince of mist by carlos ruiz zafón

six of crows by leigh bardugo

the last elf by silvana de mari

dragonfly julia golding

the girl from everywhere by heidi heilig

the bone witch by rin chupeco

checquy files by daniel o'malley

engelsfors trilogy by sara b elfgren and mats strandberg [tw for attempted rape, torture, suicide mention, drug abuse, suicide attempt, bullying, self harm, animal deaths, paedophilia mention, homophobic language, alcohol abuse]

the sisters grimm by michael buckley

a taste of honey by kai ashante wilson [tw for physical abuse]

witch crag by kate cann

the night circus by erin morgenstern

fearsome dreamer by laure eve

stardust by neil gaiman

the princess bride by william goldman

rivers of london by ben aaronovitch

shadowshaper by dj older

cruel beauty by rosamund hodge

seraphina by rachel hartman

spellslinger by sebastien de castell

super bass by kai ashante wilson

graceling by kristin cashore

sorcerer royal by zen cho

the dark is rising sequence by susan cooper

ash by malinda lo

simon st george by jason hightman

summoner trilogy by taran matharu

glamourist histories by mary robinette kowal

children of the red king by jenny nimmo

lady helen by alison goodman

magnus chase and the gods of asgard by rick riordan

percy jackson and the olympians by rick riordan

heroes of olympus by rick riordan

the trials of apollo by rick riordan

the kane chronicles by rick riordan