#was watching a video where a booktuber was rating the love interests from the books she read last year

[smalltownfae]

Books I am Excited to Read

I decided to make this post after watching some booktube videos where people say they pick up every book expecting to love it. That is because I don’t do that. If I did my expectations would seldom be met and that would be worse and unfair for the authors. Instead, the videos made me think about the books that I actually want to read that are on my list. I admit that I have some books in my tbr only because I am curious about why they are hyped or because they were recommended to me even if they might not be exactly my thing. Due to this I separated the books that I want to get to soon and that have a synopsis that intrigues me or my kind of writing style. This list doesn’t include the books I am currently reading. I read the synopsis and checked at least the first page for all of these. Here are the reasons why I am expecting these books to be at least 4 stars whenever I get to them:

The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart

This seems like a nice place to start my Arthurian journey. I read the first pages and it’s about Merlin telling his story. I love when characters tell their stories and a good coming of age plot so this seems like it’s going to be great.

The Lost Years by T.A. Barron

I heard that this a good place to start for the Arthurian legend from the booktuber that made me aware of the existence of Robin Hobb. Since this is a YA series it seems like a smoot fun introduction. Once again following Merlin from a young age.

The Winter Prince by Elizabeth Wein

Another YA series and for this one it seems like some knowledge of the legend id needed, but it seems like another coming of age fantasy and the writing is good so it’s hard to go wrong with that when it comes to my tastes. Some family conflict and jealousy. Sounds good.

By Force Alone by Lavie Tidhar

One more Arthurian inspired tale. This one seems a bit odd but it was praised by someone with a similar taste and I liked the Merlin portrayal in the first pages.

The Lost Queen by Signe Pike

This one is about Merlin’s sister. The main reason I want to read it is because two people said it was very similar to Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier. Seems like a good historical fantasy.

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

I don’t know much about this one, but I liked the writing style of the first pages. Once again someone telling their story works for me.

Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield

The synopsis of this one is very intriguing and I enjoyed the magical writing style so it looks promising. Besides that, I also have the 13th Tale on my list.

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

I want to try a book by this author and this one has the best rating on goodreads. The synopsis was interesting and I like the writing style.

Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy

I am very curious about this one because everyone keeps mentioning a mindblowing reveal. The story follows one character very closely so I am fine with this one.

Midnight in Everwood by Maria Kuzniar

Seems like this inspired by the Nuttcracker. I loved the movie as a kid and I still enjoy the story. I hope to read this one in December.

The Toymakers by Robert Dinsdale

Someone with a somewhat similar taste to mine loved this book so I am curious about it. I have been wanting to read more magical realism so this seems like a nice one to read in December.

Rebecca by Daphne duMaurier

I liked the short story collection I read by this author and everyone seems to love this book. I also want to watch the Hitchcock movie but don’t want it to spoil the story.

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

The synopsis sounds dark and mysterious so I am interested.

City of Lies by Sam Hawke

Seems that there is at least one character with an abusive parental figure so... this one sounds promising.

Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin

A classic that seems up my alley. About a gay man coming to terms with his sexuality. The writing style is pretty good.

The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe

Some people I know have read and enjoyed this book. It has a reputation about it being a messed up complicated read so I want to try it.

Now some from authors I already read before:

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

This is the most praised of Ishiguro’s novels and I am trying to keep the hype in check because, to be honest, the plot and the main character don’t seem like something I will love. I am sure I will still enjoy this book a lot, but I seriously doubt I will love it in the way I love Klara and the Sun or that will keep coming back to my mind like A Pale View of Hills and An Artist of the Floating World do. It might also be because I was also expecting more from his second more praised novel, Never Let Me Go. I still really liked it, but didn’t love it. It’s an odd feeling when everyone agrees on the two best books by an author and then your favourites by them are something they would put in the middle or the bottom.

The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro

This one just intrigues me. It seems like both literary fiction fans and fantasy fans didn’t enjoy this one. They admit that partly it was because they didn’t expect the Arthurian elements in it. Since I am expecting it my experience will probably be different. A story about an old couple with magical elements just sounds adorable to me, but everyone keeps putting this book at the bottom of top books by Ishiguro so I hesitate. I am hitching to get to Arthurian novels so next year if not sooner will be the perfect time to pick this one up. I just need to read other books about the legend first.

Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters

I keep trying Sarah Waters books even though I haven’t loved any of them so far. There is something about her writing that I enjoy, but I can’t describe. Maybe it’s her influences that make for stories that are a little dark and a little sad. It reminds me of my experience with Kazuo Ishiguro since I also knew I wanted to read more by him even though I didn’t love the first of his books I picked up. So far, I have read 2 Waters’ books and gave up on another. Tipping the Velvet is her first novel and features a wlw relationship so I am very curious about it. Affinity also intrigues me but the prison setting doesn’t seem as good to me. I will eventually get to that one too.

Going Postal by Terry Pratchett

If there is a Discworld book that I am almost sure I am going to love is this one. First because stories about conman trying to do better have so much potential for funny moments and second because I started to watch an adaptation of this book years ago and I was enjoying it. I can’t really get through the adaptations of Discworld books so the fact that that one was at least fine is already a success in my book. Plus, I like liars, trickster characters and messengers so I would be extremely surprised if I end up not liking Moist.

The Bell at Sealey Head; In the Forests of Serre; Ombria in Shadow by Patricia A. McKillip

Every time I am afraid that I already read her best books. It seems like she has no more books in first person or close third person, which is my preference. All of her other books seem to feature casts that are too big for such short books. Even so, these three had the most intriguing plots to me so I will prioritize them.

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin

Two of my friends enjoyed some characters in this trilogy even more than the ones in Broken Earth so I am really curious about it. Still, I want to finish the Broken Earth trilogy first. I only have one book left but want to reread the other two before getting to that one.

Wild Seed by Octavia E. Butler

Even though Fledgling was disappointing, I gave high ratings to all other Butler books I read so far. Besides that, I heard that the Patternmaster series has a character that is similar to Nikanj, which is one of my favourites.

Bailey’s Café; Linden Hills by Gloria Naylor

These two are short stories, like the book I read from the author. I know that some characters from “Women of Brewster Place” appear in Linden Hills and I’ve heard that is a common occurrence in this author’s works. I’ve seen somewhere that Mama Day should be read before Bailey’s Cafe, but since that one is a retelling of the Tempest I think I will not like it. Plus, I really want to get to that book because short stories in a café setting are such a good match for me.

The Sundial; The Bird’s Nest by Shirley Jackson

Just like it happens with McKillip, I am afraid I already read the best works of this author. Still, these two seem to have intriguing plots.

[fiore-rosewood9]

Hetalia headcanon about countries having a youtube channel

Belarus has a youtube channel where she analyzes movies, characters and concepts. Especially erotic movies, but she kinda censors a lot of things since Youtube is a butt and sometimes her fans are asked to confirm their age to watch a video.Her most viewed videos would be her roast on 50 shades of grey for which she managed to invite Ludwig to talk about it after she asked him 6 times and bought him 10 bottles of beer to convince him and some food for his dogs, Feliks for 365 days, the audience loves that boy's pure sass, his whole existance is sassy. She invites Kiku a lot to discuss a lot of weird slightly nsfw anime and Francis kinda invites him self without asking her. She made a video about the femme fatale trope and talked about it with Francis and the movie Femme fatale from 2002

Videos that don't include nsfw would be almost all of her videos and Alfred would be part of most of them, but other people that come a lot are her siblings and Tolys. America has a lot of movies so she has a lot of genres to pick from. I think every country would have a youtube channel, like Alfred makes a lot of vlogs and travels around the world and would make tik tok dances, Katya is a teacher and presents grammar lessons about ukranian, Feliks is a fashion icon and roasts other people's clothing in his videos, Francis would be really popular for his cooking and will sometimes invite Antonio over to cook, however his most viewed videos are the ones with Arthur where Arthur makes the water somehow burn and Francis's screams could be heard before the camera falls and people love to laugh at it, Michelle would be a booktuber and discuss books while Eliza would be a historical channel and present Hungary's history, on a rare occasion once a month she would present her favourite yaoi manga Kiku or Mei gave her and rate it from 1 to 10.

Matthew would work at a zoo and make videos for people interest in animals and pets while Arthur would have historical videos, showing his ancient swords and clothing collection, be extremely calming reader, analyze books but unlike Michelle who reads horror, romance and action YA novels he only reads classic like Romeo and Juliet, The illiad or Draculla. If he ever invites someone he likes to make psychological and trope discussion on the characters, their mindset and morals similarly to how Natalia does with her movies. Anyone he invites is interesting but the brittish gentleman can stand the frenchman who includes a sex joke in his speech every 6 minutes, the least and has to always censor him. However he is too used to it by now and sometimes surprises him with a suggestive joke him self, in his opinion this is the best way to shut up this pervert because he always blushes out of confusion, not expecting his verbal partner to throw the ball back at him. Benjamin (Netherlands) and Bella (Belgium) would have gardening videos and Kiku would talk about anime and manga. The german brothers would give exercise routines in their videos.

[girloikawa]

carry on youtuber au

baz starts out as a cover artist, occasionally posting his own songs (he does violin stuff too)

but eventually he gets recognition and people are like “who is this person?????” so baz does a few q&as

oh BUT THEN he reveals that he also has so many other interests (books, movies, planting, coffee, Controversal Topics) that people want him to do other types of videos

and that is what starts baz on the long road of his channel basically being an everything bagel where he does a bit of everything and people find it very chill

agatha and baz become friends over their mutual love of gossip in the community (as long as they’re not apart of it)

(because baz and agatha and simon and penny aren’t problematic)

which brings me to agatha, she’s one of those channels that keep everyone updated on the drama and the shitty stuff that happens on YouTube as long as regular media

very opinionated, this gal is, so she shares her opinion on...everything

though, sometimes she’ll do a q&a and do her makeup and talk about fashion or what she’s into at the moment

she’s basically angelika oles

penny’s a booktuber!!!

she mostly reads and reviews fantasy books, as they are her favorite, but she’ll also do those videos where it’s like “i just read a shitty wattpad romance story, let me rant” or “my top ten favorite ya pairings” or “tier ranking every harry potter character because life has no meaning”

now, simon, the babe, he’s (and you cannot fight me on this) basically jenna marbles

his videos are so random and spurratic, he doesn’t even plan what his next video is, and he’s the youtuber

i would also like to point out that simon probably totally has adhd and would talk about it and his experience with it

his most popular videos are of him baking. he’s like (and hear me out) very good and very bad at it. like, all throughout the videos, everybody’s holding their breath’s like “oh no this is going to turn out terribly” because simon being in the kitchen is like a horse babysitting a dog, it’s a mess, however the end product is always perfect and amazing and by the end everybody’s drooling behind their screens

simon is also widely conceived as the weirdest straight guy ever. like people (from just looking at him) think he’s just So Striaght but a very Cool Straight Guy who people wouldn’t actually mind being around

simon has the most subscribers (the majority being that they find him funny and see him as a friend, the minority being people who think he’s Hot As Hell and okay yeah he’s a good person too but have you seen those freckles-)

then it’s baz because he actually started first and his following has been a journey, then agatha (she’s the newest, and her subscriber rate is growing rapidly), then penny (booktube is a small community sad face)

penny n simon are irl best friends and penny was the one who convinced simon to make a channel bc he needed something to help let out his energy, “plus it’s a little fun hobby”

snowbaz now :)

simon has followed baz from pretty much the beginning. he saw his cringy covers, his development as a songwriter, and the walls built around baz crumble over the camera

baz...well, he’s one of those people who think simon is Hot As Hell, but he also genuinely enjoys the videos. at first, baz was like “I’m not watching him, everybody watches him, and I’m different” so he always avoided the recommendations youtube gave him of simon’s videos (but it was also bc he didn’t want to confront that he was very attracted to simon)

and then, one fateful night, agatha sent baz a link to a video called “coming out” and under the link she wrote “youtube angel!”—that’s their nickname for simon—“shocking the world!”

baz click click clicked because hot guy is lgbt+????? and baz watched the video, commenting “proud of you” or something along those lines, and then he watched so, so many more of simon’s videos

simon, a boy who just came out as bisexual, just had his youtube hero comment on his video where he came out and is like !!!!!!

simon’s sexual awakening is baz

also, simon breaks the internet with that video, because he isn’t striaght and that’s so mind-boggling to everybody. but there’s always that one group of people who are like “i saw this coming. do you not remember that one time simon showed his socks and his jeans were cuffed-”

simon replies to baz’s comment and is like “oh my god thank you so much. you’re like my actual favorite youtuber” like a fucking Nut and people see that and say “omg collab” because they’re both relatively high status youtubers and their collab would be Powerful

then, summoning all his courage, simon dms baz on instagram with just a simple “hey, a lot of people are saying we should collab lmao”

“i’ve seen that” “heh uhm yeah” “maybe we could get to know each other and see if that would be a good idea” “yes! i’d love that”

and they do. they get really close and stuff,, but people don’t exactly...see that

you see, on twitter, they get in millions of arguments. people genuinely think that they hate each other to some extent, when in reality, they’re swooning at the sight of the three dot bubble

baz, on twitter: “you cannot tell me that people actually enjoy sparkling water. it’s trash, move on” (they had an argument over it, privately, and baz is making it public to cause a rise out of simon bc he finds angry simon cute)

simon, in response: “yo I’m throwing you in the trash as we speak. fuhhhck u”

so, when they collab for the first time, everybody at home is just like *shocked pikachu emoji* they end up doing a video where simon bakes baz’s mom’s recipe of cherry scones with baz. it’s kind of a big deal bc both simon and baz don’t want to ruin baz’s memory of his mother

in the end, baz tears up and gives si a big ass hug because they’re perfect, simon. i love them, thank you. the fans start shipping. hard. it’s simon’s highest viewed video

that surprise hug is also what makes simon realize that his feelings are much deeper than attraction and surface level forms of knowing someone

on baz’s channel, they were going to film a video where they talked about their experiences being queer, but then simon realized that his biggest, most prominent example was staring at baz’s jawline, so he had to be like “uhhh, actually, I’m not really comfortable with that yet” which is part true. instead, they do a video where they have argumentative discussions, like on twitter but in depth and with less insults

anyways, they receive pretty positive feedback on the videos, people enjoy them, so they decide to do more. also, they both live in LA, so it’s actually pretty easy to do them, plus they have a diverse area to do them in

also, i think it’d be nice to mention that simon will sometimes do twitch streams of him playing minecraft and then he puts edited versions on his channel. it’s worth mentioning because during this one stream, he ends up slipping up and saying “we talk a lot, actually. and i—i like him a lot” about baz, then he blushes like hell because i really just said that and it’s live oh god

all the while, baz and simon actually just start hanging out (without hiding behind wanting to do a video). one meet-up, they go to disney world and halfway through baz is like “uh, should we be filming this?” and simon gives him a smile and replies, “no” because that moment is for them and them only + the fans who see them together and ask for a picture/just take pictures of them being like a couple

their next collab is a bit of a fun one. behind the scenes, pen, ag, si, and baz all become friends, because of that one time baz came over while penny was there and he barely payed attention to simon, too busy talking to penny. anyways, they do a big four person collab where agatha basically teaches them how to do makeup

on penny’s channel, it’s book related. they have to do a look based on the synopsis’ of each other’s favorite books. baz gets simon, simon gets agatha, agatha gets penny, penny gets baz. baz: “snow, you’re holding it wrong. it’s like this” simon: *stares longingly at the brush that gets to touch baz’s face*

on agatha’s, the video is just titled Teaching My Friends To Do Makeup (ft. idiots who test my patience). they all suck. majorly. well, by all, i mean simon and penny suck at makeup

on baz’s, they do a trivia of sorts. if they get a question wrong, they have to skip a product. simon: “oh thank god less work” agatha, deadpanning: “i think i might kill him”

on simon’s, they have agatha and penny go against simon and agatha. si and pen being the ones who have to actually do makeup because, according to agatha, “since you decided to bitch so much, you guys are doing our makeup” “but-!” “nope, I’m Peak Brains of us all so I call the shots” “you’re not even-” “shut up” Everybody (and by everybody i mean the fans) is actually glad that they got to see simon doing baz’s makeup, because it’s literally them just being so flustered the whole time

the collab stuns everybody bc: “they’re all friends??????” plus, some people start calling them the Four Fucks because at one point penny says “fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, and most importantly, fuck me” after simon flinged a bunch of eyeshadow on her

okay so agatha and penny are just like: “these idiots need to get together already” because it’s very obvious that they like each other. like the eiffel tower in paris, you can’t miss it. everyone watching the videos also sees it, so you can imagine the comments

during one of si’s live-streams (he’s playing the hunger games minigame on minecraft), the chat goes wild because baz pops in. he plans on surprising simon with a picnic (he just thought that they could go into simon’s backyard or the park that’s a few miles away), but it was pretty spur of the moment so he didn’t think about simon doing a stream. and to be honest, simon’s stream was also spur of the moment, so it’s not like he made sure to tell baz about it

“simon! hey, i let myself in!” baz called from the front doorway. the chat is freaking because: “is that baz???” “omg baz has a key to simon’s house!!” “are they dating???” simon kind of just freezes up and starts sputtering as he reads the chat and tries to reply to baz

of course, baz doesn’t understand that simon doesn’t want baz to go into his office/room with his computer, so he does go in and as soon as he sees the livestream he’s like: “oh, uh, I’ll go” and simon unfreezes and goes “no, no, stay, I’ll just be a bit” “do you want me to...leave the room?” “you can watch if you want” (baz wants) “okay, sure” so simon pretty much shows baz how to play minecraft

i never finished this, do i?

[frenchibi]

hey, so i thought maybe you could tell us a little what you're currently interested in? ♥ like, what have you been doing during quarantine, are there any new shows you watched that you enjoyed a lot, did you maybe take up a new hobby or something? :)

Hello!! I did not forget this lovely message, I was just in no state to answer (who’d have thought that recovery from surgery is, y’know, taxing) BUT I’M BACK NOW and ohhhh do you know what you’ve unlocked by asking me this question...?? I cannot give you a comprehensive list but I can tell you a couple of the things that I got into during quarantine, and the things I am currently super passionate about! My memory is, uh, not great but thankfully I do journal and write down things so I am confident I can answer this for you :D (plus I do always love recommending things so - aaa??? Thank you for this ask????)

Putting things under a cut because I physically cannot chill but if tl;dr I want you to take away one thing from this it’s that everyone should read Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. Thoughts below.

(Also. I would love to go off about my interests more on here but am not sure what... shape that should ideally take? Text posts? IDK pls give me suggestions, help me out?? dfhasjkldf)

Movies

I have not seen many, but I can and will scream about The Old Guard over and over because... it was everything I never knew I needed in an action movie?? I don’t reblog many things about it anymore but I love love LOVED it!!

Also, upon recommendation by one of my friends from India, I have been delving into the world of Bollywood movies and WOW Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara was so fucking good??? idk if it’s on Netflix in every country but it is in mine and I highly recommend it. It’s thoughtful, honest, emotional and shot absolutely gorgeously, and it also has that cheesiness that is just... so good... sometimes you just need the cheese y’know???

(Side note, 2020 was the year I saw Pride and Prejudice (2005) for the first time and I am a changed woman. It is now my ultimate comfort movie. Please see it if you have not, I cannot believe it took me this long. I saw it for the first time on an airplane (in january... a lifetime ago) and have seen it many, many times since.)

TV Shows

So, to everyone’s shock but especially my own, I have not really been into TV lately? I watched The Boys because my brother recommended it (it’s good, but gorey and pulls no punches, the R rating is deserved), and recently started watching Jujutsu Kaisen because my sister recommended it (I haven’t watched a new anime in like a year which is kinda wild to me? But I am enjoying this one - the opening SLAPS and what I’ve seen so far has been fun! Plus I’m watching it with my sister and I like sending her reactions xD),,, and that’s pretty much it for this category?? I am aware there is a LOT of good shit out there I just.. .don’t seem to have the attention span for multiple episodes of a Thing these days. Meh. I’m sure it’ll come back to me eventually ^^

Musical Theater

One of the main reasons I think I haven’t been big into TV is because my Musical Passion is in FULL SWING (haha get it). Probably because the only thing that has remained for me during this quarantine is my singing lessons (and lemme tell you... over skype, that shit is ROUGH but still better than not singing at all) and I have been obsessing over learning new songs and finding shows through recommendations and compilation videos on youtube... So.

Shows I listen to a lot these days include Starry, Anastasia, The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals, Come From Away (I made a post recently specifically about musicals, you should be able to find it under #French speaks) - specific songs in my range that I am currently learning and obsessing over include “Bring on the men” from Jekyll and Hyde, “The Mad Hatter” from Wonderland, “Show Yourself” from Frozen 2 (I liked it ok I DID), and “Go Tonight” from The Mad Ones (this one makes me cry... I’m making my sister duet it with me bc I can’t stop thinking about it).

Also, if you’re interested in hearing me sing things, head over to my instagram where I post covers (and also art)!!

(Musical people, I am curious to hear opinions about Great Comet, and also The Count of Monte Cristo - two shows I’ve been meaning to check out!)

Video Games

Listen. Animal Crossing New Horizons is awesome and I’m glad I have it (...give me Brewster back, Nintendo, or I WILL RIOT), but I have been branching out into other games for the Switch (might as well make this purchase worth it amirite) - current faves include Celeste (which is SO HARD but also SO FUCKING FUN) and Spiritfarer which I specifically bought to play at the hospital bc I knew I was going to be there for a few days, and let me tell you - best decision of 2020. Please watch the trailer if you haven’t heard of it, it’s GORGEOUS and beautiful and emotional and I loved every second of it. Both of these can also be purchased for PC and I think they are definitely worth the investment!!

In other news I’m back on my Stardew Valley bullshit. It’s just so calming.I revisit it a lot lmao

Books

So... I have been reading. A LOT. I read over 70 books this year, which for me is... average tbh? I have had some less productive reading months but overall I have torn through stuff and BOY do I have recommendations if you want them?? For the sake of brevity I will only mention a few here:

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir “Lesbian necromancers explore a haunted gothic palace in space”. That is all. This was my first five star fiction book of the year and I will never be done screaming about it. There is a dedicated but smallish fandom here on tumblr and it deserves SO MUCH MORE. Please, please please. Everyone should read this damn book. It’s confusing in the beginning but I promise it’s worth it IT’S SO GOOD!! And also the sequel is out and it’s also confusing and SO GOOD!!!

Educated by Tara Westover. This is an autobiography and it’s one of those books that like. Stick in your mind for months after you’ve read it. It’s about how this woman escaped an abusive household that was religiously oppressive and also like... survivalist (prepping for the apocalypse) and avidly believed in conspiracy theories - by educating herself, working her way up to going to Harvard. Nothing I say could do the emotional impact of this book justice - and also just, the perspective this book gave me?? Incredible. Education is the most powerful tool and this woman grabbed it by the hair and did not let go and I was FLOORED. Everyone should read this. I don’t even usually read biographies but DAMN.

The Winternight trilogy by Katherine Arden.(Book 1 is called The Bear and the Nightingale). This is a bit of a slow burn type deal - it’s a retelling of a Russian fairy tale (I think?? Or like a folk... story? Something like that) and it is just. So magical. It’s not fast paced but it works up to FANTASTIC moments, the focus is on family and magic and change and “making your own way” and all three of these books were wonderful. It reminded me of Naomi Novic’s Uprooted and Spinning Silver (both of which I also loved back in 2019 and would highly recommend) and they are PERFECT winter reads if you’re looking for something to get cozy with. I liked book 1 well enough but books 2 and 3 knocked it out of the park. Fantastic. Loved them.

I have many more recs but this will do for now hahah

Music

Gonna keep this brief too - my music taste is all over the place, but here are some songs I have been obsessed with recently!! Beware of genre whiplash though because these are Very Different from one another (and different from the musical theater stuff above)

Factories - Autoheart (that bridge gets me every time, idk why. This is one I could have on repeat for hours and not get tired of it either. Something about it just gets me!!)

History Read - The Altogether (The lyrics!! Tbh the entire Silo album is GREAT, but this one is my fave. Their music is so... mellow, in the best way??)

Weather Man - Valley of Wolves (ok this one is just a banger. I’m a sucker for a good sing-along-able hook (that’s not a word. you get me though right) and this fucking DELIVERS. I also just think “I make these dark skies blue, I make these mountains move, let the rain come down, I’m pushing through.... [pause] ... ‘cause I’m the weather man” is such good execution of a concept?? That PAUSE GETS ME it’s just SO FUN?!?! idk man I like a good upbeat banger and this is that.)

I believe (get over yourself) - Nico Vega (this one is just a callout at myself tbh?? “you’re a fool” I AM and I needed to hear it?? It’s also SO FUN to sing!!! We love a banger.)

Kiss me you animal - Burn the Ballroom (mentioning this mainly because it reminded me, lyrically, of Gideon the Ninth and I need someone to confirm this for me before I go insane?? “everybody knows that home is where your teeth sink, love” - I mean c’mon??? Also it’s a banger. I do like some rock from time to time... and this also has a killer driving bassline. This is super fun to drive to, too!!)

((If we have overlap and anyone wants to exchange playlists with me - I am SO here for it. Always looking for new music!!! I mean it!!))

Youtube

Last and certainly not least... meet my newest hyperfixation!!! I have always loved watching video essays, and booktube videos, and arttube videos - and my current niche of favorite creators is the Polygon video team!! They made videos about video games and board games and anything gaming-related and I just. I’m only peripherally a “gamer(TM)” but I love anything and everything they create. (Also you don’t have to know much about video games to enjoy all of their content!! A lot of it is still accessible to Non-Gamers(TM) or casual gamers!) BDG is my new favorite creator, the Unraveled series he does on the channel is a work of genius - but I have also started watching their streams and older series and I am enjoying myself SO MUCH! I love boardgames so their series on them, Overboard, is so fun and entertaining (and I already know a bunch of games I want to buy based on seeing the gameplay), and it also made me invested in the other creators - particularly Simone, I would die for Simone?? And Pat? And Jenna? They each have their niche and they work really well together too and their videos are my Main Serotonin Machine in these trying times(TM), thank you for coming to my TED talk.

Also. If you’re already following me here and you are familiar with Polygon things I BEG YOU TO COME AND TALK TO ME ABOUT THEM because I am like, bursting, but I also don’t want to flood my dash with stuff that 99% of my followers are unfamiliar with y’know??

...I think I’m going to leave it at this - it’s already a lot!

But thank you once again for asking and for letting me Go Off about things I am interested in!! I just... I very often wish I could do this more, but I’m not sure how to go about it? Should I just do text posts about things?? Would that be interesting to anyone?? Or is that like, annoying? Should I start a review blog or something? dhfajkldhf I just want to talk about things that excite me, but whenever I’m here I often just stick to reblogging other people’s stuff... help?? What do y’all want to see??

[charlotteisnotthechosenone]

2018 Wrap-Up & 2019 Resolutions

Books Read: 21

Pages Read: 8,751 (~24 pages per day)

Although I did not manage to complete my Goodreads goal of 30 books this year I am not too bothered about that. When I realised a few months ago that I wasn’t going to be able to I stopped pushing myself to try and read as much as I could and by the end of November I had stopped tracking my reading altogether. I didn’t want to finish tracking one year of reading and then jump straight into the next - I wanted a few weeks where it didn’t matter if I forgot to record my page count at the end of every day and hopefully that will make me more motivated to begin to start tracking my reading again in 2019. 2018 was the first full calendar year spent at university so I knew that my routine and therefore my reading routine was going to change dramatically. It was only really in September that I managed to get myself back into a regular routine of reading each night and as a result it was the last few months of the year where my reading was at its best.

While I did read some outstanding books in 2018 I found that a lot of the books I read fell into that fuzzy category. While I was lucky enough not to read a book I completely disliked this year I found there were a lot of books that I read and enjoyed but that there were not enough I absolutely loved and that is one of the things I want to try and rectify in 2019.

Because of this I didn’t want to make a whole post about my favourite books of the year as I honestly don’t know whether I would have that much to say but there are a handful of books I did really love and so wanted to touch on them here. There is a fierce battle for the top spot out of all the books I read this year so I think I am going to have to have joint favourites! The two books I enjoyed most this year were Obsidio by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff and one of my most recent reads, The Toymakers by Robert Disnsdale. Two books which could probably not be more different plot wise but two books which completely blew me away nonetheless. I also thoroughly enjoyed the Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor and The Diviners by Libba Bray as well as being able to dive back into the world of Mara Dyer with The Becoming of Noah Shaw - a sentence which I am honest I never thought I would write.

For anyone interested the 21 books I read in 2018 (along with my ratings for each one in brackets) were:

(and for anyone that isn’t, my apologies - at least it isn’t that long!)

* Satellite by Nick Lake (4 stars)

* The Becoming of Noah Shaw by Michelle Hodkin (4.75 stars)

* The Fever Code by James Dashner (4 stars)

* Alex & Eliza by Melissa de la Cruz (4 stars)

* Obsidio by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (5 stars)

* Spare and Found Parts by Sarah Maria Griffin (4.5 stars)

* Replica by Lauren Oliver (4.25 stars)

* An Ember In The Ashes by Sabaa Tahir (4.5 stars)

* Vicious by VE Schwab (4 stars)

* Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas (4.5 stars)

* The Diviners by Libba Bray (5 stars)

* One Of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus (4.25 stars)

* Angelfall by Susan Ee (4 stars)

* A Court Of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas (4.5 stars)

* And The Ocean Was Our Sky by Patrick Ness (5 stars)

* Hollow City by Ransom Riggs (4.25 stars)

* A Storm Of Ice and Stars by Lisa Lueddecke (4 stars)

* Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor (5 stars)

* Stealing Snow by Danielle Page (4.25 stars)

* The Toymakers by Robert Dinsdale (5 stars)

* Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald - The Original Screenplay by J.K. Rowling (4 stars)

Moving forwards and into 2019 for the first time ever I have set myself a set of reading resolutions I want to try and stick too. Resolutions is potentially even the wrong word for them - they are almost a set of pointers I can look back on to remind myself that reading should be fun and that I shouldn’t be constantly worrying about my page count and that it is ok if I don’t post in a while.

They are:

1. To keep a reading/bullet journal - I have already kind of started this one as I have everything ready and set up to make a proper start on January 1st. While I am not the most arty of people I just find that there is something so satisfying about bullet journals and using it to track my reading is the perfect excuse to start one of my own. I am also hoping to branch out with this and use it as a good way to track my studying as well.

2. To read books that I want to read and not those I feel that I should - by this I mean that when I buy new books I often feel like I shouldn’t read them straight away, even if I am really excited to read them, because I feel like there are other books on my tbr which have been there longer and therefore deserve to be read first. I think this may have been part of the reason I was reading some books that I didn’t have much enthusiasm for in 2018 and I hope that by reading books I am more excited for this may help to rectify the issue of reading books I only thought were ok.

3. To keep up with/be aware of new releases - every January I usually create 12 new shelves on my Goodreads so that I can keep track of all of the new releases that are coming out each month and for the first time ever I feel like I have absolutely nothing to put on these shelves. I do really enjoy watching booktube videos and keeping up with what is being released but with uni I find that I often don’t get the time for this. This year I am going to try to make time, even if it is only 30 mins a week, to relax and watch some of these videos and keep up with what is going on book wise. I find this a much more useful way to keep up with things book wise than using Goodreads as, while I do still use Goodreads to keep track of my reading, I often don’t get a lot of enthusiasm from scrolling through books on there and it kind of makes me not excited to read.

4. To read/prioritise sequels - while it is not always possible to sit down and read an entire series (due to some books in the series not being published etc.) I always find that when I come to read a sequel I am having to google what happened in the book before it so that the sequel will actually make sense to me. This is because I always leave it so long after reading the first book before picking up sequels and so I have completely forgotten what has happened in the previous book. Now I have absolutely no reason why I do this, especially considering that I generally buy sequels fairly soon after they come out so they are always sat on my shelves but I am hoping that by getting to sequels sooner this will mean that hopefully I will begin to enjoy them more.

5. Lastly I want to change up the format of my blog posts - one of the ways I hope to achieve this is by putting a bit more effort into them. I often find myself rambling on, struggling for stuff to say about a book but trying to put words down on the page just so that it will make a decent length review/post. Last year I tried to review every book I read but there are some books where even though I enjoyed them I just don’t have too much to say about them and if this is the case then simple - I just won’t post a review about it. I am going to try and not post am awful post just so that I can say one has gone up. I also again want to try and change up the way I do wrap-ups and TBRs (if I even decide to keep these) so that they are a little more informative and give people a taste for what I thought of a book without having to read loads of text. I am hoping achieve this through a new system of broken star ratings for each book. I maya also try and include some shots from my reading journal if it looks like it is going to fit nicely.

Reading this back I now realise how long this post is so if you have made it to the end, well done! I feel now like I have said a lot of things I have wanted to say for a while and that I can move forward into 2019 feeling fresh and motivated about reading again.

Happy New Year everyone!

[chronicles-of-a-paper-heart]

I know everyone says it, but I’m still gonna say it too. How is it already July??* Where did the first half of the year go? Time is going by so fast. So, yes, I’m freaking out about that and to celebrate that I’ll be doing the Mid Year Book freak Out Tag. It’s fun to look back and see what books I’ve read this year so far and how I liked them etc.

*It’s August now because it took me nearly a month to finish this post … don’t ask me, I have no idea why

And because I like stats I’ll start with a few general numbers. I’ve read 55 books so far* (July 10th) and I want to read 91 books this year. So I’m on track.

16 x 5 Stars 20 x 4 Stars 12 x 3 stars 6 x 2 stars 1 x 1 Star

*Edit: 69 books as of right now (Aug 16th) .. but I’m too lazy to count all the books rating again …

Which is an average rating of 3.8 Stars. So I’d say that’s quite good. (I am in a middle of changing my rating system though. I’m usually quite generous with my rating and have rounded up quite a few books. I want to change that because I feel the books I really really loved don’t get the recognition they deserve this way. )

But without further ado let’s jump into the questions.

Question Number 1: Best Book You’ve Read So far In 2018

That is a really hard question and I don’t think I can narrow it down to just one. So here are my four favorite books:

Question Number 2: Best Sequel You’ve Read So Far In 2018

I … I haven’t … did I really just read 5 sequels so far?? That’s … Well, one of my goals this year was to finish more series than I start but obviously it’s not going so well. But of those five the winner is probably Ice like Fire or any of the three Gregor books I’ve read, honestly. Actually, it’s the Gregor books because I rated them all 4 or 5 stars.

Edit: I am currently reading Avenged by Amy Tintera and I’m really enjoying that one so far. Edit 2 (Aug 16th): I still haven’t finished Avenged. But I’ve read the second Artemis Fowl novel (The Arctic Incident or something) and I really loved that one, so …

Question 3: New Release you haven’t read yet but want to

Oh, so many! A Thousand perfect notes. I just bought that one a few days ago and am soooo excited to start it. The cover is mesmerizing and I’m all for finally reading something that Cait has written. Also, the premise sounds amazing. Other than that, I am quite pumped to finally read Queens of Fennbirn and A Court of Frost and Starlight. Both are novellas in series I enjoyed very much so I have no clue why I haven’t read them yet. I definitely need to in August. I’ll try to fit them both into my N.E.W.T.s TBR

Question 4: Most anticipated release for the second half of the year

That’s easy! Kingdom of Ash (though I’m scared!!) and Vengeful. Can’t wait for either of them. I’m not ready for the Throne of Glass series to end but I can’t wait any longer either. And I loved Vicious so ridiculously much and am so curious to see what happens next and if V manages to swap my sympathy from Victor to Eli. Oh, and look at those covers! Yes, I’m shallow like that.

Question 5: Biggest disappointment

Black Bird of the Gallows. This one was a bit of a disappointment. The cover is gorgeous, but the story is weird, to say the least. I won’t forget it that soon that’s for sure. But the romance was lacking, too quick and the chemistry just not there and the ending ruined it for me. I don’t like too clean endings. (It was honestly a little ridiculous.) Another one is The Oddling Prince. I have a review up if you’d like to know more about my thoughts. I hoped for it to be a quick read, something I would get addicted too and fly through. But I struggled so hard to finish it. I didn’t really like any of the characters, maybe one. The story didn’t interest me that much and the writing style got on my nerves. So, that was quite disappointing.

Question 6: Biggest surprise

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue. I thought this wouldn’t really be my type of book. I heard it was light and funny and while I enjoy books like that from time to time they never come near my favourite shelf. But I was pleasantly surprised by this one. I loved the writing style, the characters were fleshed out, unique and funny. Monty was an idiot but a lovable one. And it had way more depth than I expected along with some great, deep lines. Loved it. Clockwork Angel also surprised me because I really didn’t like the first three books in The Mortal Instruments series and I thought this was a solid 3-star book right after finishing it. But something about it stuck with me and I really, really want to continue the series. I don’t know what exactly grabbed me like that but it did. And last but not least, Leaving Time. I hadn’t expected the book to make me feel this many different emotions. It’s not the type of book I usually read, but maybe I should more often. This was fantastic and emotional and heartbreaking.

Question 7: Favourite new author (debut or new to you)

Laurie Halse Anderson and Seanan McGuire. I wanted to read a book by Laurie Halse Anderson for forever and I finally did last month. I read and loved Wintergirls. It’s a haunting tale about a girl struggling with an eating disorder while also trying to comprehend the death of her best friend. Truly amazing and I’m so excited to read more from her. Every Heart a Doorway was soo good and could also be an answer to the biggest surprise. I know this book is hyped but I was hesitant to pick it up as it is quite short and maybe also because of the hype. I didn’t want to dislike it. Shouldn’t have worried. I fell in love and can’t wait to pick up Down Among the Sticks and Bones.

*Edit (Aug 16th): I read DatSaB and loved it. Those books are so magical and suck you right in, even though they’re incredibly short

Question 8: Newest fictional crush

This one is way harder to answer than I thought. I don’t think I have a real new fictional crush. Will from The Infernal Devices might evolve into one. Same with Simon from Furyborn. Or actually, Rielle from Furyborn. Liked her quite a lot. I really like Theron in Snow like Ashes but that changed after Ice like Fire … Cas from Ruined is nice, but … yeah. So, sorry. Not really much of an answer.

Question 9: Newest favourite character

Monty probably. I also really love Rielle (Furyborn) and Emelina (#stabby) from Ruined. Meira is quite interesting to read about. Oh, I know! Kippa, the little fox from Montress Vol 1. She is the cutest thing eva!!

*Edit (Aug 16th): I read this book in August, but: The Murderbot from All Systems Red … Could relate way too much. Loved him and the book

Question 10: Book that made you cry

Easy. A Monster Calls. A book has to pack quite punch to make me cry and I cried really hard when reading this. Such a great story and beautifully narrated by Jason Isaacs (I read along so I could also see the beautiful illustrations) And Gregor and the Code of Claw. My heart broke! In a million tiny pieces and I, still, don’t know how to deal. That was absolutely devastating and I loved it so much! I read this to my friend while she visited me. It was her 5th time reading it but she still cried. Trust me, this series is sooo good.

Question 11: Book that made you happy

The little Ghost because I loved this book as a kid and it’s just so cute. Every Heart a Doorway because I loved every second of this book and it had a perfect atmosphere. Leaving Time because my mom got me this as a gift and I loved it. It wasn’t a book I would ever pick for myself so it made me even happier that I loved it so much. The parts about the elephants were sad but they made me happy at the same time.

Question 12: Favourite book to film adaptation you saw this year

Well … ehm … I haven’t watched a single adaptation this year? So … no answer for this one.

Question 13: Favourite review you’ve written this year (Booktube version: Favourite video you have done so far in this year)

Snow like Ashes by Sara Raasch

This review captures my thoughts on a lot of books, actually. How I enjoy a book really much while reading and later, when thinking more clearly about it, remembering more and more things that weren’t the best. I struggle to rate books like that. How much do I factor my enjoyment into my rating? I mean, I read for enjoyment, so … but I still have to acknowledge all the not-so-great things, don’t I?

Question 14: Most beautiful book you’ve bought so far this year (or received)

     Question 15: What books do you need to read by the end of the year?

A LOT! EVERYTHING! But I want to read all the books I own from Walter Moers, Mark Lawrence, Leigh Bardugo and V.E. Schwab. I also plan to read all the Harry Potter illustrated editions. And I’ll have a list of 18 books I want to read in the rest of 2018 up soon-ish.

  This tag was a lot of fun even though it took me ages to do. But it so interesting to look back at the last 6 (7) months of reading.

What was your fav book of the year so far? Biggest disappointment? What book are you dying to read? Tell me in the comments!

(Not-So) Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag I FINALLY got around to formatting this and am posting this quite late ... but oh well. Hope you like it. I know everyone says it, but I'm still gonna say it too. How is it already July??* Where did the first half of the year go?

[the-strangest-sea]

,,,, i like to get myself an end of semester gift like “you made it through! go you!” usually from book buy-back money, and i think that this semester i want to buy myself a copy of a court of thorns and roses. i own the other two because i wanted to take them on vacation with me and didn’t want the hassle of taking care of library books (leave your own book on a plane and it’s sad but replaceable) but i don’t own the first one, and i like, desperately want to do a re-read of them over break (before christmas????? maybe???)

i really want to delve back into that world with the perspective of having read them before, but also to take kind of a step back from the frantic reading that i did of them last time. like, come on, acomaf???? definitely deserves a re-read when i can give more attention to it.

i’ve been watching a lot of booktube lately and thinking about like, the concept of bookstagram-- neither of which i’m a part of, although i do watch a lot of booktube. there’s this total focus on reading new stuff, whereas for me, reading is definitely all about my favorite books. (ariel bissett has a great video that i just watched that touches on this, which is part of where this is coming from) like, i couldn’t tell you how many times i’ve read howl’s moving castle or the protector of the small series or anna and the french kiss (all of which are books i love so much and have read so many times that i bought extra copies to bring to college with me) 

all throughout my life i’ve focused much more on re-reads than on new reads, i think. like, i love a new book and getting to delve into worlds that i’ve never encountered, or a new book in a series, but like. re-reading something you’ve read three times before? you’re still going to get something out of it, whether it’s just enjoyment of something you know you love, or a new thought or perspective on something you’ve just kind of glanced over before. (i listen to harry potter every night while i go to bed, and i’m constantly finding new things that i’ve never thought about or little jokes in the writing that i’ve missed previously, and i’ve been listening to at least half an hour of harry potter a night for the last seventeen years or so. i know those books like the back of my hand and they still never fail to bring something new).

i just like. i love reading. i love re-reading. i want to re-read a court of thorns and roses, i want to revisit feyre and her pals, i want to get a new perspective especially on the first half of the series, especially on feyre’s personal growth.

i dunno, i just think it’s interesting to see how media and popularizing something completely changes it into something else. it’s part of why i could never do something like become a bookstagrammer. it’s a concept that i really like, but i would never want to change my reading in the way that people who do booktube and bookstagram talk about. i don’t want my reading to be something seen by other people, because for me, it’s all about how i experience the books time and time again. i’ll talk about it here-- i’ll often let you guys know if i’ve found something i love, or i’ll talk about it obsessively for a few days. but i would never make something specifically dedicated to books and reading, because of how i don’t want to change the way i experience it.

i was extremely hesitant to even get a goodreads account, and only ended up doing so very recently because i wanted to look at the synopsis of a few books and found it was just easier to navigate the site with an account than without one, especially since oftentimes when i want to be doing so, it’s when i’m actually in a physical bookstore or library and having an app is easier than trying to do it via the internet. i don’t think i’ll ever set a “reading challenge” on there, because i don’t want to catalogue every book i’ve ever read. i’m not interested in that. i’ll use it for the recommendations, or i’ll rate a book if i want to remember that i’ve read it. but ultimately, it’s not about that for me, and i’m happy just using it in my own way.

everyone’s reading is so interesting and personal. i’m on a big audiobook kick right now, but i can’t wait to read physical books when i get home. when i’m not reading huge amounts of stuff for school, it’s so much easier to just sit down and read a good book. audiobooks are great, but totally depend on who’s narrating them. i’m proud of myself for one thing, though, when it comes to the concept of reading: i’m doing it a lot more this year than i was last year. whether it’s through overdrive, where i’ve been grabbing audiobooks and listening to them (i talked about this last night, but i don’t like it that much for ebooks) or through the physical books i have on campus with me (there are a handful that i own and a few more that i ordered to campus earlier in the year), i’ve just been reading more. and that makes me feel really good. i love reading, i really do. it makes me sad when i don’t get a chance to do it for fun, so getting to read on the side is really important to me.

anyway. that’s a lot of thoughts in one post, but if you want to chat about it, please come do!! i’m clearly passionate about this topic lol and i think it’s interesting to hear other people’s perspectives on this kind of stuff.

[bookaddict24-7]

Book Review: A Map for Wrecked Girls by Jessica Taylor

Age Group: 16+ 

Genres: Contemporary, Survival, Family, Romance

Find it on Goodreads here.

Rating: 2.75/5 Stars

Disclaimers:

I received a copy via the publisher in exchange for an honest review. 

This is a long text post.

This review may contain spoilers. This review also contains a rant...sorry, not sorry.

If you want to read the spoilers marked as “Spoiler”, then you can check out my review on my blog here.

When I started reading A Map for Wrecked Girls by Jessica Taylor I really didn't know what to expect. The cover was super intriguing and I'd heard some pretty interesting comments about it while watching booktube videos. When the opportunity came up for me to review this book, I jumped at the chance. 

Taylor's novel explores the sometimes intoxicating relationships between sisters (particularly ones that are close in age) and what happens when these kinds of relationships hit their climax. Emma, the protagonist, has always been attached to her older sister, Henri, in one way or another. While describing their troubled relationship in the present on a deserted island after a nasty boat accident, we also get to see how imperfect their relationship was less than a year before. 

While it was occasionally fascinating how these two stories unfolded (one having a yet-unknown conclusion and the other having an obvious end of their relationship), I sometimes found the beginning to middle part of the novel boring. It was slow and it kind of read like a manic-pixie-dream girl in a sister form. And I mean, it kind of was? This wild, who-cares-what-they-think older sister is basically everything that Emma aspires to be and Henri is always bringing out the best and worst in Emma. She is, for a good chunk of the story, someone that Emma aspires to be. A perfect symptom of her MPDG-ness would be this one moment where Henri literally hangs out of a streetcar while going down a hill, while Emma narrates how cool and care-free her sister is.

It took me a lot longer to get into this book than I originally thought it would. I mean, the moment I read that these characters are stuck on an island, I was putty. I was gone. I have many novel preferences and people stranded on an island is one of them. So, what ended up happening was me loving the chapters where these three people (let's not ignore a potential love interest) were fighting to survive, but kind of dragging my feet through the other chapters detailing their past drama. 

I will admit, the slightly boring chapters started getting more interesting. While I would have loved for the story to go in a direction that was slyly hinted at a few chapters in, I still ended up finally enjoying the build-up to their destruction. 

I'm going to be upfront: Henri was a bitch and I think Emma took way too much responsibility for the decisions Henri made. There was just so much drama and Emma was a total doormat during the past chapters--even in some of the island chapters. For example, (view spoiler)

I liked Alex and felt really sorry for him. He was surprisingly complex and I enjoyed that he wasn't just a "love interest". I think it would have been really interesting to see things from his perspective. He and Henri are the extreme of how I'd react to her. 

Look, I get that Henri's character was made to be imperfect. But I feel like there should be a fine balance in there somewhere. Emma and Henri both suffer through a parental divorce, scandal, and heartbreak, but it just didn't sit well with me that Henri is ok with just pouring it all on Emma. They both grieve the change in their lives differently, one more disruptively than the other, but it always seems that Emma is the one to catch the short end of the metaphorical stick.

And here's the even more frustrating bit: the reason for why these girls' already dangerous relationship isn't something that should be used as simply a plot device. (view spoiler)

Despite all of the above-mentioned, I still did, for the most part, enjoy this book. Like I said, I love survival stories and I love romance that comes from the survival. The sisters' relationship was complex and I enjoyed them learning more about each other and growing closer, but I still think the reasoning behind their friendships ending wasn't worth all of the "you ruined my life" comments. 

I recommend this book for anyone who wants a book about familial relationships and surviving on a desert island. Happy reading!

[nicolekristiner]

Top 5 Wednesday

*disclaimer* not overly thrilled that I need to have this on my post but we are in a world of sensitive snowflakes. This post, along with all of mine, are my opinions. You dont have to agree or like them. They are mine. You are more than willing to talk to me about them but at the end of the day if you do not like what I have to say then dont read them."

Top 5 Wednesday- Favorite SFF Booktubers "Discuss your favorite booktubers who discuss science fiction and fantasy books! (This is for the Booktube SFF Awards, but you could also include bloggers and IGers as well!)"

Here are my top 5 (not in any particular order) 1. Elliot : She sucked me into her channel with her love for Brandon Sanderson. She also has a calm, soothing voice that is much easier to watch over the high pitch screaming of other booktubers. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiflcKnh5cZiRWK7jlYKwxA 2. Samantha: Sam normally has at least one fantasy/science fiction disussion every other week. Again her down to earth talk about books is nice. She shows her excitement without being fake. She is about books and not about just reading the "it" book of the month. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpnjp7mgeQGdtesz5v6xY_A 3. Emily: Emily loves big books and it is refreshing. She is another booktuber that doesnt just read the books that are the trend of the season. I also find it extremely interesting that her first language is French. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW5R53ckTBE4JJtUmc64lng 4. Piera: Her zero fuck attitude is exactly what I want to see in my booktube channels. Also she is obsessed with the Nevernight Chronicles. While we don't also agree with book ratings, I am able to see where she is coming from and respect her choices. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHjMsxtdmHa3eSCujQS4wNQ 5. Merphy: Her strong opinions for "The Name of the Wind" sucked me in to her videos. We actually do not agree on the book. It was her passion about it that I enjoyed. That and that I find it fancaniting that she is a narrator for audiobooks. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7FW6FYqPLeQIXMSulBfOLw/featured

Goodreads Group: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/118368-top-5-wednesday

[tricialucido-blog]

Kaufman and Kristoff’s “The Illuminae Files” pt. I

Hi there! This is my first attempt at blogging about books I’ve read for leisure. I was inspired greatly by the bookstagram and booktube communities in Instagram and YouTube, respectively, and while I enjoy seeing content from both platforms, I feel like there’s something else I want to see from book bloggers that’s currently not present in the content trend today. I’ve seen a few bloggers here and there whose content I really liked (a personal favorite is booktuber @LilyCReads), but I guess it’s high time I shared my personal sentiments and commentaries myself. I still don’t know where I want to take this, but starting somewhere is better than nothing amirite. Anyway, here goes.

Note: This is a spoiler-free review. Part II, which I will link here as soon as I’ve posted it, will most likely be full of spoilers because I will talk about the key themes and important quotes from the books. Beware and proceed with caution! :-) 

Title: The Illuminae Files (trilogy); Illuminae (Book 1), Gemina (Book 2), and Obsidio (Book 3)

Authors: Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Genre: science fiction, military space opera, epistolary

Rating: 5/5 stars

Story Time!  ✨

Before I dive right into the books, let me tell you guys a bit of a backstory. I’ve always enjoyed science fiction, especially space opera (a close contender is steampunk). Mind you, though, I wasn’t really part of the Star Wars crowd (I was more of a Harry Potter pre-teen) as I was growing up, so I can’t really point to the franchise as the origin of my interest. No, I’d say I started getting interested in the science part before I discovered that it could be fused with fiction. I loved encyclopedias and the annual almanacs when I was a kid, and up to this day it still baffles me a bit that I was that kind of kid before books and (eventually) the humanities dragged me into their fold. I was deeply fascinated by the heavenly bodies, and up until I realized I had acrophobia (fear of heights), I even wanted to be an astronaut. My venture into science fiction and its subgenres was a little less scholarly. I’m not ashamed to share that I fell in love with space opera through fan fiction, specifically an old X-Men fan fiction. That masterpiece really changed my reading experience.

It was my youngest sister, a bonafide bookstagram lurker, who introduced the Illuminae Files trilogy to me. All she said was, “It’s an epistolary. I think you’d like it,” and I was already purchasing the second book (she already bought the first one). This is where it gets kinda funny, because originally, I read Book 2 (Gemina) first before I picked up Book 1 again this summer. I read the words “...breaking up with her boyfriend” in the synopsis and I instantly got turned off haha! I easily dismissed Illuminae because I thought it was just another typical YA love story packaged differently (but ultimately still the same formula), and I was just so exhausted with the same old variations. For the record, I was wrong, okay. But anyway, my sister assured me that I wouldn’t miss much if I start withGemina (which, totally false) and that the spoilers were negligible (only because when I got “spoiled” in Gemina, I didn’t realize at the time the significance of what I found out ahead, and when I picked up Illuminae, I already forgot most of what happened in Gemina). [Story Time: End]

Now that story time is over, I just wanna point out that after typing this whole chunk of word vomit, I realized that I’m already so chatty and I haven’t even started on the books themselves! I swear, I’m only letting this run as long as this because it’s the first one, and I have a lot of behind-the-scenes anecdotes that I really want to share. I hope I don’t drive y’all away hahaha, so let’s just jump into the “review” part. 

The Gist  ✨

The year is 2575, half a millenium ahead of what constitutes as “today”. Human civilization has moved past the uncertainty of space explorations, of the search for the “second” Earth. Distant corners of the universe? Not so distant anymore. Space travel that spans light years? Now simply one “jump” away. For all the fancy technological advancements that humankind has achieved, they still aren’t beyond mass murder for the sake of money and resources. At least that’s what I gathered when megacorporation BeiTech Industries brutally massacred the citizens of a small far-flung colony called Kerenza IV, where there was a ongoing illegal mining of hermium, a precious resource in this universe. The trilogy revolves around the protagonists, victims and survivors of BeiTech’s brutal invasion, and their search for justice while fighting for their lives in the yawning emptiness of space. There are all sorts of characters within each book, including a Skynet AI, and all sorts of trouble as well.

Reactions   💖

Stylistics. As I’ve mentioned above, all three books are hashed out through a collection of files, chat logs, and video transcriptions to name a few. And duuuuuuude. Kaufman and Kristoff really did an incredible job with the lay-out of Illuminae Files--hats off to their entire team, there is no denying the genius behind their concept of what an epistolary is. It was exciting to dig into the books to examine every detail and every Easter egg that they left in each well-planned page. Although, I’ll be honest here, there were a few times that I really got confused and lost in the story--not in the sense that I was intensely absorbed with what was happening but rather, because there were a lot of details and clues to take in. It was easy to be overwhelmed by everything that was happening. Add the fact that there were events happening simultaneously, and were described in completely different media (this will make much more sense once you pick up the first book). I don’t consider it an entirely negative thing because the confusion really helped in blindsiding me from most of the major plot twists; in fact, I’d say I enjoyed the story more when my theories were debunked by the more awesome plot twists.

World-building and plot. Speaking of plot twists: the plot had some really well-placed surprises and shocks. I love that the romantic scenes were not distastefully added. In fact, instead of stealing the limelight from the major conflict as well as the science-and-technology “vibe” of the story, the romance further heightened the stakes that the protagonists were risking with every decision and plan they concoct. 

The authors did not give us 600-pages of long-winding narratives (per book) and chunks of justified text divided into chapters--no. They gave their readers a feast of visual exercise and yet, using less words (than a standard 300-page novel) and hardly a clear-cut linear plot progression, they raised a lot of important questions that we could use some time to ponder on (more about these in Part II--beware of spoilers, though!). What I always look for in science fiction (and fantasy as well, for that matter) is a well-executed world-building. It doesn’t matter if the premise is unique if the author did not manage to back the novelty of their idea; sometimes, if the world-building is particularly lacking, it really puts me off from the plot itself. In the trilogy, it wasn’t a problem at all, which helped to make me more absorbed with all the adrenaline-infused twists upon twists in the story. 

I also have to commend how well the authors incited reactions from their readers--at least in my reading experience. One particular conflict in Illuminae really gave me goosebumps and sent a chill down my spine (won’t elaborate haha you’ll know if you’ve read it!!). Ugh, remembering it as I type this has me shivering involuntarily again. Those were some real creepy scenes, I tell you.

Characters. Most of the protagonists (but not all) paired up in different points of the story, so it’s easy to view them as such: couples. I don’t think I hated any off the them, even with my initial avoidance in reading Illuminae because of Kady and Ezra’s established relationship; in fact, the romance between all of them turned out to be not overbearing at all. Having said that, I think it’s a great disservice to each character, especially the couples, to view them only within the confines of their relationship dynamics. Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff both did a great job in adding layers upon layers of character development of the protagonists; furthermore, they were not stingy in adding characters and giving them actual personalities, and even though at certain times the sheer amount of characters got really confusing, in the end I consider it a plus on their genius and detail-oriented world-building. These two did not hold back in conceptualizing and planning. They were good at deliberately leaving out certain information, that’s true, and they got me to believe that nothing was amiss--only to exclaim “oh shit…” when things finally fall into place. 

On the other side of the spectrum, BeiTech’s foot soldiers were ruthless and machine-like, and performed well as villains; however, what I loved about Illuminae Files are the details that the authors added--seemingly inconsequential details that will make you pause for a bit and remember that these brutal murderers are just as human as the protagonists, that while it’s easy to view them as merely “BeiTech”, there are still individuals behind the uniforms and high-calibre assault weapons. These details will lead you to the thought that both villains and heroes experience the same spectrum of human emotions, and it is jarring and terrifying to be reminded that only a thin line divides the two “sides”.

Anyway, this is where I’ll end Part I.

Watch out for Part II soon, which I will link below as soon as I’ve posted it.

Wow. So that was a pretty intense word vomit. Apologies for being so chatty, and if you managed to read this until the very end, thank you so much! I’d love to know what your thoughts are, if you’ve read the trilogy or if you’re planning to), etc. Let me know if you liked this type of in-depth (read: intense and overboard) review or if you hated it haha! Leave a comment or hit my ask box and I’ll be happy to reply! Part II will be up soon. See you! <3

Photo credits:

Book covers | bumblebeerosee on Redbubble

Space | Jeremy Thomas on Unsplash

Space (2) | Max McKinnon on Unsplash