I saw this post on the lovelyAoife’s blog and given that I spent earlier today watching (and internally yelling) about Hamilton, I thought what better to do on the blog than the Hamilton book tag!
The Room Where It Happens: A book world you would put yourself in
I’ve always wanted to escape to the world of Edil-Amarandh from The Books of Pellinor by Alison Croggon. With all the Schools where you can learn magic as well as so many other skills, travel across the country from Norloch to Turbansk, I want to experience all of it!
The Schuyler Sisters: Underrated female character
I really love the character Elin from The Beast Player. She is so considerate and kind, yet determined, and I feel like that’s the sort of character we don’t see enough of in YA. Elin is a completely gentle soul and I think while YA has a brilliant range of diverse female characters, we haven’t quite shaken off the Strong Female Character trope. Elin is such a strong character - but not in the way we’re told female characters should be, and that’s one of the main reasons I love her so much.
My Shot: A character that goes after what they want and doesn’t let anything stop them
This has to be Lada from the And I Darken series. She is the absolute definition of ruthless! And of course, this is a reworking of Vlad the Impaler so if you go against Lada… things get real stabby real quick.
Stay Alive: A character you wish was still alive
Oh my, here’s a spoiler and a half of a prompt! Well for this I’m going to choose the very first character death that ever made me cry, and that was from The Magicians’ Guild series by Trudi Canavan. In the third book when Akkarin died, I was BEREFT. I always wondered what the world would have been like if he’d still been around!
Burn: The most heartbreaking end to a relationship you’ve ever read
This has to be the relationship in Hamnet between Agnes, Shakespeare’s wife, and their son Hamnet. Of course you know when the story starts that Shakespeare’s son died (hello, history) but the way this bereavement is navigated is so brilliantly written and so emotive and so powerful, I defy you to read it without crying.
You’ll Be Back: Sassiest villain
I think the award for sass simply has to go to Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin from Nimona. I know, he’s technically the hero, but given the story is written from the villain’s perspective, I’m giving myself this one as a freebie. The absolute SNARK between Goldenloin and Lord Blackheart is ICONIC.
The Reynolds Pamphlet: A book with a twist that you didn’t see coming
This is hands down Hold Back The Tide by Melinda Salisbury. I was AGOG at the end of this book. I knew something horrible would happen - Mel does, after all, love a good feels-crushing moment - but THIS?! This I did not expect.
Non-Stop: A series you marathoned
I marathoned the entire Chaos Walking series by Patrick Ness one reading week at uni and honestly, looking back, I’m not sure how I did that to myself. There are so many gut-wrenching moments. I had full-on sobs on multiple trains as I worked my way through this series. The poor passengers there with me!
Satisfied: Favorite book with multiple POVs
Recently I fell in love with Six of Crows (tag coming very soon!) and I loved the different POVs in that. I also loved that these different POVs were still done in third person, so the continuinty wasn’t affected. I’ve read multiple first person POVs before where the narrators were indistinguishable, and so reading something like Six of Crows made me really happy to see it done so well!
Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story: A book/series you feel like will be remembered throughout history
I think this is a really hard prompt, because YA doesn’t have stand-out series like The Hunger Games or Twilight like it used to any more. But I feel one series that deserves to be remembered over time is the Noughts and Crosses series by Malorie Blackman. I remember us all reading it at school, and we all worked our way through them (it was a trilogy at the time), and I feel like it was such a significant contribution to YA - and still is - that it deserves to be read and remembered.
BONUS PROMPTS:
Helpless: A relationship you were pulling for from the start
Recently I read The Henna Wars and as soon as Nishat crushes on Flavia in those opening chapters, I was rooting for their relationship! Admittedly a lot of stuff gets in the way, but just the way they clearly liked each other but weren’t saying anything was so endearing, it meant I was cheering for them the whole way through the novel!
Ten Duel Commandments: Favorite fight scene
I love a good fight scene, but I think the one that has impressed me the most in recent years is the fight scene at the end of The Mime Order by Samantha Shannon. Not only is the fight scene itself exciting, it’s also really long and over multiple chapters. Keeping that intensity and tension the whole way through is impressive!
Say No To This: Guilty pleasure read
I mean, I don’t agree with this idea of any books being “guilty” pleasures, but if it’s one that I find indulgent and a constant comfort read, it’s Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. Even though the whole premise seemed preposterous to me, and even though you know exactly where the book is going to go from the blurb, I love this book and re-read it possibly more regularly than any other book I own.
What Comes Next: A series you wish had more books
So for me this is definitely the Shades of Magic series by VE Schwab - but I think that V has confirmed there will be more stories set in this world! Anything that involves more Kell, Lila, Rhy, and Alucard is FINE with me. It was such a brilliant series that, even though the trilogy wrapped up beautifully, I needed more of!
What’d I Miss: A book or series you were late to reading
I’ve recently got to the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series by Laini Taylor (I know, how late to the bandwagon am I?!) and I’ve now read the first book and am looking forward to the second! I feel so incredibly late to the party but thankfully this doesn’t decrease my enjoyment of the books even in the slightest!
Tagging anyone who wants to take part in this Hamilton Book Tag, and thanks to Aoife for sharing hers to inspire me to do mine!
Are there any other book tags you’re loving at the moment? Let me know - I’ve had such fun doing the last few!
