Bookdragon Dreaming

01

Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

Honestly, Cassandra Clare has outdone herself with this one. Everything she puts out just keeps getting better and better. Lady Midnight is the first book in Clare's newest The Dark Artifices series. It follows Emma Carstairs and her parabatai, Julian Blackthorn. In the five years since her parents' deaths in The City of Fallen Angels, Emma has trained her ass off in order to become the best and brightest shadowhunter of her age. Her plan is to find out who (or what) killed her parents and avenge their deaths. A+ for Emma being a badass. And thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for the Malec and Jessa bits. 

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Check out my detailed review here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-NUBbw61iI&list=PL10aNGYqKJtuwJIc8bOju5nbBC5aa3qBt&index=18

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02

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

Sarah J. Maas is my favorite author right now. I had never heard of her until earlier this year when I became hooked to her Throne of Glass series and then her ACOTAR series. Her female characters are BADASS and completely shatter the damsel in distress trope. In A Court of Mist and Fury, Feyre is back and suffering from PTSD after her time spent saving everyone from under the mountain and being tortured and ultimately making horrible sacrifices that she is being left to deal with on her own. After a disasterous almost-wedding where she is saved by Rhysand and whisked away to the night court, Feyre begins to realize that not everything (and everyone) is at it seems and she focuses on learning how to utilize her powers to save the world all over again.

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Check out my detailed review here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UkMtvr5xvk&list=PL10aNGYqKJtuwJIc8bOju5nbBC5aa3qBt&index=9

 

03

Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas

As I said before, I'm OBSESSED with Sarah J. Maas. It's been so long since I found a really wonderful fantasy that I can't put down. In Queen of Shadows (the fourth book in the Throne of Glass series), Celaena Sardothien has accepted and embraced her identity as Aelin Galathynius, Queen of Terrasen. In order to take her kingdom back she needs to rally her troops, gain as much support as she can, and kick some bad guy butt. Honestly, this was just A+++. I loved it so so much. Aelin is a goddess, and I'm also really enjoying Rowan (sorry Chaol). 

 

04

Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things by Martina McAtee

Lovers of Cassandra Clare's shadowhunter world with gobble up this beautifully written urban fantasy told from the downworlder's POV. McAtee's debut novel features a diverse cast of werewolves, reapers, fae, witches, and various other fairytale monsters, each with a personality more colorful than the last. Readers will be swept into an underground full of magic and whimsy with twists and turns at every corner as they follow MC Ember as she comes to terms with her new life and the idea that she might not actually be human.

 

05

Winter by Marissa Meyer

Winter is the last book in Meyer's The Lunar Chronicles. Boy, was I late to this party! As a lover of all things Disney and fairytales while also being obsessed with strong female characters and space opera, this series had EVERYTHING I COULD EVER WANT and more. Princess Winter has spent years of her life denying her powers and it has cost her the majority of her sanity. She is beloved by the Lunar people and loathed by her stepmother, Queen Levana. In this book, Winter teams up with Cinder, Cress, Scarlet, and the rest of the squad to kick ass and take names. 

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06

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

Okay, okay, so I was admittedly nervous to start reading this series after the trainwreck that was Shiver (DNF), BUT Stiefvater has won me over with this series. I loved all of the books (though the last seemed a bit of a cop out), but this was my very favorite. I wish all of the books had focused so closely on Ronan because he is a marvelous character. In this book, the second in The Raven Cycle, the Raven boys are still focused on searching for Glendower. It takes up exactly where The Raven Boys left off and focuses in on Ronan's ability to pull things from his dream world into reality. I hold so much love in my heart for this book. 

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07

I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

Jandy Nelson is another new favorite author. I'm not usually a fan of contemporary literature, but when I picked this book up as a "blind date" for Valentine's day, I was pleasantly surprised. This book follows twins Jude and Noah as they navigate adolescence and the stresses of falling in love, experiencing heartache, and dealing with loss. When I opened this book and found that the book started from the perspective of a thirteen-year-old boy, I was horrified. I thought I would hate it, but I read the first chapter and fell in love. Noah narrates events that take place between the ages 13 and 14.  He is creative, whimsical, and soft-hearted. He's also dealing with the fact that he's gay and issues with first love and heartache. Jude narrates events that take place around the age of 16. Jude spends a lot of her narrative punishing herself for her past mistakes but begins to grow and learns to create instead of break herself down. It starts out focusing in on them as twins as almost a single entity but then follows them as they break apart and grow into their own separate personalities. Very cool concept and I loved how everything came together at the end.

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Check out my detailed review here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X6RuifBiqA

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08

Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor

As an enormous fan of the Welcome to Night Vale podcast, I was both excited and horrified at the prospect of a book adaptation. I was afraid that it would turn out clunky and lose the mystery and pizazz of the podcast. I was wrong. Welcome to Night Vale captures the voice of Night Vale and holds tight as it navigates readers through the twists and turns of the city and it's residents. This novel focuses on Jackie Fierro, the forever 19-year-old owner of the local pawn shop, and Diane Crayton, Night Vale's PTA Treasurer as their worlds flip upside down. The two women find they are forced to come together to search for the man in the tan jacket with the deerskin suitcase because he is the only one with the answers to their problems. I do have to say that if I hadn't been a fan of the podcast, I'm not sure I would have been able to finish this book. It's delightful, but I think it's important to be familiar with the world first in order to understand the quirks and whimsy of it all. 

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09

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Historical fiction is always a favorite. I've also always been particularly interested in novels that focus around WWII. There has been an enormous amount of hype surrounding this novel of late, and it is totally precedented. This book focuses on Marie-Laure, a young girl who lives with her locksmith father in Paris. When Marie-Laure is six years old, she loses her sight and needs to learn how to function. Her father builds her a replica of the city that she can feel with her hands and begins to teach her how to get around. When Marie-Laure is twelve, her city is invaded and she and her father are forced to flee in order in order to survive. There's only one other catch... they may or may not be hoarding a dangerously valuable jewel, and they are hunted for it. The novel also focuses on Werner, a brilliant orphan who grows up in Germany, inventing and building radios. He is recruited into the Hitler Youth and taken to the academy where he learns how to become a tracker of the resistance. He eventually ends up in Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure is hiding, and the two collide. I loved this book because it not only focused on children growing up in times of war, but it showed the horrors for children on both sides. It made me smile and it made me cry and I had a hell of a book hangover when I was finished.

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Check out my detailed review here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlKOBsfp9nw

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10

Mist and Whispers by C.M. Lucas

WOW. This book has everything. Fantasy, book lovers, magic, mythical creatures, danger, distress, loss, friendship, bravery… the list is endless. As I said before, this book has everything. It IS everything. Anya and her friends embark on an accidental quest to save her favorite bookstore (which is really more like her home) and stumble upon more magic than they know what to do with. There are multiple worlds and tons of mythical creatures (vampire leeches? ew!) and magical elements and even though there was SO MUCH GOING ON, it never became overwhelming or too much to handle. This book was a badass beginning to what *I think* is a trilogy. It does an amazing job of introducing characters and pushing them through the first part of their quest.