I saw this tag over on Uncreated Conscience, and seriously! Books AND Hamilton? How could I resist!?
The Room Where It Happens: Book world you would put yourself in.
The easy answer is Harry Potter, and I would totally be down for that if I accidentally stumbled through a brick wall into Diagon Alley. But I think really I’d want to live in Narnia where adventures are just around the corner so long as you go further up and further in.
The Schuyler Sisters: Underrated Female Character
By underrated, can that mean: is never talked about, ever? Because I LOVE Flora from the Flora Segunda trilogy, and no one knows those books! Flora is fat, feisty, and horrible at make correct decisions. She loves and hates her messed up magical family in equal measures, and I’ve just realized that I desperately need to re-read these books!
My Shot: A character that goes after what they want and doesn’t let anything stop them
My girl Frankie from The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks! She never lets little things like cultural constructs or, you know, laws, stand in the way of her pursuing what she wants – which is to be the best leader of an all-male secret society even though she is actually a girl.
Stay Alive: A character you wish was still alive
This obviously comes with a SPOILER warning, right? If not, well…SPOILERS. Although I understood and appreciated the author’s decision, I was gutted when Finch died in All the Bright Places. I just…WHY! Why can’t books be the one place where everything miraculous turns out okay!? (Because then I complain about how unrealistic they are, UGH, I will never be satisfied.)
….Did you get that Hamilton reference? Because I’m pretty proud of it.
Burn: The most heartbreaking end to a relationship you’ve ever read
Seems unfair to mention the same book twice, so this time I’ll go with….hahaha, okay, well this is so ME, but I’m going to go with Plain Kate. Which means I’m going with the relationship between the titular character and her cat Taggle. IT WAS JUST SO HEARTBREAKING, and even when it got less heartbreaking, it was still devastating. I’m sad and anxious just remembering it.
You’ll Be Back: Sassiest villain
I’m rereading the Raven Cycle books, and the Greenmantles are FANTASTIC. Even though they are actively searching for a woman so they can torture and/or kill her in order to exact revenge upon their erstwhile hit man, I just….really like them! They’re so ridiculously self-possessed and amoral and unapologetically selfish. And funny!
The Reynolds Pamphlet: A book with a twist that you didn’t see coming
Those are my favorite! I’ll go with We Were Liars, because I was left literally gaping at the page where the twist was revealed. Hints were dropped, reveals were revealed only to be revealed that they….didn’t reveal what we thought they revealed!
Non-stop: A series you marathoned
It’s unusual for me to find a series after everything is published, and it seems a bit like cheating to say I marathoned a series I already knew I loved. Game of Thrones is a possibility, except I stopped in the fifth book because I missed all the characters in King’s Landing. But after a quick search through my old book blog, I remembered The Spellman Files! I loved these adult detective novels that were more about being a dysfunctional adult in a dysfunctional family, and I happily tore through the series.
Satisfied: Favorite book with multiple POVs
Six of Crows! I loved every one of the characters (though it took a bit longer to give my heart to some more than others). A heist story that manages to keep the suspense up even while letting us into multiple people’s heads is definitely impressive.
Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story: A book/series you feel like will be remembered throughout history
Harry Potter, obviously. When our half-cyborg descendants are putting their children to bed on Jupiter, they’ll be reading translated versions of the story of the boy wizard who defeated the dark lord with the help of his friends.
Helpless: A relationship you were pulling for from the very start
This was a lot harder than I expected. I guess I tend to just go along with canonical romances, so I let the story sweep me along. There’s rarely been a time when I think, “I WANT THEM TO BE TOGETHER” before the book itself makes it clear they’ll be together (which, let’s be clear, is sometimes from page 1 when two people start out hating each other). But I’ll honor the sentiment of the song title, and a romance that made me feel Helpless was Dante and Ari in Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. Their friendship-turned-love made me feel all the feelings!!
Ten Duel Commandments: Favorite fight scene
Hmm. I tend to like when fight scenes reveal character development or something, and I’m sure I’m missing a really great example of that…but what immediately came to mind in terms of sheer Fighting Coolness was Mistborn, because the fights were these really complicated, mental battles of using metal to leap and pull and throw people and things around. Fighting is always better if it’s fantasy!
Say No To This: Guilty pleasure read
Hmmm…this one has to be Fruits Basket, the manga series about a cursed family that transforms into animals when hugged by people of the opposite sex that I was completely addicted to! It’s one thing to be a Midwesterner reading Japanese comic books, and it’s another level of awkward to explain the plot. Did you read that? About people transforming into animals because of hugs? BUT IT WAS SO GOOD.
What Comes Next: A series you wish had more books
The Queen’s Thief series!! I need more Euginedes and Attolia in my life! Even worse, I KNOW the author is working on more, but it takes, like five million years for a new book to come out. *sigh* I guess that’s a really effective way to make me reread her books.
Right Hand Man: Favorite BROTP
I’m going to cheat and say James Potter and Sirius Black, which is a weird choice if you’ve only read Harry Potter, because….they’re not both alive in the series. BUT if I’m allowed to bring fanfiction into this survey, and I am because I say so, then I have to mention The Shoebox Project and these two dumb hyperactive know-it-alls.
Wait For It: A book that was worth waiting for
I’m going to change things up and go with The Raven King, the fourth book of the Raven Cycle which is out in a month, and which I look forward to with great expectation. Like Aaron Burr, I’m willing to wait for it.
