The Harry Potter Book Tag

I love Harry Potter, honestly though is there anyone out there who doesn’t, so when I first saw this tag I was desperate to take part in it. Luckily I was soon tagged by, not only Jess at The Mud and Stars Book Blog, but by Heather at The Sassy Book Geek as well. Thank you both for giving me the opportunity to take part in this tag, everyone else should definitely check out their original posts and while you’re there their blogs as well.

The Harry Potter Book Tag was originally created by Lashaan and Trang at Bookidode, who are also to credit for the amazing title images for each of the questions. There is only one rule; you cannot use any of the Harry Potter books to answer the questions.

A book in which you found the theme interesting, but you’d like to rewrite it.

The Crown’s Game by Evelyn Skye

The blurb made this book sound like a story I’d love; an epic duel between two magicians that only one can survive set in a fantasy version of Russia. However instead of a battle to the death the two magicians, Vika and Nikolai, spent more time re-decorating Russia, and when they did come face to face their attempts to take the other out were half hearted at best.

Plus with insta-love and a love triangle taking up quite a few of the pages I ended up being really disappointed in The Crown’s Game. The premise  of this book was amazing, the reality wasn’t.

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The first book in a series that got you hooked.

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

Even before picking this book up I’d heard pretty much nothing but amazing things about it and the rest of the series. My expectations were high and rising higher with every other Patrick Ness book I’d read and loved, but nothing could fully prepare me for how amazing this series was.

As soon as I finished The Knife of Never Letting Go I jumped right into The Ask and the Answer, and once I finished the second book I started the third immediately. I binge read all three books and I’m definitely glad I waited until the whole trilogy had been released before starting this one.

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A book you wish you could have right now.

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

I fell in love with everything about Laini Taylor’s first series, Daughter of Smoke and Bone, so when I saw she had a new duology being released it went to the top of my to-read list. The cover is gorgeous and the blurb sounds amazing; besides as it’s been written by Laini Taylor that’s pretty much all I need to know to know I’m going to love the story and the writing.

Even the push back in the release date to next year only made me more desperate to get my hands on this book.

A new epic fantasy by National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestselling author Laini Taylor of the Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy.

The dream chooses the dreamer, not the other way around—and Lazlo Strange, war orphan and junior librarian, has always feared that his dream chose poorly. Since he was five years old he’s been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, but it would take someone bolder than he to cross half the world in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself, in the person of a hero called the Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors, and he has to seize his chance to lose his dream forever.

What happened in Weep two hundred years ago to cut it off from the rest of the world? What exactly did the Godslayer slay that went by the name of god? And what is the mysterious problem he now seeks help in solving?

The answers await in Weep, but so do more mysteries—including the blue-skinned goddess who appears in Lazlo’s dreams. How did he dream her before he knew she existed? and if all the gods are dead, why does she seem so real?

In this sweeping and breathtaking new novel by National Book Award finalist Laini Taylor, author of the New York Times bestselling Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy, the shadow of the past is as real as the ghosts who haunt the citadel of murdered gods. Fall into a mythical world of dread and wonder, moths and nightmares, love and carnage.

Welcome to Weep.

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A killer book. Both senses. Take it as you like.

Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

A book about a trainee assassin attending a school described as ‘Hogwarts for killers’ with other would-be murderers means there is a lot of death in this book. Every lesson Mia and the other characters we are introduced to have is on how to cause death; be it through weaponry or poison. Not even the students are safe in the halls of the Red Church.

Plus added to the subject and Mia’s characterisation there also the length of Nevernight which is kind of killer in and of itself.

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A book that you found really confusing.

Vassa in the Night by Sarah Porter

I’ve found a few of the magical realism books I’ve read confusing, I think that’s part of the nature of the genre, but none more so than Vassa in the Night. There were a lot of elements to this book I really loved; the setting of BY’s store and the tasks Vassa had to complete each night, Erg her talking wooden doll, and the motorcyclist we never discover much about.

But on the other hand there’s more I found a little too confusing to fully understand; mainly what happened in the last few chapters.

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Your spirit animal book.

Cress by Marissa Meyer

When I took part in the Myself in Five Characters Tag a while back Cress was one of the characters I picked. There was something about her that, more than any of the other characters in The Lunar Chronicles books, that I connected with.

Like Cress I often live in my own imagination rather than the real world, and I loved her way of looking at the world as well. Even crash landed in the middle of the desert with no way to call for help and seemingly no hope she still looks at the everything new on earth she comes across with wonder.

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A dark, twisted book.

Alice by Christina Henry

This is not a book for the faint hearted. Even before I started Alice I knew it would be a much darker take on my favourite children’s book, but I was still a little surprised by how dark it ended up being.

The streets of Old Town that Alice and Hatter have to travel through are nothing like the Wonderland Lewis Carroll envisioned. Divided up and ruled by men – the Rabbit, the Walrus and Mr. Carpenter, the Caterpillar, and Cheshire – who fight each other for more power being a woman is dangerous when you could be taken away at any moment and enslaved or worse.

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A book that surprised you in a great way.

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

After seeing plenty of mixed reviews, most of which saying that the first book wasn’t that great, I had really low expectations for Throne of Glass. In fact my expectations were so low I ended up being pleasantly surprised when I read and enjoyed this book. Granted it had its problems, and there were parts I didn’t enjoy, but overall it was an enjoyable read and I eagerly picked up the second book, and then the third, and then the fourth.

Now I’ve finished the fifth book and this is, hands down, one of my favourite series. I can’t wait for the release of the sixth book but I already know I’m going to love it.

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My Tags:

• Kate at Reading Through Infinity
• Lindsey at A Piece of Paradis
• Liz at Cover to Cover
• Niraja at Fantastic Books and Where to Find Them
• Steff at Little Booky Nook

And if there’s anyone else out there who wants to take part, consider yourself tagged. Just send me a link to your post in the comments so I can see what your answers are.

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Also to celebrate reaching my one year blogiversary I am hosting a giveaway and Q&A. The chance to enter and ask me any questions ends in less than a week, on the 1st of December at midnight GMT. For more information you can check out my original post here.