Rapid Fire Book Tag

Given that this is the ‘Rapid Fire’ book tag I tried to keep my answers short and, well, rapid. I’m not sure how well I did though because it’s in my nature to ramble on and go off on tangents whenever I talk. I was tagged by Lilly at Lair of Books Blog. Thanks so much for the tag Lilly, I had a lot of fun with this one so I hope you enjoy reading my answers just as much.

eBook or Physical Book?

I’m going to have to go with physical books. As much as I prefer reading eBooks while travelling to work (which is when I get all my reading done) it’s not the same having an extensive eBook library as it is having a physical book one.

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Paperback or Hardback?

Hardbacks. I always find paperbacks really flimsy, and worry about the spine breaking or the cover getting damaged. Hardbacks are more durable and I find sometimes the design of the book itself is a little more aesthetically pleasing.

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Online or In-Store Book Shopping?

Before I would have said online, but recently my answer has changed to in-store. I could spend whole afternoons browsing the shelves in my local Waterstones, also this way I don’t have to wait for the book to be dispatched and delivered, I can walk out with it the same day and start reading.

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Trilogies or Series?

Trilogies. Mainly because there are less books to wait for. I am terrible at waiting for an anticipated release to be published, and it’s worth if a previous books ends on an insane cliffhanger. *Cough*AConjuringOfLight*Cough*.

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Heroes or Villains?

Villains. As much as I love heroes, and do root for them, there’s always something about the villains I am more interested in reading. Bonus points if it’s a villain who I hope gets a redemption arc later in the series.

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A Book You Want Everyone to Read?

The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon.

There is not nearly enough love for this book on WordPress as there needs to be. It’s the start of an amazing series, the third book has just been released and with seven total there’s still a lot to come, and it seems every book that’s released gets better and better.

The year is 2059. Nineteen-year-old Paige Mahoney is working in the criminal underworld of Scion London, based at Seven Dials, employed by a man named Jaxon Hall. Her job: to scout for information by breaking into people’s minds. For Paige is a dreamwalker, a clairvoyant and, in the world of Scion, she commits treason simply by breathing.

It is raining the day her life changes for ever. Attacked, drugged and kidnapped, Paige is transported to Oxford—a city kept secret for two hundred years, controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. Paige is assigned to Warden, a Rephaite with mysterious motives. He is her master. Her trainer. Her natural enemy. But if Paige wants to regain her freedom she must allow herself to be nurtured in this prison where she is meant to die.

The Bone Season introduces a compelling heroine and also introduces an extraordinary young writer, with huge ambition and a teeming imagination. Samantha Shannon has created a bold new reality in this riveting debut.

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Recommend an Underrated Book?

When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore

I am a massive fan of magical realism, and When the Moon Was Ours was one of my favourite reads of 2016. However despite how utterly amazing this book is it still has under 2000 ratings on Goodreads. This book deserves so much more recognition and I’d love to see it get it.

To everyone who knows them, best friends Miel and Sam are as strange as they are inseparable. Roses grow out of Miel’s wrist, and rumours say that she spilled out of a water tower when she was five. Sam is known for the moons he paints and hangs in the trees, and for how little anyone knows about his life before he and his mother moved to town. 

But as odd as everyone considers Miel and Sam, even they stay away from the Bonner girls, four beautiful sisters rumoured to be witches. Now they want the roses that grow from Miel’s skin, convinced that their scent can make anyone fall in love. And they’re willing to use every secret Miel has fought to protect to make sure she gives them up.

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The Last Book You Finished?

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

I have finally got around to re-reading the first three books in The Mortal Instruments series, which means I am one step closer to getting around to the books I haven’t read yet and finally getting around to Lady Midnight. Hopefully it will prove worth the wait.

Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what’s normal when you’re a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downworlders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? If Clary left the world of the Shadowhunters behind, it would mean more time with her best friend, Simon, who’s becoming more than a friend. But the Shadowhunting world isn’t ready to let her go—especially her handsome, infuriating, newfound brother, Jace. And Clary’s only chance to help her mother is to track down rogue Shadowhunter Valentine, who is probably insane, certainly evil—and also her father.

To complicate matters, someone in New York City is murdering Downworlder children. Is Valentine behind the killings—and if he is, what is he trying to do? When the second of the Mortal Instruments, the Soul-Sword, is stolen, the terrifying Inquisitor arrives to investigate and zooms right in on Jace. How can Clary stop Valentine if Jace is willing to betray everything he believes in to help their father?

In this breathtaking sequel to City of Bones, Cassandra Clare lures her readers back into the dark grip of New York City’s Downworld, where love is never safe and power becomes the deadliest temptation.

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The Last Book You Bought?

Defy the Stars by Claudia Gray

When I first saw this book on NetGalley I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I requested it anyway and I am so glad I did. Defy the Stars has become a favourite sci-fi series of mine, up there with The Illuminae Files and the Starbound series, so when it was released I had to get my own copy.

Noemi is a young and fearless soldier of Genesis, a colony planet of a dying Earth. But the citizens of Genesis are rising up—they know that Earth’s settlers will only destroy this planet the way they destroyed their own. And so a terrible war has begun.

When Noemi meets Abel, one of Earth’s robotic mech warriors, she realizes that Abel himself may provide the key to Genesis’ salvation. Abel is bound by his programming to obey her—even though her plan could result in his destruction. But Abel is no ordinary mech. He’s a unique prototype, one with greater intelligence, skill and strength than any other. More than that, he has begun to develop emotions, a personality and even dreams. Noemi begins to realise that if Abel is less than human, he is more than a machine. If she destroys him, is it murder? And can a cold-blooded murder be redeemed by the protection of a world?

Stranded together in space, they go on a whirlwind adventure through Earth’s various colony worlds, alongside the countless Vagabonds who have given up planetary life altogether and sail forever between the stars. Each step brings them closer—both to each other and to the terrible decision Noemi will have to make about her world’s fate, and Abel’s.

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Weirdest Thing You’ve Used as a Bookmark?

Most of the time I will use a standard bookmark, but when I haven’t been able to find one I normally grab the first thing that comes to hand. This has included train tickets, which I’ve needed to quickly replace when I came to my stop, and even a t-shirt one time.

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Used Books: Yes or No?

No. I’m very particular about my books, and I guess I like knowing that they haven’t been damaged somehow by any previous owners.

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Top Three Favourite Genres?

Fantasy. This probably comes as no surprise to anyone.

Contemporary. There is so much choice to be had in terms of contemporary books, there is literally something for everyone.

Magical realism. I haven’t read much from this genre but the books I have are favourites of mine.

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Borrow or Buy?

Buy. If it’s a book that becomes a favourite of mine it hurts part of my soul to have to hand it back again. Besides I have a fairly extensive collection myself and there’s nothing better than seeing the shelves fill up with my own books.

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Characters or Plot?

Characters. I have read a few books where the plot has been so-so but I’ve loved it simply because of the characters. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book with so-so characters that I’ve enjoyed, no matter how amazing the plot is.

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Long or Short Books?

I don’t really think I have a preference, as long as a book is well written and well developed I don’t mind whether it’s 50 pages or 500. I guess if I had to choose I’d say long because there’s more time for me to fall into the world and the story, and spend with my favourite characters.

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Long or Short Chapters?

Again I don’t mind, but if I had to choose I’d say short because, for some reason, I find it easier to read shorter chapters than longer ones. Also there’re more stopping points which is handy when you’re reading on a train and have about one minute to get off before missing your stop.

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Name the First Three Books You Think of…

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

And I Darken by Kiersten White

Winter by Marissa Meyer

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Books that Make You Laugh or Cry?

Laugh. Simply because I always prefer books that end happily when compared to books that end sad and rip out my heart.

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Our World or Fictional Worlds?

Fictional worlds, no question about it. I’m still disappointed that I never got my letter to Hogwarts, that I haven’t got an invitation to Caraval, that The Night Circus never ended up in my home town, that I live in Grey London not Red.

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Audiobooks: Yes or No?

I’ve never read/listened to an audiobook so I’m going to have to say no for this one.

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Do You Ever Judge a Book by its Cover?

Sadly yes. I’m sure there are some amazing books out there with so-so covers that if I picked up I’d really love, but when I’m browsing for books it’s always the cover that draws my eye first and I can’t seem to switch that part of my brain off.

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Book to Movie or Book to TV Adaptations?

Book to TV Adaptations. There’s a limited amount of time in a movie to develop the world, the characters and the story, whereas in a TV show you have a whole season worth of episodes to do the same thing. I can’t imagine Game of Thrones being as amazing as a movie, no matter how big the budget, and Shadowhunters is much better as a TV show than it was a film.

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A Movie or TV-Show You Preferred to its Book?

The Princess Bride

Don’t get me wrong the book is amazing, and a favourite of mine as well, but it was so confusing to start that it took me ages to get into it and to get through those first few chapters. I did not have that problem with the film at all.

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Series or Standalones?

While I do enjoy standalones, because there is no wait to find out how the book ends, I prefer series. Fantasy is my favourite genre and those stories normally work better as series than standalones, simply because there’s more room for development. There aren’t many fantasy standalones out there but most of the ones I’ve read have been a disappointment.

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My tags:

• Anna at My Bookish Dream
• Gretchen at Chic Nerd Reads
• Lauren at Lauren’s Page Turners
• Mikaela at The Well-Thumbed Reader

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.